Robin Hobb's Blog, page 25

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

I think I only became aware that this 'problem' existed after I became a translated author and was able to do some traveling.  Funny, how you don't notice a void until someone shows it to you.

So, here's what it is.

Wonderful European publishers buy the rights to sell my books in their home languages. They then pay translators, such as the inimitable Arnaud Mousnier-Lompre or Peter Cuiper, Agnieszka Sylwanowicz or Jorge Candeias to take my words and render them into their respective languages. Then the books are printed and sold, reaching thousands of readers who would otherwise never hear of me.  The translators work very hard and every one of them I've ever spoken to has shown a diligence that goes far beyond what they receive as a monetary award for their work.  All of the ones I've met are enthusiastic about our genres, and fearlessly charge into translating works that have puns, poems, and invented words.

But what about books coming to our shores from other countries?  Books in Italian or French or Hebrew or Japanese that I'd love to read, if only I weren't a mono-lingual American?  Those books and authors have a much higher hurdle to clear.  Generally speaking (and I do mean generally! There are exceptions!) the authors of those books must first PAY a translator to create an English version of the book, and then the author must begin the submission process with a US publisher.  I've lost count of how many times I've had the pleasure of meeting a fascinating author who gives me a thumbnail sketch of his or her work that leaves me very eager to read the whole book —- only to discover that the work is not available in English.

What this means to you and me is that many wonderful books never make it to our side of the pond.  And that is very sad.

Fantasy and Science Fiction, in my opinion, are the genres that are most universal to readers.  I support this theory by pointing out that almost all of us have, somewhere, a book of  Fairy Tales from Other Lands, or something similarly titled.  Whether it's Grimm or Andersen or Tales of the Arabian Nights, Greek myths or Latin fables (thanks, Aesop!)  fantastic stories have always spoken a common language to us.  And I feel that the same is true of SF, as it looks to the future or alternate realities.  All of us are strangers in a strange land when we first open an SF or fantasy book. 

So it's not only instructive but extremely enjoyable for me to venture into an SF or fantasy world that was created in a different culture.  Think of all the Australian writers who have made their ways to American bookshelves in the last dozen years or so.  Sarah Douglas?  Fiona McIntosh?  Garth Nix?  And many others.  And then multiply those experiences by all the countries where English is not the dominant language, and we get an idea of what we are missing.

So . . . finally . . . to the meat of this post.  What if we indicated how open we are to these wonderful books from other lands by giving an award to the best translation? It could be called, oh, Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards.  And it could offer a cash award that is shared by the original author and the translator.   

This is an idea that really deserves our attention and support!

Robin

P.S.  I've already been doing this myself on a very small scale. Whenever one of my works has won an award overseas that has a cash prize attached to it, I've split it with the translator. After all, no translation, no prize, right?  Fair is fair.  But it would be great to see it on a much larger scale!

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

This will definitely give me something to dream about tonight. 

I can still remember the night my Dad took all us kids out on the front lawn and pointed out Sputnik to us.  He told us the world was on the verge of something wonderful. It didn't seem to matter to him that the Soviet Union had beaten the US to the punch. To him, it was about humankind taking steps out into space.

I really believed that we'd move along that path much faster than we have. I was supposed to be able to take holiday to a moon settlement by now.

But being one of the first settlers on Mars?  Camping next to an ice cave, paving the way for those who would follow after? That's an even better dream than vacationing at a low-G moon resort.

I know this article must seem like a silly idea to many people.  Send older folks on a one way trip to Mars, to begin the work as 'trail blazers' for those who would come after?  Such a dream.  Such a crazy vision.  I can think of a million objections to such a plan.

But would I volunteer to go?  In a heartbeat!

Robin

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Hie thee to a polling place and make your voice and thoughts heard!

I don't care how you vote, please just vote!

Robin

Yes, I'll vote in this election.  I'm old fashioned, and I like to walk down to the polling place and put my ballot in there.  Voting is important to me.

I really wish I had the opportunity to vote on more things this election.

I would love to vote YES on making political groups subject to the DO NOT CALL list.

