A.J. Rathbun is a freelance food and entertaining writer and would like to have a drink with you. Yes, you. He’s the author of Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz, Good Spirits (winner of an IACP Cookbook award), Dark Spirits, Wine Cocktails, Luscious Liqueurs, Party Snacks!, Party Drinks!, Double Take (coauthored with Jeremy Holt), Champagne Cocktails, as well as the editor of In Their Cups: An Anthology of Poems About Drinking Places, Drinks, and Drinkers, and author of the poetry collection Want, a ZYZZYVA first book.  He is a past guest on the Everyday Food program from Martha Stewart Living/Sirius satellite radio, and past contributor to culinary and entertaining magazines such as Every Day with Rachael Ray, The Food Network Magazine, Real Simple, Eating Well, Seattle Magazine, and Wine Enthusiast, among many others, and has had work published and anthologized in numerous literary magazines that you should be reading, magazines such as Gulf Coast, the Indiana Review, Third Coast, and Willow Springs. For years he was the co-publisher and editor of the much-missed Seattle literary magazine LitRag, and taught cocktail classes at spots like The Pantry at Delancey, the Institute for Culinary Education, and Dish It Up–one of latter’s was profiled in the magazine Traditional Homes. His favorite comic book character is Dr. Strange, his favorite TV show tend to be British, and his favorite obscure bands tend to have catchy initials, like TSL, GFB, MVG, and UFB. He lives with his wife Natalie and dog Ainsley in Seattle and, when on pre-tirement, San Martino, Italy.

See old and much-missed awesome dogs Sookie and Rory.

Email A.J. straight up.