It will soon be three years since I published  Clandestina, an espionage thriller considered one of   “The 20 feminist books that you cannot miss” by Marie Claire Magazine, the year of its publication (2019). Clandestina, my first book, in its year of release was recommended in Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, La Vanguardia, Catalunya Radio, La Ser and many other media. Do you know You will not believe it, but there are still people who ask me where they can buy Clandestina. That’s when I remind you that books are bought in bookstores, in case you had forgotten. In addition, I also have the purchase links well specified in the biographies of my social networks (which are not a few), even the book has its hashtag: #Clandestina_CR, and it can also be purchased on this same website, my official website. Easier impossible, right? Well, that is the recurring question “Where can I buy your book?” Well, the interest is appreciated, but my book is in all the bookstores, you only have to approach one, and take it from the shelves, and if it is not there, like so many other books that surely are not available in the bookstore, I am sure that it is. You request it, in the bookstore, they will get it for you in a few days, very kindly.
Writing is more intense work than many believe, during these three years I have worked hard so that my book Clandestina became known among the readers. They have been hard years but also very grateful, we are not going to fool ourselves. I am satisfied with everything I have done, but above all with everything I have learned with the publication of Clandestina.
The days of promotion have been especially emotional, such as the day of the official presentation of the book, or the days of Sant Jordi and the book signings, or also the literary meetings, of more direct contact with the readers. It is very comforting to see how readers are interested in knowing when you will get the next book, those readers who ask you to read your next book “now” because they enjoyed reading Clandestina a lot. Thank you, thank you very much, I like to have such grateful readers.
Although other times it is also very demotivating because there are still those who believe that writing a book is about sitting down and starting to write by “divine inspiration”. Well no, I’m very sorry, writing a book is not a matter of “divine inspiration”. Writing a book is not a quick process, but a very thoughtful and calm process, painstaking care, a long time of intense and difficult work. You don’t write a book by magic, nor do you write a book overnight. No, those things do not exist in daily life. Despite what appears on television series, fashion, or what many instant influencers may make you believe. I’ve been writing a lot for a long time and reading a lot, even long before publishing Clandestina. Many years before publishing my first book, I was already writing. I remember that I had a blog with a lot of daily visits, which already then received visits from readers from anywhere in the world. I’m talking about when social networks did not yet exist and blogs were just born, many years ago. It was later, much later, when I started publishing and decided to launch Clandestina on the market. When you have spent so much time improving your writing, always trying to improve yourself and write better every day, it is offensive to hear those words of “You are always inspired, you are very creative.” Excuse me, but this writing is not about “divine inspiration” as some belief, but about continuous training and constant and intense work.
And I keep working with the same constancy and intensity. After publishing my first Clandestina novel, many ideas have been valued to publish my next novel. I have some half-elaborated, waiting in my drawer of ideas for that final touch to come to light. Some will come out later (I’m very sure of it) but others may be waiting. Time, motivation, and experience will decide what to do with each of those ideas. But one thing at a time.
In the case of the book that I am writing now, I valued some alternative stories, but finally, I settled on the one I chose because I wanted to write that story. It is also true that I had to read and investigate more in-depth, on topics that I have considered vital to learn to write history well, so, as it was also what I wanted to do, I completely immersed myself in the previous research. During the tour, I take with me the professional growth that this previous process has given me. All this has allowed me to improve the initial idea of ​​the manuscript, although to be honest, as a writer, I never stop researching what I write, and I continue researching in parallel to the writing of the work. I always want to continue learning and growing with the novel. Also, when I started working on this story, I didn’t have a draft of one page or two, it had as many pages as a common novel could have, but I wanted to improve it in every way. I’ve modified so many factors that it no longer looks anything like that initial handwritten draft. However, after all this time, I still have work to do, but it is very comforting to see how so many hours invested in the novel begin to pay off in the form, the narrative style, the characters, the time … in everything. Honestly, I am enjoying the entire creation process, but give me time, the time I need and I will talk about this other book as it is due when the time comes. Let’s not rush. At the moment, I’m still writing and working on my next novel and, by the way, without any of what others call “divine inspiration.” Thank you for continuing to read me and for continuing to recommend Clandestina. You are the best readers I ever dreamed of having.