Bruno Blog

Summer arrives and we go on holiday, even though because of my work holidays as itself has not existed in my life for a long time now, because books are part of it and one thing is linked to the other. However, I try to read some books for pleasure and not for work, which is already a record, but I cannot abandon this good vice that is reading.  For this reason, our summer campaign on the social media, which I would love you to follow on Twitter and Instagram, talks about different places where we can go, disconnect, enjoy, but always with a book under your arm to help you break out routine and make you “travel” to those fictitious worlds.

Some prefer pure adventure, others paradises or cosmopolitan cities, but everything is valid if you know how to take advantage of it. We have 18 proposals that will surely help to choose the best book according to your destiny, all novelties of this 2019.

• PONTE EN MI PIEL by Emma Lira: the Canary Islands.
• LA LLAVE 104 by Paz Castelló: the Costa Blanca.
• A MI AMIGO ESCOCÉS by Maria Barbal: field trip.
• LA NOIA DEL VIOLONCEL by Jordi Campoy: London.
• EL ÚLTIMO VAGÓN by Ángeles Doñate: Mexico.
• AMOR by Álex Rovira: Rome.
• ICHIGO ICHIE by Francesc Miralles and Héctor Garcia: Japan.
• EL OBRADOR DE LOS PRODIGIOS by Sílvia Tarragó and Christian Escribà: Barcelona.
• LA PRINCESA DE MÁRMOL by Malenka Ramos: Madrid.
• LA BILBIOTECA DE LA LUNA by Francesc Miralles: India.
• UN SECRETO by Alejandro Palomas: Germany.
• 13 CANASTAS PARA GANAR EN LOS NEGOCIOS DIGITALES by Ferran Martínez: Los Angeles.
• MONEY MINDFULNESS by Cristina Benito: France.
• UNA BALA CON MI NOMBRE by Susana Rodríguez: Boston.
• 1816, EL AÑO QUE NO HUBO VERANO by Jordi Tello: Indonesia.
• L’ABISME by Carla Gracia: the Costa Brava.
• L’HOME DEL BARRET by Berta Jardí: Mallorca.

I wish you a happy summer and see you in September with renewed energy and many literary novelties so that books will never be missing in our environment, because books are life.

As I started working in the publishing world at a very early age, combining it with my philology studies, I have a lot of memories of these events that there were authors such as Eduardo Mendoza, who I admired because I read his book at school, SIN NOTICIAS DE GURB. Or when I talked to Juan José Millas, whose books fascinated me (LA SOLEDAD ERA ESTA or EL DESORDEN DE TU NOMBRE). Or when I lived in first person the success of Laura Esquivel’s first novel COMO AGUA PARA CHOCOLATE.

All beginnings can only be lived with illusion. When you do something that you like, being able to be next to people you admire and who are idols for you, it’s like a dream to devote yourself to that precious value that books are. And even though I’ve been involved in this world for 28 years now, I’m still thrilled to be able to represent authors who have been an influence to me, as is the case of Maria Barbal.

An affectionate woman, and one of the best writers in Catalan, comparable to Mercè Rodoreda or Montserrat Roig. Her longseller PEDRA DE TARTERA has been translated into 15 languages and constantly being republished because it has been compulsory reading in schools (sixty printings in catalan!). Perhaps reading a book because is compulsory is not the best thing, but whoever does not discover Maria Barbal at first, will do it later if they value good literature. And a good opportunity is reading her new novel TO MY SCOTTISH FRIEND.

The idyllic landscapes of the Lleida Pyrenees and Benet’s youthful ambition to fall in love and make a living off his drawings give him plenty to dream about, but, like most people, he is forced to reconcile his hopes and dreams with the demands of reality and the expectations of his family. Caught in the middle of his parents’ marital strife and constantly on the move to find work, Benet struggles to find his place in the world. The delicate strings that hold Benet’s life together will finally be blown apart by the onset of civil war in 1936, when everything is turned upside down. However, in Benet’s darkest hour, when he is reeling from an injury from the front, he will meet George, an outspoken Scotsman, whose friendship will be Benet’s only consolation in his battle to overcome the physical and psychological trauma of war. Though fleeting, Benet’s time together with George will leave a lasting impression on him, and he will carry the memory of his Scottish friend, and the war they fought in, with him forever.

To My Scottish Friend is a story about friendship, love, war, memory, and regret.

In summary, it is an honour to be able to have such prestigious writers in the agency and to try to promote their work internationally, which is not easy. But when something is good we can’t give up, because I firmly believe that every good book has a good publisher. Our mission is to find him so that the books of this great Catalan author can be reached all over the world.

There’s a moment in life where you must choose who you want to be and where you want to work. There are people who have it very clear since the beginning, but those who not, it’s a very important moment, because our education system makes you choose your career very early. Which elective courses, if you prefer humanities or science, etc. And sometimes what you want does not match what’s best for you, so these become the first important choices one should face. I was clear about it: pure humanities, but I didn’t know back there that life would lead me to the publishing world. I loved reading and writing but I never thought this would become my career, much less that I would be able to run my own company. I started very young, working in Mercedes Casanovas, who taught me this difficult job. The world of books fascinated me, but I didn’t know back there how difficult it can be to find that author, that book, that topic to sell. I’ve been wrong many times, and I’m sure I will make many more mistakes, but it’s a job where the margin of error and the risk are high. You need to have a good head for business and be brave enough to take risks.

