Bruno Blog

Today I’m writing this blog about Alejandro Palomas‘ latest book, ESTO NO SE DICE, and the truth is that I don’t really know where to start.  I have represented Alejandro for almost 20 years, and, besides being my friend, he is one of the best writers in the agency. We have had a relationship that has been growing and, like all relationships, it has had its ups and downs, but it has reached a point where it is a healthy, pure, wonderful relationship, far removed from the strictly professional. With a look, with a wink, with our silences we know everything about each other. So, you can imagine my shock when I read ESTO NO SE DICE, published by Destino this week, where he explains the abuse he suffered at the age of eight from his teacher.
 
During these 20 years he had talked to me about this period, but very little, nothing profound. I never knew how far this situation went, and when he told me that he was going to explain his experience in the media, I couldn’t believe it. I could hardly listen to him, I had to turn off the TV more than once.
 
However, as I read from his words how his childhood was marked by abuse, something that had never happened to me occurred: I was speechless. How can someone explain so wonderfully well such a terrifying experience? I still can’t get over my astonishment. Alejandro has made a ground-breaking book, shocking, but at the same time luminous, and that can only be done by a majestic writer. A true master of letters. Whoever thinks they are going to find something unpleasant in this narrative is mistaken. You will find a hard, cruel, but serene testimony, from his truth, to explain the memories of his childhood, the wonderful relationship he had with his mother, and in spite of this, how  difficult it was for him to confess that he was suffering when he was just a child, how he was able to resist among so many shadows, the rejection of a father, and how writing literally saved his life.
 
Why is it that an athlete, a singer or an actor can explain their memories, almost always dramatic, and a writer, who can best express an experience in written form, cannot? There are people who ask him why he has done it now, they think he has taken advantage of the moment and that it is an opportunistic book. Everyone is free to think what they want, but if Alejandro has written this book, it is because he believed he had to, because it is a book that can help many fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters. It is a story that talks about how being a hypersensitive person makes you a target for many, not only in the case of abuse, but also bullying, by peers or never feeling part of the group, because you are different. Literature allowed him to create parallel worlds in order to survive and here is his most sincere testimony. It is the reality of a man who chose to live by fighting with the best weapon he had, literature. I know that it is always dizzying to publish a new book, and this one even more so, but Alejandro, you have made a delicate, useful, shocking, tender, and honest book. Whoever doesn’t want to hear the truth, doesn’t have to read it, but denouncing mistreatment in such an accurate way as you do is almost the only way left for us to have hope that this world can be better. Thank you, Alejandro Palomas.

This week the blog will be published, and I will be at the Frankfurt fair. After two years without being able to attend because of the darn pandemic, we are back to the fair of fairs.

Those of you who know me well, know that fairs are not my favourite thing, because I have already been to lots of them, and the years and the fatigue weigh on me. However, the pandemic has taught us lessons that are worth remembering, and one of them is that fairs are necessary because this business is about people. I have missed them, so today I am writing this blog before getting on the plane and I confess that I feel the excitement in my stomach. The thought of seeing my editor friends from all over the world again, whom I have only been able to see on screen for two years, makes me especially happy; as well as giving them a big hug, because my job is to be in contact with people. And as this job pushes you to the limit every month, all tips are welcome. Our goal is to reach our top every month, and every 1st of the following month we are back at the foot of the mountain to climb to the top again. How can we withstand the pressure? With books like the ones, I am going to recommend today.

This will be my 26th fair, minus the two during the pandemic and the one after 9/11, which made me terrified of flying. I confess that the work of relaxation and overcoming anxiety every time I have gone to these fairs has been immense. My self-demanding nature has always provoked anticipatory anxiety and it is complicated to overcome it, which is why today’s blog makes more sense than ever. Ferran Cases, an expert in anxiety, sold more than 40,000 copies of his previous book, EL CEREBRO DE LA GENTE FELIZ (THE BRAIN OF HAPPY PEOPLE), and it has been translated into more than five languages. He himself, who explained to me what anxiety is and how to control it, publishes this week EN LA CUMBRE DE LA FELICIDAD, an inspiring, simple, and exquisite story that gives you the keys to understand what happens when you feel anxious, so you can live in serenity, connect with your life purpose, and achieve happiness. Following the experience of the protagonist and the knowledge provided by his companions, you will discover how anxiety works, breathing and meditation methods, physical relaxation techniques and many other essential resources to enjoy a serene life.

Manuals are very useful, but I have always thought that when somebody tells you a story, there is always more to it. That is why Ferran has decided to share this story with us: to give us more tools to help us overcome anxiety.

