Photography: courtesy of the author.
Paloma Gonzalez Rubio Born in Madrid in 1962, she has a degree in Semitic Philology and has worked in the publishing world as a proofreader, translator and editor. She writes mainly youth literature, but he also signs novels for adults. He has also won various awards and has also collaborated with Zenda Libros and RNE. In this interview He talk to us about his latest novels and trajectory in general. I really appreciate your time and kindness.
Paloma Gonzalez Rubio — Interview
- LITERATURE CURRENT: Your latest novel is Neverland, the continuation of Dead boys. What do you tell us about them and where did your inspiration come from?
PALOMA GONZÁLEZ RUBIO: I have actually published two other novels since Neverland came to light in October 2023: Monkey's Paw, (SM Editions) and Icarus (Oxford Publishing, April 2024). The first is a novel that tells a situation of harassment and marginalization in gothic and horror literature; the second, a story about the importance of mental health and the role of caregivers of chronically ill patients. So much Dead boys as Neverland, published by La Esfera azul, are part of a young adult crime novel series which denounces criminal organizations that exploit minors.
Dead boys tells us in first person the experience of a member of a youth gang, injured in a brawl, who goes through his phone contacts while deciding who to ask for help, what has led him to the confrontation; the discovery of something that shatters his vision of the gang, makes him change his speech.
Neverland It continues with the disappearance of a character who is still missing after finishing the previous novel and addresses the trafficking and prostitution of minors. written as a script for a youth series, as Novelty and as a retelling de Peter Pan, depending on the line of action being addressed. For the first one, I was inspired by an image I saw in a film that had nothing to do with the subject. I visualized the cell phone the character was holding in my head and the structure of the contact book appeared to me, and with it, the plot. And so the series began.
First readings
- AL: Can you remember any of your first readings? And the first thing you wrote?
PGR: I remember that my favorite reading in childhood was a costumes of many pages with wonderful illustrations of the stories of the Grimm brothers. In particular, one of his stories left its mark on me forever. It is about Death the GodmotherI don't remember any title that left such a mark on me. I do remember that I was a devourer of the stories of Heath which summarized the plot in comic form and placed a selection of the text from the original stories on the left-hand page. This is how I got closer to the classics of literature.
From between The first thing I wrote, at five or six years old, was a A story in which an alien came down to Earth for ChristmasSince I was a disaster at drawing, I illustrated it with clippings from comics and magazines so that it would be the same as the stories I read, I even bound it with a thread of wool.
Authors and characters
- AL: A leading author? You can choose more than one and from all periods.
PGR: More than just favourite authors, I have bedside books. In that sense, I am not very much a mythomaniac, and I am a devourer of contemporary literature: Spanish, Portuguese, Anglo-Saxon. Logically, almost half of my readings are children's and young adult literature. In LIJ I try not to miss anything.e Alfredo Gómez Cerdá, Beatriz Giménez de Ory, Rosa Huertas, Mónica Rodríguez, Ricardo Gómez, Jorge Gómez Soto, Ana Alcolea, David Lozano, David Fernández Sifres, Gonzalo Moure, Patricia García Rojo, Chiki Fabregat, Rafael Salmerón or Marina TenaIt is impossible to name just one. Each author captivates you for different reasons. All of them (and I have left out many) have a book that captivates you, a way of looking at the world that reveals something different to you.
- AL: What character would you have liked to meet and create?
PGR: I would have loved to meet and create the captain nemo, seems to me the quintessence of the romantic hero.
Customs and genres
- Any special hobby or habit when it comes to writing or reading?
PGR: When reading, none mania. When I write, I tie my ankle to a leg of the desk. until I've reached page 50 of my novels, the point at which I can't put it down anymore and writing is already compulsive and I don't hide behind excuses to get up every ten minutes. Another mania is to start writing every day putting on the playlist of ambient music each of my stories to recover its sentimental atmosphere.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
PGR: I write in land and in Mar, and I don't care where to do it. For me, space is in the music and in the story. It's the only thing I see when I write. I prefer to write morningI used to start right after breakfast, but I end up doing it at any time of the day.
- AL: What other genres do you like?
PGR: I really like the nnovel of introspection, terror, the literature that speaks of magic, more in a mystery key than in a fantastic one.
Paloma Gonzalez Rubio — Current outlook
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
PGR: I'm reading A Greek Adventure, by Maria Jose Solano, y Small mortal wounds, an essay by Belén Gopegui. And she's also winking at me The gray wolfby Maite Carranza, which I plan to start as soon as I finish one of the two I have in hand.
And as for what I write, I am in the final pages of a contemporary adventure novel, which I am enjoying very much.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is?
PGR: Judging by the huge number of titles being published, the moment may seem splendid. The difficult thing is for titles to make their way beyond their appearance., that they survive their removal from the new releases tables, that they have time to find their readers. And it is also difficult for readers to find their books, that is why what seems most remarkable to me in the current panorama is the role of reviewers and reading recommenders on social networks, because they make a careful selection among many titles and know how to present the plots to potential readers so that they find the book that will seduce them.
- AL: How do you feel about the current moment we live in?
PGR: I don't take it well because you can't live well with distrust, and I distrust ideological discourses of any kind. Showing a critical spirit, not faithfully following the guidelines of one or another discourse, guarantees you an uncomfortable label, limits your freedom of expression both in the private and public sphere. I hope that the new generations know how to free themselves from this yoke that uses citizens to put the interests of politicians first, which distracts us from what is truly essential and muddies our coexistence.