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Bruno Blog

Sandra Bruna Literary Agency

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Author: Bruno Thursday 19 December 2019

Christmas is already here. We hope that these days we can share good times, smiles and, especially, enjoy some great readings that fill us with what we lack and make us see what we have left over.

From all the team at Sandra Bruna, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

LIVE WITH BOOKS AND FOR BOOKS

Author: Bruno Thursday 12 December 2019

The end of 2019 is approaching and with it the beginning of a new year. I always feel butterflies in my stomach when I think of all that’s to come. We must indeed live the present and don’t think about tomorrow, but I’m excited about the new things we have prepared for 2020. They’re powerful projects that feature different genres and new voices. I love being able to help novice authors take their first steps in the publishing world and continue to support the affluent with their new works. My job is full of sensations and emotions and when those butterflies disappear from my stomach, it’ll mean that I’ll have to dedicate myself to something else. Today, however, I still feel those positive nerves at the thought of all those manuscripts that I have to find an editor for. That’s one of the most exciting parts of this work, and it’s the one that helps me keep wanting to fight for every author in the house.

This 2020 we will have a new project by Sílvia Tarragó, LA DOCTORA (The Doctor), a book for lovers of good women’s fiction. Roca Editorial will also bring us Roberto Lapid’s new novel, which tells us the real fictional story of Hedy Lamarr, a brilliant woman who invented Wi-Fi as we know it. EL TIGRE Y LA DUQUESA (The Tiger and the Duchess) by Jordi Soler, is a thriller that is prepared for the first months of next year and that showcases the story of the Pink Panthers, one of the most persecuted thief bands in Europe. This will be published by Columna in Catalan and Harper Collins in Spanish.

The first semester of the year will be marked by LA MAESTRA DE SÓCRATES (The Teacher of Socrates), a historical novel published by Espasa with which we will discover Laura Mas, a feminine voice who is here to stay and who will teach us that behind the philosophy of Socrates hides a woman. We will also have, in time for Sant Jordi, a new young adult written by two-star authors: Javier Ruescas and Francesc Miralles. Penguin Random House and Fanbooks are the publishing houses that will bring us their new book LOS CINCO CONTINENTES DEL AMOR (The Five Continents of Love), an original book that will catch the young and adult public. Also, throughout the year, we will receive a very special novel signed by Andrés Martín Asuero, a book about a mindfulness retirement: UNA LUZ DENTRO DE TI (A Light Inside You).

Many non-fiction books will also make a strong entrance, such as NOS ROBARON LA JUVENTUD (They Stole our Youth), by Víctor Amela, who will present us several testimonies of “la quinta del Biberón”. Also, written by Miriam Tirado, we will receive RABIETAS (Tantrums). Xenia Oliva, one of the most recognized instagramers, will present a book in which she will give us several very useful tips to be lucky: HAPPY GO LUCKY. After Cristina Benito’s success with MONEY MINDFULNESS, she repeats this year with TIME MINDFULNESS. Also, Francesc Miralles and Àlex Rovira are back; after selling more than 20,000 copies with CUENTOS PARA QUERERTE MEJOR (Stories to Love Yourself More) they return with a spiritual sequel: CUENTOS PARA NIÑAS Y NIÑOS FELICES (Stories for Happy Children).

I still have some surprises in store, because in the world of books you have to work with the time and be cautious and orderly. However, imagination has no limits and stories always appear when you least expect them. The magical part of this world is that you live in the chaos, but those of us who are hooked learn to embrace it and accept that there is no cure. So I wish that this “disease” through books could be easily transmitted to all the potential readers on the other side being constantly bombarded with massive stimuli of all kinds. Let’s go for a 2020 where books remain an essential part of our lives.

A TRUE STORY THAT TOUCHES THE SOUL.

Author: Bruno Thursday 5 December 2019

Time should stop every time we meet someone extraordinary. I remember almost every moment I’ve spent with Nadia Ghulam, because from the first moment she entered the agency there was a very special connection, at least on my side. She was a young Afghan who spoke Catalan and had been adopted by a Catalan family from Badalona. I met her thanks to Agnès Rotger, who helped her explain her story in a book: EL SECRET DEL MEU TURBANT (Columna, 2010), which translates as THE SECRET OF MY TURBAN. The work captivated me and I thought I had in my hands the opportunity to give voice to a unique story. Even though at first neither of us was very sure of wanting to present the novel directly to a prize like Prudenci Bertrana’s in 2010, we did it and we won it. That was our first step in this great adventure.

Nadia was moved when I explained to her that I locked myself at home all weekend to read her full story. I especially remember that moment of reading, with the dim light I had in my old dining room, as well as the emotion I felt when I first read this story so personal, true and hard. My heart was racing for the injustice that a girl like Nadia had to endure. Thinking about what she had experienced made me suffer so much that I had to stop reading several times to digest the facts. Nadia is such a brave girl that she even had to pretend to be her dead brother for ten years to help her family move forward. Her experience in Afghanistan was an impressive challenge, as it is a country at war in which the role of women is overshadowed by men. It was in this way that Nadia, with her turban, managed to save her mother and her sisters, who, without men at home, did not know how to survive. It’s inevitable not to be touched by a story like this.

