For six years, senior Juan Loaiza had been working towards one of his biggest achievements: writing a novel.

Inspired by many of his favorite authors, Loaiza created a science fiction fantasy novel titled La Luz, or “the light” in English, crafting the world with the end goal of developing a famous book series.

“I was 11. Well, it was very childish compared to what it is now,” Loaiza said.  “I had a more magical and fantastical view of what it could be. Then in 2022, I started writing it again, and it was more mature. It had better grammar overall and a better structure. So it took me a while. And even though it took me six years, it grew up a lot, and I think it was for the better”

Loaiza, still living in Colombia in 2019, found himself incorporating cultural aspects from his native country into his novel.

“I want to reflect the truth of my country through fantasy,” Loaiza said. “Something that readers can understand, but that they can also enjoy.”

Once all the writing was done, Loaiza began to search for a  publishing house and eventually stumbled across Caligrama. 

Although based in Spain, Caligrama found his work to be just what they are looking for and helped Lolaiza by making his works available to all in a paperback and ebook format. 

One issue still remains for Loaiza: the book is in Spanish and, as of right now, has no translation to English, complicating the advertising process.

“Even though I’m in the US, and of course, everyone speaks English and other languages, I think it is a good start,” Loaiza said. Of course, there are some people who won’t read it because they don’t understand it, or if they buy it and they read it, they will have trouble with translation, but it’s okay. I will try to find the best way to publish it in English pretty soon.”