Found in Translation

I should actually finish writing my current novel project. But at the moment I’m having absolutely too much fun translating  my German novel “Weltendiebe” into English. I find it interesting that only now that I’m doing the translation I notice little mistakes in the German text that neither I nor my editor noticed before. Maybe I should always translate my books before I give them to anyone to read. But that would make everything take even longer.

It’s complicated to adequately translate things into English that only exist in Germany. “Lastenausgleich” ( life support for for people who had lost everthing during the war) was a term I could explain but not translate directly. Or anything to do with the school system, because school systems in the UK and also in the US are so completely different that it is difficult to just translate. A simple translation would be confusing. Again, you have to explain rather than translate. A “Gymnasium” is not a place to do sports in, but a type of school. “Abitur” is probably more closely related to (British) A-levels or (Irish) Leaving Cert than to a highschool graduation. “Mittelschule” is not middleschool but a type of vocational school for students between 12 and 16. School grades are counted from 1 (very good) to 6 (insufficient) . (2=good, 3=satisfacotry, 4=just sufficient, 5=showing deficiencies) . There is also a point system of 1- 15 points. Here 15-13  points (=very good) to zero points (insufficient) .

But it is fun! And I still like the book and think it’s a shame it hasn’t found a wider readership. In English, I will selfpublish it via Amazon KDP, sometime this year. Until then, I still have to find an English title that fits: “Weltendiebe” means “World Thieves” which sounds a little clumsy in English . Finding a better title won’t be easy. I’ll gladly take your suggestoins.  We also have to redo the cover, although I hope we can use parts of the German design because I  rather like it.

“Weltendiebe”  (World Thieves)
The early 1950s in Germany are not the time and place where you would expect a dimensional break.
Neither is today, though. Anne’s grandma never talked about the horrific things that happened to her in 1952. And that’s bad. Because now Anne knows nothing about the danger that is already lurking right behind her back. From beyond time, disaster creeps into her life.