Complimentary Coffee…A Writer’s Tale of Tires, Coffee, & Words

Once upon a time, I quit my day job to become a full time author and just when I thought I had the world by the balls…I hit the dreaded writer’s block.

It was devastating. I tried everything to get out of my funk, but nothing was working!

Then one day, I took my car in for new tires at Tires Tires Tires and magically blasted out like 5,000 words in their fabulous waiting room. It was incredible. Complimentary coffee that was actually delicious, comfortable seating, free cookies, friendly staff. I had found my mother ship!

That night, I told my sister of my great fortunes and she said, “You should go back! Don’t let the momentum stop! I need an oil change…take my car in!”

So I did.

MORE WORDS!

I was on a high and so darn grateful that the words I’d been struggling to find had alas arrived, so I thought…why don’t I just sneak in one more time? Surely my art is more important than the fact that I’m not an actual paying customer. I can totally blend in with the paying customers.

So I did.

And while the words flowed and the coffee tasted scrumptious, I knew I couldn’t do this again. I have a guilty conscience…(and I’m 5’11″…how much blending was I really accomplishing?).

So I took to Facebook to share my woes like any self-respecting millennial…and then I got the offer of a lifetime:

A thousand times yes! So I took my friend’s car in. Yes, it was painfully awkward walking in. Yes, those guys at the customer service counter were giving me a look like I’m going to boil a bunny at any moment, but I didn’t care! I had the keys to a car that needed an oil change! So what if the oil change took 40 minutes and I was there for 6 hours. My author community was cheering me on! One even wrote a fan fiction piece about me, complete with its very own cover!

Then our other car was due for an oil change. Then my other sister needed her oil changed! Back I went and all of this madness got some attention on Facebook and at one point, my friends pulled an awful prank of sending a fake invoice to my house that nearly had me stroking out.

But not even New York Times bestselling author, Jana Aston, having pizza delivered to me in the waiting room was going to shake my love of Tires Tires Tires.

Devastation struck when I ran out of sisters, friends, and oil changes. However, with the last oil change, I had a delightfully awkward exchange with the kind gentleman that had helped me out 5 of the 6 times I had been there as a paying customer. He seemed somewhat amused of my tale and said he’d have to let the manager know of it. I didn’t get the feeling I was in trouble, but I wasn’t sure what to expect.

What I got…was more than I could have ever hoped for:

Not only did TTT not file a restraining order, they basically rolled out the red carpet for me!

I felt like JK Rowling waltzing into her favorite coffee shop post-Harry Potter series!

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any more spectacular, Tires Tires Tires decided to make me their official writer in residence!

Now I can come back and write all my smutty words without bringing a car in (because let’s face it, I only know so many people that need oil changes and I was starting to sound a bit desperate to the neighbors).

After all of that, my agent was like, “Amy, why are you not writing a romantic comedy about this experience. It would be hilarious!”

After lots of hemming and hawing, I decided to sit down and just see if that story flowed as good as the complimentary coffee…well, flow it did because 13 days later, I had a full length novel called Wait With Me about an erotic romance novelist who sneaks into a Tire Depot waiting room to write and gets busted by a sexy mechanic. The guys at Tires Tires Tires were thrilled and even let me do the cover photoshoot in the TTT garage.

It was then that the real fun began. Buzzfeed caught wind of this story, then ScaryMommy, and Babble. And InspireMore! I was even featured on the morning news in Phoenix!

It was a whirlwind romance between a tire shop and a romance novelist that everyone was enjoying. But I’m sure by now you’re all wondering, WHAT IS THE BLOODY POINT OF ALL OF THIS!?

There isn’t a point. This isn’t some publicity stunt. Tires Tires Tires isn’t paying me to talk about them (though who can put a price tag on complimentary coffee and swag?). I just found my happy writing place in a tire shop waiting room and decided to tell people about it. And with all the sad stories in the news, the thousands of things that get us down in life, sometimes, you just need to open up Facebook and have a laugh at a weird author appreciating the little things in life…like complimentary coffee. ☕

It’s complimentary.

UPDATE: Wait With Me released on March 20, 2018 and soared up into the Amazon Top 25 bestselling kindle books! Wait With Me has since been option for film by Passionflix with production to hopefully start in 2021.

Daws had a book signing at Tires Tires Tires and there was definitely free cookies and coffee. ☺️

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Amy Daws is an Amazon Top 13 bestselling author of romantic comedies. She’s most known for Harris Brothers Series featuring her punny, footy-playing, British playboys. When Amy’s not writing, she’s watching Gilmore Girls or singing karaoke in the living room with her daughter while Daddy awkward-smiles from a distance. For more of Amy’s work, visit: www.amydawsauthor.com

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