Antonio Florez Lage. Interview with the author of Blind Hook

Photography: Antonio Flórez Lage, Facebook profile.

Antonio Florez Lage he is Galician and works as veterinarian in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He is the author of the titles Like the one with a tomato garden (2nd AEINAPE Award), six real heroes y poetry in memory, among other. The last one posted is Blind hook. In this interview He tells us about her and several other topics. Thank you so much your kindness and time spent.

Antonio Flórez Lage— Interview

  • ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your latest novel is titled Blind hook. What do you tell us about it and where did the idea come from?

ANTONIO FLOREZ LAGE: I think that synopsis is the best way to give an idea about the novel:

El Puerto is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. And it's right next door, in any European coastal city. By simply passing through the access control, you leave the orderly life of the first world to enter a wild independent state, a hostile territory governed by its own law. To survive in it, it is necessary to know it. And respect her.

in the port, el Gallego, a seasoned customs officer, does and undoes as he pleases. Managing the threads from a discreet background, he keeps the different mafias at bay and takes advantage of the dozens of illegal operations that take place daily. Nothing happens in the Port without first passing through their hands or, if not, without someone paying the consequences for it. The Port even has its own police station. There they work wise inspector Garcia, who knows every plot by heart, and his still inexperienced partner, Santamaría.

When the daughter of a gyrfalcon appears murdered in the Port, thus putting the focus on that dark epicenter of corruption, the pair of investigators take charge of a case that, over the course of a week, will immerse them fully in the bowels of the Port, a violent universe that escapes through entirely under his authority...

As for the question about how the idea came about, I thought it would be very interesting to write a novel that would show the complex functioning of the Spanish ports and the specific dealings that take place inside. A port is an unknown and intriguing place for those who do not work there. It is surrounded by a wall that separates it from the city and its accesses are controlled by the Civil Guard, which gives it an image of forbidden, hostile, strange and dangerous territory.

Entering a port means crossing a border that is both mysterious and attractive. The myth increases with the news about what happens inside: smuggling, crime, accidents, violence, illegal trade, human trafficking, movement of crew members from distant and exotic countries... All that world was ideal breeding ground to tell a good story.

  • AL: Can you remember any of your first readings? And the first story you wrote?

AFL: I perfectly remember my first readings of Barco de Vapor: The Pirate Tick y Friar Perico and his donkeyboth of Juan Muñoz Martin. Then came the books Enid blytonEmilio Salgari Jules Verne Agatha Christie, Karl May…

my first novel was Like the one with a tomato garden (2nd AEINAPE Novel Award 2015). I had always dreamed of writing, but until that moment I did not have the audacity to put myself to it.

  • AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras. 

AFL: I have many: Galdós, Delibes, Gabriel García Márquez, Conrad, Unamuno, Cervantes, Calvino, Dostoevsky, Dickens, Stefan Zweig, Chaves Nogales, Benedetti…

  • AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create? 

AFL: There are many. In order not to extend myself, I will go to the base: Alonso Quijano.

  • AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading? 

AFL: I have little time to write and I can not afford manias. As a reader, I am very picky about keeping books from getting damaged.: I don't like the sheets to be bent or stained, underlined with a pen...

  • AL: And your preferred place and time to do it? 

AFL: At living room from my house, with the computer portable, first thing in the morning or after ten at night.

  • AL: Are there other genres that you like?

AFL: I read a bit of everything: classical y contemporaries, Spaniards and foreigners, historical novels, crime novels, poetry, adventure novels...

  • What are you reading now? And writing?

AFL: I'm reading Memories of Hadrian, from Margaret YourcenarAs for writing, I have several projects, but I prefer say nothing to make it a surprise.

  • AL: How do you think the publishing scene is and what decided you to try to publish?

AFL: I wanted my stories to be read, that's why I decided to publish. In my case, it went well from the beginning. My first novel Like the one with a tomato garden (2nd AEINAPE Novel Prize 2015), continues to have very good sales through Amazon. My second novel six real heroes, was among the most read books in traditional bookstores in the Canary Islands in 2018. I have also published a poetic anthology of classic authors: poetry in memory. Those poems we learned in EGB (2021) Blind hook (Siruela Editions, 2021) is, for now, my last published novel.

  • AL: Is the moment of crisis that we are experiencing being difficult for you or will you be able to keep something positive for future stories?

AFL: In the life I always stay with the positive I am an optimistic person. On the other hand, when writing it is not necessary to be positive; Facing sadness, evil, injustice, failure or different concerns through fiction serves as a catharsis for me.


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