From here, Nadia has not stopped fighting for them, for building a library in her country and for trying to get women treated as they deserve. Ten years have passed since its publication and the book is still alive because Nadia keeps giving talks explaining her experience and her current projects. From the agency, we try to continue to give opportunities to this real story around the world. THE SECRET OF MY TURBANTE has already been translated into 12 languages and relatively recently arrived in Brazil, Lithuania and Romania. Its recent publication in France has given this book a second life and has made it easier for us to have an offer for film rights. For this reason, I have decided to dedicate a new blog to the book. We don’t want to stop encouraging publishers who haven’t yet assessed it, because a novel like this is an example for everyone to know that fighting for what you feel, for what you want, is possible.

Nadia teaches us to be brave, to recognize our fears and to learn to live with them. More and more of us are by her side, helping her to give voice to this story, and we must continue to fight so that more and more readers want to support Nadia. It is a story that cannot leave anyone indifferent and committed editors and readers less so.

YOU CREATE YOUR OWN LUCK.

Author: Bruno Thursday 28 November 2019

Christmas is just around the corner. As everyone knows, this is a time that should be reigned by peace, love and the feeling of wanting to be with your loved ones; it is a time to enjoy with your family and a time when only good things should happen. I confess that I’m in love with this holiday season, with Christmas movies, family meals and gifts. I’ve always said that in my family we’ve experienced it very intensely and it is wonderful to be able to preserve this tradition. However, I must also say that, as you get older, you become more realistic and it seems that this Christmas magic is harder to cultivate. At least that’s how I feel because not everyone has the GOOD LUCK to have what I have: a united family to spend this holiday with.

The words GOOD LUCK are what leads me to write this blog today, in honor of the relaunch of LA BUENA SUERTE (published as GOOD LUCK in English), the book written by Álex Rovira and Fernando Trías de Bes. It is a wonderful story about what luck and good luck are, which, as similar as they might seem, they are not the same. Through this novel, you understand that LUCK ends up passing and doesn’t depend on you, but GOOD LUCK is something you pursue and that lasts forever. This book is, in short, an inspiring work that reveals the secrets to create that path to GOOD LUCK.

The Spanish imprint Zenith now publishes the new version of LA BUENA SUERTE, which may be considered as the largest Spanish publishing phenomenon of recent times with 4,000,000 copies sold. This special edition also includes an original text written by the authors. It is a reference book, highly recommended, with which you will feel accompanied, well and focused to a clear goal. Those of you who already are fans of this book don’t hesitate to reread it: it may seem easy to carve out your own destiny, but sometimes you forget the most obvious things and your path gets dark again.

Do you want to find the magic four-leaf clover? There’s only one way: start looking for it now. LA BUENA SUERTE has been a book translated all over the world and we hope to relaunch it in all possible languages. We believe that if we give the opportunity to read this book in any language, we will help more people get lucky and make the world a better place. Don’t we all want a happier world? Let’s make it happen by cultivating our good luck.

THE DANGER OF GIFTS.

Author: Bruno Thursday 21 November 2019

I have never been a fan of the more traditional fantasy genre, but I must confess that I don’t like tags because when I read THE NEVERENDING STORY I really fell in love with that book, even if many people describe it as “fantasy.” Thanks to Michael Ende, I have continued reading more books of this genre and I have liked many of them without becoming an unconditional fan. I am delighted to have given Daniel Pastrana the opportunity to publish his fantasy novel LOS PORTADORES DEL DON (“The Bearers of the Gift”). The young readers of the agency, who do know what works in this genre, were enthusiastic about their reading. I did not hesitate to help this author publish this work that, like many novels in this line, presents a complex story difficult to explain. So, here is a summary of a novel that is worth giving it a try:

In a world totally different from ours, there were two great races: humans and deivos. For a long time, deivos, who possess special gifts, saw humans as inferior and weak beings. The tensions between the two groups ended up generating an arduous battle between the two races, in which the humans ended up winning. Once the battle was over, they went on to pursue the few survivors cruelly.

Berthal and Helga are two brothers of different blood who live in a small village. One day, the Cathartids, an order of knights of family titles who persecute the deivos, arrive to the village of Berthal and Helga and execute a three-year-old girl live. While Berthal shows his admiration for the Cathartids, Helga is reluctant to this cruelty. When the little deivo attacks the knights and seeks refuge in Helga’s arms, the Cathartids see the stepbrothers as a threat to hunt down.

When they hunt Helga they realize that she is also a deivo who possesses one of the most precious gifts: she can repress the gifts of others. Berthal, trying to help Helga, realizes that he also has powers: can summon fire. Helga has been protecting them both repressing their powers and giving them the opportunity to have a free and normal life. In this way Helga ends up being imprisoned by Sissel, the leader, who wants the girl to join them in their fight to kill all the damned. On the other hand, Berthal decides to flee the town to save his sister from the order of the Cathartids.

LOS PORTADORES DEL DON is a novel of races, of powers, of battles, well hatched, fast-paced and with the necessary ingredients so that readers can engage in the adventure that the two sisters live. Many times in real life I think I would like to have super powers to be able to change many things, but it is seen that, if you do not know how to handle the power granted well, greed ends up surpassing goodness and the gift can turn against you.



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