Kinder Corruption

Translation is a funny thing. The intent of words often gets muddled in the mixing of meaning and language, but that's what makes it so fun. As an author, I've been lucky enough to have books translated into Danish, Hungarian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, and of course, the German. (I love that German is so haughty that it refers to itself as "the").  

My Pirate School books are my first german titles (though Zombie Blondes will soon follow). I've been looking forward to german titles since it's the one foreign language I can read and somewhat understand. I saw the first two books a few months ago and love the way they turned out. But getting copies of your own translated titles is not an easy thing. So, when I was over in Switzerland, I wanted to pick up an extra set of all 3 titles currently out. I figured one quick stop could accomplish this, but apparently the books are popular there and it became a trek from one shop to the next in order to complete the task.

My favorite stop had to be the store pictured above. This book store is located in the basement of Zurich's big toy store. The dragon tail in the photo is a slide that kids can take into the store. If I had seen it from above, I certainly would've given it a try...but alas, it was crowded with toddlers. It was a rare moment of quiet that I was able to snap the picture. The store had several copies, all of which I needed for my set (and the extra set I was buying for my parents). 

Later that night, I was flipping through the newest book and noticed something strange. I noticed my little characters were very fond of a particular word that caught my eye. 

"Verdammt!" 

Now, granted my german is a little rusty, but I was pretty sure what that word meant...as do most of you who don't speak the language. I'm sure you can guess that it's not a very nice word and one I'm sure would never be found in an American book for the same age group.  I went through the U.S. book wondering what word they translated so harshly. As it turns out, it was several words, ranging from rotten to plain ARRR! In fact, my foul-mouthed lil' shipmates threw the word around so freely, it even made it into a chapter title. 

Well, no wonder the books are popular! What kid doesn't want to read a book with dirty words? I certainly did when I was young. A few verdammts here, a couple of potzdonners there...great fun! Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset. I'm actually very pleased. I started swearing like a pirate myself at the age of seven (beating my characters by a year and half). Words are just words, I've always felt that way. And I've been oft ridiculed for the language in my teen novels, so why not just go all the way? 

However, I couldn't help envisioning a playground full of swearing, swashbuckling blond children. It made me laugh...until I envisioned the angry mob of parents who probably hate me. I'm sure many of them would like to get their hands on   this foul-mouthed American surfer who is corrupting their youth. 

Oh yeah, that's another beautiful thing...for some reason my german publisher, Random House, is under the wild impression that I'm a surfer who likes to pretend my board is the plank of a pirate ship. For the record, I've never surfed in my life. I suppose all long-haired blonde American males are surfers as far as they're concerned. Just a mix-up in cultural translation. 

London Town

Back from Europe and back to work. Lots of great ideas came out of the trip, as trips are often fond of doing. But before I get into the more intriguing of ideas, I wanted to simply follow up on the last post about London. 

Being a book and music collector, my visits to cities always include a list of record stores and second-hand book stores. London is a great place for both. As for books, there's a one block street in London, off Charing Cross Road, called Cecil Court. It's made up mostly of book stores that sell first editions, or rare editions of books. In other words, it's a book nerds dream come true.

The last time I was in London, I had planned to spend some time on this street. However, the day I ended up making it there, it was late afternoon and most of the shops had already closed. So this time, I set aside an entire morning to geek out.

I arrived around ten in the morning and was one of only a few people there. I went into every shop and browsed every shelf, leafed through endless amazing books, and even bought two at reasonable prices. I spent over two hours on this little street in heaven. It was like a museum but with things I could touch. 

I looked at a signed Andre Gide title. I found several first edition Borroughs. But by far, it was the children's books that I spent most of my time looking through. There is one store on the street called Marchpane that has an amazing collection. There is an entire book case of Alice in Wonderland editions in every language, ranging from the last 100 years. There was a first edition of Lewis Carroll's Sylvie & Bruno Concluded for a cool one hundred pounds, which I considered picking up to go with my first edition of Sylvie & Bruno, but held back. Instead I picked up a slim paperback Dutch Alice from the first half of the last century. 

They also had entire book case of Arthur Rackman illustrated books, but those were too pricey for my tastes. I did manage to score an early edition of Peter Pan & Wendy with great illustrations however from another store. 

As for music, I decided to only visit Rough Trade this time around. Last time I was there, the East shop was closed and moving. So on that trip, I visited every other shop in London, unfortunately Rough Trade East is the one that would have had everything I wanted. So this time, I made the trip...took the Central Line out to Liverpool in the mid-morning and then went a browsing. 

