Why I write
(SI tu lengua es el español, por favor, pincha en este enlace para leerlo en tu idioma).
The other day, during a casual conversation, someone asked me this question. Today I’ve read this note by Andrea Fernández Suárez, so, now that my arm is feeling a bit better, I’m going to try to answer it.
The first thing I must say is that I’ve never liked being the centre of attention. You learn far more by being the one who isn’t speaking than by being the one who is. The expressions, the comments, the interruptions, and so on – all of that allows you to observe the true behaviour of the people around you, rather than what you want to think of them. I’m effortlessly distracted, so keeping to the sidelines means that, even if my mind wanders off, I can observe a little more than if I were speaking. As a general rule, however, I prefer reading to speaking and listening to talking: most people don’t live up to (we don’t live up to…) the idea that ‘if you’re not going to improve the silence, you’re better off not speaking’, and there are people who love hearing themselves talk (sorry, but those people are incredibly boring).
Secondly, what I have always had is a vivid imagination – not for everyday life (I don’t picture a dragon getting on the bus; that’s not imagination, it’s just a bit too ‘out there’), but certainly for making up silly stories that made my sister and my grandmother laugh (which is why Sinardia I is dedicated to them both). I never imagined myself writing professionally: that’s not a profession that can be considered serious (don’t start me on that…) by 99.9% of the people around me, unless you’re Cervantes or Lope de Vega, who obviously aren’t alive and are already famous.
I’ve already mentioned that I started writing in the spare moments between court cases, but I haven’t explained how I began. Sinardia didn’t start where it starts now (here’s the table of contents for everything published). It began with the story set 500 years (give or take) after the one I’m telling now. I won’t go into details, but the name of one of the protagonists (perhaps the main one, though as the story isn’t fully developed, I can’t say for sure) eludes me. So when I started writing it again from the beginning, I developed the story of her ancestors.
‘The Entity’, or to put it another way, the ghost Awlin—one of the most important characters in the series (this will become clear in Sinardia IV)—wasn’t even planned at the start. The truth is, the idea came to me when I began writing the story for Blogger: a slightly mischievous ghost who, nevertheless, has one weakness—he doesn’t know who he was when he was alive. Consequently, he doesn’t know when he lived, or where, or anything. This means that whatever happens in the story (until the moment comes when he recovers his memory… or not) is alien to him: he has no idea what is going on around him. This makes him feel afraid: he’s a rascal, but not an idiot.
I think he’s a necessary character: many people lose their memory and don’t even know who they were yesterday. In a world where we try to give visibility to so many things, I’ve realised from the start that I like the stories of those nobody remembers, and this is undoubtedly one of them. I know people who’ve suffered from Alzheimer’s, who’ve had dementia, or who’ve been in accidents that’ve left them with no short-term memory, for example—which is one of the worst feelings for anyone going through it.
Awlin, it’s true, at first, he seems immature, someone lacking common sense, and so on. But that’s because he has only a vague, uncertain notion that he has indeed lost his memory, yet he doesn’t even know when he lost it or when he died: he only remembers the cold, the extreme cold he felt at that moment. However, as he gradually realises that this is NOT merely a notion, but reality, his existential anguish will grow, yet he will also begin to feel more confident in his ability to face the unknown. Essentially, he knows there was something violent about his death; however, he does not know who was responsible.
The other character I think is key is Erevin. I know there are many people who are fans of Andrasio, because he’s an orphan who has been accused of a crime he didn’t commit. I agree that, so far, he’s someone anyone can identify with and that he’ll certainly be crucial, especially in Sinardia IV. However, Erevin is a blunderer, stubborn, honest and terribly loyal, and that’s why he’s ended up where he is: expelled from the Court, with no one doing anything to even investigate why it happened, not even his father. He’s a blunderer and a nuisance at 14. If we don’t teach him now that he’s a nuisance, how is he going to grow up? He’ll be a danger! The lad says nothing, he gives up, even though he knows something severe is going on, precisely because he knows full well that he is a bit of a blunderer.
