Jimmie Kepler

Coffee House

Today is Wednesday, August 16, 2017. I am sitting at my favorite coffee house. It is a Starbucks without a drive thru window in Plano, Texas. Located in a strip shopping center with a Wholefoods, it is adjacent to a Barnes and Nobles Bookstore. I have been coming to this location for twenty years.

My Starbucks in some ways is like the old television show Cheers theme song. It has a phrase that says “You wanna go where people know, people are all the same, You wanna go where everybody knows your name.” (Where Everybody Knows Your Name Lyrics by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo). That’s the kind of place my favorite coffee house is.

When I come in they greet me by name and ask if I want my usual. It’s nice to be noticed, known and to have a usual. I see a core group of the same people at my favorite coffee house. I know their names. They know mine. I know one is a retired sales executive. Another sells medical equipment. Several lawyers and accountants are regulars. There is a group of school teachers that get their morning caffeine here. Several have become friends. They all know I write and take an interest in what I’m doing. It has become my fortress of solitude from the world. Also, the Muse knows I’m here and visits on a regular basis.

Collaboration

This morning I am working on a literary fiction book I am writing under my pen name. I have a dear friend in my writer’s group who is co-writing the book with me. Collaboration is interesting. I did the book outline, characters, the world, story arc, and she adds the secret sauce. No, you may not know my pen name.

Writer’s Group

Speaking of writer’s groups, mine meets tonight. It’s a lot like the group I see at my favorite coffee house, except a few have become more extended family. I’ve been hanging with this group for six and one-half years. They are the best.