Bruno Blog

Every day, when I wake up, I think of the busy day that’s about to start and all the things I have to do, and I would close my eyes again and I would get back in bed and wish it was all a dream, that it’s Saturday and alarm clocks don’t exist, but in that very moment the bloody tititititi of my alarm brings me back to reality and I have to get up and take a shower, make the bed, pick out some clothes and get dressed. And all of that in half an hour because then I have to wake up the little one and encourage him to also stick to a routine in record time. Every day is the same, speed, and craziness, but the sweetest moment, one that I would like to relive forever isn’t when I stay in bed five minutes longer, which I would also relive, but it’s not the most important, because the moment that I wouldn’t change for anything in the world is when I go wake up my son, an whisper in his ear that it’s time to wake up, as I kiss him non-stop, I touch his head and I take a moment to caress him , because he sleeps like a baby, even though he’s already a preteen. This magical moment is one of the many that complete us and that for a mother, like me, gives us the energy needed to be able to start the day with a smile.

Being a mother isn’t easy, and you have to go over many obstacles, but these special little moments you can live with your children, take away all those obstacles from your path. Maternity is an adventure, but it’s worth it even though there are days where you think peace is inexistent and you’re ready to give up. There are frantic moments, it’s true, but if you think about it with a smile on your face and next to your family, everything passes; because life is short and it should be lived intensely. And kids make everything intense and everything often looks like it’s going to explode, but if you act calm and comprehensive enough, it doesn’t always burst, or maybe only a little, and everything is quickly rearranged so that instant becomes unrepeatable. With the book PEQUEÑAS IDEAS PARA ANTES DE SER MAMÁ, published by Maeva, you will remember what you’ve lived if you’re already a mom, and if you’re not, you can prepare for the best and for the worst, but one thing’s true, your smile will always have the taste of chocolate bonbons. It’s the sweetest adventure, and it should be cherished. With this book you can laugh, share and learn. It’s ideal for experts not to forget, and the best gift for first-time moms to learn.

“Maternity is the most demanding and difficult job in the world… But it’s also the most gratifying. Enjoy!”

It’s Christmas again. And it’s a holiday that I like, that we’ve always enjoyed with our family and that has changed a little with time; we’ve had to adapt to new situations. When my grandmother was alive, we celebrated many holidays in her house, not because it had the best dining room, nor the best kitchen, on the contrary, but she liked to cook so much and did it so well, and so nonchalantly, that everything else wasn’t important, all that mattered was that we were together and we could enjoy the passion with which she did it, which I’m sure showed in the food she cooked, and that’s why everything was always so exquisite, like her, like her love for us, and how she was able to give us a bit of that magic with every spoonful of her lovingly cooked meal.  When she was no longer here, we had to divide the holidays, and even though we feel excited and hopeful it will never be the same, because my grandmother gave us magic, and you either have it or not.

It’s now been three years from the day when, sitting in front of the television and thinking of what I would cook for Christmas, and missing my grandmother, I saw the Educo add, and it made its way through to my heart. What the mother says to the daughter: “today we’ll have a magic sandwich for dinner, with bread and everything we can imagine in it”, it made me feel like I had to do something, I work in a field where we can find the kings of imagination and if that sandwich was filled with imagination I had to help fill it with some ham or real cheese.

It was the end of November, so if I wanted to do something, I had to be quick, I couldn’t think twice, and I found time where there was none to organize a charity party with the moto LITERATURE FEEDS. I put my whole team to work, which they happily did, and we designed a T-Shirt with our moto LITERATURE FEEDS to sell to the people in our sector, and to give all the money we made from them to Educo and their Lunchroom Scholarships.

The world of creators who let their imagination fly in order to make those who read them happier, to show them values through their pages, we were coming together to make an idea come true, one that had come to me while watching TV. That’s a good add, one that makes you react, that commercial made me create an entire literary and solidary movement in less than a month. Crazy? Maybe, but it was worth it, because it was a small success, because in that little time we were able to throw a party with all the authors from the house – they were brilliant – and ever since my Christmas gift is to those who need it, and I push people in this industry to do this as well.

