Photography: author's website
Nuria Rivera He is from Badalona and studied Psychology. He liked to write since childhood and now has 17 novels published. historical and romantic novel, which was the genre that opened the doors for him. The latest is titled The secret of the swallows and in this extensive interview he talks to us about her and many other topics. I am very grateful for his kindness and time.
Nuria Rivera — Interview
- LITERATURE CURRENT: Your new novel is The secret of the swallows. What do you tell us in it and where did your inspiration come from?
NURIA RIVERA: It is the story of a A family of Andalusian oil workers who, after the death of one of the patriarch's daughters, the investigation of the murder is intertwined with the reunion of some lovers and a past full of family secrets.In it I talk about the value of roots, of the home as the centre of a family (represented by the family house: Las Golondrinas) I talk about resentment, envy, betrayal and secrets. Family secrets that can break everything that has been built. I talk about love in all its forms: for family, for friends, for the land and for romantic love.
Inspiration came to me while I was walking through one of the olive groves in Alameda, a town in Malaga where the novel takes place. I spent long periods there a long time ago and possible plot scenes kept coming to mind. I kept the idea, but I always thought I had to write that story and set it there. So one day I took it up again and The Secret of the Swallows came about.
- AL: Can you remember any of your first readings? And the first thing you wrote?
NR: Among my first readings as a child I remember Esther and her world, The five, by Enid Blyton, and the books of Sissi, those from Bruguera that came illustrated. Then readings that were required at school. The catcher in the rye, by JD Salinger, impressed me quite a bit. But what I really discovered in literature in my teenage years in high school was the Brontë sisters and Jane Austen. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë, with the dark and tortured Heathcliff I loved, as did Jane-eyre, of his sister Charlotte, or Persuasiveness, by J. Austen, with the charming Captain Wentworth, and Pride and prejudice, with the proud and socially awkward Mr. Darcy. Novels that I have reread on more than one occasion.
Writing was a secret passion since she was a child and she wrote short stories or poetry. I remember that one of those stories was an invention of adventures with my classmates, in the style of The Famous Five, but there were four of us. Another story was about a family of two sisters who, when they got married, lived far away from each other (those were, you could say, my first literary works). For a long time I wrote for myself (I didn't usually show my texts to anyone), it was a way to express my feelings and let my imagination run free.
My time at university took me away from writing for a while. When I was already professionally established, I took it up again as a form of escape and a hobby. I dedicated more time to it, I trained as a writer at the Writing School of the Ateneo Barcelonés and I dedicated myself to it with more seriousness and, I might say, professionalism. project that came out of my formative years is a psychological novel, a suspense and intrigue book with a little romantic plot. Maybe one day it will see the light of day.
The opportunity to publish with a publisher came to me eight years ago, when I participated in a contest, and since then I have continued with the same publisher: Penguin Random House and I combine writing with my psychotherapeutic work.
- AL: A leading author? You can choose more than one and from all periods.
NR: I can't point out a favorite author, I usually choose books based on the subject or because the cover or synopsis attracts me; even because a review has generated the need to read or buy it. I have periods of reading thriller, female narrative, crime or romance novel. I usually alternate genres. I am one of those who walk through bookstores and stop at every book that catches my attention, current or classic. I browse through them and if the synopsis or the first page convinces me, I buy it. I alsoI think quite a bit in ebook, sometimes it is more comfortable, because it weighs less and I have dozens of books stored. I admit that there are many pending books.
However, there are authors that I like more than others and I have read several of their works. Among them I highlight: Ian McEwan, John Katzenbach, Almudena Great, Lorenzo Silva or Mary Oruña. In romantic to Nieves Hidalgo, Anna Casanovas, Megan Maxwell and Elisabeth Benavent, Brenna Watson or Yolanda Díaz de Tuesta (Bethany Bell). Or English authors like Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood or Johana Lindsey or the American Nora Robers, For example.
- AL: What character would you have liked to meet and create?
