'Love Lives Upstairs' is Fátima Lopes' 11th book, her 7th novel. It tells us the love story of Ana, a successful writer whose life is "about to undergo a change", something that the protagonist does not immediately see with a positive eye.

Despite also experiencing a great love, Fátima Lopes clarified in an interview with Fama ao Minuto that her relationship with Jorge Cristino is not related to the book in any way. The communicator, who has recently been more distant from television, explained that she gathered themes that she really wanted to address and that later, when looking at them, led her to the story of this new novel.

We also invited Fátima Lopes to take stock of her return to SIC. More than three years after leaving TVI, the presenter remains satisfied with the choice she made and assures that the current phase, of greater absence from viewers, is also the result of her own choice.

'Love Lives Upstairs' is a love story that could happen to any of us...

It is a very current story, it is a story that addresses very current and easy-to-identify themes for people. I like writing that sounds true. When I created this story, I wanted it to be cosmopolitan, that is, set in a big city, which in this case is Lisbon, where there are many people, especially in their 40s, who live with a lot of loneliness. They are lives in which the professional spheres have played a very important role, but other areas have been left behind.

I also addressed the multiculturalism that now exists. I see it as a wealth and not as a threat

Loneliness is the central theme of this book. Why did this highlight arise?

Because it was a theme that I really wanted to address, this inability to love after going through a traumatic experience. I also wanted to talk about the value of neighborhood, to rescue those valuable relationships that are sometimes undervalued. Finally, I also addressed the multiculturalism that now exists. As I see it as a wealth and not as a threat, I introduced a Brazilian man into the story, to show that we have different worlds and that combining them is sometimes what we need to improve our own.

So you listed the topics you wanted to cover and then tried to figure out what story you could tell with them?

Yes. I started by thinking about themes and then I went looking for the story that I could create and in which these themes would emerge naturally. I like to have a purpose in my writing, a message. I like the idea of telling a beautiful, captivating story that fills our hearts and also makes us think. That's how I came to this book.

We cannot let fear override our need or desire to change

The word 'change' is also very present in this book. Why is change so important?

People are afraid of the word 'change' because they think it represents a threat. That change brings fear, I think that's normal, because it's leaving a reality that we think is controllable, even if it's not. We cannot let fear override our need or desire to change.

And when did you become more sensitive to the theme of change?

When I decided to leave TVI three years ago. At that time, I decided to leave and not embrace any television project, that is, people realized that I was going to take another path. It was a big change in my life, but I understood that it was time to do it, it made sense to me. From then on, when I go around the country to present the book and give my lectures, one of the themes that I am asked to talk about is change.

I confess that I did not expect there to be so many loves that started upstairsWhat have you been told about the book?

I have received absolutely incredible feedback. People see themselves a lot in the book and sometimes tell me that it is their story. I have received a lot of emails, I don't think I have ever received so many about a book as with this one. As I travel around the country, I have also come across many single mothers, women who raised their children alone, great warriors who closed their hearts to be able to carry out the mission of taking care of their children, where love does not enter.

I know that you have been told many stories of people who have also found love in the neighborhood and that Fátima decided to compile these stories. Have you decided what you will do with them?

Not yet. I have been putting these stories together but I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I think it is very generous of people to share their stories with me. These stories give strength to my characters, they make me realize that the people I created could be in anyone's life.

When you wrote the book, did you ever think that there were so many people who had fallen in love with a neighbor?

I thought it was a story that people would identify with because it is very current and very true. I confess that I did not expect there to be so many loves that started upstairs.

This is your 11th book, seven of which are novels. Writing is certainly already one of your great passions...

Without a doubt, and for a long time, this year I have been writing for 18 years. I have always loved to write, since I was a child, and it has always been easy for me to write. In the second book I realized that writing gave me pleasure, that creating stories, characters and lives is a challenge that gives me immense pleasure.

My vision of love is the same as alwaysOn a personal level, Fátima is also in a very romantic phase. She is currently living a new love, although she chooses discretion. Did this relationship also make even more sense for you to launch this book?

No, one thing has nothing to do with the other. It is not because of my personal life that this book happens. It happens because there are a number of topics that I wanted to address. My vision of love is the same as always: to love and be loved is a blessing.

And has your way of looking at and looking at love always been the same?

That evolves as I evolve. If we don't evolve, something is wrong.

Also in the book presentations that you have made around the country, you have highlighted how much you like interacting with readers. Is that also the result of the experience of presenting a daytime program for so many consecutive years?

I really like this contact, today I give it a lot of privilege. The fact of being a freelance communicator allows me to be in the Algarve today and in Porto tomorrow. My life is like this nowadays and it allows me to have contact with many people every day, different people, with different jobs and experiences.

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