Jorge Díaz, Agustín Martínez Y Antonio Mercero they kept three years behind Carmen Mola an anonymity that was blown up by winning the Planet. Now they feel liberated and in contact with their audience, something they will experience this Friday (9 pm) at the Maestral Literary Evenings in Alicante, where they present La Bestia.
How do you handle the digestion of the bomb that exploded with the Planet award?
Right now we are more concerned with the digestion of nougat and Christmas excesses. The shock wave of the planet has been diluted and there is only the hangover of an unforgettable night.
Have they received more criticism or support, once their identity was revealed?
We have read some criticism on Twitter or in press articles that came out the first week. Apart from that, everything has been support and affection. The vast majority of our readers ask us to keep writing, that they love our novels, and that is the greatest success we might aspire to: we always wanted to put novels ahead of the author.
That they speak of you as “three gentlemen”, does it bother you or do you no longer care?
We don’t care, we even found it funny. After three years of anonymity, suddenly becoming the meat of memes, some very witty, and comments of all kinds had its funny part. We have gone from obscurity to the most powerful media spotlight imaginable, and from the beginning we have set out to enjoy the moment. I think we are succeeding.
Do you regret not having adopted a male pseudonym?
No, no, we liked the pseudonym Carmen Mola from the first moment it emerged. It sounded good, Carmen’s name is very Spanish, the last name made us funny… Since that first spark, Carmen Mola has not stopped bringing us joys. And that when starting with a pseudonym you play with the disadvantage of not being able to promote either in the press or on social networks.
His novels defend themselves with the readers they drag. Is this also being the case with La Bestia or have you noticed any change?
The main difference is that now we do have communication with readers, something that we missed, and we can do a very intense promotion of the novel. Obviously, winning the Planet award allows you to reach more readers, and that is what we are achieving with this book, that many people who only knew us by hearsay begin to read us. We are delighted because La Bestia is enjoying it a lot.
The Beast is set in a cholera epidemic in the 19th century and was written in the middle of the 21st century coronavirus pandemic. Did you see any similarities?
Yes we did. In the cholera epidemic of the 19th century, limits were decreed in social gatherings, the sick population was confined, a hospital was built to treat the infected, measures that have also been taken in the pandemic that we know. In addition, hoaxes were spread regarding the transmission of the disease and much was improvised in the way to combat it. This is also familiar to us. Fear, ignorance and social discrimination did not end in the 19th century, unfortunately they are still very much in force.
At the dinner they will have with the public in Alicante, they will talk regarding a thriller in which girls are murdered with violence … Have you thought regarding it? Is the public prepared?
The last thing a writer should do is undervalue the public or treat it with paternalism or condescension. We really think that the reader we are addressing is educated, sensitive, informed and with a lot of literary baggage. Our novels have evil and violence as their exploration themes, and in his portrait we do not put hot cloths because in that case we would be doing our job badly. But we don’t want to indigestible anyone’s dinner. We will talk regarding a lot of things, history, freedoms, generosity and the light that is in the human soul, even in the most unfavorable conditions …
After the award, does Carmen Mola take a break or keep writing?
Carmen Mola continues writing. We are finishing the fourth installment of Elena Blanco’s series, which will be called Mothers and will be published in the fall of 22. And then we will see, we will surely stumble upon new ideas. We love our work, the three of us get along very well and while that happens, there will be Carmen Mola for a while.
It must not be easy to write with six hands. Does anyone think of leaving the group and writing solo?
Writing with six hands is difficult, especially because of the management of individual egos to which we are forced. You have to agree on each part of the story and the characters, although sometimes you have to give up an idea that you loved. That’s tough, but we do it with humility and respect, and leaving everyone’s ego on the landing. That is the great miracle of Carmen Mola. No one thinks of leaving the group for the moment, we all maintain our solo careers, both as screenwriters and novelists.
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