Welcome back to The Cauldron! (Hibbity pibbity, pox and plum!)

The summer is nearly over, and thus… magic approaches!

If you’re in the Midwest, you’ll find me getting witchy and serving potions at the 2nd Annual Labyrinth Celebration, August 26-27 in Detroit. The event is a mash-up shadow cast performance, costume contest, and masked ball for fans of David Bowie and Jim Henson’s bizarre and eerily sexy 80’s film collaboration, which I believe contributed directly to me becoming the queer witchy weirdo I am today. I’ve designed original cocktails and a mocktail for this event.

This one’s called Jareth’s Crystal Balls. If you know, you know…

Jareth’s Crystal Balls: gin, jasmine syrup, lemon juice, and orange blossom water

It’s been a wild ride preparing for the Labyrinth Celebration. Sometimes there are limitations when you’re working with a nonprofit organized by volunteers. Sometimes you call a zillion distilleries but they’ve never heard of this Labyrinth movie thing/are too busy drinking to call you back. In the end, you prevail! The show must go on! But everything that derives from passion—every little thing—is always more complex than you think.

Being a potions goddess is exhausting. My eyes are closed because I’m freakin’ tired!

The story behind this photo: last September I published an essay in HuffPost about a disastrous nude photo shoot. Photographer Sarah Marcella responded to me, promising me a worthy boudoir do-over that would make all my goddess-y dreams come true. Reader, she did not disappoint. For the past year, Sarah has been traveling the country photographing women and nonbinary folks at their most divine, in the presence of Nature, at a pay-what-you-can rate. For me, she drove her big ass boudie bus all the way to Michigan. Behold the safe-for-work version of the results! Did someone say “new headshot?!”

News from the Library

Featuring news and updates on authors and their booktail-ized books!

Congratulations to Mary Camarillo, whose novel THE LOCKHART WOMEN is a finalist for the 2022 WILLA Awards! YAS!

Fox Henry Frazier, author of the booktail-ized poetry collection RAVEN KING, has a new book out from Yes Poetry! WEEPING IN THE TROPICAL MOONLIT NIGHT BECAUSE NOBODY TOLD HER is a collection of prose, poetry, and art. Read what Hillary Leftwich has to say about it in Heavy Feather Review.

The audiobook version of Aileen Weintraub’s hilariously real memoir KNOCKED DOWN is now available, narrated by the fabulously funny author herself!

And now… one book, THREE booktails!

In Staci Greason’s novel ALL THE GIRLS IN TOWN, Dani can’t quite get over her celebrity musician ex-husband, and with good reason: Peter cheated on her, stole her music, and left her. To get revenge/process her feelings without consuming dozens of donuts, she writes a “fictional” blog called just-deserts. Spoiler alert: Peter–or “Steve”–dies at the end of each entry. Meanwhile, Red’s renewed love affair with Peter just crashed and burned, resulting in hefty collateral damage. Red’s drinking isn’t helping matters, either. When Dani and Red get together, the latter hatches a plot to ruin their mutual ex. Posing as someone else, she insinuates herself into the life of Peter’s new wife Sasha, a pregnant yoga studio owner, vegan, and worshiper of the God!ess. Sasha has only an inkling of what her husband is up to, and no conception of who he really is. When some horrifying truths come to light, the three women that “had loved the same man, had been broken by the same man, were now brought together by him. How could they set themselves free?”

Staci Greason’s witty page-turner ultimately reveals itself to be an exploration of abuse, power, relationships among women, and the truth of our armor-less selves.

This book has inspired THREE booktails, each honoring one of the main characters! Presented against a shining star backdrop for the true stars of the story and the stage, this trio of drinks sits atop a custom handmade chocolate record of ALL THE GIRLS IN TOWN.

