Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first novel. Kind of a stab in the dark, creatively, but it processes a lot of the dread and anxiety about Mexico and Latin countries — much of it unwarranted, I would add — that clients have shared with me on the tours my wife and I lead into Mexico and other Latin destinations. The excitement generated by “We Have Taken Your Husband” has encouraged me to start another thriller, set this time in New York, where we have been living for several years.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“We Have Taken Your Husband” was inspired by the exposure to the community of American expats living in some of Mexico’s more beautiful cities and villages. From a starting point traditional to kidnap thrillers, it builds into a portrait of the troubled but fascinating marriage of a couple of New Yorkers who came to Mexico in search of freedom, both the political and the erotic kind.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Because I write first drafts in long-hand, I am able to do a lot of it in cathedrals. (I step outside when Mass is being said.) These are environments, both in New York and Mexico in which it’s possible to regain a sense of history’s epic sweep and see your characters whole against that backdrop.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I strive for a stripped-down style of writing, inspired by Hemingway, I suppose (aren’t we all) but even more directly by Raymond Chandler. Chandler may have been a creator of pulp fiction, but I rank him among the great literary stylists of the 20th century. I also admire the work of Roberto Bolaño, the Chilean writer who lived for a time in Mexico and died young in Spain. If Chandler is a constant reminder that ornamentation is unnecessary in good writing, Bolaño shows ways to break the linear rigidity of the narrative and instead capture the desultory, unpredictable nature of reality as we actually live it.
What are you working on now?
Beyond calling it a thriller set in New York, I’d rather not say. I’m superstitious; premature chit chat might jinx the project.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Null & Void Publishing convinced me to try going directly to Kindle and then working social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Call Kindle a vanity press or call it the future of publishing, I’ve found the experience deeply dynamic. The commercial press should not forget that Fifty Shades of Gray started as an e-book before they wised up to its astonishing market potential.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, keep writing. You can always go back over it later on, but if you constantly rework yesterday’s scribblings, you’ll never finish.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust your imagination and that of your readers. The human mind has a power to connect the dots in ways that allow for accident and inspiration. I think it was Richard Price, a terrific storyteller, who once remarked that he never knows how a book will end until he gets there.
What are you reading now?
I’m enjoying Laurent Binet’s “The Seventh Function of Language.” Sorry that I have to read the French in translation, but the book’s a kind of unique mix of philosophy and mystery set in motion by the death (in traffic) of real-world philosopher, Roland Barthes.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on another thriller set in NYC, but I’m superstitious: saying more than that might jinx the project!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d bring everything by Robertson Davies, the Canadian master, plus Austrian genius Robert Musil’s “Man without Qualities,” all three volumes of the uncompleted novel, plus his earlier quickie, “Young Torless.” If the desert island library doesn’t have Musil (in English, please!) I’d take anything by Thomas Mann, especially Felix Krull, which I read so long ago I remember only that it was great and want to rediscover why.
Author Websites and Profiles
Angel Sanchez Amazon Profile