The store is amazing. It's not quite Amoeba Records (L.A. or San Fran), but much better than any store in NYC. Plus, they had a UK section, which meant I didn't have sift through all the albums that I could get in the States for half the price.

They had exactly what I wanted...E.P.s from local bands that you can't here and that I'd never heard of. I bought a stackload of stuff that I'm just starting to listen to (more to come on that in Weekend Roundup). 

So basically, this post is just an FYI for any fellow collectors out there...do yourself a favor, don't miss either of these places on your next jaunt across the pond.

London: Story City

I'm leaving for London tomorrow. It's my second visit to the city in the last 3 years, but it's a town that I feel like I've been to many more times in my imagination. I love going to places that I've been to in stories. I love walking around and letting them all play through my mind. 

I've put together a list of some of my favorite London stories. I will more than likely be thinking about these over the next few days...searching the narrow city streets for little glimpses of them.

Mary Poppins: Probably the first London trip I ever made. I remember watching this movie many times as a child and marveling at the scenery. The park scene and bank scene always stood out.  (Last trip, I took a picture of the bank). 

Guignol's Band & London Bridge by Louis-Ferdinand Celine: Basically one long novel split into two, this ranks among my 10 favorite novels ever written. It's the story of a down-and-out fringe London between the wars. It reads like the ravings of a pre-Hunter S. Thompson character...only more bitter. 
Doctor Who (the tenth doctor): Granted, far from every episode takes place in London, but many do and in many different times. The London stories are often some of the best (The Christmas Invasion and The Master saga to name two). The series obviously has the same love of London story history as I do and captures it well.

Paddington Bear by Michael Bond: Paddington was my favorite series in 2nd grade and the first series I remember seeking out and reading on my own. My own personal stuffed-animal obsession was what attracted me to the stories, but it was their magical story telling that kept my interest. Last time in London, I bought a Paddinton Bear and took him to Paddington station.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens: My interest in this story is relatively new. I had never paid much attention to it until my book Thief was called a modern Oliver Twist. I sought out the story and the similarities were extensive...so I fell in love. Also, there's something about orphans and London that just go together.

Peter Pan: Despite the horrendous tainting done by Hook and that terrible movie a few years ago (which I was excited about because it was the first time a real boy was playing Peter in a movie...but yuck), this story is wonderful. Never wanting to grow up...what a splendid wish...and how sad that it's something we only wish for when we get old. As kids, I think we tend to want to grow up as fast as we can.

Performance- The 1970 movie starring Mick Jagger is one of my favorites. It's a surrealist gangster, crime story that ponders the idea of character and self in a very '60's drug culture way, and it's 100% brilliant. On the last trip to London, the number one thing on my list to do was to find the house where it took place. Mission accomplished. It was like a religious pilgrimage...."Hey ma, when's Christmas?"

28 Days Later: Walking through the streets of a ravaged London is one of the most spectacular and unnerving scenes ever put to film. Bravo.

Weekend Music Roundup

I'm still catching up a bit on the missed month. So this is a bit of cheat. Some of these go back a few weeks...but hey, what can you do. There's a good diverse mix on this weekend's list. Next week, I'm off to London...last time I went to London, I came back with dozens of finds, so expect good things when the next list returns (in two weeks or so).

Wale & 9th Wonder - Back to the Feature: Wale's back with another mixtape before the new album drops this summer. The D.C. rapper has relocated to my old town of Philly and the change seems to suit him. This is tight from beginning to end. His previous efforts (all stellar) have all had some weak links. Not here. 9th Wonder is on top of his game on this one. Guest appearances by the Roots and Jean Grae hit the mark. And as always, Wale's flow is impeccable. 

Perkalaba - Chydro: New album by the Ukrainian gypsy folk rock outfit is a good listen. Similar slightly to GoGo Bordello, but with more of a folk angle than a punk angle. 

Bowerbirds - Upper Air: The second album from North Carolina folk outfit. I was disappointed by the first album. I heard the first single and loved it. Searched out the album, and it was kind of boring. This one though, they found the delicate intricacies of their sound. It has a Elvis Perkins meets Fleet Foxes sound.

Angus & Julia Stone - Hollywood ep: A very enjoyable male/female singer songwriter duo. It's one of those sunny Sunday morning albums. Every collection needs a bunch of those.

Two Dark Birds - Two Dark Birds:  Part of the '70 singer songwriter/ Cat Stevens revival, this album does it as good as anyone. Very similar to Langhorn Slim, which in my mind, ain't a bad thing.

Portugal. The Man - Church Mouth: The 2007 album from one of the bands quickly moving up my "favorites" list. There's just such a great blend of sound on their work that really symbolizes the sound of the first decade in the 2000's. It's vast, it's manic at times, sing along calm at others, and always good.

