Photography: author's website. (c) Antonio Pradas Montoya.
Francisco Toledo was born in Castellón and he graduated and received a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Valencia. With a long professional career, her arrival in literature came about by advising a writer friend and putting her imagination to work. After that consultation she began to write her first novel, The Ebony Star, and presented it to Penguin Ramdon House, which published it. Herein interview He tells us about her and other topics. I really appreciate her time and kindness.
Francisco Toledo. Interview
- CURRENT LITERATURE: Your novel is titled The Ebony Star. What do you tell us in it and where did your inspiration come from?
FRANCISCO TOLEDO: The protagonist is a maritime rescue captain that finds some drowned young african women in strange circumstances. Nobody worries about this fact because they think that they are just another immigrant who does not even know who they are, but the captain undertakes a journey to the truth to find out what happened to them and that will lead her to discover Nigeria, a country as unknown as it is fascinating. and unleash a tsunami in your life.
It is a novel that highlights friendship, trust and tenacity to fight for what you want. While reading it, you discover many things about the maritime world, African cultures and events that happen in the 21st century and that seem implausible, confirming that sometimes the most implausible thing is reality. The reviews highlight that reading it captivates and stirs the soul.
It was a joy that a great publisher like Grijalbo agreed to publish it as my first novel. The inspiration came to me when I learned about the complexity of the repatriation of seven Nigerian stowaways who arrived at the port of Castellón when I presided over it. and it is reflected in the crux of the novel.
First readings
- AL: Can you remember any of your first readings? And the first thing you wrote?
FT: My first readings as a child were second-hand comics like Mortadelo and Filemon, Zipi and Zape, TBO, Captain Trueno and El Jabato. Every Monday he exchanged the copies at the weekly market for others. I spent all my pay on those changes. Then came works from various series in the collection Stories Selection, from the then Bruguera publishing house, where he read the text, not the comics. Because I liked them, they gave me copies on kings, saints, and birthdays and I ended up having a large collection. The first book I bought without vignettes was Juan Salvador Gaviota, by Richard Bach, which I loved, and from then on I have read various genres and authors without pigeonholing myself into any.
Regarding the first thing I wrote were stories and a long poetry about the story of a tree in the summer of my 12 years which over time seemed horrifying to me.
Authors, characters and customs
- AL: A leading author? You can choose more than one and from all periods.
FT: Of those that I have read the most works have been Emilio Salgari, alberto Vázquez Figueroa, Stephen King,ken leaflet and Isabel Allende and of more recent authors that I like, I highlight, for different reasons, Santiago posteguillo, Eloy Moreno and Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
- AL: What character would you have liked to meet and create?
FT: A Harry Potter.
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
FT: When I conceive a work I write and I document intensively until finishing the first version. Then he let it rest and returned to it in successive waves to refine and complete it. These periods are not so intensive, but they do require constancy: dedicate at least three hours almost every day.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
FT: In the attic from my house either staying up late or waking up earlier than the sun.
- AL: What other genres do you like?
FT: I am eclectic in my life, and in literary tastes it could not be less. I like to vary and keep the best of everything. I have enjoyed works of all genres, but I have also abandoned reading books of all kinds. For me the important thing is not the genre, but what reading makes you feel.
Current outlook
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
FT: I'm reading The silent patient, by Alex Michaelides. Regarding my works, in October it will appear Cloud memories, and now I'm writing the sequel to The Ebony Star, since it has been successful.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is?
FT: There is a fact presented at the XXV Booksellers Congress that speaks for itself: 86% of the titles sell less than 50 copies. We are facing a superinflation of supply that does not correspond to demand and that is increasingly fueled by self-publishing. It's a pernicious scenario which makes it more difficult to reach readers in that immense ocean of works.
- AL: How do you feel about the current moment we live in?
FT: I don't like the culture of immediacy in which we are installed with social networks and chats. In fact, I have WhatsApp muted and I read and reply to them a few times a day. The networks are increasingly flooded with time-consuming trifles and are deceptive because algorithms tend to minimize the reach of many publications so that you pay if you want them to reach more people. We must keep in mind that they are not altruistic, as it may seem due to their apparent gratuitousness, but rather a big business.