Juan Madrid

Last Wednesday, the author Juan Madrid came to Motilla del Palancar. Some of the students are reading one of his books in language class and so they arranged for him to come visit and talk to the students. There definitely isn't an easy way to get to Motilla from Madrid. He took the AVE from Madrid to Cuenca (40 mins) and then a taxi from Cuenca to Motilla (45 mins). 

Juan Madrid.

He spoke about how he started writing, why he writes, how he gets his inspiration. It was really interesting to listen to. At first he spoke with an Andalusian accent and a low voice, so it took a minute for my ears to adjust and then I followed along. Then the students got to ask questions. Some asked about why he wrote the book a certain why, why this or that character died and one student asked what advice he had for writers. This caught my attention. He said read. Read what you like. Don't read what doesn't excite you. If you find a book that you really like, that you love, dissect it. Take the book apart to find out what exactly you like about it: the storyline, the words, the characters, etc. And use that as a guideline for your own writing. 

After the hour was finished, the students brought their books for him to sign. I didn't have a book but I at least wanted a picture with him. So I waited until all the other students had gone and then I walked up to him with another teacher. She gave me a copy of the language department's book for him to sign. I told him that I was American, teaching English here at the school and studied journalism. He asked me how to spell my name, told me it was a pleasure to meet me and hoped that I learned something. Then we took a picture. When I looked up I realized that The next section of students had already filled in and all stared and cheered as I took my picture with him.

hugs,
j