Belen Urcelay | Photography: Instagram of the author.
Belen Urcelay She is from Madrid where she was born in 1980. She began publishing in 2018 under the pseudonym Ana de Liévana and her first title was An East End Gentleman. In 2020 he presented magic in your arms, the second novel with the stamp of Phoebe, the romantic branch of the Pamies publishing house. And last year she took out I take you under the skin. With her he has won the XII edition of the Vergara Award of romantic novel. In this interview He tells us about her and other matters. I really appreciate her time and kindness dedicated to her.
Belen Urcelay
He graduated in Humanities and Journalism and also has a master's degree in Book Publishing from Santillana, and several different courses in correction and literary creation. Take one bookstore secondhand, The garden of the letters, where he also teaches creative writing workshops for romance novel Mainly, a genre in which his career stands out.
In short, an author to discover when we are at the gates of Valentine's Day.
Belén Urcelay — Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your new novel is titled I take you under the skin. What do you tell us about it and where did the idea come from?
BELEN URCELAY: On the one hand, I wanted to write a second chance story and lovers to enemies to lovers. He wanted to explore what a romance novel would be like that instead of ending with the wedding, begins with the main couple already divorced. On the other hand, I really wanted to write something set in the 50's Hollywood, because I love the cinema of that time, and I thought that it would fit well with the type of romantic plot that interested me.
- AL: Can you go back to that first book you read? And the first story you wrote?
BU: One of the first books I read was Alice in Wonderland and it fascinated me. I keep reading it from time to time because I think it has so many layers that it is even more enjoyable as an adult than as a child. The first stories I wrote were stories what did he write by hand Small, with drawings as illustrations and with the pages stapled together to make it look like a book. I have wanted to be a writer forever.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
BU: I love it Edith Wharton. My favourite book is The Age of Innocence. I also love Margaret Mitchell, Emily Brontë and Edgar Allan Poe.
- AL: Which character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
B: Definitely. Scarlett O'Hara, gone With the Wind.
- AL: Any special hobby or habit when writing or reading?
BU: I like to write with musicI usually get one playlist that fits the story I'm writing, and helps me better imagine the scenes.
- AL: And your favorite place and time to do it?
bu: in me bedroom, weekends.
- AL: Are there other genres that you like?
BU: Apart from the romantic novel, I like the History and XNUMXth century Anglo-Saxon literature and early XX.
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
BU: I'm rereading gone With the Wind as I'm traveling through the southern US I have a couple of ideas to write about, but they're not quite developed yet.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is?
BU: I think more books are being published than people buy, and while in the short term that's good for writers, I'm afraid that's going to be a problem in the long run. On the other hand, I have observed that in bookstores there are always many copies of the same well-known authors, and very few of those who are just beginning. I think that less famous authors should be given more visibility in stores.
- AL: Is the moment of crisis that we are experiencing being difficult for you or will you be able to keep something positive in both the cultural and social spheres?
BU: There is always something positive, and I would like to think that normally crises give rise to new ideas and solutions.