Juan Gómez-Jurado: “The heroes of my novel set everything on fire, something we all want to do and dare not do”

This time, at the beginning of the interview, he didn’t abandon the usual “You know we’re not going to talk about the book, right?” this time, Juan Gomez Jurado (Madrid, 1977) reveals things about ‘Everything is burning’ (Ediciones B/Rosa dels Vents), the beginning of a series starring three extraordinary heroes who come together to face the system after losing everything: Aura, Mari Paz, and Sere. This phenomenon of “excitement” takes a new direction: it does not abandon the world The “Red Queen” trilogy But yes to his iconic characters of Antonia Scott – “the smartest human being in the world” – and his gay partner John Gutierrez, which has earned him 2,500,000 copies sold, translations into 40 languages ​​and a series in the pipeline on Amazon Prime, with Vicky Luengo and Hovik Keuchkerian, in which he is totally involved.

Triple closes worked like thunder. Do you feel intimidated, pressured, challenged & mldr; before the welcome?

I was scared. Not when writing but yes when posting. It was clear to me that I wanted to tell the story of three women and how they dealt with their problems in a completely unusual way that, if we were in their situation, we certainly wouldn’t react like them. We have all had at some point the temptation to set everything on fire but we are social beings and we don’t. They are three heroines who represent us because we are all tired of it. But I was afraid to face the judgment of the readers, who always ask you in the street when Antonia and John return, in case they put up resistance against even three new heroes who are strong, extremist and funny.

Women who lost everything, or rather, robbed everything.

Society has let them down. Ora, a widow and mother of two, has to go to trial and learn that things won’t go well; Mary Buzz is a former legionnaire who lives in the car; Siri, a systems engineer, is a game-broken, with obvious emotional and mental instability, and we couldn’t help it. They have separate problems but together they fuel a common madness: the book is the fantasy of power.

System crash?

Yes, our leaders, the economic and geopolitical situation is failing us. The system does not work well globally. We get up and go to work another day and see that from the other side the agreement is broken. There is latent anger. And the three say, “Let’s do something.” They do not accept the situation that has been imposed on them. Many people do nothing.

A call to rebellion?

I am a father to a family who has to protect his children and get to work every day, just like everyone else. But it is clear that the world is broken and that we have to change things. The book tries to see what would happen if we turned everything upside down.

Were you afraid that you would end up on the street or in prison, losing everything, as happens to characters and a lot of people?

I feel terrified. I see danger everywhere, I live with that constant fear. There is a kind of social numbness produced by being able to pay a mortgage or own an upper-middle-class car. It makes you think that you are not a hard worker, but it is not. What if I ever get an aphasia or something and can’t write? Too many people have lost a direct connection to reality and this allows the force to accumulate more power. The aura has inspiration: you discover the world when you see the cliff actually falling.

What would you do in your situation?

I’m not as brave as Aura. I think I will settle down.

Have you met people who have lost everything?

For many a Legion like those in the book are the people we once sent on a humanitarian mission and came back with a problem, but as a society we weren’t up to the task to help them.

Among the bad guys, banker, corrupt commissioner and mldr;

There are charming opponents, cops who arrest Ora, security guards & mldr; They are not bad per se. But in the two big villains, there is a complete absence of scruples, they are only interested in making their own way.

Does Ora’s strength, once a clever boss, come from her need to survive as a “widow wolf with two cubs”?

He is an incredibly complex character. You feel the need to get back what was before. Rebuilt after the sinking.

Marie Buzz is lovable. An alcoholic, homeless, pure muscular, she was raised by her Galician grandmother.

He is lovable. You want her as your best friend. All he wants is to escape from problems and stop being afraid. Aura is defined by anger, Siri with chaos, and Mary Buzz with fear. These mental states characterize the novel.

Does Siri have any Lisbeth Salander?

She is the opposite of Lisbeth, introverted and fearful of society. Sere, who also has value with the computer, has no friends but wishes they had, she needs company.

Aura’s night in the dungeon was shaken. It looks very alive …

As for the documents I have been to some of them in Madrid, on the weekends, when they are full. I don’t want to end there & mldr; I wanted to start with the Aura locked until I felt the full weight of the system on it. With the concern of being a widow and having to separate from her daughters and a mother with Alzheimer’s disease and financial disability. It is a “teaser” of what will happen to him in the future.

Does the bestselling label confuse you or the more than 500,000 listeners of the podcasts Come and Here Are Dragons that you do with Arturo González Campos and Javier Cansado?

it is. In 2020, you were the most read author in Spain. what does that mean? Which. Now I’m as if 40,000 read me, which is brutal indeed. Before the blank page I am the same. I write, out of selfishness, the book I love, the book that amuses me, the story I must tell.

Related news