The FOSS

So.  February.  Fertilizer is happening, cogs are moving.  Announcements will soon be made.  But that's not postworthy news.  This is a writer's blog and the important update is, I'm writing.

I don't stress myself with daily goals or weekly quotas, but I do obsess about producing at least one big thing every year.  "Big" is a flexible adjective for size, but it should be something that stands by its own in a library.  "Producing" means writing a finished, non-apologizing manuscript ‒ not selling or publishing it.  And "thing" implies it doesn't even need a purpose. It may be my next book, or just an idea that took up too much room in my head so I just put it on paper in any random form. This one in the picture belongs to the latter kind. It's called The FOSS. And apparently it's a TV script.

"But do you work in TV or have any contacts in that world?" No.

"Do you have any experience as a screenwriter in English?" No.

"Do you even know what to do with this?" No.

But it's 60 minutes and it counts as biggish and it's written. And it's only February. :)

I was in Toronto and all I got was this awesome experience that will take another lifetime to beat

So I attended the 36th International Festival of Authors and I had a great time. This coming from a person who is reluctant to travel, fears meeting new people and often doubts whether this writing business is serious.

But ooh, it's become serious. Man, I'm so gonna write the shit out of my motifs now.

Thank you all.

I'm going to Canada!

I have been invited to attend the 36th International Festival of Authors in Toronto this fall. From October 30th to November 1st I will be doing readings, signing books and promenading around the Harbourfront Center with glittery eyes like I've never been there, because I've never been there. Or anywhere in Toronto. Or Canada.

So come to either of my programmed activities and say hi, and I guarantee I'll be excited to meet you, because I'll be excited, period. Not period—exclamation mark!

Scream 2

October 30 2015 - 7:30 PM
A group of horror, thriller and mystery writers share from their latest works.

Blurred Lines

November 1 2015 - 1:00 PM
Edgar Cantero, Alexandra Grigorescu, Andrew Pyper and Robert J. Wiersema discuss their latest works.

Further info and tickets available at the IFOA site.

El Jueves #2000

Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves, which provides my civilian job, is releasing its 2000th issue this week. That's +38 years on the streets. While many of my colleagues will surely post announcements for our readership, I'd like to take avail of this occasion to tell my anglophone audience why this matters.

As a quick explanation to Americans I often correlate El Jueves to MAD Magazine, but that is a rough analogy. El Jueves first came out in 1977, in the early days of democratic restoration after Franco's dictatorship. It belongs to a rich tradition of cartoon journals that playfully and defiantly teased and dodged the censorship of an ageing totalitarian society. Its adult-oriented humor and often crude sociopolitical commentary caused many of its first artists to go to court every other week; their names (Ivá, Perich, Óscar Nebreda) are legends of pop culture today. Through the eighties and nineties, as freedoms set and liberal agendas elbowed their way in, the popularity of such magazines dwindled and ultimately only El Jueves remained. Despite its job being much less hazardous today, and furious bigot reactions being less of a threat than loss of readers to aggregator websites, El Jueves is still frequently sued by individuals and institutions, trolled by the easily offendable, and even seized as late as 2007 for a famous front page depicting prince (currently king) Felipe VI and his wife having sex.

But the strike that makes El Jueves' resilience most admirable is relatively recent. Only fifteen months ago, El Jueves took its costliest blow when RBA, its current publisher, banned a front page cartoon on the abdication of king Juan Carlos I and destroyed all 60,000 printed copies before they reached the stores. This blatant attack on editorial independence caused many contributing writers and artists, including former editors Manel Fontdevila and Albert Monteys, living champions of comics in this country, to quit and found their own magazine. Understaffed and bleeding credibility, those of us who stayed in El Jueves feared that we would just stagger for a few more weeks and die.

Instead, we did stagger, and then slowly stood upright, and then made it another year. Because two things that Spain is thankfully never in dearth of are mediocre public figures to mock, and new generations of brilliant cartoonists.

I only joined El Jueves in 2007 and played a diminutive part in this story. But El Jueves has played a big part in mine. As a comics fan in my teens I worshipped and emulated the work of then rising artists such as Albert Monteys; fifteen years later I was literally drawing by Monteys' side every week—'literally' as in 'on the same page'. My writing owes a lot to what I learned by reading Eljuevians as idols, working with them as equals, and yes, fighting them as bosses. And many of my best friends I either met in El Jueves, or they joined the ranks soon after me. And they're the pop culture legends of tomorrow.

All in all, two thousand weeks is a milestone worth celebrating. So please join us, fill a glass with cava and drink to the health of a Spanish comics magazine this week. More English-oriented news will soon follow.

El Jueves #2000 comes out Wednesday,
September 23. Print and electronic
versions available.

 

Eight months

Eight months ago, during a business lunch in New York, I pitched some ideas for my next book in English to a publisher and I bluffed that I could have a full manuscript in summer 2015.

Well, it's summer 2015 and, much to my own astonishment, I did it.

Really. I just clicked 'Send' earlier today.

I usually don't keep track of how ideas grow into full texts, because both ends of that line are blurry;  in my experience there was never a starting pistol or a deadline. But I had both this time. Eight months ago, this was a high concept that could be described (and was described) in under a minute. It was essentially these two elements.

