By: Ron Preston
Co-writing a book is no easy feat, but for father-and-son duo David and Humberto Cancio, the journey behind their bestselling novel ‘Gabriel Lock: Bound by Law’ became a transformative experience filled with personal growth and deeper understanding. Set against the vibrant backdrop of 1980s Miami, this gripping legal drama follows lawyer Gabriel Lock as he grapples with moral dilemmas, family dynamics, and the city’s gritty underworld. Drawing on their own real-life legal experiences and the intricacies of their relationship, the Cancios have crafted a novel that delves into the fine lines of justice while highlighting the profound bond between father and son. In this enlightening Q&A, David and Humberto open up about the challenges and triumphs of co-authoring, how actual legal cases shaped their narrative, and the ways their unique father-son dynamic influenced Gabriel’s relationship with his own father. The result is a captivating and insightful glimpse into the creative process behind ‘Gabriel Lock: Bound by Law’, a true bestseller.
What was it like to co-author a book as a father and son team?
Humberto: In one word: difficult. It’s a relationship on many levels, father and son which is not an equal relationship in the same manner as teacher and pupil. That is the relationship both of us were used to. However, when we become co-authors and partners in a project then we are on the same level for all things, so the deference that a son might have with his father has to disappear.
David: I agree with everything that he has said. As his son, I am the subordinate, and here I am his equal. This means that we have to give up and take certain ground to compromise, but it was actually a very easy time compared to the stories that I’ve heard from many others. The biggest advantage that we have is that we have worked with and consulted businesspeople, so we know that our product is more important than our egos and so we always put the novel and the series before ourselves. We had to reshape our thinking to see ourselves not as writers but as businessmen whose market product was writing.
Gabriel Lock walks a fine line between justice and personal morality. Have there been any real-life legal cases or scandals that inspired some of his toughest decisions in the book?
Humberto: All the cases that appear in the book are inspired by real cases, sometimes the case in the book is two or three real cases put together and sometimes it’s one case altered and simplified to make it quickly understandable for the reader. By removing the excess legal intricacies, we heighten the drama.
Miami in the 1980s was infamous for its seedy underbelly and criminal influence. How deep does Gabriel go into the city’s darker side, and did you feel the need to ‘pull punches’ when it came to the grit of this era?
Humberto: Most of the city was not directly involved in the gritty darker side. On an individual basis, people could steer clear of most of that aspect of the city’s life. Some businesses were more exposed to it by their very nature: for instance, restaurants, high-end products, certain housing, and security equipment.
David: Gabriel’s practice in this book is not involved in matters directly related to the seedier part but a few of the cases are indirectly related to it. It’s also something that is in the background, but like my father said, there were people that avoided it because they could and others that avoided it because they went out of their way to do so just like Valerie did for her boys at the beginning of the book, most notably The Dragon.
Gabriel’s work at his father’s firm is a key plot point. Were there any moments of tension or disagreement in your own father-son relationship that you channeled into their dynamic in the story?
David: He’s a lawyer and I’m his son. As a businessman, I use the consultative approach of working with clients and his tendency is to look at every point through a lawyer’s lens. The advantage lies in that I do not challenge him for legal advice or the writing of legal scenes while he tends to agree with most of my narrative. With seven and a half years of writing, we also figured out what works best for the stories and with this book, we had a lot of help in using a focus group to iron out our original misgivings or doubts. In this novel, Thomas and Gabriel have a smooth relationship because Gabriel is young and is very bright, but his father has a very pleasant way of handling bright stars and is similar to the way that Don Carlo Ancelotti man manages his players and we wanted Thomas Lock to have a similar air of confidence because of the experience while Gabriel is a young attorney who needs the teachings much like Jude Bellingham.
In ‘Gabriel Lock: Bound by Law’, truth and justice don’t always align. Are there moments where Gabriel crosses ethical lines for the greater good, and if so, how do you justify his actions?
David: I will defer to my Dad because we wanted to keep him true to what “Good” lawyers do.
Humberto: The law has many grey areas but there are rules that a lawyer must obey no matter what. A good lawyer understands where those rules draw the line and finds solutions for the client’s problems within those lines.
Grab your copy of ‘Gabriel Lock: Bound by Law’ today on Amazon! Don’t miss out on this thrilling read—dive into the action and uncover the secrets within!
Published By: Aize Perez
