This is Books
Welcome to Books, a place where my stories come to life and words create their own world. On this page, you’ll find my books and stories, shaped by observation, imagination, and the urge to write.
I write under the name Señor Esquina. Here, I bring together my work, not as separate projects, but as connected fragments of a larger whole. Each story has its own tone, yet together they form one world.
I write in Dutch and English, and my texts are also translated into Spanish and Catalan, allowing these stories to move across languages and reach different readers.
My writing also lives on my blog Walt's Hoekje. mainly in Dutch. There, I share also my titles and the process behind them, from the first idea to the finished story. This page is an overview of my books, with a link to my blog where my writing continues to grow also about every day life.
Books & Stories by Señor Esquina
Het Laatste Stof
The Last Dust
Ik schreef dit boek omdat dit verhaal mij heeft gevonden.
Als enige van mijn generatie kreeg ik fragmenten in handen: herinneringen, stiltes en gebroken zinnen rond een verdwijning en vermoedelijke moord die uitgroeiden tot een erfenis van zwijgen.
In dat zwijgen ligt niet alleen wat er met mijn grootvader is gebeurd, maar ook wat het met ons heeft gedaan, hoe een onopgelost verleden zich vastzet in angst, loyaliteit, overtuigingen en de manier waarop wij liefhebben en zwijgen.
Dit boek is een poging om woorden te geven aan wat generaties lang onuitgesproken is gebleven.
English
I wrote this book because this story came to me.
As the only one of my generation, I was given fragments: memories, silences, and broken sentences surrounding a disappearance and suspected murder that became an inheritance of silence.
Within that silence lies not only what happened to my grandfather, but what it did to us, how an unresolved past settles into fear, loyalty, belief, and the ways we speak, remain silent, and love.
This book is an attempt to give words to what has remained unspoken for generations.
Untold Stories From Sitges
Dit boek verzamelt kleine verhalen die zich allemaal afspelen in en rond Sitges. Soms zijn ze geworteld in historische feiten, oude sagen of lokale legendes. Soms begint een verhaal bij een beeld, een moment of een fragment van de werkelijkheid, dat uitgroeit tot iets fantasievols en onverwachts.
Wat de oorsprong ook is, Sitges blijft het vertrekpunt en het hart van elk verhaal een plek waar geschiedenis en verbeelding elkaar raken en soms in elkaar overlopen.
De verhalen zijn geschreven in drie talen: Engels, Spaans en Catalaans, als weerspiegeling van de gelaagdheid van de stad zelf.
English
This book gathers short stories set in and around Sitges. Some are rooted in historical facts, old tales, and local legends. Others begin with an image, a moment, or a fragment of reality that unfolds into something imaginative and unexpected.
Whatever their origin, Sitges remains the starting point and heart of every story, a place where history and imagination meet and sometimes blur into one another.
The stories are written in three languages: English, Spanish, and Catalan, reflecting the layered identity of the city itself.
Niro Colorin
De avonturen van Niro Colorin, een kleine held die ik al schreef toen ik op de middelbare school zat. Hij leeft in een wereld vol kleuren, nieuwsgierigheid en kleine ontdekkingen.
In dit verhaal maakt Niro kennis met kleuren en leert hij dat elke kleur bijzonder is, net als ieder kind. Het boek draagt een eenvoudige maar belangrijke boodschap: alle verschillen zijn welkom.
Het is een doe- en leesboek voor de allerkleinsten, tot ongeveer 5 jaar, waarin kijken, ontdekken en meedoen centraal staan.
De verhalen zijn geschreven in drie talen: Engels, Spaans en Catalaans, zodat zoveel mogelijk kinderen samen met Niro op avontuur kunnen gaan.
English
The adventures of Niro Colorin, a little hero I first created when I was in secondary school. He lives in a world full of colors, curiosity, and small discoveries.
In this story, Niro explores colors and learns that every color is special, just like every child. The book carries a simple but important message: all differences are welcome.
It is an activity and reading book for the very youngest children, up to around 5 years old, where seeing, exploring, and participating all come together.
The storie in the book is written in English, Spanish, and Catalan, so that as many children can join Niro on his adventures.
The Syndicate Of Prague
The Syndicate of Prague neemt de lezer mee op een uitzonderlijke reis door de ogen van twee jeugdvrienden: Jonas en Ben. Wat begint als een jongensavontuur groeit uit tot een verhaal vol ontdekking, kameraadschap en de vele schakeringen van het leven, al zullen zij het zelf altijd zien als niets meer dan een goed jongensverhaal.
Gesitueerd in het Praag van de jaren twintig en dertig, in de schaduw van een Europa dat zich herstelt van de Eerste Wereldoorlog, ontvouwt hun verhaal zich langs de oevers van de Moldau, in het hart van historisch Bohemen.
Een avontuurlijke roman over vriendschap, opgroeien en de wereld die groter blijkt dan twee jongens ooit konden vermoeden.
English
The Syndicate of Prague invites readers on a remarkable journey through the eyes of two childhood friends: Jonas and Ben. What begins as a boys’ adventure unfolds into a story of discovery, friendship, and the many shades of life though in their own minds, it remains nothing more than a proper boys’ tale.
Set in Prague during the 1920s and 1930s, in the aftermath of the First World War, their story unfolds along the banks of the Vltava in the heart of historic Bohemia.
An adventurous novel about friendship, coming of age, and a world far greater than two boys ever imagined.
My Time with Vincent
In My Time met Vincent reis ik, Pintor Señor Esquina, samen met Vincent door de stad die hij kende, maar nu in het heden. We bezoeken de plekken uit zijn verleden, volgen zijn sporen door Amsterdam en ontdekken wat er na zijn dood gebeurde met zijn kunst en nalatenschap.
