Photography: Mayte Uceda, Twitter profile.
Mayte uceda She is Asturian. She self-published her first novel in 2013 which was titled Los Angeles de La Torre, which was successful. After she posted A love for Rebeca y Alice and the infinite monkey theorem. The guardian of the tide It is his last published title. In this interview he tells us about him and about several other topics. I am very grateful for his time and kindness.
Mayte Uceda — Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your last published novel is titled The guardian of the tide. What do you tell us about it and where did the idea come from?
MAYTE UCEDA: The idea arose when I discovered the shipwreck of the Spanish ocean liner Valbanera, occurred in Florida waters in 1919 and which represents the greatest Spanish naval catastrophe in times of peace. Were 488 victims between crew and passengers, most of them emigrants looking for a better life in Cuba. I was surprised by how unknown this event was and decided that I would write a novel in which the ship had a special role. I wanted to publicize this tragedy, pay homage to the deceased, a recognition that, institutionally, does not exist.
- AL: Can you go back to that first book you read? And the first story you wrote?
MU: I remember reading alone one of Snoopy. He is the first that comes to mind. When my reading improved, I would dive for hours into the Basic Encyclopedia for young people, which had wonderful titles like: Tell me why, tell me who it is, tell me where it is, tell me how it works...
The first thing I wrote was Songs. I learned to play the guitar at the age of twelve and I loved creating my own stories, a hobby I kept up for many years.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
MU: of Isabel AllendeFor example, I usually read everything he writes. I really enjoy his narrative, no matter what he tells me. With Zafon the same thing happened to me. On the other hand, I always have a realist author from the XNUMXth century on hand: Galdós, Brown Bazan, Clarín, Flaubert, Balzac… They help me to know our immediate past and to understand our current society.
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
MU: I love fantasy and epic, so I would be happy to sit next to you for a while. Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings, while smoking on his pipe. The world that Tolkien designed fascinates me, and of course I would have liked to create it.
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
MU: I can read anywhere less on the beach. I always carry a book, but I end up looking at the sea. I find it very difficult to write with music, I can't help but give it my full attention. What does not vary in my daily routine is the company of my cat Mica and, for two months, from a puppy call Lina that follows me everywhere.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
MU: I am an owl, i love the night to write, but I need to sleep certain hours to feel good, so I try to be more like the chickens, get up early and retire at night. I have one attic cozy in my house. That's where I lock myself with books, notebooks, papers everywhere and my four-legged companions.
- AL: Are there other genres that you like?
MU: All. And I don't say it as something positive, on the contrary. Over the years I have verified that having very diverse tastes disperses you in all facets.
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
MU: I'm reading the sweetness of the waterby Nathan Harris. I am also listening to audiobook the ungrateful, by Pedro Simón, both highly recommended, although I prefer Simón. I'm finishing off what will be my fifth novelBut I can't tell you anything yet.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is and what decided you to try to publish?
MU: The publishing landscape is more live than never, in my opinion. And alive does not necessarily mean healthy. The edition has become popular. Before, publishing channels were rigid and few aspiring writers had access to them. Now with the desktop publishing boom, there is an impressive range of potential authors, some good, some bad and many regulars, but everyone has their chance. Later the readers are already reaping the field. Perhaps that is why I was encouraged to jump into the ring: simply because I could do it.
I do not see that the digital book is going to replace the physical book as was feared a few years ago. We like too much to touch them, smell them and give them away.
- 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?
MU: crises are cyclical. If you look back just a hundred years and see how people lived, you realize how lucky you are to have been born in this time. A person at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, in any part of the world, lived within mortality rates that today would make us tremble. Life expectancy, infant mortality in those years, wars, epidemics, famine, how poorly developed medicine and the pharmaceutical industry were... I think we don't get an idea. And I'm not talking about the Middle Ages, I'm talking about the time of our grandparents and great-grandparents. We are very lucky, at least in our part of the world.
When the pandemic arrived I was in full galleys of The guardian of the tideimmersed in the First World War, in the devastating Spanish flu pandemic, in the Second World War and in all those overwhelming rates that I mentioned before. And they told us that the only thing we had to do was stay at home, with our TV, our electronic gadgets, our comforts... We thought the West would be happily ever after, but troubled times are ahead. We will see if we are prepared to face them.