Dani’s Drink: The Not-So-Chocolate Chocolate Martini

Dani has a penchant for vodka, but her true vice is sugar. A member of Overeaters Anonymous, she struggles with her impulse to binge on sugary treats, especially ones with “the amazing earthy bitter taste of chocolate.” Hence this vodka-based cocktail featuring creme de cacao for chocolate sprinkles, Kit Kats, and a mocha with chocolate shavings, plus a chocolate chip cookie Dani orders at a fateful moment of revelation. Chocolate chip cookies are made with vanilla extract, an ingredient likewise found in this drink. The sweetness is both balanced and enriched by a dark stout, an upgrade from the Schlitz Dani’s father drinks. A little cream adds buoyancy, just as the novel’s levity balances out the intensity of its tale.

ALL THE GIRLS IN TOWN

Dani’s Drink: The Not-So-Chocolate Chocolate Martini

Ingredients
1 oz vodka
1 oz creme de cacao
1 oz of a rich, dark stout, like Founders KBS Imperial Stout or Dragon’s Milk White Bourbon-Barrel Aged Stout
0.5 oz heavy cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
Add the vodka, creme de cacao, and vanilla to a shaker with a large cube or chunk of ice. Agitate vigorously until the ice begins to break up. Pour the mixture into a martini glass and top with the beer, then gently add the cream by slowly pouring it from a vessel with a spout, like a measuring cup. Or hold a spoon just above the drink, without breaking the surface, and pour the cream over the back of the utensil. Gently stir to create a cosmos-like swirl on the surface.

Red’s Drink: Secrets of Echo Park

A counselor for women in crisis, Red nevertheless finds herself drinking heavily and scheming mightily after Peter abandons her. While her drink is bourbon-based for the bourbon she enjoys from time to time, it’s mixed with Amaro–a wine-based liqueur–as a nod to her love of chianti. Amaro is likewise Italian. Pineapple juice, lime, chili, and Tajín honor Red’s appreciation for Echo Park, where “Fresh fruit stands that sprinkled spicy red Tajín over pineapple competed for business with trucks that offered tacos for a buck.” The combined effect is surprising, with a bit of spice and sour, just like Red herself.

ALL THE GIRLS IN TOWN

Red’s Drink: Secrets of Echo Park

Ingredients
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz bourbon
1 oz Amaro
1 oz lime
Dash chili powder
Agave and Tajín rim

Instructions
First, rim the glass with Tajín by squirting a silver dollar-sized amount of agave onto a small plate or cutting board. Sprinkle a generous amount of Tajín on a second small plate, or on the opposite end of the cutting board. Roll the glass through the agave, coating about a ¼ of an inch of the rim, including the edge. Use a moist paper towel to remove any excess, then roll the rim in the Tajín until uniformly covered. Set the glass in the freezer or at the back of the fridge to chill. Meanwhile, add the pineapple juice, bourbon, Amaro, lime juice, and dash of chili powder to a shaker with a large cube or chunk of ice. Agitate vigorously until the ice begins to break up. Retrieve the chilled glass and strain the mixture into it, pouring through a mesh strainer held directly over the glass.

Sasha’s Drink: Oh My God!ess!

Sasha’s mocktail is made with jasmine green tea for the copious amounts of tea she drinks, as well as the “peaceful scent” of the jasmine growing around the home she’s supposed to share with Peter. Pomegranate juice is added for its savage, bloody color, reminiscent the meat Sasha secretly craves throughout her pregnancy. Pomegranate is also a symbol of fertility and divinity, as it’s full of the seeds of life, a physical representation of the God!ess Sasha worships. Agave, one of the only forms of sugar you’ll find in Sasha’s pantry, adds a touch of sweetness to counter the bitterness of the tea and juice, a balancing act in which Sasha would surely find metaphoric meaning. For an herbaceous touch, the drink is garnished with a sprig of fresh mint.

ALL THE GIRLS IN TOWN

Sasha’s Drink: Oh My God!ess!

Ingredients
2 oz cool jasmine green tea
2 oz pomegranate juice
0.5 oz agave
Garnish: fresh mint

Instructions
First, prepare a cup of jasmine green tea, preferably loose leaf. Let steep until completely cool. Then add a large cube or chunk of ice to a shaker, along with the tea, pomegranate juice, and agave. Agitate vigorously until the ice begins to break up, then strain into a champagne flute and garnish with fresh mint.

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Dance, magic. Dance!