Een reis door tijd, kunst en herinnering, waarin verleden en heden samenkomen
English
In My Time with Vincent, I, Pintor Señor Esquina, travel alongside Vincent through the city he once knew, now seen in the present day. We visit the places from his past, follow his footsteps through Amsterdam, and discover what happened to his art and legacy after his death.
A journey through time, art, and memory, where past and present come together.
De Verborgen Waarheid
In De verborgen waarheid raken relaties verstrengeld, ontstaan onverwachte connecties en blijkt niets volledig te zijn wat het lijkt.
Achter liefde, loyaliteit en schijnbare zekerheid schuilt altijd iets dat verborgen bleef.
Veertien levens en verhalen.
Veertien mensen die elkaar, bewust of onbewust, steeds opnieuw kruisen.
Ieder met een eigen verleden.
Eigen verlangens en geheimen.
Wat hen verbindt, is niet hun geschiedenis, maar hun bestemming.
Sommige waarheden liggen diep verscholen en niet iedereen wil dat ze ooit aan het licht komen.
English
In The Hidden Truth, relationships become entangled, unexpected connections emerge, and nothing is entirely as it seems.
Behind love, loyalty, and apparent certainty, something always remains hidden.
Fourteen lives and stories.
Fourteen people whose paths cross again and again knowingly or unknowingly.
Each with their own past.
Their own desires and secrets.
What binds them is not their history, but their destiny.
Some truths lie deeply buried
and not everyone wants them to come to light.
I
Untold Stories From Sitges
Sitges takes you behind the façades of a town many know, but few truly come to understand. Between sunlight and shadow, between silence and sound, stories unfold that often remain untold.
These chapters are not a fixed route, but rather an invitation to wander. To look, to feel, and sometimes to pause.
Beneath this introduction, a few of stories unfolds, ready to be read.
The Camino Of Sitges
It is said that in the 18th century a wandering alchemist passed through Sitges. He believed that happiness was not a coincidence, but a place. A place you had to find by walking without looking back. He scattered a mixture of lime and finely ground saffron over an existing path and whispered: “May this road lead the one who needs it.”
The elders affectionately called it El Camino. According to legend, the path appeared only to people who had lost something. Not coins or jewelry, but something greater. Hope. Direction. Love.
People who were desperate would wake one morning and see a yellow line in the street. Not bright. Not new. Simply there. Present. They followed it. Not toward the sea or toward riches. But toward something else.
A lost brother was found at an inn higher up the hill. A woman on the verge of losing her home met, on that very road, a man looking for work, and together they opened a bakery. A child who had run away returned after following the yellow strip downhill.
The path did not bring treasures. It brought encounters. But there was one rule: you were never allowed to stop halfway and doubt. Whoever stood still and said, “this is nonsense,” saw the color fade beneath their feet. Whoever kept walking with trust found what they needed.
Nowadays people think it is simply old paint. Remnants of a marking. But anyone who looks closely sees that the yellow wears differently from the rest of the street. As if it keeps rising back to the surface. And sometimes, especially in the early morning when Sitges is still quiet and the calles are empty, the path seems just a little brighter. As if it is waiting.
The locals then say softly, no todos lo ven.
But whoever sees it must choose. To stand still… or to follow.
The Legend of Ali and the Mare de Déu del Vinyet
Long ago, when Sitges was still but a small cluster of houses between the sea and the hills, there lay an estate belonging to Lord Milà just outside the village. There stretched a vineyard, a vinyet, where the grapes hung heavy and sweet, as if the very wind grew drunk upon them.
On that land worked a Moorish slave named Ali. He had no family, no freedom, and no home other than the vines. From sunrise to sunset he dug, pruned, and tended the stocks with a bent back and silent lips. One morning, while the mist still lay low over the fields, Ali drove his spade deep into the dark earth beneath an old vine. Suddenly there came a dull sound, as though metal had struck stone. He knelt down, brushed the soil away with his hands, and saw something gleaming. Carefully he dug further.
There lay a small statue, scarcely forty centimetres high. It was the Holy Virgin, with a gentle, quiet face that seemed to smile even through the earth that clung to it. Ali’s heart leapt. He cleaned the figure, wrapped it in his shirt, and hurried to Lord Milà. “My lord,” he said, “see what the earth has given me.”
Lord Milà looked upon the statue and felt a strange tenderness. But when he later reached into Ali’s basket to examine it more closely… it had vanished.
Ali ran back to the vineyard. And there, exactly where he had found it among the vines, lay the statue once more, as if it had never been moved. The next day Ali carried it to the house again. Once more it disappeared. And the third time the same thing happened. Each time the Virgin returned to her place among the vines.
Then Lord Milà understood that this was no ordinary image. He went himself to the vineyard, knelt beside Ali, and said:
“Here is where She wishes to remain.”
On that very spot, where Ali’s spade had opened the earth, Lord Milà had a small chapel built. Thus arose the sanctuary of the Mare de Déu del Vinyet, named after the vineyard that had been her hiding place. From that day forward the Virgin was honoured as the protector of Sitges. Sailors carried her name across the sea, farmers asked her blessing for the grapes, and mothers prayed to her for their children.
And even today, when the evening of the 5th of August comes and the fireworks bloom above the sea, the old people still whisper..
“It all began with Ali, the Moorish slave.
He had nothing, yet he found everything.
For the Virgin does not choose the powerful, but the humble, to reveal her wonders.” offer a range of specialized services tailored to meet your individual needs. Our approach is focused on understanding and responding to what you require, providing effective and practical solutions.