With Alejandro Palomas, I was very close to make a mistake because I told him that I didn’t like the script he sent me, so I wouldn’t represent him. Luckily, Alejandro is more stubborn than me, so he challenged me and told me he would bring a new script I wouldn’t reject. And so it was. He brought a lot of life and I was fascinated by his characters and also by him, because Alejandro is an intense man but very captivating. After 15 years together, I am thankful to his stubbornness for giving me another opportunity.

Today Alejandro has achieved what he deserves: to be on the top. UNA MADRE has already published 22 printings and Alejandro was awarded the National Prize for Children’s & Young People’s Literature with UN HIJO (a son), with that boy named Guille who wanted to be Mary Poppins, not a fireman or a footballer. I can’t stop recommending these two novels because they mean Alejandro’s claim to fame but his book TANTA VIDA (so much life) and the first part of the trilogy EL TIEMPO QUE NOS UNE (the time that unites us) still my favorite ones. It’s been already six printings in a very short time, since we have recovered Alejandro’s backlist in his early years. We had to work a lot together to gain the publishers trust , because talent was there; we just had to reveal it.

This summer, those who haven’t discovered this fantastic author, I recommend you to do it, and for those who are already fans, remember you have UN SECRETO (one secret) as a novelty. It is the continuation of Guille’s life, who has also stolen my heart, but this time the book is through a feminine strong voice that will not leave you indifferent. Nazia now lives with Guille and his father because her family is in a very delicate situation. It seems that the fact of her parents being in prison didn’t affect Nazia, and her happiness remains intact. But, is it really this way? In this story, we will discover that children talk especially when they are silent, and where it will lead us Nazia’s obsession with the character of Cinderella. 

Variety of the Alejandro Palomas’ world but I must tell you something: once you’re inside, you won’t be able to get out.

How many times in life we use expressions where the moon is the protagonist. You’re on the moon! I love you until the moon and back! They are lunatic people!
I love full moon nights, that magical energy makes me feel good, and I would spend hours watching the moon reflected in the sea.  I don’t know if we can all visit the moon sometime, but from down here it already accompanies me. Although after reading the novel by Francesc Miralles, LA BIBLIOTECA DE LA LUNA (The library of the moon), I am hopeful to visit the moon someday. And with more reason if paper books are kept there: I would not hesitate to ask for a sofa and be able to read as much as I please those books that always stay on the bedside table for lack of time.

Francesc’s novel has everything: a bit of love, a bit of science fiction. It’s a magical novel, like the author, where his worlds are always created for the well-being of others, so that you feel good doing what you decide.

In a near future, Kumar, an eccentric tycoon, creates the first human colony on the Moon: Exovillage, a resort for big fortunes. Verne, who works as an online tarot player on Earth, looks at the night sky with growing despair: her soulmate and eternal platonic love, Moira, has been hired as a communications engineer at Exovillage.
The young man will get a job up there, although it has nothing to do with what he had dreamt of. He will work as a librarian, whose work is fascinating because printed books were banned on Earth to avoid deforestation, and he will meet for the first time the great books of humanity. When he finally gets the chance to explore the lunar surface, he will come across a rare hermit who will become his spiritual Master. A very human story, despite taking place in an exotic and unusual space.

The truth is that I admire the moon from a distance but having known someone like Francesc, representing him and learning every day with him is like being on the moon. I don’t have enough words to thank him for what he has brought to my life. Great novels, the best non-fiction books, authors who have believed in me and we have achieved great success together, and at the same time, I have a good person and a friend by my side.

It was fate: when I started with my own agency, someone called the phone. It usually diverted the calls to the switchboard, but that call did not, so I picked up and on the other side Francesc was asking if it would be possible to send an original, get to know each other and work together. Fortune, luck, chance made me take that call and that’s where our adventure began 17 years ago, and we still have a very encouraging road ahead of us because Francesc shines, invents, creates, and is one step ahead of trends. That’s why he’s a number one author in most of the genres he tackles, and he also has the gift of making those around shine and help them to bring out their talent. His latest novel is perfect as a summer reading, but any of his many books are recommendable because they always provide the reader with that little thing that makes him think deep, and keep one of the essential things in life: happiness.

Coia Valls is writer of seven novels, and our story began with a casual lunch in a tiny restaurant in the Gracia neighborhood. Coia came with Xulio R. Trigo, her partner and author of the agency, to discuss about his literary things. Coia’s honest smile, her proximity, her way of being captivated me from the very first moment. Coia is a woman that fills the places, although she tries to be discreet, but she has a light, a special light, and when she told me that she also wrote, a world was opened for me: a new adventure, a path to start together that we have been walking since 2008.

We have grown up together in this literary adventure and the truth is that we have forged a healthy friendship, which some say does not exist, because “you cannot mix work and friendship”. I had the opportunity to think of her for a project. I finally did it and I made no mistake: we published EL MERCADER, a book that is still alive today, after almost eight years and we started a career in Ediciones B, together with Ernest Folch, which was extraordinary.

This year we released her last novel, LOS CAMINOS DE LA LUZ (the paths of light), the story of BRAILLE. It has been special again with a character as important as Braille, who invented the alphabet for the blind, special for who he is and for this novel written from the heart. She put himself in the skin of a character who was born seeing and then enters the deepest darkness. How a child and his relatives overcome a hard blow like this in a small rural French village, and during the revolutionary France: this is the story of Louis Braille, in an atmosphere that reminds us of LES MISÉRABLES by Victor Hugo.

Coia couldn’t make a better novel and for this reason, I can’t stop recommending it, because I believe that apart from being a beautiful story, it is necessary to give voice to someone who, from the shadow, has enlightened many people. Only Coia with her special light could have written this novel.