Bruno Blog

Discovering new talent would be one of the main duties of a literary agent. However, it keeps getting harder and harder since our daily tasks have turned towards a very bureaucratic job which requires plenty of hours and lots of work. This makes having spare time to read what we should read – since what we would like to read, we can’t actually read it- almost impossible, so those new voices which should be listened and deserve to be peacefully read, I just cannot seem to find the right moment to ‘listen’ to them. Those are the voices and letters that keep getting delayed for “later”, and I’m very sure we’ve lost many authors along the way. Authors who really deserved more than a chance. But, we didn’t let Berta Pichel get away with her title CICATRICES DE CHAROL, when she introduced it, we absolutely loved it and we could not stop reading it, and not falling in love with the novel was completely impossible. The title has just been published by Ediciones B.

A novel about love but also about personal overcoming, especially hard during the Spanish Civil in El Bierzo, where the novel is set. I know it might look like another historical novel, but it is not, since the female character, Nia, has the magistral power that makes you become an addict to her, to everything in her. In addition to that, the novel takes place in an unknown yet beautiful part of Spain, which she subtly decorates, giving place to an amazing novel, one of those titles the public does enjoy reading, and one of those we are completely sure will not disappoint anyone. A new voice, a voice which debuts with a novel that deserves a chance because it is the perfect mixture of commercial novel, framed in a historical setting but in which love and personal overcoming make of it something more.. More than a novel, not just collecting many different feelings the reader will completely feel identified with, but leaving them with the best feeling as reading the last page.

Every time I go on a trip without my family I feel homesick. Then, when I arrive at the destination, I feel better and I get to work. But I have never liked to leave my routine. I thought it would pass over the years, but it didn’t, it has actually gotten worse. I feel something like a knot in my stomach. I don’t like to be away from them, it’s a strange but beautiful feeling at the same time, because I have the luck of being well at home, of feeling comfortable and happy in my space and in tune with myself and the people around me.

However, when I read Diana Quan‘s book, EL PARAÍSO ES TU CASA, I realized that I could improve my comfort at home by following the advice she gives on light, harmony and order. They are simple tips to help us turn our home, which is where most of us feel the best, into an oasis where we can relax and be happy. This is a very helpful book in which Diana shares with us her Far-Eastern roots as well as  her family’s, who is still living in China, where home is always the place where you should feel good. Could we have this here in the Western world? I’m sure that this book will help many people to achieve it. Knowledge does not take up any space, and today looking for our well-being is a necessity, not a luxury, so go for it.

Who hasn’t felt fear at some point? Fear is an emotion, and we can feel it due to many things. I’ve always thought that fear is something negative, but there are experts that say that it isn’t, that fear is a basic and primary emotion, because it is found in every culture. However, it’s an unpleasant one, because it makes us feel bad, although there are many people who enjoy being scared, may it be watching a movie, going up on the highest attractions or taking up challenges that scare you to death before doing them.

I have to be honest, and the new novel by Malenka Ramos, who’s switched genres completely, puts you on edge. I’ve been scared while reading it and it has surprised me in such a good way that I believe people addicted to thriller novels can’t miss out on this new novel that has been published with the title LO QUE HABITA DENTRO, in Plan B. I’ve loved the punching line used to sell the book: EITHER YOU DEAL WITH THE MONSTER, OR THE MONSTER DEALS WITH YOU.

A CHILDREN’S GAME THEY’LL PAY FOR THEIR ENTIRE LIVES

October 1987, San Petri (Bay of the Death).

At Witches’ night, a group of kids enter the old house Camelle, an abandoned place full of terrible legends. But the house holds a dark secret and a well from which it hangs a light bulb that shouldn’t have been working.

One, two and three, I’ll catch you…

Nights become a constant fight in order to survive the visions, the scratches in the wardrobe, the sounds under the bed. Two of the kids go missing and something is chasing them.

I’ve got stones, Enma… Many stones…

All of these kids are now grown-ups, but they’ve never got rid of their visions and the terrible events they lived when they were so young.

The house Camelle is under construction and someone has opened the well…

The messages and the visions of the ghostly kids chase them more strongly than ever.

