Saturday, November 7, 2009

How Do You Like Your Coffee?

This is Valerie Comer. Here in Canada the appropriate answer to the above question is, "I like my Coffee Crisp." This does not refer to leaving a mug of the brew outside in winter and having it freeze over. Instead, it has to do with our world-famous chocolate bar. (Nope, not a candy bar--we're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. Literally!)



Like the Coffee Crisp bar, Canadians come in various layers, most of which are quite similar to American layers, just put together in a unique way and marketed differently to the rest of the world. We have our prairies, we have our seacoasts, we have our mountains, and we have our frozen north, much the same as the USA does. The scenery in northern Idaho and northwestern Montana is just as gorgeous as where I live right next door in the Kootenay region of British Columbia. You be the judge. This photo was taken last November about four miles from my house:



Canadians are also 'layered' in similar ethnic groups, professions, and lifestyles as Americans, so you probably won't find books by Canadians set in Canadian locations to seem particularly foreign. You'll find us no harder to understand than catfish noodlers from Louisiana or elk ranchers from Idaho, for example.

If you're not Canadian AND you have never tried a Coffee Crisp chocolate bar AND you are one of the first six qualified commenters on this post, I'll be happy to mail you a sample of this tasty confection, anywhere in the world. Please leave your partially disguised email address in the comment if you'd like to enter and I'll contact you for your mailing address.

Valerie Comer writes contemporary romance set in British Columbia, Canada, as well as fantasy set in uncharted dimensions. Her day job is split between flooring sales and writing. She lives on a small farm in Canada with her husband, an energetic puppy, two hives of bees, and a herd of Herefords. Visit her website and blog here to find out more about the various writing projects she has in progress.

15 comments:

  1. Those old coffee crisp ads have stuck in my mind, Valerie. I never hear the phrase "how do you like your coffee?" without wanting to answer, "crisp."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Valerie, I haven't had the pleasure of visiting Canada (on my travel wish list) or tasting your famous Coffee Crisp bar. Thanks for sharing your beautiful part of the world with us :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Coffee Crisp is my DH's favourite! :) thanks for the post, Val.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now I wonder how they compare to Aussie TimTams, Valerie. Did you by any chance try one at our table during the book-signing in Denver? But I'm trying not to eat such delicious, but fattening, biscuits - as we call them here. Big sigh. Was great meeting you and now learning more from your post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alice and Marcia--Coffee Crisps are a favorite of my sisters who live out of the country. Otherwise I mightn't have known they weren't available elsewhere.

    Narelle and Mary, you're on my list to receive a sample. Email your mailing address to valerie [at] valeriecomer [dot] com and I'll send some mini-bars out your way. Mary, yes I did enjoy one of your candies in Denver, but I honestly don't remember if they were similar or not.

    Anyone else? There are still more where those came from :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the coffee crisp joke! Since moving to the USA we miss Canadian chocolate bars...Eatmore, Aero, Mr.Big, Smarties, Crispy Crunch...not that we ever ate them often, but when you can't get them you tend to miss them more!! lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had no idea that we created the coffee crisp, Valerie. I'm so unfamiliar with my own country, it's scary, really

    ReplyDelete
  8. Valerie, I'm a Canadian who loves Coffee Crisps so I don't qualify -- but I too didn't know they were "only in Canada". The new type with peanut butter in them... wow.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love Coffee Crisp! Eat them all summer, along with Tim Bits, Creullers and Tim Hortons Coffee. Canada eh?
    I'd like to hear more about the publishing scene in Canada. Are there any Christian pubs who are doing fiction?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love your post, Valerie. Always enjoy reading about the interesting things on where people live!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Interesting post, Valerie. Thanks for sharing something different about your country. Loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lisa and Lee, if you're qualifiers, please email me your mailing address at the above email addy. Thanks!

    Cath, thanks for the question about Christian Canadian publishing. I think that will be a topic for another blog post :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fantastic post and GREAT idea for a blog. Thanks for the invite. This is going to be regular for me. I'm intrigued by the lives of writers in other countries and far-off lands.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Valerie, coffee crisp or black or sometimes even cold...the MUST drink for Virginians. My thinly disguised character in "What A Christmas!" is something of a coffee-holic and she's only ten! We don't do much dunking down here in the south but we sure know how to pair up coffee with chocolate. Y'all come, you hear? :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've never heard of these. But then I've never been to Canada.

    ReplyDelete