University News Last updated 09 May
Final-year BMus Piano student Martina Cuevas has published her first novel in Spanish.
The book is called ‘Misterio en Siport’ and is a mystery book targeting the teen market.
The plot centres on Lía who moves from a big city to the small town of Siport after the death of her father. In this new place, she must face the challenges of starting over while living with her mum and grandparents. In addition to this, when one of her close friends dies, she decides to investigate what happened and the truth is unsettling.
The book covers the importance of family and friends, the impact betrayal can have on a person and the idea that doing the right thing is not always the easiest option, but the path that must be taken.
Martina said: “I have been writing stories since I was five years old, and I have won several awards in Spain. Books are an important part of my life, and you will always see me with one in my hand. Since I was a kid, one of my biggest dreams was to publish a book and it has finally come true!”
In 2018, Martina lived in the United States for a year thanks to the Amancio Ortega Scholarship.
She said: “My year in Nevada completely changed my life and gave me a wonderful insight into a different culture, a new language and hobbies. All this had such an impact on my life that I decided to write a story inspired by this experience. For this reason, I started writing this book in 2019 when I was 16 years old. It only took me a summer to finish it as the writing process came quite naturally to me.
“Getting published was the hard part. Covid-19 hit shortly after the book was finished and I didn’t send the book to publishers as I was nervous about starting my degree at the Conservatoire. However, a year later I decided to finally take that step.”
After sending the manuscript to a publisher, Martina had to wait a year to receive a response.
She said: “Luckily for me, they loved it and decided to publish it. It is incredibly difficult to publish a book, so I couldn’t be more excited. It took another year to finalise details such as the cover, editing and the illustrations, which I did myself as I love painting.”
The book went on pre-sale a couple of months before it was published, and that is the moment Martina’s parents found out about it, as she had kept it secret.
Martina added: “I feel honoured by the reception it has had, not only in Spain but also internationally. I will keep writing more books for sure. I have finished another book and two more that are in the works. This experience has been truly wonderful, and I am incredibly grateful for it.”
You can find ‘Misterio en Siport’ on Amazon.