Note from the Author

I began writing Lights on the Sea during my last year of college—and that was a few years ago! The truth is that the project has always been there, like an old friend you don’t see for long periods, but when you get together again, you feel like time hasn’t passed at all. And the thing is, when you work in design and advertising, time is not something you have a lot of.

Over the years, I had developed a more or less “respectable” reputation in the creative world. Despite that, I felt like I was drifting; something was missing. And then, like a ray of sunshine that appears after a long rainy afternoon, this old friend reappeared: the story of Harold and Mary Rose – a friend who somehow invited me to adventure, to take risks.

And I took them.

In 2016, I decided to quit my job at one of the best advertising agencies in Barcelona and move to Vancouver. That change of scenery opened my mind, and while a new professional stage began, I decided to resume the writing of Lights on the Sea. In 2017, I finished the manuscript, and with my heart in my fist, I decided to self-publish it. Just a few months later, the book started to climb the bestselling charts, and then I got a call. Carmona literary agency wanted to represent me to take the story to the next level. In 2018, I finally signed a publishing contract with one of the most prestigious publishing houses in the world: Planeta.

Telling this story cured me, and reconciled me to myself and to the creative world. It was a story that even in the best of my dreams I would never have believed could have come this far. In a few months, more publishers from all over the world became interested in the story, and little by little more editions began to be published, in Spanish, German, Italian, English, Czech...

Thousands of readers from around the world have embarked on this quirky journey since then and others are doing it right now. But without a doubt, the best part of this success is reading the messages I receive from them - messages full of love, gratitude for inspiring and motivating them to stop living the life that others expect of them and start living the life they have always dreamed of. I wrote this novel, not with the intention of denying the cruelty, tragedy, and darkness that sometimes seem to flood the world, but precisely, to light a spark that illuminates it with hope.

The world needs stories that inspire us, stories that remind us that even though sometimes everything seems lost, or everything seems too difficult, or meaningless, we can never give up. We need stories that speak of who we really are, that unite us, that guide us in the midst of chaos, and that motivate us to work to improve as individuals and as a society.

I hope that now, my words ignite a spark inside you as well. A light we can spread to millions of more hearts through the screens of movie theaters and television. It’s true that we live in an uncertain world, but life is like that – uncertain, a breathless adventure that calls us to make choices. Because it’s when we take certain risks where we find incredible rewards and achieve something new. Let’s embark on this journey together!

— Miquel Reina, author of Lights on the Sea.