More than a quarter century as a resident of Spain has made me older, yet none the wiser about my choice of abode. Given the country’s chronic afflictions, I wonder what it was that tied me to this place for so long.
The weather is as good a starting point as any. On the east coast I could push back the shutters and be guaranteed to see the sun shining over the blue Mediterranean down below, three hundred days a year.
All that glitters is not gold, however. I couldn’t buy a newspaper or go to a bar for a coffee without double-locking every door and window and setting the alarm. Spain is wracked by a chronic crime epidemic and afflicted by a plague of criminal gangs from all over the planet.
Every western security service recognizes that the vast majority of jihadist sleeper cells are hidden in Catalonia. Jihadists sent to fight in the various Middle Eastern wars are sent forth to their destinies from Barcelona.
The chaos thrives, in part, to the anarchy of Spain’s highly politicized and progressive judicial system where custodial sentences are far from uniform and are limited by law to a maximum of thirty years (forty in cases of terrorism). Those who receive a prison sentence get automatic reductions, which are applied even if the inmates remain a threat to society. Moreover, prisoners receive tax credits and social security stamps which mean they will be able to draw dole on release; it literally pays to be a criminal in Spain.
They say a writer should write about what he or she knows; this is the little-known but very real underbelly of Barcelona that I have witnessed at first hand; for every scene in my books, I have a link to a real life crime case scenario; this is the inspiration for my crime thriller trilogy.
I have two literary agents, one in London and the other in Dublin. It was through the London agent I met Larry Levitsky at Inkshares; he has a long-standing record with both McGraw-Hill and Microsoft. I sent him the books, he read them and immediately flew from the States to see me.
The publishing world in its traditional form is a dead man walking; far too sluggish. There are so many brilliant writers out there who are being passed over; Inkshares gives them a chance to be noticed. Had a legacy publisher gone for the trilogy, the first book wouldn’t have seen the light of day for a year and a half. With Inkshares, they will be rolling off the presses in a couple of months. Ether Books over in London are also planning to run with them.
Inkshares is the new frontier in publishing, combining the best of both worlds, hard copy and electronic. Inkshares is very ‘now’. Moreover, a legacy publisher takes 90% of the revenue, with just 10% going to the author. With Inkshares the split is 70-30, in the author’s favour. A much better deal for the writer.
Inkshares is unique as it is a crowdfunding publisher. This means that the public – and not some stuffy editor – decides what gets published. Take a peek at the first book and hopefully, you will be convinced enough to back the project and read on. Or even get your own work out there; it’s yours for the taking!
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-barcelona-initiation
Many thanks,
David Fennelly
About the Author
An Irish citizen who lived in the Barcelona region for over twenty-five years, David Fennelly is an interpreter and translator by profession and a Member of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Linguists.
He first became involved with the world of law enforcement working at the Courts of Law and as personal interpreter to the Commissioner of Police. He later served on various governmental bodies, liaising between and consulting with all Spanish national and regional police forces, as well as with local and international governmental departments and agencies.
A Member of the International Police Association, and married with two grown children, he has since returned to live in Ireland.
No Comments