Psychologists, Bartenders, and Drunk Cruise Captains

I recently returned from Chicago, the setting for With Good Behavior and the scene of my sister Susan’s wedding shower. The shower was a lot of fun but it was rather eerie to find life imitating art (if I may so boldly attempt to call my novel “art”). My oldest sister Laurie found a fun cocktail to serve, called “Fly by Night”. (First dip the champagne flute rim in simple syrup then in sugared orange zest, then add half an ounce of Crème de Violet, one ounce of St. Germaine, and finally champagne.) Since one of Susan’s wedding colors is a dark rose/rhubarb color, I decided to add a splash of pomegranate juice to the mix, making the cocktail a beautiful burgundy color. Somehow I got assigned the job of making these intricate cocktails for our sixteen guests, managing to spill the sticky liquid all over the counter and myself, and it became clear to me that I had suddenly turned into my lead character Sophie Taylor! Psychologist turned bartender.

Susan’s wedding reception will take place on a cruise of the Chicago River. It turns out that the ship they’ve rented is an architectural cruise ship by day and a party ship by night. I found this eerie since my other lead character, Grant Madsen, secures a job on an architectural cruise ship early in the novel. At the shower, we were looking out the window at the Chicago River and happened to see the ship she’s renting running an architectural cruise right outside. Party guests were asking each other if they’ve taken an architectural cruise before (most hadn’t) and one joked that she should make sure the captain hadn’t been drinking before the cruise starts, again reminding me of a scene from the novel. I’d had no idea that both Sophie and Grant would be attending the shower with me!