A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

Sonja met a man. Yep. He’s attractive and interesting and interested in Sonja. He is working as a ski instructor while he finishes writing his book. Sonja was able to finish out her first season running the coffee shop although it was at times a struggle. She closed Shirley’s Cuppa Joe for the winter. A lot of businesses in Door County do that. She accepted a winter position working in an established coffee bar in a ski town in Colorado. I think it was smart of her to take the job. Maybe this way she will learn the business better. (I personally think she had a rather romantic notion of what owning her own business would look like.) Anyway, that’s where she met the man of her dreams. I’m not a romance novelist, but I must say this guy swept her off her feet. They skied together, laughed together, and enjoyed late dinners at beautiful mountainside restaurants. One evening he took her on a romantic sleigh ride through the woods. He cares for her and has told her so. ...

A Novel Creation: Breakfast Cookies If you’ve been following my blog you know I am writing a novel and letting anyone interested follow along. In my book, Sonja, a young entrepreneur has purchased a coffee shop in Door County, Wisconsin. Sonja had big ideas. The fancy biscotti and prepackaged muffins do not go over well and she turns to a family favorite recipe for cookies. I have made these cookies and they are great. Since my post about the cookies, I have had people ask me for the recipe. So here is the basic recipe. These cookies are good plain, but you may want to try a few variations as Sonja has done, such as adding butterscotch morsels or almonds. Have fun and if you haven’t already joined my blog, now is a good time to start. I post my current word count as I push toward my 80,000 word goal every Wednesday. I will post additional recipes from Sonja on Fridays. Sonja’s Breakfast Cookies Great with coffee!   Cream together:  ...

My book is really coming along now. Sonja is beginning to realize the fancy biscotti and gourmet cookies she wanted to order from a company in California may not be the best choice to serve at the coffee shop. She had no intention to bake anything herself but concedes it may be more affordable and perhaps more desirable. She remembers cookies her mother used to bake. They were called breakfast cookies. They are really delicious. I know because my mother used to make them, too.   So Sonja e-mailed her mother asking about the recipe. I e-mailed my mom, too. My mother called me with the instructions. It took a while for her to unearth it from her storehouse of handwritten cards and cookbooks. It had been a few years since I had made the cookies. I knew I needed to do that before I could have Sonja make them. After talking with my mom I realized I had most of the ingredients. I just needed to pick up a box of cornflakes. Yes, these cookies have two kinds of cereal in them. Henc...

If you’ve been reading my posts, you already know a little about Joe and Shirley, the original owners of the Door County coffee shop called Shirley’s Cuppa Joe . You know the couple has had to face some health issues. Shirley found a lump on her breast. I expected some health concerns when I started writing the story. At first I thought perhaps Joe had a heart condition. He is in his seventies. Not an unlikely story. I know quite a bit about heart issues men face. My own husband had his first heart attack when he was 47 years old. Well, I discovered this past week that Joe is diabetic. No, the doctor didn’t tell me. I learned it in a rather unusual way. Last fall I wrote two freelance pieces for the Home Health Aide Digest. The first was on medicines used during hospice care and the second was about the safe lifting and transfer of stroke patients. I really didn’t know much about either one, but used my resources and research skills to deliver the articles. A fe...

I have a daughter who lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin. We love to visit her there. We have enjoyed vacationing with Danielle and her little family in Door County. The peninsula juts out into Lake Michigan. The interior of the peninsula reminds me of my early years on a dairy farm, but the communities along the shore of Lake Michigan draw the visitor into a setting that is part resort and part quaint village life.   Lake Michigan is huge. I grew up in Florida. I am used to looking out over beautiful freshwater lakes,  most of which are puddles compared to the Great Lakes. When I stand on the shores of Lake Michigan I feel almost as though I am standing on the edge of the ocean, except the water isn’t salty and pine trees rather than palm trees line the water’s edge. The air is a bit cooler as well. Door County is beautiful and offers me as a writer a defined area to unwrap my story. I have a map of Wisconsin and Door County I picked up while on vacation but I ca...