Category Archives: Translations

New Editions

One of the lovely things about writing is when a new edition of my work show up. It always feels like a freebie–I get a new book for my brag shelf without having to do any more work. What’s not to like?

Recently I received editions of two different anthologies. First was the French edition of Crimes by Moonlight, the MWA anthology edited by the astounding Charlaine Harris. It contains my story “Taking the Long View,” or as the French say, “Long terme.”

Interestingly, this is not the cover that showed up on Amazon.co.fr, which is:

I like both, and would be hard-pressed to say which I prefer. Dana Cameron, who has a story in here, too, says she thinks the red-and-white design says vampire, where the one they used says werewolf. I’m just hoping that it says Buy me!

I also got a copy of the large print edition for Death’s Excellent Vacation.

Now to place these with pride on my shelf!

Bon jour!

The other day I stumbled across the cover of the French edition of Crimes by Moonlight, the MWA anthology edited by Charlaine Harris. Or if you’ll excuse my French, Crimes au clair de lune.

This is way exciting for me because the anthology includes my story “Taking the Long View” making this my first appearance in French.

I do love the idea of my stuff being read elsewhere in the world. Not including my French debut, I’ve had stories or novels translated into German, Polish, and Italian. There are also UK editions of some of Charlaine’s and my anthologies, but I don’t think there was a lot of translating involved.

I do, however, worry about the translations. I mean, I can’t read French and I have no idea how they’ve translated my vision of vampires and bad jokes–two strong themes in “Taking the Long View.”

With the Laura Fleming novels, I’d have been worried about Southernisms, and with the “Where are they now?” series, I worry about the references to old American TV shows.

At least I know the Italian translation of Curse of the Kissing Cousins came out well. Or, if you prefer, Cugini Maledetti, published by Delos Books.

My husband works for an international company, and Duccio Alberti, one of his Italian colleagues, actually took the trouble to read both versions. Grazie Duccio!

If there are any bilingual readers out there, I’d love to find out if the other translations have been decent. In the meantime, I’ll just shelve those foreign editions and try to look linguistically sophisticated.

Molto bene!

I’m feeling awfully cosmopolitan today. The Italian translation of Curse of the Kissing Cousins is up on the web site for Delos Books’s Odissea line, which has given me my first peek at the cover.

I really like this. It’s a very different look and feel from the Berkley Prime Crime edition, and the Five Star version, and I consider myself sublimely lucky to have received three good covers for one book.

When Wolfsbane and Mistletoe came out recently in German, I blogged about the intricacies of translating, and it’s no less fascinating to me in Italian. Take the title, Cugini Maledetti, which I’m told means “cursed cousins” or perhaps “killing cousins.” The phrase “kissing cousins” is American idiom, maybe even English, but definitely not Italian. How the rest of the story will translate is a mystery to me, and I look forward to holding a copy in my hot little hand.

In the meantime, I will admire the cover and also a video that Delos Books put onto Youtube. Again, I can’t understand what they’re saying, but it’s great fun to hear “Toni Kelner” and “Tilda Harper” spoken in the midst of all the Italian. My bit is about a minute and a quarter into the video, by the way. But if you continue to watch afterward, you’ll hear editor Luigi Pachí talking about other releases, including my BFF Charlaine Harris’s latest Italian release. (They even show a picture of Charlaine.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqDdnxwp8J0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]

I don’t know why they used old soap opera footage for the backup, but since the show in the book is fictional, they couldn’t very well use Kissing Cousins footage. I’m not sure, but I think this footage is of Mary Beth Evans in Days of Our Lives.

Cugini Maledetti is my translated novel, so this is a momentous event for me. It’s also the best excuse to visit an Italian restaurant that I’ve ever had.

Ciáo!

Guten Tag!

I recently got a peek at the cover for the German translation of Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. Or should I say Werwölfe Zu Weihnachten, which translates to “werewolves at Christmas.” I’m happy to see they’re using the wundebar Lisa Desimini illustration from the original edition.

Weinachten

The book itself will be out from DTV in October of this year, which will be sehr gut.

