Aura, Mari Paz and Sere. Three women and none of them Antonia Scott, although just as charismatic and powerful, literary speaking. They are the protagonists of Todo Arde, the new novel by Juan Gómez-Jurado that is published this Tuesday simultaneously in Spain (Ediciones B), in Latin America and in Catalan (Rosa dels Vents).
This trio has lost everything, even fear. “And that is precisely what makes them dangerous. There is nothing worse than facing someone who has nothing to lose, because he is someone who will fight at all costs. And that is why they dare to do what the rest are only capable of imagining,” the man from Madrid tells La Vanguardia.
As he himself anticipates, the story has nothing to do with the successful Red Queen trilogy, which has given him so much joy, since it has had two hundred editions and two and a half million copies sold, making him the most widely read thriller writer in Spain. “In every moment of my life I need to tell a story and now it is the turn of these three women. Why theirs and not something else? The truth is that I have had a plan for many years, but I am not going to tell you about it. Over the years you will understand, ”says the author, mysteriously.
But its success and the figures, such as the fact that it has an initial print run of 275,000 copies, do not make him dizzy. “The book is already written, I can't do anything about it. It is the readers who will decide if it is good or not. If they have fun with it or if they leave it aside, "he emphasizes. Nor does he feel excessive pressure with the filming of the Red Queen series, an adaptation of his book, starring Vicky Luengo and Hovik Keuchkerian and which can be seen soon on Amazon Prime.
This time to find calm, he has not gone to the Santa Cruz hostel, in the Valley of the Fallen, where in previous interviews he acknowledged that he wrote "never for political issues but for a matter of concentration, because silence reigns there". He has chosen Colmenar de Oreja "again for peace of mind and for a practical matter, because we are closer to my mother-in-law."
And it is that, he assures, “I will be very grateful for everything that can go unnoticed because those who really have to be protagonists are those who have a name, that is, my characters. In the end that is what matters. In my books I don't tell my personal story, that's why I, as an author, must disappear as much as possible and dilute myself in the style. That's what's really interesting."
In this sense, he assures that “while I write I become incredibly selfish. The very writing of a book is an act of generosity that must be built on the basis of selfishness. I write the book that I would like to read and with which I am going to have a good time writing myself. Because I think that only if I have a good time, so will the reader. I am an entertainment author. I write exciting fun mystery novels. I'm not literary award material and I never will be. Being a writer who amuses the reader is my greatest pride”.
The novel has a language of the most cinematographic. “Yes, I admit it, I lied to all of you when I said that my books would not make the leap to audiovisuals. I like to play clueless sometimes. But the moment Prime Video gives you such an opportunity, you can't miss it. But the fact that my books are like reading movies is something that, although I am aware, is not as thought through as it may seem. Galdós was already writing cinematographically, since I'm not going to do it if I have more tools at my disposal due to the times in which I live. U yes, it's true, sometimes I make cuts at the end of the page that look like a cut scene in the movies. I have found that this helps the reader's enjoyment and, as he said, this is the only thing that really matters to me”.
The next challenge? “Although it may not seem like it, I still have many things to accomplish. But my care will always be, ahead of anything, to be able to continue telling stories as history itself deserves. I have it clear since when I was a child I began to say that I wanted to be a writer. And being able to be is without a doubt the greatest dream fulfilled. Sometimes I look back and wonder how all this madness happened. And I'll tell you one thing, I think I have the answer. What I thought when I was five years old I believed. I didn't listen to the rest. If you do what everyone asks you to do in life, the chances of success are zero. If you do what you want, the chances of succeeding are also zero. So you better do what you want and see what happens. That's how it worked for me,” he concludes.
