Pascual Martinez | Photography: Editorial Siruela Profile
Pascual Martinez Perez He is from Logrono. Graduated in Physical Education, he works as a temporary civil servant in La Rioja and at a vital moment when he was without work, he took up writing. From there came his first novel published and belonging to the historical genre: the eternal dweller, in which its protagonist was Alexander the Great.
A few years later, in 2021, he changed the story to the black tone and published his second work, the homeland of suicides, which has brought him great success and was a finalist for the Silverio Cañada award at Gijón's Semana Negra. He now continues the series and secures it with The Saint of Villalobos, both starring the sergeant of the Civil Guard Ernesto Pitana. The critics highlighted the setting of the first title, its prose with short and effective sentences that is very well put together with the dialogues, and the portrayal of the main and secondary characters. In this interview He tells us about them and other topics. Thank you very much for your dedicated time and kindness.
Pascual Martínez — Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your latest novel is titled The Saint of Villalobos. What do we find in it after the homeland of suicides?
PASCUAL MARTÍNEZ: In the first novel we focused on the so-called suicide triangle —in which the imaginary vertices would be the towns of Iznájar, Priego de Córdoba and Alcalá la Real— and in the appearance of a hanged just the day he Civil Guard sergeant Ernesto Pitana comes to town.
The new novel begins when Martin Urquijo, the Saint of Villalobos, a medicine man highly appreciated in the area, appears dead on the night of the Kings of 2008, on the beach of Valdearenas, in Iznájar. Sergeant Ernesto Pitana and his team will lead the research projects..
- AL: Can you remember any of your first readings? And the first story you wrote?
PM: My first readings were Enid Blyton's books starring The five. In adolescence it marked me The eightby Katherine Neville. And from there I never stopped reading. The first story I wrote was a story It never saw the light of day and I hope it never does. Was horrible.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
PM: Pierre The master, Arthur Perez-Reverte, Fred Vargas and Andrea Camilleri.
Characters and customs
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
PM: Lorenzo Quart, character of Drum skin; Camille Verhoeven, the dwarf commander from Pierre Lemaitre's novels and the detective Rocco schiavoneby Antonio Manzini.
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
PM: I'm not manic In that aspect. I am able to read anywhere. To write, I prefer the tranquility of my living room.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
PM: I like the night, especially to read.
Genres and current panorama
- AL: Are there other genres that you like?
PM: I try to read other genres, especially historical novels, but it's almost always to disconnect from crime fiction.
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
PM: I'm reading holywood, by Silvia Rodríguez, and Txalapartaby Agustin Pery. Regarding the writing, I am finishing and correcting a novel that I started a few years ago.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is in general?
PM: Every day more complicated. There are more writers than readers, and the new generations spend the day with their noses embedded in the mobile screen. A disaster.
- AL: How are you handling the current moment we live in? Do you find it inspiring for future stories?
PM: It's always a good time to write and the stories are out there, you just have to look for them.
Ghosts always appear at night. And they come covered in white sheets for a reason: to tell them apart in the dark.
The Saint of Villalobos