Ask the Author: Peter Stafford-Bow
Answered Questions (6)
Peter Stafford-Bow
The world of wine is surprisingly po-faced when it presents itself to the general public – think of the pretentious sommelier or the earnest wine educator. But once you’re inside the wine trade itself, a bawdier group of rebels, eccentrics, pirates and lunatics would be hard to find. I wanted bring some of that out in Corkscrew, as well as hinting at some of the more malevolent forces in our lives – the astonishing power of multi-national conglomerates and their frightening similarity to organised crime.
Peter Stafford-Bow
As an international wine consultant, I’m lucky to have a constant stream of fertile subject matter at my fingertips. One day I’ll be advising a cash-rich Chinese company on their European export strategy, the next I’ll be inspecting an Argentinean vineyard on horseback. (Well, not the very same day, there’s some travel time obviously. Airports and planes are actually very useful places for making notes and fleshing out ideas – very few distractions, bar the occasional body search.) A regular supply of fine wine, ale and spirits is also a must – it helps rearrange the everyday into the extraordinary.
Peter Stafford-Bow
A follow-up to Corkscrew, the working title is ‘Tears of Pity’. It sees Felix Hart, the anti-hero of the first novel, juggling the demands of his voracious employer, Gatesave Supermarkets, and the ruthless luxury goods multi-national, Paris-Blois Brands International. The Minstrels of Wine also loom large. The action swings from the gilded maisons of Champagne to the ramshackle townships of South Africa, with plenty of lusty wine-fuelled shenanigans in London, Bordeaux and Burgundy in between…
Peter Stafford-Bow
Make sure you have some experience. Doesn’t matter what, you don’t need to gallop the Silk Route on camelback, pursued by enraged Uzbeks (though if you do, remember to stay hydrated, Kashgar is devilishly hot in summer). Do a job, talk to people, ask them about their lives. And read. (You didn’t need me to tell you that, surely…?)
Peter Stafford-Bow
Taking real life experience, distorting, augmenting and moulding it into something fantastic, shaping and polishing it so it reflects life back at your readers, like wandering in a garden of circus mirrors. (Does a garden of mirrors even exist? It should do, much better than a hall.)
Peter Stafford-Bow
A good glass of wine at a vibrant local bar or restaurant. Tuck yourself at the end of the bar or at a corner table, back to the wall. Don't chat, just listen. When you're surrounded by different people, and the air is abuzz with conversation, you can feel that well of creativity slowly refill... Has to be a GOOD glass of wine though. Organic Loire Cabernet Franc always works for me.
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