Must-Read Book: Renowned author Andrés López López visits Coral Gables

MFS: We understand that you’re going to be appearing at Books & Books in Coral Gables in September, how do you feel about this visit?

ALL: Yes, I’ll be at Books & Books in the beginning of September. I’m glad to have the opportunity to share with readers. I think it is a wonderful thing for authors to be able to converse with readers and answer their questions. I think it’s important to interact with them especially since it is easy when you have an idea of the book and have the author right in front of you, because normally there are always doubts or questions and there are always concerns about the book, so this is a great opportunity to share with readers.

MFS: I did some research and found that all of your books have fantastic reviews on goodreads.com. Have you seen that?

ALL: Wow, no I have not seen that.

MFS: Well congratulations for that. Are there any messages in your books that you want readers to grasp?

ALL: Yes of course, and in the audiovisual world too, because I not only work in the literature world, I also work in television, and I believe that we leave a clear message in that too. But the literary world is the same. I believe that the most beautiful thing about reading is to take the time to consume it and read it and at the end have a fixed message. In every book there is a huge commitment. Clearly in the first book, El Cartel de los Sapos, it was a bit biographical, as well as my other works, El Cartel de los Saps 2, which told a story about the wives of the mobsters, and also in Las Fantasticas, and now in El Señor de los Cielos too. I feel that in this particular book there is a big message, especially being about such a conflicted world. What I want to bring to readers is that there is a way we read these stories, but there is also a way we share them and a way that I have presented and created these stories to represent this different society.

MFS: Are you currently reading any books?

ALL: In the past I have read more than I am reading now. Because I am writing for a developing project, which I am not able to speak too much about, I have not been reading as much. I am currently reading a Mexican book called Los Capos. This book is about the birth of the drug-smuggling cartel in Mexico, and how those characters turned into legends in a criminal world. But yes, I do love to read and usually read a lot.

MFS: Do you think that ‘El Señor de los Cielos’ will make it to the big screen?

ALL: If this book will become a movie, it’s a bit early to tell. I think that making Latin American film is difficult. But the desire and commitment are there. I think more than that, the story is there. I think the hardest part of making a film in the Hispanic world is having a powerful story, and I think this story is definitely powerful and the elements are there to make it happen but sometimes there may be economic challenges to actually filming. But this book definitely has the aim. If it does get the chance to become a movie I expect it will be wonderful.

MFS: Describe you and your work in three words

ALL: Productor, Director, Writer

MFS: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to emerging writers that might help them achieve success?

ALL: Be confident, continue to follow your dreams; keep writing, this is a field that requires much discipline, and at any given moment someone may become interested in your writing, your letters, your stories. Knock on doors, and keep knocking; it doesn’t matter if you get turned down once, twice, three times, four times. At the end, if you understand that you have to keep chasing your dreams, one day you will achieve them. When a person is truly conviced that they are going to get to where they want to be, they have their path. So, keep writing, and have confidence in your writing, your words, and your stories.

Be sure to check out El Señor de los Cielos and Andrés López López at Books & Books in Coral Gables on September 4, 2013.