Author Archives: Catherine Holdsworth
The rise of the ghost (writers)
10 December 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Book publishing, Current events, Entertainment
So it has emerged that YouTube phenomenon Zoe Sugg (Zoella to her fans) did not in fact write her book, Girl Online herself. She had help from a ghost writer and the Penguin editorial team. We had bets on in the Infinite Ideas office as to whether she had employed a ghost writer and some of us (Catherine) were proved right all along.
But what does a ghost writer do and why is Sugg’s book causing such an uproar within the publishing and literary community? Well, quite simply, people want to believe that she is flawless, the real deal, the girl next door turned internet phenomenon who can do no wrong.
Step into any bookshop at this time of year and you will see shelves lined with autobiographies of household names hoping to be the Christmas best seller. You don’t really think that Sir Alex Ferguson sat at his desk with writer’s block for months on end agonising over how best to describe Wayne Rooney’s hair transplant do you? Of course not, he has got better things to do, like lecture at Harvard and enjoy his retirement.
A ghost writer is not a victim. They are not forced at gunpoint to write a book which will be passed on as somebody else’s and paid in magic beans before being thrown back out into the light of day. Ghost writers understand the writing and editorial process and, often, get compensated generously by the publishers and the celebrities they write for.
It’s also an incredibly top secret affair. Most ghost writers have to sign contracts stating that they are not allowed to reveal themselves as the author of various works. They live like spies on the edge of society, among us but not really one of us. Not really though, many of them lead happy and fulfilling lives.
Perhaps some people will be disappointed that ‘role model’ Zoe Sugg was not the sole creator of her debut novel but her sales record will disagree with most of the sceptics. Such was they hype around the publication that signings were conducted in secret and had to be ticketed. This debacle has highlighted the importance of branding in a competitive publishing world. Did fans buy the book because they were interested in the story, or did they buy it simply because it was an extension of the brand they worship? There’s a reason that Jamie Oliver has been Christmas number one in bookshops for the last sixteen years and this trend seems to show no sign of slowing down. Kudos to Penguin, you’ve got great PR style.
Spirits distilled by Mark Ridgwell
8 December 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Spirits distilled, Wine and spirits
So you think you know about spirits, do you? Well did you know this:
- In the 17th century the Governor of Moscow trained a large bear to serve pepper vodka to his guests. If any guest refused their drink, the bear removed their clothes.
- During the 30-years’ war of the 17th century, the British witnessed Dutch soldiers knocking back shots of genever (gin’s predecessor) before going into battle, eventually describing the habit as taking ‘Dutch courage’.
- Upon Nelson’s death, at the battle of Trafalgar, his body was placed in a barrel of rum. During the voyage home, the sailors drilled holes through the wood and drank the rum, giving rise to the British naval term for rum, ‘Nelson’s blood’.
- Although Prohibition was repealed in 1933, two-thirds of Kentucky remains dry, as does the town of Lynchburg in Tennessee, home of Jack Daniel’s.
- In 1387, it is told that Charles the Bad, King of Navarre, a region on the Atlantic coast that straddled the Pyrenees, died in agony when his sheets, soaked with the local eaux-de-vie, caught fire.
- During the first half of the twentieth century, tequila was thought of as a drink for nonconforming adventurers but in the 1950s a cocktail named the Margarita became popular in the Los Angeles area and demand for the drink increased.
- The best way to learn more about the exciting world of spirits is to read Spirits distilled by Mark Ridgwell.
Spirits distilled by Mark Ridgwell is a comprehensive guide to all of the major spirit categories, designed to educate and inform those whose vocation or hobby is spirits.
After taking the reader through the principles of distillation to a discussion on how to taste spirits, Ridgwell reveals the history and legends behind vodka, gin, tequila, rum, brandies, liqueurs, eaux-de-vie, flavoured white spirits and the entire range of whisk(e)ys. The quizzes at the end of each chapter are a fun and useful way of understanding better the spirits they enjoy. An essential book that belongs on the reference shelf of everyone who works with or enjoys spirits, Spirits distilled is a classic in the making.
About the author
Mark Ridgwell has worked with many of the world’s leading spirit companies, including Smirnoff, Hennessy, J&B Rare, Ballantines, Beefeater, Courvoisier, Canadian Club, Bols and Hiram Walker Liqueurs. The pinnacle of his corporate career saw him taking Maker’s Mark out of America and introducing it to the rest of the world.
In 1999 Mark left the corporate world and set up Taste and Flavour, a network of renowned speakers who are passionate about spirits and keen to share their knowledge with enthusiasts and professionals alike. Mark worked with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust to create the Level 2 Certificate in Spirits, now called the Level 1 Award in Spirits, the only globally recognized vocational qualification relating to spirits and liqueurs.
Contact details
An uncorrected PDF proof is available for review. Mark Ridgwell is willing to give interviews. For more information please contact Catherine Holdsworth: catherine@infideas.com; 01865 514888.
Thanksgiving Thursday
27 November 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Book publishing, Current events
Happy Thanksgiving, American friends! While you’re tucking into your turkey and pumpkin pie, there are many that are bracing themselves for the Black Friday sales. In Britain, we are hardened to the Boxing Day rush and most of us have learnt by now that it really is not worth fighting the hair-pulling, toe-stamping horde of shoppers determined to get the half-price boots in John Lewis we’d been eyeing up since September.
