The Writers Journey

 Secrets Cafe

Think of your favorite bar and the many nights spent there listening to live music, hanging with your friends, dancing, laughing, and having a good time. This was your home away from home. It was "Where everybody knew your name." 

When I moved back to Utah, I left behind my friends, some wonderful hangouts, and many good (and bad) memories. One night, I sat down at my laptop and decided to write a story, a love letter to Seattle and my friends in Washington State.

My main character is Georgia, who suffers from trust issues and a broken heart. I based her on who I thought I could have been if I lived in Seattle. I gave her my job and my love of writing in notebooks. I gave her my heartache. 

When I created the character Mike, I remembered my friend T and I having drinks at Applebee's one night. We were seated on one side of the bar, and two young men were on the other. They kept eyeballing us. T suggested ordering bananas and B52 shots with cream. We took the bananas, dipped them in cream, licked them, and nibbled at the sides. The reaction when the banana broke in half was priceless. I put Mike in this situation. He grew from the conflicted emotions inside him.

Nina was created from every hot and sexy femme fatale I could imagine. They always display such boldness, such confidence, but what if my femme fatale met her match? How would she handle it?

Elan ... oh my gosh, how I love Elan. In a sense, Elan is my idea of my former partner and what she would have been like in her twenties. Elan is cocky, strong, and yet inside she is scared. She is fiercely loyal and protective. When she meets Jess, she falls head over heels and has to deal with her personal issues. Can she learn to love?

Todd is a dreamer, an artist, and a good guy. He cradles his broken heart and hides the pain in his lyrics. I based his chapter on a song I loved, "Sometime After Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event. If you haven't heard it, Google it.

Jess was going to be a secondary character, but her pure strength took over, and she grew into her own. I couldn't let her sit on the backside. She deserved more.

Thomas is based on my dear friend Thomas, who was a Drag Queen. In real life, Thomas is still searching for love. In my story, he is Georgia's best friend and confidant. He plays a minor part in book one, but in book two ... well, I could give it away, but I'd rather you read how his story turns out.

And then there is Secret. I took all of the emotional vampires I have met, all of the narcissistic, manipulative assholes, the liars, the game-players  ... I rolled them into one hot mess and wrapped a red warning around her neck. How do you pay someone back? You create a character. :) Hell hath no fury like imagination.

But, the backbone of the entire story, the "Second" common thread, is Seattle. I love Seattle. I love Pikes Place, Pioneer Square, the Ballet, the Opera, the stores, the restaurants, bars, music, the smell of the ocean, the seagulls crying overhead, the Seahawk and Mariners stadiums, the Space Needle, the art galleries, the bay, the ferries ... oh my gosh, there is so much to love about this city. I fell in love with Seattle the first time I saw her sitting like a jewel by the bay. I wanted to pay her homage.  I wanted to bring her to life. I wanted to walk her streets in my imagination and feel like I was there. I hope I did her justice.

Secrets Cafe is a love story about a small group of people who are connected through the bar they hang out at and the city they love, but they don't know they are connected in another way. After all, life needs a bit of mystery—a little something to (hopefully) keep you, the reader, turning the page.