Welcome to my weekly(ish) love note to the wordy world of things that go bump in the night, and my dream of one day owning a coffee shop. The Grimoire Cafe here on my website is the closest I’m likely to ever get, so thank you for going on this book date with me.

If you visited the cafe on our previous platform, Substack, thanks for finding us in our new digs and understanding our need to move off a platform that condones hate speech. We don’t stand for that kind of negativity at The Grimoire. You, faithful reader, deserve better.

From this point onward, I’ll be making posts here on a weekly(ish) basis (sometimes I have to take breaks, and you should too.) If you subscribe, you’ll get my posts delivered right to your inbox. Just make sure to move this and future emails into your primary inbox to help the email gremlins know where to put my letters in the future (they have a tendency to drop them into Spam or Promotions.)

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Now, a little about the Grimoire Cafe, the haunted coffee shop at which you have found yourself.

The Grimoire Cafe

First off, ignore the vampire sipping “coffee” in the corner. He’s harmless.

The Grimoire Cafe is nestled into a converted shop space that once belonged to a group of vampires. The building is very old, made of brick, with tall, mullioned windows flanking a blue, six-panel door that creaks when you open it. The thick, deep scent of coffee envelopes you with your first inhale, but there’s a soft, lovely edge of musty book to the scent as well, which you’ll notice with subsequent breaths but quickly fades to the background of attention.

In front of you is a cafe dominated by an intimidatingly large bar in deep, dark brown wood that covers the entire back wall. It’s carved details are polished to a shine, including the faces of cherubs and demons peering out at you from beneath the counter, and the tops of the shelves. Mismatched chairs and side tables dot the periphery. Some are old wingback style, others more modern, mid-century club chairs (and everything in between) all in mellow, deep, and dusty shades. The floor is stained cement, cracked in places and epoxied with care like Kintsugi pottery, more beautiful for the imperfection. Rugs lay across the cement in places, delineating space.

Behind the bar, the coffee machine is hissing while a woman with gauged ears, and a black, blunt-banged bob is creating hot beverages so good they should be considered works of art. Her name is Courtney, but we call her Tini. She’s very good at seeing assholes out and welcoming good energy in. Behind her, the wall of shelves that once held bottles of liquor is now lined with books, old and new, alongside bottles of house-made coffee syrups and canisters of craft sugars, coffee beans, and spices.

From time to time, movement catches your attention from the corner of your eye, but when you turn, all you see is the framed art that lines the walls—a rotating collection by local artists, available to buy for the discerning and amateur collector alike.

You might see someone you recognize at the Grimoire Cafe—an author you’ve heard of, or a character you’ve met in a book. Most weeks, there’s a drink special that’s always worth trying. The recipe will be featured at the bottom of these emails so you can order it at your favorite local coffee joint, or make it at home. We don’t keep secrets here. Coffee, like books, is for sharing.

Thank you for going on this book date at a haunted cafe. My hope is that the Grimoire Cafe becomes as much a respite for you as it has for me.

With love,