I would love to vote YES on making it illegal to use a dialer to call a number and then play a recorded political message.  (Actually, I think we could pitch this as an idea to create jobs.  Think of the people that would be employed if there are actual human beings making those calls!  Yes, I think this is a job creation bill that deserves close consideration.)

I would vote YES on a law that made it illegal to post political signs on the public right of ways. Tacoma is currently wall to wall signs.  If one falls over, it may start a domino effect that will go on for miles.
Or, I would vote YES for a law that said all campaign signs must be 100 percent biodegradable. Carved on pumpkins, for example.  Or maybe we could do something where political signs have a bounty on them. 48 hours after the election, the political office that posted the sign must pay a dollar bounty for every sign turned in to them.  Or maybe have them pay a deposit on a per sign basis, and they get their money back after they show that they have picked up all the signs.

Ah, well.  Soon it will all be over. Right?  :)

Robin

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Otherwise known as Original Tales of Star-Crossed Lovers.

This anthology, edited by Gardner Dozois and George RR Martin, will be available next month.  And I'm telling you this because,of course, I have a story in it.   "Blue Boots" is mine. 

I find myself in very illustrious companyin this collection of stories about thwarted love.  The authors come from a variety of genres: PETER S. BEAGLE, JO BEVERLEY, JIM BUTCHER, JACQUELINE CAREY, DIANA GABALDON, NEIL GAIMAN, YASMINE GALENORN, M.L.N. HANOVER,  ROBIN HOBB, CECELIA HOLLAND,  TANITH LEE, MARJORIE M. LIU, MARY JO PUTNEY, LINNEA SINCLAIR, MELINDA SNODGRASS, LISA TUTTLE, and  CARRIE VAUGHN.  (Sorry about the All Caps. I kidnapped the list in that form.)  I think there is something here for everyone, and  every story is new for this anthology. 

Best wishes,

Robin

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

On October 9th from 1 to 3 in the afternoons, I will be visiting Parkplace Books at 348 Parkplace Center, Kirkland, WA. I'll be part of a panel discussion on What Came After Vampires. My co-panelists will be Louise Marley and Cat Rambo. If you know any of us, you know this may well be a lively and fun time for all. I hope to see many of you there.

Robin

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Home again.  In some ways, I felt I had to make that trip to NYC just to prove to myself that Ralph was really gone.  On Saturday, I did something a bit over the top, which was to go by his offices.  Not finding him there was . . . convincing. 

I am back at my desk and come Monday, I'm just going to plunge back into the work.  I promised him months ago that This Time, I would not be late with the manuscript.  I may be a bit less visible on the internet for the next few months.

I'm still processing a lot of feelings and thoughts.

Our parish priest always says that if you know that eventually you'll be okay, then you can realize that really, you're okay now, too.

I'm working on that.

Robin

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Tomorrow morning, very early, I will fly off to New York for Ralph's funeral. 

For over 15 years, Ralph was my literary agent.  He died very suddenly last weekend, at the age of 60, of a brain aneurysm.  Gone, just like that.

Ralph Vicinanza changed my life.  There are not enough pixels for me to explain that statement completely.  But a rough summary is that Ralph was responsible for the 'creation' of Robin Hobb.  If he had not become my agent, I do not think I would have written the books I wrote, or if I did, that they would have reached the audience they reached.  I could always count on his honesty, in all aspects of my writing life.

So, here I am, taking time in the middle of my very busy life, to go to his funeral.  And I am angry with myself, because I never just decided to take time out from my very busy life to fly to New York when he was alive.  Our face to face meetings were very few, usually when a convention or other gathering brought us together. 

Most of our work was conducted via telephone calls and email.  But I really enjoyed the times when we got to talk face to face.  So why didn't I go out of my way to create more of those?

So, do me a favor.  Think of those people you really enjoy and make more time for them.

I didn't much like the last piece of advice he gave me.  And I was putting off discussing it with him because, in retrospect, I already knew he was right and he would 'win' the discussion.  Now I wish I'd called.

But, as I ended up doing with every piece of advice he gave me, I will be following it.  More on that in a few months.

Robin

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Tonight, Bandit the German Shepherd pup is safely home with his family!

We loved having a puppy in the family for a while, but are glad he is home and happy.

Robin