Megan Maxwell: “I don’t care about the criticism of culture vultures”

She has written so many novels that she herself has lost count. “I think there are 61, but I can’t tell you for sure right now,” says Megan Maxwell , whose parents named her María del Carmen Rodríguez del Álamo Lázaro, but who nobody calls that anymore. You could say that she has the ability to make a love story, one of those where the ending is obvious, hook you again and again in each novel. She says that she doesn’t have any secret formula, except that her literature is close to home. And that’s why she’s the best-selling writer in Spain. Her thing is romantic literature with erotic touches, which, she says, is often vilified by “culture vultures.” She doesn’t care what they say, and the fact is that the writer has an unstoppable career with more than 10 million copies sold, two adaptations to the screen and a group of “warriors” (as they call themselves) who dream, at the very least, of having a love like the one they read about in the pages.

This Wednesday, the writer met some of them at a packed book signing in Zaragoza (at the ECI Cultural Area) of her new novel: “A Very Fun, Fun, Fun Christmas.” 

QUESTION: Is there enough love for so many novels?
ANSWER: Oh, of course! Life is full of love on all sides . There is love for 60 novels and for 600,000 more. Each person who lives in the world has a different love story that we could tell.

Q.- How many times have you been asked if you are the one who experiences these romantic and addictive stories that you write?
A.- A lot! It happens especially when I write a novel that is more erotic than the others. People ask me if I also live all those experiences that I tell in the books and I always say the same thing, that I wish I could (laughs). I have also written books about time travel and I have never done one, but you know that when you write about sex… it is simply information when writing a novel. It is as if the writers who write books about murders go around killing people.

Q.- You are the best-selling author in Spain. Are you already taking it for granted when it comes to writing the next novel?
A.- Not at all. Quite the opposite. Every time I release a new one I get a little more nervous. If the previous one has gone well I think that maybe it won’t be as popular. At the moment, I’m lucky that everything I do is liked. There are times when it may be more or less popular but they all maintain their audience. Before each release they usually tell me that they won’t give me luck because I don’t need it and I say that on the contrary, they should give me luck because you never know…

Q.- You have an army of “female warriors” who mark their calendars for the release of your next novel. Are there also “male warriors”?
A.- Men also read romance novels, yes, more and more. They come to signings and tell me loads of things and they also write to me online. I am delighted that they can finally admit that they read romance novels and that it’s okay.

“Men also read romance novels and increasingly so”

Q.- Romantic literature is the eternally criticised. Even more so if it has open sex…
A.- I have lost count of the times I have been criticised for it. Sex is a completely taboo subject, it is something we use to have fun, so I don’t know why it is criticised so much. You have to understand that not everyone is going to like you or like you, that is clear… There is also the criticism that literature has to serve for something more than just entertaining and precisely what I always get most from readers is that I contribute a lot to them, I teach them, I give them positivity. It also depends on what kind of criticism we are looking for. If we are looking for criticism from the “culture vultures”, as I call them, or we are looking for criticism from people on the street, then what interests me is that of the people on the street, of those who tell me that they read me because I get them out of bad feelings, I give them joy, whatever. The other criticism seems to be that you have to descend from the king’s paw to be treated well.

Q.- What is the nicest thing a reader has ever said to you?
A.- I am particularly moved when they tell me that I have helped them get out of a depression. A girl recently told me that she had lost her twin sister and her mother had fallen into a terrible depression. They both (the sisters) always read me and when one of them died, the other one always told her mother that she had to read me, that she should read to try to get out of it a little. The mother was very sad for two years and one day her daughter heard her laughing from her room and realized that she was reading one of my books. For me that makes my work worthwhile, that a woman has not smiled for a long time and does so with that, it moves me.

Q. You always say that you want your books to end well. How is it possible to get hooked on one love story after another where the ending is predictable?
A.- The truth is that I don’t know (laughs). I think I have a style of literature that is very easy to read and understand. In fact, it surprises me because a lot of people who had or have dyslexia tell me a lot that my books are very easy to read. I think that what my novels have is that, despite the fact that the center is a love story, they don’t only talk about love. They talk about friendship, about having pets or older people at home, about good friends and bad friends. I think that in the end people feel identified with one side or the other.

Q.- “Pídeme lo que quieres” has hit the big screen this year and “A qué estás esperando” can now be seen as a series. Is it scary to see your novels on the screen in case it is not what you have written?
A.- The truth is that I lived it with great desire because in this life you have to enjoy everything and seeing two of your books adapted is a luxury. Both in the film and in the series they have let me give my opinion, it is true that they have not always listened to me but they have listened to me. I have had a great time because it is different from my work and I have enjoyed it very much.

Q.- Is there more competition in the world of romantic literature today than in other genres?
A.- I think there is in all genres. It is true that everything has multiplied in recent times and with the issue of self-publishing there is more competition, that is true. I think that everyone has their audience and everything has its moment. If you have it then it does not matter if there are 50,000 more because yours will always be there. So I am delighted that there are many people who write and that there is a certain number of people who choose me.