After just posting on how overjoyed I was to find a great new writing place – Darrin’s Coffee Company in Zionsville, Indiana – I arrived there last week with my computer and a stack of books to be met with a sign: CLOSED.
Closed? How could my writing place be closed? Another Darrin’s customer arrived and stood next to me, staring at the sign. Neither of us knew anything but we shared a bunch of maybe-this, maybe-that’s.
I crossed the street to the Black Dog Book Store (still going strong!) and asked if Darrin’s would be re-opening…if this was just a glitch…please tell me it’s just a glitch.
It’s closed and it won’t be reopening, I was told. Something about rent issues.
I am crestfallen, dejected, downhearted…and wandering again!
A writer’s life is so challenging!
If you know of any potentially great places to write near Zionsville, Indiana, please let me know!
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My Previous Post from Early February….
In Zionsville, Indiana, across the street from the Black Dog Bookstore and up a flight of stairs is a place called Darrin’s Coffee Company. I stumbled on it with a friend a few weeks ago and knew immediately that I had finally found a place to rival the Bagel Shop (which I had to leave behind when Carl and I moved away from Richmond, Indiana last year). Rough brick walls, scratched-up wood floor, wide tables, free internet, no pressure to eat and be gone…it’s a writer’s heaven!
On a visit earlier this week, a guitarist showed up to play for a group of mothers and pre-schoolers. I sat in my chosen corner and wrote happily. On any given morning the tables fill up and then thin out. I sit in my chosen corner and write. Carl comes and joins me for lunch. We eat, he leaves; I go back to writing. There’s an ambience and a rhythm to places like this; there are people like me sitting at other tables that I will probably come to know over the weeks to come…not necessarily by name but by the time of day they arrive and by the table they prefer. These places can be a bit like church. Once you stake out your spot, it’s not technically yours but heaven help the interloper who has the audacity to sit there!
I am hoping this is the beginning of a long and productive relationship.
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Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge, Author
Biography | View
- Just Fine They Way They Are (Calkins Creek, March 1, 2011)
- The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton (Clarion Books, 2010)
- Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson! (Holiday House, 2005; Berndtsdotter Books, 2012)
- When Esther Morris Headed West (Holiday House, 2001)
- The Legend of Strap Buckner (Holiday House, 2001)
- Wicked Jack (Holiday House, 1995)
Speaker / Presenter
Connie is an experienced speaker and presenter who enjoys sharing her passion for writing and her experience as a writer with readers and writers of all ages. She has presented to students, community, civic and professional organizations, writing groups, library audiences, and seniors – wherever book lovers gather!
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