Books. Mariano Sanz Navarro collects 18 stories in an anthology published on Amazon, ‘The Others’: «The reader is quite smart and knows what to keep and what not»
Mariano Sanz Navarro (Murcia, 1943) has enjoyed writing short stories or novels for over forty years. “I systematically write stories on a variety of subjects and if I have a collection, I publish them.” He started publishing in 2000 with ‘Van het Asiel’ (IJK Editores). Since then, he has written a dozen books, most of them short stories, such as “A Scorpion in the Arm” (Amazon, 2020). Now, at the age of 79, freed from other obligations – he was a justice of the peace for Santomera – he continues with ‘The Others’ (Amazon, 2022).
In the opening pages of this book, he explains that he wants to “tell simple and interesting stories at the same time, such as Antonio Pereira’s in ‘Todos sus tales'”. However, he says he was not inspired by any particular author, but by his own memories and everything he has read. “I started reading when I was young because before that we had no other hobby than reading – remembers Sanz, who worked as an industrial technical engineer and has a degree in art history – so I’ve had time to read a lot. I am inspired by that.”
“Suddenly you see something and you say, ‘Damn, here’s a story'”. In this way, the author tells the way in which new plots arise. He «imagines half»: he chooses something from reality and decorates it, he fantasizes. Then he reads his story again and comes up with more things to add. “The story is nothing more than a concise novel in which you have to explain what you want in 20 or 30 pages,” adds the writer.
Story and novel are two related genres, but he prefers the former. “I don’t want to compare myself, but there are authors who have only written stories, like Borges, and he’s a category writer,” he says. A “very interesting” genre in which he feels very comfortable. “Maybe you are a lazy writer and you can broadcast a story in three or four sessions, while for a novel you have to work for a few years”.
These 18 stories deal with different topics and in different ways; some revolve around humor (‘El Sitio de mi Recreo’), others are reflections on death (‘Al otro lado’). It is not known in the stories which part is real and which part is fictional. And “that’s the nice thing,” Sanz says cheerfully, “everything is autobiographical because you tell everything, and everything is fantasy because you invented everything.”
For readers, each of his stories has a meaning. Before publishing his stories, some critics advised him not to include a particular story, and then a reader that story is exactly the story he liked the most. “Every person is different and everyone gets a different message. Moreover, the reader does not read what you have written, but what he wants to understand. That is why the work of the writer is done together with the reader,” Sanz understands.
The stories of ‘The Others’ have a moral in principle, but for him “it would be pretentious to want to inform the reader”: “He is quite smart of himself and knows what to keep and what not.” They aim to entertain, to be light and never to be bored at any time. According to the writer, unlike the novel, «the story must begin and end at once, otherwise the reader will be bored and send him to hell. A story that is boring is quickly discarded by the reader.
It is the second book to be successively published via the Amazon platform. He does it because he wants to not only write it for himself, but also want to publish it. All other books have been published by publishers, but that path has already been “trodden” and does not appeal to him at the moment. “I’m no longer interested in publishing or doing promotions, and I don’t think it’s worth it. I present it at the Book Fair in my city, and I do it to give away to friends and to sell a few: my promotion is not from Santomera. I advertise it relatively through Facebook, and whoever wants to buy it,” says Sanz.
The writer’s idea is to write a book and present it at the Santomera Book Fair every year, and his next job is already planned. “It will probably be a short novel about a prison experience, based on my experiences in social services,” says the author.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