Amadine - Leave Out the Sad Parts: This ep from a band hailing from Sweden doesn't fall from the sound of other Scandinavian bands that I've loved of the past few years (Peter Murphy's Carver Combo, Dexter Jone's Circus Orchestra, Alamo Race Tracks, etc). There a gloom, grey atmosphere over the sound that is music to my ears.

 
F.J. McMahon - Spirit of the Golden Juice: This folk album from 1969 was a great find. A friend gave me a mix of a bunch of hippy freak folk and there was one F.J. track on it. I searched this out, his only album. It's a great lo-fi, downer, hippy freak folk album. Reminded me a ton of Jackson C. Frank's album (which is one of my favorites.)

Songs: Ohia - The Lioness: I know it seems like there's a Songs:Ohia album on each of these lists (and there will be future Jason Molina/ Magnolia Electric Co. albums to come) but that's only because they belong here. The Neil Young of our time.

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: My love affair with early-to-mid '70's Elton continues. I picked up this double album on vinyl for $3 a few weeks ago and it was worth it. Not nearly as good as Madman Across the Water, but this one is also worth adding to the collection.

Another Visit to Wonderland

I've been an Alice fanatic since I was 15yo. I got into it for all of the wrong reasons. But the important thing is, I got into. Now I have quite a collection of Alice books, probably 30 or 40 different versions with different illustrations. Two summers ago, I made a pilgrimage to Oxford and walked around the grounds of the Christ Church where the real Alice heard the story for the first time. I have a photo of real Alice on my ipod, taken by Lewis Carroll.  

There's an easy explanation for this...Lewis Carroll is easily one of the biggest influences on me becoming a writer. He's an incredibly interesting figure. I credit him with inventing children's books as we know it. Prior to him, books for children were primarily for instruction. He wrote 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland purely for the entertainment it could provide for one child. And despite the over-popularized notion, the book has nothing to do with drugs. It's about logic and about a child trying to understand the absurdity of the adult world.  

Needless to say, I'm also a sucker for anything with an Alice spin on it.

Last night I watched Phoebe in Wonderland, a wonderful film that used Alice properly. It used Wonderland in a modern way to address the problems a girl was facing in our world. I'd been wanting to see this since I first watched the trailer last winter. Being a bit of an Alice geek, I could see that it had potential. And I'm happy to say it delivered. It was heartbreaking, moving, and uplifting at the same time. Wonderland is used as a metaphor for escape for Phoebe. She doesn't fit in, the world doesn't make sense to her...but when she envelopes herself in the story, she feels at ease. It's a must see for any Alice fan.

As added benefit...here's my list of other great Alice inspired projects that you should check out:

Alice by Jan Svenkmajer- My favorite film version of the book, but it's still an interpretation and not a straight forward telling. It's a surrealist movie that captures the imagination of the story.

Coraline- I loved both the book and the movie. It borrows a lot of elements from Alice in order to tell a completely different kind of story. The movie skews a little younger but is beautiful. The novel is a little darker...but in a good way.

Miyukichan in the Wonderland- An anime film done by CLAMP (my favorite Japanese art team responsible for Cardcaptor Sakura amongst other wonderful projects.) This a complete reinterpretation of the story and focuses on the the imagery. It's a wonderful tale. (Not for young children).

The Taxi Navigator by Richard Mosher- I read this middle grade novel when I was in college and interning at the publishing house that put it out. I picked it up because of photo of the real Alice that appears on bottom right hand of the cover. In this great story about New York's West Village neighborhood, a boy meets Alice. Very enjoyable read.

The Last Mimzy - Unlike most, I actually liked the film's story better than the short story on which it was based. But either way, there's an Alice connection in that the real Alice was one of the children that received one of the messages from the future. This is a sci-fi take on the story...Sci-Fi and Alice...two of my favorites in one.

The Heights: New Review

This was one of those reviews that as an author, I read and was said to myself, "Yes, they got it." It was especially rewarding in that this publication is all about the audience. It's odd sometimes when I think that nearly all the major review publications dealing with YA novels (and children's books) are geared towards adults. I understand it...they are the gatekeepers, either as librarians, teachers, or parents. But it's nice when something targeted to the intended audience appreciates a book. 

I suppose that's also why kid's reviews of my children's books mean much more to me than an industry journal. I liked it because it made me laugh, A LOT by an 8 year old, is a better review in my mind than all the praise that major publication could heap upon a book. 

My Other Bloggin' Part 4 & 5

Here's the links to the next two posts I've done for Tor.com

This one's about writing for teens...click here

This one's about horror and writing it...click here

enjoy