-This is the interview I had for Ray Bolivar’s writing school. I highly recommend the workshop. Ray is a person who helps writers a lot, both through advice and videoconference sessions open to any participant, and in other private sessions for those who contract any of his services or workshops.
- -Hello, Jorge. Welcome to the school’s space. I’ve seen that you have ventured into different genres, storytelling, poetry and now novel. Why venture into writing novel instead of continuing with the story?
The story is a genre thanks to which I can cultivate a social, intimate or denouncing literature, characteristics that bring it closer to the sensuality of poetry. The novel, however, is a challenge due to the greater need for planning, correction and elaboration of the characters, their evolution, their multiple edges, the environment in which the story takes place and the treatment of time. Sometimes an idea comes to mind, but ends up giving for a small story that draws an epiphany or revealing moment without having to develop a whole plot.
- -You have a degree in Psychology and a degree in English Studies. What weight do you give to training in narrative techniques?
Philology and psychology give me a different and unique vision of both the phenomena to be described and the literary fact, but it requires an awareness of the tricks behind the creation. For that I counted on Ray’s personalized advice and group sessions, which helped me to redefine another short novel, still unpublished, whose name is «Dry Ice», with which I had got stuck. Theory and suggestions are very useful, without them everything inside you can stay there without getting out or doing it in an inadequate way.
- -In relation to your work, how do you bring your characters to life and what do you base your atmosphere on? Do you follow a script or a model?
I imagine the character and visualize it, sometimes I write a biography of it, I put on videos where I get those individuals, whose lives, personalities and hobbies I imagine. I think that the films and books we read create an unconsciousness that ends up being reflected. Then they may have a mixture with real people I have met. The Inspector Almanzor in my unpublished novel, for example, is based on a professor of criminology I had, who collaborated with the Spanish Civil Guard and had a very particular irony. His family life, however, is perhaps based on that of the many families I met teaching children. In «You should never have gone through those places», I look for the physical characteristics, fears, motivations and limitations of each one.
As for the environments, I look for realism, I consider myself a representative of a current current of it. I like the streets, the weather, the dates and work routines to be true. I don’t have to describe until I’m bored, I just watch documentaries, or remember my own experiences if I have visited the place, and I complement it with Google Maps or seek advice from those who do live there or read articles. The goal is not to suspend credibility, which does not prevent introducing dreams or thoughts that create a surrealistic feeling, for example. But everything has to be digested by the reader. The typical policeman who does not have a single hour off or has unlimited powers does not go with me.
- -What is the most attractive character in Never Should Have Walked Through Those Lands? Will the readers be very afraid or is it a novel in which they will be constantly surprised?
Heather herself contains many of the enigmas and questions that the reader can ask. She is familiar, close, a friend to her neighbors, to animals, determined and independent, but also fearful at times. This makes her a person of flesh and blood. I have also tried to work on Thomas, the person in charge of telematic crimes, as well as on the families, so that with very little the character is well defined, by his attitude, his behaviour in a brief situation and a few physical features. I think it is important that the secondary characters are attractive and that they are not just a name, however much it may convey.
It is not a horror novel, although it may seem so because of the aesthetics of the cover and the synopsis, but it does use some conventions of the psychological terror genre, especially in the setting, the anticipation of possible disasters and the sense of urgency. As one reader has defined it, there is action, intrigue, secrets and action. The turns are good, but they should not be abused, and for that reason I alternate them with small bucolic or costumbrist scenes of the characters when they are not on duty, or with small flashbacks, and I integrate them in the chapter so that it is not artificial and there are no cuts.
- Have you ever suffered the fearsome blocking before the blank sheet?
Many, but it’s more of a block when it comes to having definite ideas for long jobs, if there is a clear idea in my head it ends up on paper. It also works to let yourself go without a certain plan, but I’ve tried that more in the stories or in the poetry.
- -What do you draw inspiration from to start writing?
In a flash, I know that I want to write, for example, a story about a crime without footprints, or about an old man, or that is set in Oropesa del Mar, Dublin or Minnesota. It is a reduction to one of its elements, and then I define the others. I am also very inspired by music, as you can see in the playlist I created for this novel. In the case of the stories, I read news, pull from past experiences or imagine daily lives.
- -How did the idea of Nunca Debaste Atravésar esos Parajes come about?