We work in a field that’s always received a lot of criticism, they say we always ask for a lot but are never completely happy, that it seems like there’s something missing even if we have the privilege of working with what we want, and I thought that putting literature and charity together was a magnificent idea to show that we aren’t all narcissistic, we don’t only think of ourselves, it’s not true, and we can do things for others and we want to do them.

The last thing was to get help from those in the industry, those who maybe didn’t think like me. I couldn’t lead an entire campaign for literature to be more solidary on my own. But my team’s reaction, those of my friends, and of the authors from the house was excellent and we did it, and I think we’re still doing it because the second year we collaborated with Pallapupas, with a lot of other people making this possible, and this, which is already the third year, with the Afanoc foundation, with “Ponte la gorra” (wear the cap), which help families that have a child suffering from cancer at home. I hope this is also a success and we can make this party grow more and more. Now it’s not only the authors from the house and friends that come, but also editors and reporters, and we’ve even pulled in the people from Gràcia (the neighborhood where my agency is) to collaborate with us. It’s wonderful! This has turned big, and I hope it keeps growing because LITERATURE FEEDS, that we know, and it can feed so many things, that our job is infinite, that we can help, year after year, If everyone keeps supporting the cause and we think that this party should become one of the literary events of the year, an event where there are no prizes, but the goal of giving to those who need it the most, and not receiving anything in exchange. Just like my grandmother used to do for Christmas: she didn’t expect anything and she did it with all her heart. And I know she would be proud of me, of how her magic has helped me start a charity campaign for which I plan to fight and help those who dedicate their lives to others.

We do it too, we try to make the best stories so others can enjoy, we’re giving already, not only once a year, but with our everyday work, but if we add the possibility of throwing a party once a year, it’s a win-win situation, we’re giving a purpose to what we love the most, LITERATURE.

Thanks!

Who doesn’t like to walk down the Ramblas in Barcelona? It’s one of the most emblematic spots in the city; it’s alive. Even though nowadays it’s become very touristic and we seem to find more souvenirs than flower stands, when we were young, my parents used to take us down the Ramblas on Sunday mornings, before the traditional family dinner at my grandma’s house, to see the ceramic shops, watch people making jewelry, and those who took the chance to prepare a bit of vermouth near the sea. That’s why those Sundays are one of my favorite childhood memories (I’m pretty lucky to have these many). At the Ramblas we find el Gran Teatre del Liceu, and my father, who was a big music and opera fan, always used to tell us stories about the big plays that were performed there. So nobody should miss this play by Xulio Ricardo Trigo, LES VEUS DEL LICEU (Voices of the Liceu); nobody who might be crazy about the Ramblas or in love with Barcelona.

The author has accomplished to connect two love stories happening in different time frames. The first takes place in the year 1933, when Eduard, a singing teacher in need to put an end to his career, discovers Anna, a young girl who stutters and works as a cleaning lady at the Liceu, but who has an incredible voice. Eduard thinks Anna would be capable of bringing excitement back to the stage. And the second story is told through some notebooks that Eduard’s mother, Irina, had been saving, and that hide her husband’s terrible family secret. A novel that allows us to visit the inside of the Liceu through Anna, who’s not a big artist but a cleaning lady, and Teresa, who’s a tailor at the Gran Teatre. As a reader, I’ve found the way the author was able to exploit this imagery pretty interesting, just like the café life and the very well portrayed atmosphere in the XIX century Ramblas, which we can almost smell with the passing of the pages. We will also learn about the battle between “liceístas” (those who were for the Gran Teatre del Liceu) and “cruzados” (those who were against and preferred the old theatre); this rivalry will lead Armand to acts that will lead to terrible consequences.

A novel that’s been broadly recommended by its great audience, the old and not so old. It’s perfect to get to know Barcelona and one of its most charismatic spots in the XIX century. It could be the perfect Christmas gift for many of the members in the family.

“Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.” Plato

How often, unfortunately, after believing that we know someone, we get surprised because we see that is not the person we thought he or she was. In the business world, especially, it has come a time when the word trust is so great that you can have it with very few. We always have to be aware and alert because, unfortunately, there are very few people who says who they really are. We only have a few friends, and it is difficult to find loyal people in a world full of egos; although not impossible. It is true that while the world goes revolutionized in every way, and of course, the literary, however small, is not far short, but from my point of view, one should retain its essence, despite being in the middle of the jungle. It is clear that to survive, we must protect ourselves, we are not fools. But sometimes I think that if one keeps his ideals and values, protecting without harming your neighbor, just knowing how to defend yourself so you do not  get hurt in the end you get what you want, that to me is sleep well and live happily with mine.

However, as Albert Villaró tells in his latest novel LA BIBLIA  ANDORRANA (The Andorran Bible), published by Columna and Prudenci Bertrana Prize winner, it is not always easy acting with rigor, and eventually we may lose scruples, as happens in this inspector Boix new book located in Andorra. The Principat, reluctantly, has become the scene of a silent battle between rival intelligence services (or perhaps not so rivals) to buy, sell, invent or steal sensitive information. The survival of the small Pyrenean country, in a difficult relationship with neighboring states, hangs by a thread. Nobody is who they say they are. Boix have to travel to Madrid, remove some old papers and, above all, for the first time in his life and very reluctantly, have to act without scruples or contemplations.

An exciting novel that reflects nowadays worlds and where the reader will be who will find the border between fiction and reality way.

Do you dare to read it?

“I will not let injustice, no foul play, but if someone is caught practicing corruption without my receiving a commission, we will put up against the wall … and give the order to fire!” Groucho Marx

This week has begun sad, Paris bombings left a black weekend and saddened to most people who are against violence, we cannot tolerate that human rights and freedom are not respected. Upon hearing the news on Friday night, hatred came over me, I could not think clearly after a barbarism like that, and tried to keep a cool head, to convince me that this radical group is not a whole religion and does not reflect its followers, despite they want us believe it. It is a struggle of good against evil, and on each side there are people from all walks of life. It would be unfair to think that all Muslims are the same, we cannot put them all in the same bag. But the radicals, who have lost their heads and only think of hurting and transmitting this ideas to children and young people, without measure, without considering anything, I regret to say, I cannot help but wish them the worst, because they have broken families, have created terror in a city, and throughout the world.
We all know we cannot let that frighten us, but after an event like that on the weekend, it’s natural to feel fear, and solidarity with our French colleagues who have been more than touched, and it is still costing them catch the normal rhythm of their lives, because if it costs us, I cannot imagine how it will be costing them. Also, I deeply regret, too, have known that a young publisher, I did not know her personally but one of her companions, who told us about her at the fair in Frankfurt, has been one of the victims of the attack. A young girl with a bright career ahead, as many of the other victims of this terrible and unscrupulous act. Just thinking about it, I feel sick, because I think how unfair it is for all these people have been in the wrong place.
And it could have been any of us. I must stop thinking of it because feelings like anger and revenge awake in me, and only the question of why there are people who abducted by whatever and in whoever name bring out the worst of themselves. We cannot let ourselves be overcome by fear, because life goes on, and we hope that the world can and should be better, despite how you are passing injustices, we cannot control. Most people are good, want to live happily and peacefully, and it is important that we all know how to cultivate it daily. Everyday life is more important than we think to grow with values such as honesty, solidarity and kindness. We condemn acts such as Paris, and try that new generations learn that fanaticism and radicalism are useless, all extremes are bad, and know how to defend the beliefs with respect and humility is what makes us being human and distinguishes us from the beasts.
Today I recommend a book, published only in ebook, that predicted that this fanaticism of a few can destroy the world. In UN MUNDO REAL (A REAL WORLD) Francesc Juvanteny tells through a fast-paced thriller that unfortunately reality has overtaken fiction. In the novel, the most manipulative people in their specialties, who are able to rule armament industry and its strategic weapons, want to change the course of history. Their influences reach the Vatican City. St Peter’s Basilica, that has always been present, acts at its own convenience. It has its peculiar quid pro quo. The rise of Islamic terrorism doesn’t catch everybody by surprise despite the terror that spreads. Faith can join more judgements that it seems.
Perhaps readings like Francesc’s can help us understand, not to accept, what happens in this real world.
“We must unite not to be together, but to do something together,” Juan Donoso Cortés