Tag: coffee shop

The Writing Moment

Breathe in, breathe out.

Sip coffee. Sit. Stare.

Contemplate.

Finished the second pass of the novel in progress, Unfocused. Six zillion words.

Naw. Just felt like it. Only 101K. 485 pages in MS Word.

The usual wars go on in me: finished. Feels good. Is it any good?

What shall I do now?

By that last, I mean, do another editing/revision pass or work on submitting it somewhere.

Other concepts call. A Tribe Called Death is eager to be written. Multitudes.

So, I sit. Sip coffee. Stare.

Contemplate.

Wait for a sign from the coffee shop.

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It’s Tuesday

Coffee smells landed. I breathed it in.

The barista greeted me from the counter, “Hey, Michael.”

“Hi, Natalie.” I slid my payment over as she wrote up my order.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

An espresso machine hissed. I shrugged. “It’s Tuesday, isn’t it.”

She nodded. Natalie loves shouting with a big, lovely grin, “It’s Tuesday, innit?”

Today, she said, “Just two days in and it’s already a burden.”

I smiled. “Too true.”

Natalie began entering the order into the register.

“You have my Co-op number?” I asked.

Her emerald eyes widened. “Five nine nine six?”

Classic rock spilled out of the speakers.

“Bingo,” I shouted.

Natalie and I laughed like maniacs.

“It’s Tuesday, innit?” I asked.

Natalie bent over in laughter. “It’s Tuesday, innit?”

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Hi Yourself

Stepping into the coffee shop, I immediately scan for a table and chair to sit and write.

It’s late morning and busy. Aha, though — two tables are there for —

“Hey, Michael.”

I’m being accosted from across the room. The speaker is a barista. Having shouted out my name, they’ve busy multi-tasking.

Spotting Kat first, I begin, “Hey, Ka — “

I see Natalie.

I don’t know which called out.

So I finish, “Talie.”

Chuckling to myself about this, I dumped my gear at a table and head to the counter. Kat is manning the register and Natalie is busy preparing my coffee. I hear Natalie say, “Curling,” before she turns away.

Kat asks, “Let me ask you, Michael. Are you watching the Olympics?”

“Only the curling,” I reply.

Natalie roars with laughter as Kat’s mouth drops open.

“No way,” Kat finally says.

“Yes, way,” I answer. “By the way. When I came in, I heard one of you say hello to me. I didn’t know who it was, so I called you Katalie.”

The two bend over with laughter. “We ARE Katalie,” Kat shouts. Whipping toward each other, she and Natalie exchange high fives.

I pay and take my coffee. The writing day has an auspicious beginning.

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Mundaz Wandering Thoughts

I was in the coffee shop — typing, revising, thinking, scrambling through the novel, noticing faults and fixing them. Progress was steady but heavy with challenge.

.Another customer approached my table. Regulars, she and I briefly spoke together a few times. Today she said, “Excuse me, but I love watching you at your table.”

Blinking, I gave her my attention.

She continued, “You become so deeply focused and oblivious to the rest of us, it just amazes me. I’m sorry to interrupt you but I really felt an itch to say something.”

I thanked her with a laugh. “Don’t worry. Interruptions can be helpful. Sometimes a little break is needed to help me think more clearly.”

We exchanged names, then she left the coffee shop, leaving me smiling.

Sometimes it feels good to be noticed as orders are called out, conversations rise and fall, and people come and go.

It feels…human.

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