Rebecca Waters is our guest on The Story behind the Story this week. Please welcome her to the blog. Before we get going, let’s find out more about her book, Libby’s Cuppa Joe.

Excited to leave her stale life in the big city behind, Sonja takes the money her grandmother left her and purchases Libby’s Cuppa Joe, a thriving coffee shop in a small community in Wisconsin’s Door County. Sonja may have business sense but is she really ready to face the world on her own?

Sonja soon discovers owning a business requires more than offering a good cup of coffee. She must make major repairs to the building as well as major repairs to her own heart. Do the former owners, Libby and Joe hold the answer? As Sonja seeks to make Libby’s Cuppa Joe a viable business, can she also find herself and the God she has abandoned?

Oh, a story set in Door County! I love that place. Tell us what inspired you to write the book.

Like many novels, Libby’s Cuppa Joe began with a “what if “ question. My daughter Danielle and I wandered into a bookstore overlooking the water in a small town in Wisconsin where she lives. As we looked through the dusty assortment of paperbacks, the proprietor of the store offered us a cup of coffee. She was a young woman near my daughter’s age so they began talking. The woman spoke of selling the store. She had a newborn without the benefit of a husband. The baby was keeping her up at night. It was hard. Her mother would come for a week or two, but otherwise she was trying to do this on her own.

She was a lost and broken woman. Danielle prayed with her. We bought a couple of books and left wishing we could do more. Danielle was married and had children of her own. Neither of us could imagine the hardships this young woman faced. She had made one right choice, we decided. She had not had an abortion. We left the area the next day, but that young woman wasn’t far from my mind.

While visiting Danielle, I’ve had several opportunities to explore areas near Lake Michigan. One of my favorite places is Door County. The peninsula offers beautiful vistas from quaint villages and parks. Once, while poking around the village of Fish Creek, the story of the bookstore owner and this small town came together. I began the “what if” story in my mind. What if that woman had lived in Fish Creek? What if she met believers who demonstrated God’s love and forgiveness? I named her Sonja and figured out a way for her to find faith, hope, and love in Door County.

Rebecca Waters has been a writer most of her life. Her first published work was a short story in the school newspaper she wrote in second grade. For many years Rebecca used her stories as illustrations in school and church settings or to entertain her own three daughters. Her professional writing included educational articles and research. Following her retirement as a professor of education from Cincinnati Christian University, Rebecca turned her pen to the world of fiction. She has also published several articles in Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Lookout Magazine, and Home Health Aide Digest. Her first novel, Breathing on Her Own, was released in 2014.

Rebecca is giving away an ebook copy of Libby’s Cuppa Joe. To enter, follow the directions below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for joining us, Rebecca!