Hello from the end of the world, a place called Finisterre on the ominously named Coast of Death in Spain. Sixteen years ago, in a dark bar in Barcelona, as we were guzzling too much cava for our own good, one of my friends suggested we visit this place. It stuck in my mind as a pleasant possibility, and this year, after something that felt to me like my own personal end of the world, but also a new beginning, because after all, the world is round, it ends and starts over, devouring itself like a hungry oroboros, I figured we should make good on that long ago plan. Sometimes I surprise myself by doing the unthinkable: Reader, I rented car and I drove it! I drove on winding coastal roads and through the lush green forests of Galicia. I ate exquisitely briny seafood shaped like tiny claws. I quarreled with my friend over directions, but only a little. I got stuck in a very narrow cul de sac where an angry lady yelled at me and my friend told her to leave us alone. I put my toes in some mighty cold water and took in a view that reminded me of Norway. I saw the lighthouse at the end of the world on the longest day of the year then woke up to pink clouds and a mellow sunrise over a surprisingly calm sea.
I didn’t quite plan it this way because I’m not a planner, but it worked out that I am here, at the end of the world, on the release day of the ebook version of my new novel, Ana Martinez Has No Shame. It’s definitely fitting as this is a book about a very young woman reinventing herself after the fallout from her own personal end of the world, something traumatic that occurred when she was sixteen. And we all remember that age when everything seems like a tragedy one would never recover from. But one does.
Now where does one go after the end of the world? I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, please download and read my book!
