Author Tammy Gerhard shares her experience in writing “Cocoa Hugs and Coffee Mugs:
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Tammy Gerhard is a wife, mom, friend, author, speaker, mentor, and certified school counselor. She resides in Manchester, CT, where she co-owns a coffee shop in the center of town.
She lives out her “Love Coffee Love People” motto every day as she encourages those with whom she crosses paths to walk through life with kindness and joy, and to care well for their communities.
“About me, the shop and the book…”
I am one of four owners of a specialty coffee shop in the center of our town. In my role, I am in charge of Community Engagement and Charitable Giving and LOVE COFFEE LOVE PEOPLE is the motto I’ve used to share that vision since we opened in October 2016. We have a “needs board” in the back of the shop where people share both prayer and practical needs on cards and others in the community can come take a card and meet their need. It’s been amazing watching the connections and the care that happens because of that board!
The idea for the story came from this concept: If someone doesn’t love coffee, can they still love the people around them? Out of this, “Cocoa Hugs and Coffee Mugs”, was created to affirm that no matter one’s preferences anyone can demonstrate love to their community through simple acts of joy and kindness right where they are!
I chose Hiruni Kariyawasam, a gifted illustrator from Sri Lanka, to illustrate my book. I had seen other books she’d illustrated and had fallen in love with her technique. She specializes in hand-sketched, hand-painted watercolor designs and I was excited that she agreed to invest her time and talent into bringing my words to life in such a special way. I could not be more thankful for her willingness to work with me on this project and bring my characters to life! Hiruni shared these thoughts about the project:
“Cocoa Hugs and Coffee Mugs” What a delightful title! This story is incredibly sweet and talks about love and community. Working with all the characters in the book was one of my favorite experiences as the illustrator of this lovely story… It was a great pleasure to contribute to this sweet book!
Cocoa’s Coloring Page…
If you know what this means
— Tammy Gerhard