mexico – Anne-Marie Ormsby

coctail bar

So very happy to be welcoming author Isabella May back to my blog today. Her new book The Cocktail Bar will be out on the 13th February and I love the front cover! So apparently there’s more than just cocktails on the menu here and a mystical undercurrent that has caught my attention…..

Welcome back Isabella!

Thank you so much for inviting me again, Anne-Marie! I come bearing gifts (well, one gift): a Tor In The Mist… one of the uniquely created cocktails found in the pages of my new book, The Cocktail Bar – created by author Vanessa Couchman. Enjoy. Just watch the dry ice (fog)… it creates a beautiful effect but is enough to induce frostbite…

Tell us the basic premise of your novel?

Rock star, River Jackson, is back in his hometown of Glastonbury to open a cocktail bar… and the locals aren’t impressed.

Seductive Georgina is proving too hot to handle; band mate, Angelic Alice, is messing with his heart and his head; his mum is a hippie-dippy liability; his school friends have resorted to violence – oh, and his band manager, Lennie, AND the media are on his trail.

But River is armed with a magical Mexican elixir which will change the lives of the Three Chosen Ones. Once the Mexican wave of joy takes a hold of the town, he’s glad he didn’t lose his proverbial bottle.

Pity he hasn’t taken better care of the real one…

Tell us a bit about why you used Glastonbury as a location? Is it anything to do with the area’s magical reputation?

I have long thought that the UK’s (arguably) most mystical town isn’t featured as a backdrop in mainstream novels anywhere near enough. So, yes, Glastonbury popped up in my first book, ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’… and here it is again in ‘The Cocktail Bar’. There’s nowhere quite like it, and, having grown up on the ley lines of Avalon, I can (hopefully) offer a unique perspective in terms of scene setting and characters!

What inspired you to write this story?

Honestly, a distinct lack of cool places to hang out as a late teen (ie. an official drinking age teen) and an early twenty-something. I was still living in the town during that period of my life and a night out on the town consisted of scarpering north, east, south or west to somewhere more ‘happening’… frequenting the local working men’s pubs… or putting on a pair of fairy wings and engaging in tantric yoga.
In other words, Glastonbury’s high street has been screaming out for a delectable cocktail bar (such as River Jackson’s) for a very long time.

Are your lead characters based on anyone?
River Jackson is loosely based on any one of the indie singers who hail from the town and its surrounding areas. Very loosely though… for his rival in the book is Gary Stringer from local-band-gone-global, Reef. Gary actually went to my high school!

I’m a big fan of cocktails – mine’s a Pina Colada by the way – what’s your favourite cocktail and did you do a lot of research for the drinks on offer at the Cocktail Bar in your story?
You and me both. I love a well-made Pina Colada. It really is hard to beat. But just like a Tiramisu… or a Carrot Cake, the mixology of said tipple can be very hit and miss. I do recommend the Waldorf Astoria’s version in NYC though.
But I digress.
Yes, I had to do a fair bit of research to write The Cocktail Bar because River, as a mixologist, is the antithesis to all things Sex on the Beach and Screaming Orgasm. Rather he’s all about the unusual and sophisticated. If I had to choose one of the cocktails gracing his menu (other than the unavoidable lure of the ‘Magical Mañana), I’d plump for the Frisky Bison; liquid alcohol apple pie in a glass. It sounds delectable.

If you could throw a cocktail party who would be on your guest list?
What a great question… hmm. This requires a cuppa and some thought. Okay, I’ll go for a handful of different personalities who could fast create a party atmosphere:

Prince would be in a number one on that list. I know that would require something of a miracle, but he just has to be there. Then I reckon we’d need Nigella to make sure we were getting some decently exciting drinkies. Janet Street Porter because I love her wit and sarcasm and we need some good (heated) discussion. Leonardo DiCaprio for the eye candy. And Lee Evans for the comedy. Yeah, I think that would make the perfect mix.

What are you working on next?
I’m just finishing off the first round of edits for ‘Costa del Churros’ (trying not to eat too many of them in the process), and that will be released in the autumn. It’s an exciting year.