P.er certain lines, Javier Castillo, 35, over a million books sold worldwide, it is the emblem of the writer-influencer who is, at the same time, a star of the web. Former financial advisor, over 400 thousand followers on Instagram, eight years ago he self-published on Amazon. He was thinking of a text for his family and friends to read: with word of mouth his book has become so viral that it sells over 500 copies a day. Spanish from Malaga, now comes out with a new thriller, The Snow Girl (Salani), a novel that amplifies the greatest fear for a parent: losing a child. A series for Netflix will soon be drawn from the book.
The plot
The plot. 1998, New York, Thanksgiving Day Parade: Kiera Templeton, three, disappears. After lengthy searches, only her clothes and locks of hair are found. 2003, five years later, on Kiera’s birthday: his parents receive a strange package. Inside is a videotape showing a little girl who appears to be Kiera.
In front of the video there is also Miren Triggs, who was a journalism student at the time of the kidnapping and since then she has devoted herself body and soul to this case. He will conduct a parallel investigation.
Javier Castillo, star of the web
We met Javier Castillo in Milan during his first booktour in Italy.
Does reality as a source of inspiration soon borrow the sad disappearance of the English girl Maddie McCann in Portugal?
In this case, the story was born from my everyday life. I was walking with my daughter and she, at one point, she took her hand from mine to run to her mother. At that moment I wondered what I would feel if she was gone. It is the fear of every parent.
A Netflix series is also taken from the book: what role do you have?
I work as a script consultant. We are now shooting the parade scene. I act as a consultant, I make sure that the spirit of the book comes to life in every scene. And I must say that the mother is exactly as I imagined her. She is played by the young Milena Smit that we saw in Parallel mothers by Pedro Almodovar. The setting has been moved from New York to Malaga. I never imagined that my book could turn into a series.
The cover of Javier Castillo’s book
You started with self publishing: what are the ingredients for a good book?
Having an original story on your hands, something completely new. So many would-be writers actually write plots imagined by other authors and therefore produce nothing that would thrill a reader.
He has over 400,000 followers on social media: he’s a writer-star.
It’s part of my generation to be “social”. It certainly helped me to broaden my image and dispel the myth of the writer in the ivory tower. And I love it: it’s like opening a window every day. All my readers can write to me. Sometimes I find messages written at five in the morning on the wave of emotion after finishing the reading.
She is a great admirer of Agatha Christie. What are you reading now?
I recently started reading The lions of Sicily by Stefania Auci.
What’s her routine?
In the morning I take the children to school and then I go to pick them up in the afternoon. In the middle I write. And then in the evening I review what I wrote and prepare the schedule for the day.
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