He’s back… Bunny, the cruel…

And the booktrailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSA-F96xNNo

I believe there aren’t positive nor negative emotions (this is what practical guides usually say). It’s always good to feel any kind of emotion, because they are useful, and we should feel our emotions with freedom, instead of repressing them or trying to control them. The problem with emotions starts when they limit us to do what we want to do, and I assure you that fear paralyzes us. Malenka has done it so well with this novel, that as much as you shake with fear while reading it, you’ll want to keep on doing it, hooked to its pages and to a pillow that you can hug at night. Don’t let fear paralyze you, ever, nor while reading, nor while living. So, for the curious ones, and for any lover addicted to that satisfying fear, don’t miss out on one of the newest thriller authors, who is here to stay.

We live in a world where social media is part of our lives and of our children’s. For me, I have to confess, it is a little scary, but we cannot close our eyes and do as if that didn’t exist. The thing we can do is to make our own decisions and see if we want to dive into this world, and how we want to do it. If we know how and why we want to, there shouldn’t be any problem, and relationships through the Internet don’t have to be negative. Sometimes, they can even surprise you.

The novel TODAS MIS FOTOS HABLAN DE TI (All My Photos Speak of You), by Cristina Maruri, is one of the newer bets by Ediciones B, by their new imprint Plan B, and I’m sure that anyone who enjoyed Against the North Wind, by Daniel Glattauer, and/or the movie You’ve Got Mail, is going to fall in love with this story that starts with some pictures posted on Instagram. The rest of the story has to do with the beauty in things and with our ability to click likes. Laura, the main character, writes and travels, William reads and is a photography lover, and Julles is in love. The three of them make a love triangle. Laura lives between the real and virtual world, and isn’t sure about which one to choose. One is solid and stable, and the other is all magic, like in a dream, but instead it is on the other side of the screen and through pictures that both of them post on Instagram. Can you fall in love with someone only because of what you see through their photos? Can you fall in love with someone through their writing? Who is the person behind each passion, each character?

Cristina Maruri debuts with one of the first novels about LOVE via Instagram, one of the social media most used in the past few years, and she does it with a literary and clean voice that will captivate anyone who believes in their passions, their illusions and that life is all about dreaming with open eyes. And dreams are there to make them happen and to reach them. Will Laura make it? A special novel to read this summer and live LOVE in capital letters.

Throughout life you’ll meet many people and there will be a few that will stay in it and other people that will pass by it. You’d wish for some of them to stay, but they won’t do it. That always made me sad, and I said ‘made’, because after reading the books by Eva Sandoval, having had the great pleasure of meeting her and having been able to share many things with her, I’ve realized that my belief about friendship is mine, no one else’s, and I can’t and mustn’t force anyone to do something they don’t want to do. But it’s taken me a long time to get to this point (and I’ve still got a long path ahead of me) and I have to thank Eva’s books, as they help you perceive things from another perspective. Her first book ¿Y TU QUÉ CREES?, published by Urano (4 printings already!), helps you create the life you want by boosting your personal power. You learn to use the necessary tools to change your look on yourself, thus changing your viewpoint on what surrounds you. You discover the world of limiting beliefs and how to overcome them. ¿Y TÚ QUÉ CREES? wants us to be aware of the beliefs that limit your life and helps you find your own path to authenticity, wellbeing and fulfillment. Because when we change our mindset about ourselves, other people and life, then everything changes. And I assure you that it is like this, because I’m verifying that every day.

For this reason, I’m so happy to be able to share this new adventure, her second book, with Eva. Meeting her has been one of the best things that have happened to me this last year and, along with Pablo (a publisher that has believed in this book from the first moment and who, moreover, has always believed in me), we’ve shared already several successes together, and we’ll top them off with this new book. For sure. Both of them are great travel companions in this journey, and I hope that I can convince from here all of you who read us each Thursday to buy TU PODER NINJA, published by Ediciones B, which is already having an amazing start. In it, Eva conveys her coherent and always truthful message: trust, persevere, be flexible, and you’ll live how you want to. Acknowledging that the true master is inside you and training yourself in the art of life is one of the best advices that you can get from this book, where the author reflects on how martial arts have benefited her and how we can apply the ninja philosophy into our daily lives. Simple concepts, but powerful at the same time, that she shares with the reader so that people can learn how to connect with their inner wisdom and learn to get back the joy and happiness to live completely happy, always, no matter what, because to achieve that it’s only up to us.

This book is a gift to whomever receives it, because it’s entertaining, easy to read, and you can sense a smile in each page that will accompany you and open a door to a reality, unknown for most, but one that we all want to reach —even though we don’t know how to do it, because we’ve been programmed not to see it. TU PODER NINJA will open that door so only you can decide if you want to go through it. Thanks for sharing with all of us your values and for teaching us that dreams can come true.