Maria Sellas Palat: With the momentum gained

It still seems hard for her to believe it, which is quite common for novice writers who have seen their first book materialized. They know that this story, those more or less fictionalized experiences, that way of casting their gaze on life, no longer belongs only to them, but are now the heritage of readers who, sooner or later, will browse those pages they filled with time, illusion, and perhaps some fears. "The book came out on the second Easter day, when everything was closed in Barcelona, so I got on a train to Terrassa because I needed to hold it in my hands," recalls Maria Sellas Palat with a wide smile, regarding her debut novel, Drames per a principiants (Univers).

Through her characters, the author questions ---herself, the reader, life--- about the different ways we have of loving or believing we love, of maturing, of the traps of adult life, and of seeking second chances where, perhaps, there wasn't even a first. A very Barcelona novel of which, "when I finally got a copy, I had an enormous sense of accomplishment. That, whatever happens later, they can't take away what I've danced."

She has arrived at the Bar at the perfect time for a vermouth and to let the conversations of the locals be heard in the background, always attentive to capturing ideas, clues, that can be turned into fiction. In fact, hers started a bit like that.

Epiphanies on the L1

"I studied Dentistry, more guided by practicality than anything else, to be honest. The thing is, the subway ride was very long, almost two hours round trip, and every day something happened on the L1. Some anecdote, some conversation: things I started to write down in my notebook. From there, I moved on to turning those events into stories and, little by little, I realized that my favorite moment of the day, the most anticipated, was that: writing what I saw." Many of those stories she published through her Instagram account, and that was the icing on the cake of her newfound passion. "Those stories were liked, they had readers who followed them and encouraged me to keep writing." She had to continue.

"Finished my Dentistry studies, I knew I wanted to write a novel and I signed up for a writing course at the Ateneu," continues Maria Sellas, who thus shaped the book that, needless to say, "includes many of those anecdotes I experienced and wrote down during my long trips on the L1, but also much of what I experienced during my Erasmus year in Montpellier, which for me was a way to escape the rigors and pressures here and start a new life on many levels."

--- But professionally you are dedicated to dentistry, right?

Maria Sellas shrugs. "Look, yes, I am a dentist, although the more I think about it, the more I believe I am everything but a dentist," she laughs, "but it's also true that, if I hadn't decided to study something so far away, who knows if I would have discovered my vocation," she reflects.

She probably would have had epiphanies somewhere else, later on, because writing eventually imposes itself even if life tries to say otherwise. And it is clear that the writer is not one for defeatism. "The first draft of my second novel is already finished," she warns.

--- So, any day now we'll have it out?

"No, no, it's just the first draft. From there, the final result can be completely different. Even a different novel!" she replies, highlighting what they say about writing being, in short, rewriting. The momentum has already been gained and it is to be expected that, in the near future, the author will once again sneak onto bookstore shelves with new stories.

On all levels

Drames per a principiants begins with its protagonist, Júlia, walking down Balmes street after treating herself to a solitary vermouth in Plaça Molina, with her headphones on and warm-filter sunglasses that make it always seem like spring around her. Thinking about her things, with Mishima in the background, the character ambles at her own pace towards Barceloneta.

"Those walks are something I love and used to do often when I lived here," explains the author, who has been living in Sant Cugat for a couple of years, "but without stopping working and having a lot of social life in Barcelona," because for her this is, simply and plainly, the best city in the world. A city to see, walk, live "on all levels."

For a couple of years now, she has been living in Sant Cugat, "but without stopping working and having a lot of social life in Barcelona," because for her this is the best city in the world.

--- What doesn't lose its identity is our superlative gastronomic offer, in case you want to sink your teeth into something after your vermouth.

Maria Sellas Palat smiles again. "Absolutely! ---she replies--- What do you have on the menu?"