As we saw in the chapter ‘A Dangerous Rescue” from Sinardia II, there is only one person who has realised that the whole affair was very strange, and that is Desa Akrovia, Grand Master of the Prayerful Nuns. Thanks to her relationship with the Army commanders, she knows full well that he is brave and disciplined. She ends up speaking to him, as indicated in the link: at first, Erevin refused to tell her what had happened, but, in time, he does tell her. It hasn’t been published yet, and obviously I’m not going to reveal here what happened, but that triggered a series of events that led to the Empress hating her second son and, ultimately, determined an ominous future for the family.
Sinardia III will begin with the story of the attack on the Castle of the Ten Towers, of which I have already published a preview here. This event will be of fundamental importance to Sinardia III and IV, and its connection to Sinningen, Nirania and other key geographical locations will determine the future course of the story.
So, why do I write? Don’t you think the answer lies in the stories themselves? In the beauty of creating a new world, different yet, at the same time, similar to our own? In the challenge of choosing which elements are relevant to the story’s development, or in the possibility of telling stories purely for entertainment? Because Awlin has a down-to-earth reason to be there, but other characters exist simply because I like them as characters or because they are necessary for the story.
I believe that fantasy is simply a variation on the tales, myths and legends of other eras. I’ve already written about the latter here. As for the former, I don’t think it’s really necessary to go into great detail: it is worth noting, however, that whilst all tales can be considered fantasy (if we define it as that literary genre featuring episodes that break with established reality), not all fantasy consists of tales. However, fantasy can certainly draw on both, thereby making use of the lessons they can teach us. That said, moral judgement is left to the reader, who is, after all, a grown up person.
Why aren’t stories or myths enough? Well, I didn’t say they weren’t enough: in fact, I’ve written a few on the blog. But a fantasy story is an evolution of that: you build a world, just like in a myth or legend, and use it to tell a story. I try, as far as possible, to make the fantasy believable. I don’t like stories that read like a summary of laser battles or where everything is solved with magic.
Sinardia I is simply the beginning: people living far from the capital who find themselves facing a problem without knowing where it came from. In a conversation a few days ago, I said it’s the typical case of ‘I’ll hide away somewhere’, but you still end up facing the problem… not that it’s happened to me (where I live, hardly anything ever happens, thank goodness 🤣). But I know people who’ve left a place, running away from something, and that’s exactly what’s happened to them at their destination. Obviously, the monks hadn’t gone there running away from anything, but it’s true that it’s not the sort of place you’d imagine would be attacked. That was the reason for making some monks the target of the conspiracy. Incidentally, it’s a tribute to a funny children’s book I read many years ago — at school, basically —: Fray Perico y su borrico (you can read it here -SP-). Mind you, it has nothing to do with the subject Sinardia deals with.
Sinardia II follows the unfolding of events in the capital, Bonardia: anyone who has read the chapters will know that there are many new characters, some on the side of the conspirators with the Empress and others on the opposing side. In this case, the character who really caught my interest was Astano, the proud and arrogant chamberlain who has a much more interesting side to him. And, of course, Desa Akrovia.
Sinardia III will cover the fate of the Emperor’s children and what happens to each of them (spoiler: not all of them will survive). What happens to Andrasio and the Warken, and to the Storm Islands and their rulers. What happens to Hariokku and its slave trade, as well as to the ship on which Olter Roca de Pino, alias Pata de Palo, is travelling. Who is the necromancer of Hariokku. It will also include several duels, the precedent for one of which I have already written about here. What happens to the death butterflies that surround the Great Monastery of Os. What has happened to Nirania, the monastery from which no news has been received in Bonardia for some time.
Sinardia IV will mark the conclusion of these events, though someone with enough power to rise again 500 years later will survive—just as another heir ascends the throne… thus beginning Sinardia V (the preliminary story in English is here).
Clearly, Sinardia III and, above all, Sinardia IV will be more war-torn. The conflict has been set in motion and things will come to blows… but we will leave that for some other time. 📆
Did you enjoy it? Go ahead and buy me a coffee… ☕ You can also buy Sinardia I in Spanish or English. Sinardia’s index can be found here.