Blog Tour!

Homeboy Jory of Literary Magpie asked me to take part in this virtual blog tour. Jory and I met over drinks among mutual friends a few years ago. He's a talented poet, I'm a tattooed lady, and those two things ended up resulting in a poem (scroll to the bottom to see). I hope you take a few moments to wander over to his blog and check-in on his badassery. Now on with the interview!

What are you working on?

To get this blog launched I've been working on a lot of cocktail recipes. My next step will probably be to go focus a bit on ingredients and clarify some often confusing aspects of making cocktails at home, like "How much do I need to spend on a good bottle of gin?" or "What the hell are bitters?"

Cocktail recipes are never far from my mind, however! The recipe I'll most likely be tackling next is a Pride and Prejudice-inspired cocktail, "The Lizzy."

How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I'd say my work differs from others in its genre in a few main ways. Firstly, cocktails inspired by nerdy/geeky things are often sugar and caffeine-laden recipes for hangover disaster. I want to blend my love of a good story with my love of a really good drink. I also just haven't seen anyone else as obsessive about creating nerdy cocktails as I am, so... I guess that's something?

In addition to providing recipes (and their backgrounds), I'll be putting together complete guides to enjoying drinks and stories with other people. Want to throw a Buffy-themed party, but not really sure where to start? I'll have drinks, snacks and an episode-watching guide to make it easy and fun. I'm an introverted lady, but I also think that nerdy things don't have to be solo-pursuits! It's fun to share with friends.

Why do you write what you do?

I make nerdy cocktails. I've been concocting them for years, and it just recently occurred to me that maybe I should be documenting and sharing that. I get a lot of joy from creating things, and cocktails are no exception. Plus I get the added benefit of something to drink when I'm done!

I want to introduce the layperson to simple-yet-impressive things one can do with alcohol  (like making your own liqueur or blending your own gin, for example). I spend a lot of time in my small business working hard to uncover and demystify local history, so it feels natural to do the same thing with liquor.

How does your writing process work?

My process begins with a character or important piece of a story that I'd like to build a recipe from. I recently put together a recipe inspired by BBC's Sherlock series, deciding that I really wanted to start with one of the most important characters of the show: 221b Baker Street, Sherlock and John's London flat (you can get access to that cocktail by subscribing to my email list, by the way).

Once I have my inspiration, I take note of important details that would lead me to the right drink. It seemed only natural to have 221b be a hot tea cocktail, for example. I have a knack for dreaming up an idea, and then I test it until I get it right. I take photos and notes at every step so that I can accurately describe what something should look like while another person is making it. The result is part prose, part technical writing.

Please check out the following writers, who are also participating in this great blog tour:

Ginny and Jess of Sacred Return

Jessica Renner is a communications professional who has worked with businesses and nonprofits at local and national levels for over fifteen years. She founded Studiohatch, a boutique communications firm, in 2001 and in 2012 she opened a second business representing Rodan + Fields Dermatologists. She’s also fascinated with energy work and is a certified Reiki Master Teacher.

Ginny Lang has worked professionally with nonprofit organizations for more than two decades. She is a trainer, speaker, coach and consultant through her firm, Lang Consulting. For the last several years, that’s been the whole story. Then the resurrection of a lifetime interest and a two day Tarot workshop lit a spark that led her and Jessica to start Sacred Return, regular workshops where Myth, Magic, Ritual and Pop meet to celebrate the changing seasons. Learn more at

Latisha of Petal and Moss

Latisha is a mama, an artist and an herb farmer. A little bit fairy, a little bit witch she delights in the juxtaposed, the contradictory, the paradoxical. She spends her time fondling nettles, homeschooling her two girls and learning how to live for a living. You can find her at

Mat Hudson, a.k.a. Orphan Elliott

Mat Hudson grew up on the murky waters of the River Raisin, and now resides deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Mat often wishes he could grow a beard of his veryown. He likes long falls through extensive caves, inventing new worlds with friends and writing author info in the third person. Feast your eyes on his fantastic work at


Oh, and that poem by Jory I mentioned earlier? Feast your eyes:

Her Tattoo as a Book of Light by Jory Mickelson, published in Ghost Ocean Magazine (Issue 3, January, 2011)

The half turned blinds cast shadows across her eyes—darkened, her voice rises and falls against the noise of the bar. The strongest men swim to the bottom of the river and drag waterlogged burlap sacks to shore. One of them will be filled with coins. The women write messages and tie them to stones, sinking words against the current. What questions do they ask? The man who drowned with his dun-colored horse fell faster than night or stones or light from the road into the river’s mud and stuck; the horses legs kick like rushes. Floating away are packets of seeds, pages of a book and one white scarf with blue flowers stitched in. A gold watch chain flashes and vanishes. A page being eaten by water asks what is ruin? then answers I will. I will.