Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Writer's Block

Sunday, April 27, 2025

HOW WRITER'S BLOCK INSPIRED OUR NEW MYSTERY by Cleo Coyle + Book & Tote #Giveaway #Spotlight

Once a month, each of us here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen takes a turn stepping into the spotlight. This month is our turn, and Marc and I decided to shine a little of that light onto our creative process.

Nearly every writer stalls, panics, and wrestles with self-doubt at one time or another. But here’s the question of the day. Can a writer’s struggles lead to a deadly end? Reverse the words writer’s block to blocked writer—as in thwarted, stymied, stonewalled—and you may have an even stronger motive for murder. At least, that’s what my husband and I pondered as we set out to pen our latest murder mystery.

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

series with her husband.
To learn more, click here.

Ironically, though the thought of the dreaded "writer’s block" has sent fear into the hearts of many a scribe, that same literary affliction has also propelled entertaining plotlines in novels and films. There’s The Shining, of course; more recently The Plot; and the Nicolas Cage film Adaptation to name a few. In all of those stories writer's block eventually led to murder, and we were similarly inspired as we sat down to write.

Given our looming deadline, we stared at blank screens for a time and then—EUREKA!—our stalled progress itself became the inspiration...

The idea of writer’s block felt perfect for our Coffeehouse Mystery series. After all, coffee itself is known as "writer’s fuel," and the notion of writers scribbling (or procrastinating) in coffeehouses has been around about as long as there’ve been coffeehouses.

And so we were off and running, crashing through our own creative wall with the battering ram of writer’s block itself. Now the ideas were flowing. We saw our amateur sleuth—single mom and coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi—facing the devastating problem of sluggish foot traffic in her landmark Greenwich Village shop, the Village Blend...

How does Clare solve her problem? With the help of her loyal crew of baristas who suggest turning her shop’s second floor into a "Writer’s Block Lounge," something her century-old coffeehouse once embraced, only to abandon when something dark occurred. Although that history is shrouded in mystery, Clare agrees to the idea of resurrecting a space for writers. And it works. Maybe too well.

A quirky collection of creative types is soon packing both floors of Clare’s coffee shop. Unfortunately, many of these poets, playwrights, and novelists wrestle with the same demons of self-doubt, envy, and free-floating anxiety that many of us writers do, and as the pages turn in No Roast for the Weary, this stressful soup leads to murder.

Given our own two decades of experience with the exhilarating highs and gut-twisting lows of the creative process, we took to the idea of writer’s block with zeal but also empathy. Layered into our amateur sleuth’s quest for the truth behind several serious crimes (both past and present) are real and hilarious truths about the writing life, truths we know from our long experience living and working as professional writers in New York City.

Image courtesy giphy & @VirginAtlantic

Until our full-time careers as authors kicked into gear, we spent years working day jobs while writing on the side, which is why we know how crazy, inspiring, and exhausting life in the arts can be (yep, No Roast for the Weary), especially here in NYC, and we weaved some of that oddball knowledge into our newest Coffeehouse title.

At the close of our tale, we even included a short list of our favorite ways to combat writer’s block. Who knows, the tips may help inspire our fellow authors, if not prevent another deadly end. So, join us and hold on for this one. No Roast for the Weary is one heck of a caffeinated ride, and we hope you enjoy it.