Sales have now moved online and are, in our opinion, much safer. So if you’re completely talked out tomorrow or have just had enough of your family’s bad jokes and anecdotes about the time you put Uncle Phil’s car keys down the toilet, perhaps you would like to enlighten yourself with some helpful knowledge from our free ebooks. And, because they’re ebooks, they can’t be bought in the shops and are therefore safe to buy from your living room.
Infinite Ideas’ Infinite Success series will be free for one more day so make sure you get your hands on it quick.
Good luck for Christmas, hardy revellers, we’ve got the sherry stocked up already…
The rise in the sherry trend
25 November 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Lifestyle, Sherry, Wine and spirits
We’re all very excited to tell you that Sherry, sixth edition by Julian Jeffs, is now available and you can buy it for yourself, to learn more about the fantastic drink, or you can buy it for that special someone who likes nothing better than having a tipple or two before bedtime.
More often than not, sherry is synonymous with your grandmother’s slippers, Christmas trifle and Countdown in the afternoon. But there has been a turn in the tide and what used to be a very old-fashioned drink is now becoming rather trendy among the young drinkers, even described by The Telegraph as ‘hip’.
One reason for this surge in popularity could be the rise in tapas restaurants and bars in Britain. What could be a better accompaniment for a Spanish meal than a Spanish drink?
And advantage of the rise in this trend is that not everyone has bought into it yet. For example, if you want a good quality Sauvingnon Blanc, you could be paying through the nose for it. However, an excellent sherry (as recommended by the experts) can be found in supermarkets for less than £15.
Of course, sherry is unlikely to replace the traditional bottle of red on the table at your dinner party, but how about surprising your guests with a glass of sherry before the meal. It would make a great talking point and introduce others to the great drink.
Vintage is becoming very cool. The recession made upcycling and vintage shopping very popular as well as practical. While we’re not advising drinking the bottle of sherry that has been open in the back of your cupboard since the beginning of the 1990s, perhaps now is the time to take a leaf out of grandma’s book. But perhaps donate her slippers to Oxfam!
A book is a gift that just keeps on giving
19 November 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Book publishing, Entertainment, Lifestyle
Of course, as publishers, we would tell you that. So it is our job, as publishers and promoters of books to prove to you that we are right. Obviously.
Firstly, a book is just about the easiest gift to wrap. Yes, it’s great getting a bike or a bottle of wine for Christmas, but good luck wrapping it. Too much paper and sellotape and the need for four hands means a happy Christmas is suddenly in doubt. You may end up consuming the wine out of frustration.
A book enjoyed can be passed on to your friends and family with excited expression of joy about all the wisdom/happiness/laughter that you have gained from reading it. A book not enjoyed can be passed on to your enemies in order to trick them into having a really terrible time. Of course, you can give your ereader to your loved ones but you might not get it back as they may think you are challenging them to read all the books you’ve downloaded.
A book is a really handy tool around the house. Its screen does not crack when used to prop up a table as an iPad’s might and it provides an excellent coaster for the contents of that badly-wrapped bottle of wine I gave you.
Books also make your house really colourful and inviting. Nobody wants to visit a sterile home; books add vibrancy, they make you look interesting, they start conversations with your guests. Anthony Powell even called one of his books Books Do Furnish A Room.
Game-lovers can buy multiple books and stack them, play Jenga, make houses or build forts. The possibilities are endless once you visualize your books as bricks rather than reading material. That is, of course, if you are lacking in building materials.
If you’re in the mood for love this winter, a book can make you look very clever and sexy, particularly on public transport. No texting for you, oh no, engaging the mind is the purpose of your journey. There are those, of course, who choose to take their ereaders on buses and the tube but most people just assume that they’re reading 50 Shades of Grey or worse, the Daily Mail and shun them to the limits of society.
If someone thinks you look sexy and intelligent while reading, they may strike up a conversation about mutual interests and next thing you know, you’re walking down the aisle. Knowledge is romantic and guaranteed to help you find love.*
Finally, books save lives.
Save a life. Give someone a book this Christmas.**
* This has not been proven by experts
** Infinite Ideas also sell ebooks. We like it when people buy those too.
*** Ryan Gosling would no doubt be difficult to wrap up, but we’re willing to give it a go. In an exception to the rule he most likely would be more gratefully accepted than any book.
Sherry’s literary connections
17 November 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Sherry, Wine and spirits
Q: How many bottles are in a butt of sherry?
A: 720
That’s right. Imagine being presented with 720 bottles of sherry. Even the hardiest of drinkers mightbe slightly phased by such a gift. However, that is exactly what you get if you are appointed the British Poet Laureate. Most recently, Carol Ann Duffy, half way through her duty as Poet Laureate, signed a replica of her butt (of sherry) at an exhibition celebrating the tradition.
Nevertheless, as with all British traditions that go back centuries, this has been fraught with scandal and intrigue. According to Julian Jeffs, author of Sherry, the tradition is thought to have started in 1619 when Ben Johnson was presented with a ‘butt of sack’. However, in 1790, Henry James Pye preferred an annual payment of £27 rather than the wine. The butt-giving was not fully restored until 1984, when Ted Hughes was appointed to the position and happily accepted his gift. Seven-hundred-and-twenty bottles, though, is a lot for one person, even a tortured poet, so Hughes gifted a crate to the Queen Mother.
At Infinite Ideas we love books and wine, so what could be better than a book about wine that has literary connections? Julian Jeffs’ book will be available from Thursday (that’s right, in three days’ time). It looks smashing, and is a fascinating read, if we do say so ourselves. If you can’t wait until then, here is a poem about sherry (kind of):