Editorial committee
Every writer can use a little help from imagined and imaginary friends. Jorge Luis Borges had one he called “Borges”. Fernando Pessoa had dozens of them. My associates include an impulsive, creative personality called Lion, who helps me create new characters and situations; a big, tough, patient fellow named Bear, who makes sure that things get done; and a flighty, loquacious rhetorician named Glib, who doesn’t concern himself much with logical consistency but is great at finding exquisite expressions. They all have been working (with Fox, of course) on our most recent novel, Rabble! (on the history of the Paris Commune), for which Lion came up with some of the ideas for characters, Bear carried out much of the research and Glib, well, he straightened out a lot of sentences and rearranged passages to heighten the drama. Now, the team is taking a brief rest before we embark on a new project — probably a series of shorter fictions, which may or may not become another novel.
My otro yo (or “alter ego”) Baltasar Lotroyo writes short stories and essays in Spanish. He has his own web page (check out the poem where he explains our relationship) and even a blog, Lecturas y lectores.