Federico García Lorca is one of the classic authors I have enjoyed the most. His emblematic works LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA, BODAS DE SANGRE, or POETA EN NUEVA YORK, which I read as a student, made room for this author in my imagination forever. I was lucky enough to work at Mercedes Casanovas agency when I started in this world, being only 18, and she managed the rights for Lorca’s heirs. The feeling of being able to participate in the process of managing the works of one of my favourite writers was a luxury, a passion, part of a dream. The perfect combination to make me fall in love with this particular business of being a literary agent. And I think Lorca had something to do with me staying there.

Now that Víctor Amela, an emblematic author whom I have proudly represented for years, is once again deepening the character of LORCA in his new novel SI YO ME PIERDO, published by Destino, it makes me think that my affair with Lorca was no coincidence. I had the same feeling after reading Victor’s first novel about the poet, YO PUDE SALVAR A LORCA. I discovered exciting things about this charismatic character, whose portrait I have completed by immersing myself in SI YO ME PIERDO. In this novel, Victor tells us about the 98 happiest and unknown days of the poet’s life in the golden Cuba of 1930. It has been, without a doubt, one of the most exciting reads of this year. Not for nothing is he one of the best journalists in the country and a marvellous writer.

Federico García Lorca landed in Cuba from New York in March 1930, invited for a week. But it was more than three months before the Andalusian poet decided to return to Spain, intoxicated by Caribbean music and beauty, soneros and santeros, terraces and palm trees, white rum, black sensuality, and nights on the Malecón.

What did the poet do in “the happiest days of my life”, as he defined his Cuban days? How did Cuba colour Federico’s work, his person, and his destiny? “If I get lost – he told his parents in a letter – they should look for me in Cuba”. And he did get lost. To find himself? This novel tells the story, and you can smell that Cuba of the 30s and feel a happiness that we have almost never seen in Lorca, that only there he knew how to express it. The big question is: Why didn’t he stay there forever? What pushed him to return? Víctor Amela reveals it to us in this novel that will be a tribute to the writer’s readers and a gateway to the Lorca universe for those who are not. In the end, it is an approach to the most hidden side of a poet who leaves no one indifferent.

Writing children’s books is one of the hardest things you can imagine. It may seem easy from the outside, but finding the perfect rhythm, tone and discourse for these young demanding readers is a complicated task. Luckily, Sacha Azcona is an expert with them, because I must confess that he has his own little readers at home who are the first ones to taste his works and the ones who make him pass the last test. For this reason, because of his closeness and sensitivity, Sacha already has a loyal audience in this age group. After publishing LA INCREIBLE AVENTURA DE SPLENDIDA, he comes with a new story of LA PANDILLA CANICA that I am sure will not disappoint his readers because it has mystery, laughter, adventure and, for the more daring, a guide to make your own inventions (which can be made at home without endangering anyone, I promise you!).

Encouraging the little ones to read is not an easy task for parents nor teachers, but books like this one make it simple. They have all the right ingredients for children to be taken in by the adventures of Canica and his friends, which could easily be the ones they live in their own real world. If we cultivate reading at an early age, we are helping to nurture good readers, so books like these are of paramount importance to keep reading fun for children so that they grow up wanting to discover new stories.

I have always loved astrology and I used to buy all the books dedicated to this subject, the good ones, and the not so good ones, although I realised that later on. However, meeting Elva Abril has changed the way of seeing astrology, from a more professional point of view. She also helped me understand how astrology can be your best ally to discover the unconscious fears that block your relationships and get the love you deserve. It is, in short, a tool for self-knowledge, although many do not see it this way.

Are you one of those people who read their horoscope to find out which sign you are more in tune with, or if today is going to be the day you will find your soulmate? I know many of you do, and by reading Elva‘s book you will understand that the position of the moon in our birth chart helps us understand how we interact, reveals our childhood wounds and how we experienced our first love: that of our mother (or equivalent person), a model that we will repeat in all our relationships. If you identify and heal your own patterns, you can open the door to good love, to having a healthy and happy relationship.

Elva explains in a very entertaining way that there are twelve lunar patterns, twelve unconscious fears that define how we relate to each other. Becoming aware of them, and of the planets with which they interact, is essential to, if it suits us, change them and access good relationships, in which both members of the couple form a team and therefore their relationship grows from a solid place. With examples of celebrities and explained from scratch, without having to know anything about astrology, you will be able to understand why your relationships never work or why they have worked so well.  It is a book for everyone, because as Elva says: “We all want love, we all want to learn how to improve our relationship with our emotions because in the end life is all about relationships! Starting with the one we have with ourselves”.

A very special book that opens a world that many want to tiptoe around, and in which Elva proves what astrology can bring to our life. The book came out on the 22nd of September and sold out in the pre-sale, so this week we are already on the second edition. It is not just another astrology book, but a tool that helps us with the fears and blocks that we all have in our lives. What are you waiting for to go and get it?

If you want to know more about Los doce códigos del amor.