But since it was greenlit and I walked out of that business lunch, I cut it loose and let it grow up. I started writing in Brooklyn the next couple weeks and continued back in Barcelona, and it developed its own aesthetic and style and themes. After eight months, it's now all this, and many more things.

It's grown 100K words too. That's uncanny.

What starts now is the part where the writer is not in full control. It's the time of agents and editors and decision-makers, it's the uncertainty period. This may be my next published book, or it may never see light.

But as far as my job goes, it's done. This exists already. And I'm proud. :D

Era una noche oscúrea y tormentífera

Para acompañar el envío a libreros y prensa de ejemplares de El factor sobrenatural, dibujé esta carta personal en la que me presento a mí mismo y la novela. Y sí, esta es mi forma de ligar.

"It was a darkish, stormferous night:" A promotional comic I made introducing myself and the Spanish translation of TSE to bookstore owners and media.

Un cadàver bonic - Conte gratis de Sant Jordi

"Veieu aquesta noia que rodola fora del sarcòfag i cau de morros a terra, amb els peus empresonats dins el vestit com una crisàlide enganxifosa? Veieu com s’esquinça el baix de la mortalla per tal de guanyar mobilitat? Veieu com surt de la cripta obrint el reixat d’una puntada de peu, sostenint encara el ram d’orquídies de plàstic i proferint un bram que fa escagarrinar tot animal vertebrat en un radi de cinc quilòmetres?

Doncs aquesta noia sóc jo."

Tretze pàgines, sis morts (mínim), un festival de violència multicolor i dones apassionades per celebrar el Dia del Llibre amb risses i amor. Per regalar-vos o regalar a la noia que estimeu. O si no, no sé, compreu-li una vulgar rosa.

Descàrrega d'ebook gratuïta.

Un cadàver bonic.azw3 (Kindle)

Un cadàver bonic.epub (majoria d'altres e-readers)

Un cadàver bonic.mobi (mòbil)

Un cadàver bonic.pdf (si tota la resta falla)

Tots els drets reservats, viewer discretion is advised, etcètera. Si us agrada, parleu-ne!

ENGLISH followers: links download a free short story in Catalan to celebrate Sant Jordi. No translation available, sorry. Please stay tuned for more info on English novelties soon!

EN CASTELLANO: Lo siento, no hay traducción del cuento... ¡pero tendréis traducción de The Supernatural Enhancements en las librerías el mes que viene! Más info en breve.

Writing night

Chapter completed. Comedy and violence included. Liking myself a lot right now.

Capricorns

"The modern depiction of the sign of Capricorn is derived from that of the Sumerian god of water Enki, as a half-goat, half-fish creature."

Nailed it.

NYC

I'm in New York right now. My last time here was back in 2006, while working on my first novel, Dormir amb Winona Ryder. I take as a good omen that I found this right next to my hotel.

I love this city.

Kiribati connection

A few months ago, while planning on how to distribute my copies of The Supernatural Enhancements, I recorded my intention to send one book to the National Library of Kiribati—which, in case you don't know, is a remote island nation on  the South Pacific. (→)

For a number of reasons, this mission has been intolerably postponed, until this morning, on a beautiful summer day in mid-October, I woke up with the firm purpose of fulfilling that promise.

 This is the book. (Hi.)

Sorry, I doodled all over it.

This is a letter to the unsuspecting librarians in Kiribati.

 This is the envelope we sent it in.

And this is the whole package standing on a rooftop shouting, baby I'm ready to go.

After a trip to the post office and a brief lesson for the clerk on the history of Kiribati, the package was posted. Here is the receipt.

Which is a good moment to answer the question, "why are you doing this?" Simply put, because I've been fascinated by the Pacific for years, and I want a piece of me to be there. And now it's on its way. Yippee!

(If I piqued anyone's curiosity with all this, allow me to recommend J. Maarten Troost's The Sex Lives of Cannibals: one of the very few books on modern-day Kiribati available, and among my favorite non-fiction books of all time.)

*

More news on TSE: it's selling very well, thank you! Also, it will be released in French, Italian and Spanish in the first half of 2015. The Spanish translation has been undertaken by yours truly, together with my friend and long-time collaborator Xavi Morató. A big thank you to all the readers who gave it a chance, and let me remind all those who were left perplexed by it that I remain at your disposition via Goodreads for somewhat less vague explanations. Cheers.
 

The Supernatural Week

It's arrived. As of today, my English debut novel The Supernatural Enhancements is on sale in US and Canada, published by Doubleday. And the UK edition will be available next Thursday 14, by Del Rey.

Also, US denizens, remember there are copies with signed and doodled bookplates available only through The Mysterious Bookshop in New York.

And that's it. It's been 27 months since I wrote it, 20 since it got an agent, 18 since she sold it, and about four since we finished editing, proofreading and tweaking. Thanks to all who shared my impatience, and let me take avail of this opportunity to thank heartfully some beautiful early reviewers who livened up these last weeks for me. 

