For an author, research can be a blessing or a bane.
When I was writing Grounds for Murder, it was definitely a blessing. The book is about a heroine who runs a café, which means I’ve done a ton of coffee research while writing.
Obviously, this was the best part of the process.
In my city of St. Petersburg, Florida, there’s an amazing thing called the Craft Coffee Tour, where a coffee expert takes groups to various cafes around town and explains the brewing process and various blends.
These were the pre-pandemic days, so I rounded up my husband and we went one Saturday morning. We hit three cafes, drank tons of coffee, and learned about various blends and beans. Every new detail sparked a possibility for a plot point in my series.
Later, I sat down with the tour host and discussed various issues and conflicts that a cafe owner would face. It was invaluable, and I hope to take the tour again, post-pandemic, to visit new cafes and mine the research for future books.
If you’re ever in St. Pete, check out the tour here: St. Pete’s Craft Coffee Tours.
~~ Tara Lush