As I was trying to rewrite and give shape to Hielo seco, a story with many characters that I later translated into English, the language for which I am seeking digital or paper publication in the American market, about a fictitious case in Castellón that is not known to correspond to poisoning, suicide, murder or accident, the idea of creating a story in the United States, with a more controlled number of participants and in which the events would alter an entire country, instead of focusing on more regional cases, already came to me. At first I thought of talking about neo-Nazi groups or secret organizations, but concern about the elusiveness of justice and human nature and contact with films and books about child abduction made me consider talking about the subject to x-ray today’s globalized and technological society, also based on old cases from the history of English and American criminology.
- -Why should readers read Never Should Have Crossed Those Places?
Because they will find a pleasant, direct, original reading, in the first person, with a lot of social questions and a background of topics such as family systems, loneliness, friendship, work ambition, the importance of maintaining a mental balance, greed, the exposure of our intimacy, suffering and the desire for reparation of the victims.
- -Do you feel satisfied with the result obtained?
Without a doubt, it was written in a short time, revised and then orthotypographically corrected with Elena Marqués, who works in the Parliament of Andalusia. The chapters are of an appropriate length for what they say, neither too short nor too long. Jaime Romero, the editor, has created a video, obtained a spectacular cover and carried out a promotion in Andalusia that I try to complement with the diffusion in Madrid. My father also gives me a hand with digital photography, creating images and videos that can help me make my work known. The book has adequate dimensions, the font size is optimal for people whose eyes get tired easily and the paper is hollowed out. I find the format very attractive, as it provides access to the ebook and music, making it a very modern object.
- -Indie writers often don’t know which way to go or what they should do. From your experience as an author, what would you recommend to them? (having a blog, creating a community of readers, etc.).
To create a community in social networks, to make a profile of Instagram where they make themselves known and are close, to collaborate with the artists they want to help each other, whether they are actors, musicians, painters or writers. I share the movies I watch, the books I read, and some text of mine on Instagram, I have the novel page on Facebook and a blog with book reviews and some poetry.
I have in mind to make a podcast reading texts of classic authors, as well as audio books or oral stories in order to reach many more people.
- -What is the last thing you read?
I’m finishing «Far from the heart», by Lorenzo Silva, to get with «The gypsy bride», written by the enigmatic person behind Carmen Mola’s pseudonym.
- When people mention your name, what would you like it to be associated with? (Affection, love, professionalism, x).
That they find it brilliant and that it removes their conscience.
- What are your next plans? (Some new novel, when it comes out, etc.).
To decide if later I will publish the unpublished novel in Spanish, to write loose stories without caring if they make up a book immediately or not and to opt for a novel project, be it a sequel or prequel to this one or something totally new, perhaps set in Madrid or Dublin in the 80s or 90s. It’s something I still have to decide.
- Finally, what advice would you give to budding writers? Patience, a lot of reading, find your own voice and trust yourself, rewrite what you need and work with the creative method that works best for you, and forget about censorship and the saboteur, that spoilsport that tells us we’re no good and that we have in our heads. When it comes to publishing, don’t accept the first thing that comes your way; as Ramon Miguel Montesinos once told me, it is better to have two or three books published in your whole life than many and very bad ones, since the unedited bodrio will never weigh on the curriculum.
Jorge Sánchez López was born in Madrid in 1981.
He has a degree in Psychology and a degree in English Studies and is currently dedicated to teaching English as a foreign language to adults. He has published the books of poems Sentimientos o vasos comunicantes (Andante, 2011), Errática textura (Celesta, 2013), and Aire y Ángeles, a translation of the work of the metaphysical poet John Donne (Celesta, 2015). His book of stories Remontar la corriente (Libros Indie, 2019), of a realistic and social nature, has been enthusiastically received by readers for its direct and reflective style. Extravertida (Extraverted, 2020), his first black novel, reflects an interest in criminology, film and thriller literature, a genre to which other of his unpublished works in Spanish and English belong.
He has collaborated in artistic events in the Madrid scene, performing numerous recitals with pianists and guitarists. He has also participated in the anthology Anonymous of Cosmopoética and in the Cheshire Magazine.
Blog
http://www.ondasaladas.blogspot.com.es
Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/jorgesanchezlopezautor
Buy his works
Nunca debiste atravesar esos parajes. Black novel. 2020.
https://extravertida.es/producto/nunca-debiste-atravesar-esos-parajes/?v=52032b23cba2
https://extravertida.es/producto/nunca-debiste-atravesar-esos-parajes-ebook/?v=52032b23cba2
Remontar la corriente. Stories. 2019.
Jorge Sánchez López-Author 