Barcelona is woven into several chapters of Searching for Sky — the sights, sounds, scents, nightlife, neighborhoods, architecture. A fair question: how well do I actually know the city?
I know Barcelona very well.
The entire manuscript was written here over a period of several years. Each noteworthy location in the novel — Mount Tibidabo, Bogatell Beach, Passeig de Gracia, the neighborhood called “El Born” — is a place I have visited many times. The bars, nightclubs, and restaurants mentioned in the book have imaginary names, and I have taken creative license, but these are inspired by real establishments. The apartment where I wrote Searching for Sky is located approximately four blocks from Roy Sky’s fictional apartment.
As part of my writing process, I usually carried a notebook or a few draft pages of the manuscript with me when I went out for a coffee or meal — using the opportunity to revise passages or jot down new ideas. For example, the scenes that take place aboard Omar’s luxury yacht were likely revised at one of my favorite local restaurants, where I often sat and thought at the bar. My go-to order: a salad with green beans and feta cheese, followed by solomillo de ternera — a small sirloin steak).
Barcelona is a city that gets under your skin if you let it. It got under mine — and into the novel.
Want to see Barcelona through my characters’ eyes — and discover what they find there?
The first two chapters of Searching for Sky are free.
