When an enthusiastic, dedicated author has a new book published to great reviews, it’s time to celebrate! That’s why it was so much fun to join Lisa Dale, a creative young romance writer, at the Fine Grind coffee bar for a reading of her third novel, Slow Dancing on Price’s Pier. The setting was perfect — not just because Lisa actually once worked at the Fine Grind, but because her stint there helped inspire her new novel, which is set in a coffee shop in Newport.

Slow Dancing is a “second chance at love” tale of tangled relationships and steamy cups of cappuccino that sounds tailor-made for summer reading and dreaming. There’s even a pair of flip flops on the cover! I’m looking forward to pulling out my suntan lotion and diving in. Who doesn’t love a good romance?

Part of the fun of attending a reading is learning about someone else’s passions — (since we’re all writers and aspiring writers here, let me rephrase that: hearing about other people’s obsessions!) Actually, to be a writer, I think you need to be obsessive — it comes with the territory.

In any case, Lisa is a lover of coffee lore — and she’s poured a lot of it into Slow Dancing on Price’s Pier. To share some of this is an entertaining way, she uses an artful framing device: the main character, Thea, writes a coffee column. So woven into the story is a light-hearted look at how coffee and cafes enrich our lives and relationships. Clever idea!

To write one novel and get it published is big news. To build a following in a genre with three novels is really worth celebrating! Lisa’s very generous in sharing her advice and experience on getting published — she’s even put together a terrific free ebook called, 10 Simple Facts that Can Make or Break Your Author Blog. You can find it and a tantalizing excerpt from Slow Dancing on Price’s Pier at http://www.lisadalebooks.com. Congratulations, Lisa — and write on!