A PEARL Without Price…

There is much joy in Mudville. After the snow from last night was followed by warmer weather today, I can assure you that Mudville is the right name for my town right now, or at least for my yard. But I digress…

I found out today that Wolfsbane and Mistletoe has been nominated for a PEARL Award for Best Paranormal Anthology of 2008. To add even more joy, three of the stories in Wolfsbane were nominated for PEARL Awards for Best Short Story/Novella:  “The Star of David” by Patricia Briggs, “Christmas Past” by Keri Arthur, and “Gift Wrap” by my esteemed co-editor Charlaine Harris.

I’d heard of the PEARL Awards, but in case you haven’t, they’re given by the ParaNormal Romance Groups, an online group of paranormal romance fans and authors. The full slate of nominees is listed here.

I had to be sure to blog quickly about this. You see, even though I only found out today, the nominations were actually announced February 1, with the PNR Groups voting through February 14. The winners will be announced at 9 PM Eastern Standard Time tonight. So I figured I should bask in the glow right away.

Whether we win or lose, Charlaine and I are delighted to have been nominated. We’re very proud of this book–I hope people enjoy reading it as much as Charlaine and I enjoyed putting it together. Thanks very much to the PNR Group for this nomination!

New Year’s News?

A New Year is supposed to be put one’s focus on that which is new. New outlooks, new projects, and so on. And I am working on new stuff. I’m hip-deep in the new “Where are they now?” mystery, Charlaine Harris and I are working hard on our new urban fantasy anthology, and I’ve got short pieces scheduled for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. I’m even going to appear in a whole new sub-genre–I’ve written a noir PI story for a Bleak House anthology edited by Carolyn Haines. Of course, publishing pipelines are long, so that stuff won’t hit the shelves until later this year, or even in 2010.

For now, my new releases are actually new editions of older books.

  • Without Mercy was just released in a Wheeler Publishing Large Print trade paperback. I find it odd to look at my work in large print. It somehow looks as if the whole story is being told in shouts. I’d plug in the new cover, except it looks just like the hardcover.
  • Many Bloody Returns will be released in an Ace trade paperback on February, 3. The cover is a little new, so I’ll go ahead and post it.

bloody comp.indd

  • Though I can’t read enough Polish to tell what the release date is, Fabryka Slow has posted information about the Polish translation of Many Bloody Returns, or Krwawe Powroty, complete with a cover illustration. The newness here comes from it being my first Polish translation, and the cover, which is a whole new look–see for yourself.

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  • Curse of the Kissing Cousins will be released as a Berkley Prime Crime paperback on May 5. Though it’s technically a reprint of Without Mercy, with the spiffy new cover, the new title, and the new publisher, it feels like a new release, and I’m planning to hit the road to promote it. There will be a new author photo as well, which was actually taken January 2 of this year. Or does this count as a new edition of the old author…

toni_110-jpeg1

Buono Giorno and Guten Tag!

I’m feeling very international this week, even if I can’t see any other countries from my back yard.

First off, I signed a contract for an Italian translation of Without Mercy from Delos Books. I don’t have a publication date, but it will be part of their Odissea Mystery line. This is a double first for me. It’ll be my first Italian publication, and the first time I’ve had a novel translated into another language. So I’m molto felice.

And speaking of foreign editions, the German edition of Many Bloody Returns has already gone into a second printing, which is sehr gut.

Ciao and Auf Wiedersehen!

Many Bloody Covers

Apparently the German edition of Many Bloody Returns, due out in October, has changed.  Here’s the new cover, with the new title:

Speaking of Many Bloody Returns, I’ve got a picture of the cover of the trade paperback, too. It’s coming out in Feburary 2009.

There may be some odd cultural reason why they switched the illustrated vampire to looking left in Germany, when he looks to the right in the US. I’d say it was a mirror image, but it is a vampire…

Guten Tag!

 

This is the cover for the German translation of Many Bloody Returns, which DTV is publishing in October, and I’m ridiculously proud of it. It’s the first time I’ve had a book translated into another language.

One of the best part about being a writer is the amazing number of first times: first book, first story, first hardback, first trade paperback, first large print, and so on. Every first is fun for me, and this one is no exception.

The title, by the way, translates to something like “Heartfelt Bites for Your Birthday,” or as one translator suggested, “Happy Bites-Day!” 

Bites for my birthday? That’s a first I can do without.