Description

Welcome to our May Lit for Christmas party!

In this episode, Marty and his friend, Madeline, enjoy Sex on the Beach and tackle the stigma of mental illness talking about Sonya Sones’ Saving Red.

BONUS POINTS:  Take a drink every time Marty says “you know”! WARNING: YOU WILL GET VERY DRUNK!

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT:

Sex on the Beach (recipe adapted from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sex-on-the-beach-cocktail_n_596f74dfe4b0a03aba86b779)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 shots vodka (omit for Cuddles on the Beach)
• 1/2 shot peach schnapps (substitute peach nectar for Cuddles on the Beach)
• 1 1/2 shot cranberry juice
• 1 1/2 shotss orange juice
• Ice

Directions:

1. Add all the ingredients in a shaker.
2. Shake, strain and pour into a highball glass.
3. Garnish with an orange slice and cherry if you’re feeling fancy.

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT NONALCOHOLIC ALTERNATIVE (CUDDLES ON THE BEACH):

Use ingredients and follow above directions, omitting vodka and substituting peach nectar for peach schnapps.

Marty has a Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in
mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting.

Madeline has a BA in English Creative Writing and gin drinking.  Currently, she is pursuing a Library Science graduate degree and avoiding
the Lizard Man of Bloomington.  In her spare time, she enjoys reading eco-lit, true crime, and Alice Hoffman books.

Music for this episode:

"Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay.

"A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay.

Other music in the episode:

"California Dreamin’."  The Mamas & the Papas.  If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears.  RCA Victor, 1965.

A Christmas Carol sound clips from:

The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore.

This month's Christmas lit:

Sones, Sonya.  Saving Red.  HarperCollins Publishers, 2016.