Waterloo, November 3, 2021—When local author Lori Wolf-Heffner first approached George Broughton at All Things Tea in Belmont Village, it was to inquire about branded tea bags for free giveaways to help her sell a young adult series. But when the pandemic hit, she shifted to romance, a genre that sold better online. She created Love on Belmont, which centres around a fictional tea shop in Belmont Village.
“I’m a sucker for Hallmark and Netflix romance movies,” says Wolf-Heffner, “but I like to write with a little more substance. Plus, when I start something new, like a new genre, I also start closer to home.”
That meant several things, including incorporating the performing arts as a way of healing the heart, and creating a character with a form of epilepsy similar to Wolf-Heffner’s.
But the story is far from autobiographical. To begin with, Wolf-Heffner rarely drank black tea. A Trekkie since the 90s, she’d only ever tried bagged Earl Grey out of fandom love. “I also avoided most forms of caffeine because of my seizures. I understood it wasn’t good for them.”
Except that writing a romance series that centred around a tea shop would be difficult with limited tea-drinking experience. However, green tea had never caused an issue with her seizures, and she could never find a definitive answer on the question of how much caffeine really was in a cup of black tea.
Broughton was offering home delivery by this time, so he recommended a Ceylon, Darjeeling, and Keemun. “By my second cup, I was hooked,” says Wolf-Heffner. “And thankfully, the seizures have been fine.”
“Tea is a storyteller in and of itself, having such ancient roots,” says Broughton. “It has been a sheer joy to grow a friendship with Lori as she continues her tea journey. The fact that we are able to lend each other support with Belmont Village as the backdrop makes it extra special.”
Love on Belmont so far includes three short stories, the first of which was released virtually at the 2020 Bestival, and the first full-length novel, Tea Shop for Two, which will be released November 25th. Media images are available here.
Further novels will feature other fictional stores but always come back to Claire’s Tea Shop.
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Contact: Lori (Wolf-Heffner) Straus
Email: loristraus@loristraus.com
Phone (7:30AM-10PM): (519) 503-7098
Website: www.loriwolfheffner.com