Coffeeland. It's a nice place to visit but...

I'm feeling guilty. See, I am a proud tea drinker. I drink cups and cups of it. Iced in the summer, hot in the spring, fall and winter, and it's an important part of my writing routine. Snuggling into the corner of the couch with my laptop and a steaming mug of Chamomile ready to lose myself in my story. It's the perfect afternoon. (Hence the starring role of the steaming mug on the homepage of my website.)

Today, however I wrote at Panera. Panera, home of yummy soup, yummy salads and free wi-fi, is my second favorite place to write. And settling into a booth near an outlet with a steaming paper cup of Honey Ginseng is also quite cozy. But today, when I walked into Panera I saw this.


It's a pumpkin spice latte. As I am a lover of all things Fall, I couldn't resist the lure of pumpkin.

Jazzed up on mega-caffeine from the shot of espresso, and completely unused to such stimulation, my hyped-up brain and fingers pounded out close to two thousand words of my novel! I'm suddenly understanding why so many writers out there are coffee drinkers.

As fun as today was, and it was perfect for the exciting climax scene I was working on, I'm still not a coffee gal. There's no lingering, no dreaminess when writing with coffee. So while I may occasionally sip some Java, I'll always be a tea girl at heart.

Okay, now you tell me. What's your beverage of choice?