It is a great honor to finally meet my first English-speaking audience. Thanks for your trust, I wish you enjoy it, and I hope to join you soon.



Meanwhile, in the author's house...

Never install a ball pit in the way between your bedroom and the toilet. You will regret it in the morning.


EN ROMANCE: Nada, que la edición norteamericana de mi nueva novela sale hoy. Y la británica, este jueves. ¿Y en castellano? ¡Estamos trabajando en ello!

Rik Fucking Mayall

Lots of big things have happened around here during the last week, but not nearly enough to eclipse this tragedy. Rik Mayall died.

To say this guy was a big influence is just a way to understate how much of his formula I stole to concoct my own. He was a screenwriter (among other things), whereas my screenwriting efforts are weak, but his writing style is more patent in my novels and stories than that of many literary authors I admire. And that's thanks to comedians like Mayall, who taught me that jokes are worth including in every kind of work. Rik and his adorable colleague Adrian Edmondson showed me a whole form of humor. Their rhythm and physicality are academic models to me. I can recite some of Richie and Eddie's dialogues by heart. I hold the central minutes of the "Nasty" episode of The Young Ones as one of the biggest achievements in comedy EVER. "Yes, we've got a vi-de-o!!"

And above all, I cherish the memory of an interview with a 26-year-old Mayall who said there would be no more Young Ones (after only twelve episodes of one of the milestones of British comedy, mind you) because that was done already, "and we want to move on and do something else". Slow clap for you, Rik. You taught me a form of comedy, a code on how much further to go, and an attitude. Thank you.

De lo que ha pasado en El Jueves

Yo entré en El Jueves en 2007. En verano de 2011 tenía una tira propia titulada Edgar trabaja en El Jueves, quizá más popular entre los trabajadores de El Jueves y del grupo editorial que entre el público. En una época en que dedicábamos portadas a las imputaciones por corrupción de altos cargos, mis compañeros de la web me señalaron esta noticia en El País.

Mi sección se alimentaba de ironías como esa. Así que yo dibujé esta tira, la firmé y la entregué a redacción.

Evidentemente, no llegó a la imprenta. Los de El Jueves me convocaron y me echaron una bronca perfectamente justificada. Comprendí sus razones, aunque no las compartiera, y asentí a todo con una sonrisa de satisfacción. Todo había salido bien. Esa semana no saldría mi tira, pero no la hice para los lectores. No la cobraría, pero no la hice por dinero. La hice porque creía que era lo que me tocaba hacer; porque había creado un personaje al que le tocaba hacer esta broma —no la de la tira, sino la de hacer la tira—. Aunque sólo fuera un chiste interno, aunque fuera contraproducente o suicida, tenía que hacerlo. No por coherencia. No por justicia. Porque es gracioso.

Es por lo que estoy en El Jueves y hago cosas. Respeto a los autores que trabajan por la crítica social o el vanguardismo gráfico, pero para mí esas causas son medios, y cualquier éxito en ellas, un efecto colateral. Mi intención es divertir.



Ahora bien: esta sana lección no tiene nada que ver con la censura de RBA.

Portada retirada por RBA el 4-VI-2014.

Me dan igual sus motivos; personalmente, creo menos en una gran conspiración que en un yupi tomando una decisión idiota desde su despacho superfluo. Pero sea lo que sea, no me lo tomo con una sonrisa de satisfacción. Esto me jode. Aunque yo apenas haya rozado a la monarquía en mis años de juevismo, aunque no haya hecho una portada en mi vida, esta restricción que nos han impuesto es arbitraria y estúpida, es una traición a lo acordado cuando compraron la cabecera y NO TIENEN RAZÓN.

Entiendo a mis compañeros y estoy (hoy aún más) orgulloso de ellos. Todos han tomado decisiones personales muy duras: saltar del barco, o seguir tripulándolo aunque haga aguas.

La mía es esta: he decidido que soy como el músico del Titanic: inútil para la tripulación, invisible para la compañía, pero aquí estoy, tocando. No por lealtad o por subsistencia, sino porque ahora que todo el mundo está con ataques de histeria y saltando por la borda, a mí me da la puta gana de tocar una mazurca. Porque es gracioso.

Como lo es que ahora, por un mala jugada de RBA, resurjan las noticias sobre la imputación de su presidente, de las cuales El Jueves, en 2011, intentó protegerle. Toma ironía. Toma efecto Streisand. GRACIOSO.

Y pienso seguir, junto a los compañeros que admiro y los jefes que creyeron en mí, entregando mi sección semanal, que casi nunca toca al rey, y que jamás sale en portada, pero es graciosa. Hasta que me canse o me paren. 

Stuff I'm doing lately

Lo de en medio es un fragmento de 23F Party People, página sobre la familia Tejero en El Jueves de esta semana. Donde, por cierto, también se estrena Erasmus, nueva serie con guion de Xavi Morató y arte de Triz, y el renovado Manda Güevos. Ahora, con más Horoscopia.

The one in the middle is from 23F Party People, coming up this week in El Jueves magazine.

Proofreading

A heroine is born

A bit of the new stuff I'm working on. I'm writing it in Spanish, but for some reason I think in English while taking notes. Whatever.