Our October author is Bridget Thoreson.

Bridget Thoreson is a writer and booklover based in Brooklyn, New York. Her other books include XOXO: A Cocktail Book and consulting for Are You My Wine? Clearly, Bridget is very interested in drinking, eating, and pop culture.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook, you can find it here.

Tell us a little about your writing journey. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I always knew that I wanted to work with books and for a long time I thought I wanted to be a writer. Then, I started my career in books and the desire became more focused on helping other people write books.

Then, a couple of years ago my first book project came along, XOXO, A Cocktail Book: An Unofficial Gossip Girl Fan Book and I had so much fun writing that, the bug was reawakened!

What inspired you to put together your book The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook?

The film is all the inspiration I needed! I’ve always been a huge fan. But, the timing was inspired by the exciting news that, after almost 30 years, a sequel is coming out!

How did you choose the recipes to include? And do you have a favorite?

The recipes are all either based on people or events in the movie, or are classic fall comfort foods. Hocus Pocus is a Halloween film, but I didn't want to just make it about ghoulish Halloween foods like peeled grape eyeballs. I also wanted to capture the vibe of Salem at Halloween. So there are a lot of hearty stews and seasonal flavors.

My favorite recipe to eat is the Dead Man's Chungs (crab cake balls with a delicious remoulade sauce). I'm from Maryland, so crab cakes are always high on my list! I love baking, so the Brown Butter Boooook Blondies are another favorite.

What was the process like putting together a cookbook?

It definitely required a lot of organization. Since the cookbook's theme is a movie rather than a food category, I wanted to put a wide range of things in there--breakfast through dinner, drinks, sweets, etc.--and to organize it based on the movie themes.

I needed to make sure I had enough side dishes vs. entrees and enough alcoholic beverages vs. virgin ones. I also had to make sure each section had a good mix. So organization was key.

Describe your creative process.

My creative process changes depending on the project I'm working on. In general, I definitely do best when I have some space from the project. I suffer from blank page syndrome, so often what I'll do is a mind dump on the page--half-ideas, words, random notes--so that there's something there I can pull from and get the ideas flowing.

Then, I will step away, sometimes for days, and let those ideas bake. I'll think about it when I'm watching TV, or driving, or just laying on my bed staring at the ceiling. But I take the pressure of the document off. A lot of the best things I've written I wrote in my head first before I typed the words out.

What’s your biggest hope for this cookbook?

My biggest hope is that other members of the Hocus Pocus fan club will read it and get a chuckle out of the headnotes, or see a reference to a classic line they forgot about.

Or maybe use it as an excuse to watch the movie again, and introduce someone new to it!

What was your biggest writing obstacle and how you did you overcome it?

Blank page syndrome! It's hard to start such a big project. I didn't even start writing until I had a full brainstorming document of recipe ideas, important events and references, random phrases, etc. so I had something to pull from when I got stuck or needed inspiration.

What is the part of your published work or writing process you are most proud of?

Of this book, the parts I'm most proud of are the headnotes I wrote in verse. Each recipe has an introduction that relates to the movie. There are a couple I wrote in the same rhythm as the Sanderson Sisters' spells - that was very difficult to match the rhyming scheme and also have it make sense to the recipe, so I'm very proud of those!

Do you have any plans for another book or writing project? If so, could you tell us about them?

No set plans as of yet, but I’m always open to new projects and have my eyes open for them!

What motivates you to keep writing?

Fun projects on topics I’m passionate about!

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?

You don’t have to be published to be a writer. If you’ve written anything and want to be a writer, you are one. Identity is a huge part of our behavior, so if you identify as a writer, you will act like a writer.