A Burgos pen signs the Madrid Book Fair with its intrigue and mystery

«That night the bright and delicate glasses clinked after rising in harmony over the heads of all the diners. “Joy received the first toast of Christmas,” thus begins ‘Sangre Revuelta’, the new novel by the Burgos writer Belén de la Parte Pascual.

Belén de la Parte is a writer, but also an illustrator and graphic designer. With this novel, which she has already presented at the Burgos Book Fair, at home, she travels outside of her home, to none other than Madrid, where she will be signing copies at the Book Fair. She will do it on Friday, June 7 at the Bunker Books booth 291 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and she arrives at the appointment with less vertigo than with which she arrived at the presentation of the novel in Burgos.

The happiness with which we began the article, the same harmony with which the book begins, we know and sense is diluted. ‘Sangre Revuelta’ is a novel that turns the life of Mateo, the protagonist, at the moment in which he is assigned a case. He is a lawyer and lived very well, he had reached the climax of his career, he is in the best law firm in Madrid and a challenge comes to him: to be the defense lawyer of a serial killer. A challenge that unsettles him and makes him consider whether to continue or retire.

A spun novel

And up to this point we can count, the author does not let us go any further and it is for the benefit of the reader. «The novel is a little complicated to explain because from the beginning, from the moment he is assigned the case, everything is threaded. Any details that are advanced may give rise to spoilers. I wrote the novel knowing the ending, it’s not that the story has taken me, it has been a work of spinning,” confesses Belén de la Parte. Not even the cover reveals more about the story.

The cover does suggest that it is a crime novel, of intrigue, with mystery and police overtones, something that the author also confirms. «I have always liked trials when reading, although it also has police overtones. I wanted to write a novel about a trial and I have done a lot of research on it to shape the story,” explains the author.

The novel takes you with intrigue and suspense until the end. Because it’s not just about Mateo’s life. It is not narrated in the first person for that reason, “I was interested in an omniscient narrator to also be able to show the other side, that of the serial killer.” The novel focuses on Mateo, his environment and family, in addition to the trial, but also the murderer and his family. A committed exercise that stirs the reader.

The freedom of writing and the cost of being able to do it

Although the novel contains police overtones and a serial killer, the writer assures that it is not bloodthirsty, “I do not consider it necessary and I have not been inspired by any real serial killer.” She recognizes that true crime is fashionable, but she doesn’t try to follow trends. “It’s a pleasure to be able to write about what you want, without impositions of fashion or norms,” ​​she adds. She has always written about what she wanted and she recognizes that she does not see herself capable of writing assignments.

This is the positive part of not having a publisher behind you that pressures you, but Belén de la Parte is not new to publishing books and knows how expensive it is to do so when you do not have an editor or publisher.

This is the fourth time he has published, the last one was in 2018. He has several unpublished novels at home. He has not spent the last six years trying to publish ‘Sangre Revuelta’, but he does recognize that it is expensive. «I started moving this book at the end of 2023 and I was lucky that this one arrived. But it’s hard to find a publisher and start looking for it too, leaving aside the great writers who have a regular publisher, it’s hard for the rest of us mortals,” she adds.

The book journey

She already presented the book at the Burgos Book Fair and ended up very happy, despite the initial nerves. The room was filled and they asked him “interesting and surprising” questions. She made me think that people’s reception has been very good, so I am very satisfied. A reader told me, for example, that she had to read the last 50 pages in one sitting and that makes me proud, because it is very difficult to publish when you don’t have an editor. It’s an added mental load. What it must be like to be able to dedicate yourself only to writing », she reflects.

The conversation with Belén de la Parte takes place a few days before the signing at the Madrid Fair and, although she assures that she is not as nervous as with the presentation in Burgos, she knows herself and knows that she will be excited when she enters El Withdrawal. «Books have always been part of my life, I go to a fair and I love it. Going there knowing that I am going to sign is going to be much more exciting.

Write out of necessity

Books have always been part of the author’s life. On her nightstand, in her bags, notebooks and pens accumulate to write down that phrase that comes at a time when she is not writing.

He has published the book of stories ‘For every centimeter of the skin’ (2004, Editorial Devenir), the novel ‘In Rome it also rains’ (2016, Editorial Círculo Rojo) and in 2018, the story ‘If I could fly’, written and illustrated by the author. She also has a novel about Burgos that she would like to move, but first it is focused on ‘Sangre Revuelta’.