Save Germany | Photography: author's profile on Facebook
Save Germany He is a Valencian, writer and musician and among his titles are luck does not exist, Eire, Scorpion, a lost look and the last one, Lapsus. In this interview He tells us about her and many other matters. he I really appreciate his time and kindness in serving me.
Salva Alemany — Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your new novel is titled Lapsus. What do you tell us about it and where did the idea come from?
SAVES ALEMANY: In the 90 I met a care in the Nazareth neighborhood, south of Valencia. Years later, when we had already lost contact, this priest was arrested for leading an organization dedicated to drug trafficking. That story kept spinning in my head until I decided to write Lapsus, imagine how could it happen that, what led a priest from a small disadvantaged neighborhood to traffic cocaine. Lapsus is also the history of that neighborhood, of its people, of its recent history, a place abandoned and degraded by the laziness politics, the corruption and capitalism wild.
- AL: Can you go back to that first book you read? And the first story you wrote?
SA: I started, like many in my generation, reading comics, from there I went to comics and the illustrated novel. I have no memory of the first book, but if I have to remember one that made an impact on me as a reader, perhaps it would be The island of the treasure, by Stevenson, who for me remains one of the great storytellers of history. He had never written stories, diaries or the like, so my first story was my first novel luck does not exist.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
SA: There are few writers whose entire output I have read, John Steinbeck,John Fante, Patricia highsmith, Raymond Chandler, Hanif Kureishi, William faulkner, Don Winslow, Dennis Lehane, Yuri Herrera…
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
SA: I'm not particularly mythomaniac in terms of characters, but if there is one that I would have liked to create it would be Mike Hoolihan, protagonist of Night Train by Martin Amis.
Customs and genres
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
SA: I always write with music. I choose a record that provides a specific tone or mood for the novel I'm writing and play it on a loop, over and over again. Help me to find the rhythm every time I resume writing. Scorpion was written with Matthew Hallsall, ringing without ceasing; in the case of Lapsus was the group The Delines.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
SA: I am absolutely undisciplined and chaotic when it comes to writing, I can go months without writing a single word and then do it compulsively for months at any time of the day. I do not recommend to anybody. I can write anywhere, but yes, I need a computer.
- AL: Are there other genres that you like?
SA: Leo all, there is no genre that I deny on principle. Running a book club forces me to be open-minded and discover all kinds of genres.
Readings and publishing landscape
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
SA: I just finished Go out to steal horses from norwegian Peter Petterson, and I have half Strange flowers Irish Donal Ryan. As for writing, I have two novels started, time will tell which of them will have to wait in the drawer.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is?
SA: The publishing scene and the literary world are a joke in bad taste. It's really depressing to know how this business works on the inside, the amount of mediocre works that are nominated and awarded respond to interests that are absolutely far from a minimum quality, not to mention best-selling novels. A joke. million dollar campaigns promotion that boost novels of writers with huge egos and whose works would not pass the grade approved in a college writing. It's all pretty daunting, really.
I know great writers who don't sell more than a few hundred copies and will go unnoticed. Publishers seek quick profit, it's junk food, you don't invest a euro in promotion, you don't take risks, and nobody bets on unknown authors. Before, publishers believed in a work, They bet on her. Now, instead, publish depends more on media factors that of quality or originality.
- AL: Is the moment of crisis that we are experiencing being difficult for you or will you be able to keep something positive in both the cultural and social spheres?
SA: The truth is that crises are inherent to humanityNot understanding that life is permanent change is destined for frustration and depression. And experience tells us that changes are not always for the better. Adapting and learning from crises is the only thing that makes sense. I don't have a great hope in the human being, and if I'm honest, the total destruction of the human race would seem like great news to me. I advocate chemical castration, put an expiration date on all this madness and enjoy what we have left. It would be so nice...