A.J. Rathbun is a freelance food and entertaining writer and poet 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 frequent guest on the Everyday Food program from Martha Stewart Living/Sirius satellite radio, and is a 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. He is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Museum of the American Cocktail, for years was the co-publisher and editor of the much-missed Seattle literary magazine LitRag, and teaches cocktail classes at spots like The Pantry at Delancey, the Institute for Culinary Education, and Dish It Up–one of latter’s was recently profiled in the magazine Traditional Homes. His favorite comic book character is Dr. Strange, his favorite TV show is the Mighty Boosh (except on Wednesdays, when it’s Slings and Arrows), and his favorite obscure bands tend to have catchy initials, like TSL, GBV, MVG, TFTBB, and UFB. He lives with his wife Natalie and dogs Sookie and Rory in Seattle and, when on pre-tirement, San Martino, Italy.