NR: Literary characters like that, without thinking much, I would say sira quiroga, by Maria Duenas (The time between seams). I love the great adulteresses of literature: Emma bovary (Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert), Ana Ozores (The Regent, by Leopoldo Alas «Clarín») or Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. Others, Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Brontë) or Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby(by F. Scott Fitzgerald).
As a real character, I would have liked to meet Zelda, Fitzgerald's wife. A woman, without a doubt, charismatic and visionary, torn between her husband's success and her own merit. She ended up alone, locked away in a mental hospital and had a tragic death.
Other interesting characters that come to mind are Hercule Poirot, by Agatha Christie, or Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle, for his intelligence and because his "manias" let us see what they are like. Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell) or Josephine march (Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott), among others. There are many attractive literary characters that I would have liked to meet, but I don't know if I would have created them. Building a character is key. As a writer, I have to say that it is an aspect of the construction of the novel to which I dedicate a lot of time and I take great care of the "character sheet".
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
NR: I work better if there is silence and I like to write for the nights, but I write and read mostly on weekends. If background noise bothers me I isolate myself with earpods. To create some scenes I like to listen to The music, so they're great.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
NR: As I say, I like the night, or late afternoon. I usually write in mi office, although I love doing it with him portable sitting in bed or on the sofa. However, since my back takes its toll afterwards, I try not to overuse bad positions.
- AL: What other genres do you like?
NR: I like the Novelty, the thriller, the novel of suspense y psychological. In fact, what I like most about writing is Mix These genres with the romance novel.
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
NR: The last book I read was The silent patient, by Alex Michaelides and then it was hard for me to get hooked on another novel (I abandoned three for another time). I just started The girl with the blue hat, by Ana Lena Rivera, and I'm liking it.
I can't say anything about what I write, but I am shaping my next project, setting up the storyboard and the character sheet. I am a map writer.
publishing landscape
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is?
NR: I was talking to a bookseller a few days ago. She was telling me that there are so many new releases that they only last two or three days after they are published. This makes you think. The excess of publications causes a book to lose visibility very quickly. On the other hand, it is almost logical, there are not so many shelves or tables to display the publications. Physical books take up space and booksellers end up returning those that do not sell, just as publishers destroy excess stock. In some ways it is the dog that bites its own tail: There are many publications, there are not enough shelves for so many new books and the novelty becomes invisible very quickly because something new arrives.
Nowadays, if a publisher decides to buy your book, they will publish it and take care of the distribution, but you have to do the promotion (this is the current situation, if you are not a best-seller). Here social media and your marketing ingenuity can help you, more or less.
The publishing world has changed, but I think it was the Internet that changed everything. Publishing is a business (like any company it wants to make money), and so are bookstores. And You, as an author, want your book to be visible and to be sold, because you want to be published again and that depends on sales.It is no longer enough to just write the book, or even to have it well written; you need to know how to navigate social media and have marketing skills.
El ebook revolutionized the publishing world (and Amazon). Now the audiobooks They are also in fashion, but this has not meant that they are published less in paper format. There are many authors who are looking for their niche and trends bring us some genres and relegate others, as if it were a cycle. There is more offer, there are more formats to access a book and publishers look for their formulas to remain in the market. Quality is another thing, it is subjective, there are good and bad books, something that has nothing to do with sales, or with editorial success. That is a mystery.
News
- AL: How do you feel about the current moment we live in?
NR: Well, although there is always room for improvement. The current social situation is what it is and there is little I can do to change it. Although politicians, those gentlemen and ladies who could do something, do not seem to be doing much to change it either. If you listen carefully to the news you will pick up a lot of empty words; what is important is what is not said.
From my window, which are my books, I try to empower women, to tell them that their life is theirs and they can achieve whatever they set out to do. I try to say that if we don't like what we have, we should change it and stop blaming others. If we don't like something and we don't do anything to change it, the fault is only ours. Reading makes us think, learn, imagine and, above all, travel to other places to live other lives. Reading changes people because it enriches them inside.
In my books I like to talk about the importance of family, friends and knowing who you are. I like to show psychological conflicts, which are easy to identify with. And everything, seasoned and a romantic plot and a mystery to solve, because that always invites you to think.