A New Edition to the Family

It goes without saying that becoming a published author has changed my life.

If someone were to ask how, specifically, I’d probably mention one of the big things. How surreal it is when people recognise me in public. Or when I show up to a reading or a signing and there are dozens of people there. I could mention how I travel a lot more now, or the fact that I can spend up to 5-6 hours a day just keeping up with my e-mail correspondence.

But truthfully, one of the thousand small changes has been how I feel about getting the daily mail.

Up until about a two years ago, when all this publication stuff started, my mail was pretty normal. Most of it was junk: fliers, credit card applications, cupons. The stuff that wasn’t junk was usually unpleasant, like bills or notifications about my student loans.

Yeah sure. On some rare occasion something nice would show up. A card from mom with some cash in it, mail order something-or-other, a letter from a friend. But those were few and far between.

But now I love to get the mail. Every day is like a potential Christmas. I get all sorts of cool things. I get foreign contracts that I read and sign and mail back. I get free copies of books sent to me with the hope that I’ll read them, love them, and blurb them.

And I get checks in the mail. I won’t lie to you, that’s really cool. A lot of my life I’ve been pretty poor. Not *really* poor, of course. But student poor. I spent 11 years as a college student, and there were a lot of times when I was broke, the next paycheck was three days away, and the credit card was full. I’m sure a lot of you have had similar times in your life.

I remember getting sick once, and not having enough money to buy aspirin or orange juice. Another time, I remember digging through my cupboards, examining the cans of weird food. The food that you have left because you hate it. I remember thinking, “How old is this can of vegetable barley soup? Will it kill me?” Once I got behind on my rent and my landlord burst into my little one-room apartment, waking me from a dead sleep and threatening to throw me out onto the street.

Fast forward to now. Sometimes I pick up my mail and there’s a check in there. A check for money. A check for money that I didn’t even know would be showing up. Best of all, it’s money that I don’t immediately need for something, like paying my overdue phone bill, or buying groceries, or settling a debt with a friend who lent me a little bit to get by.

But perhaps even cooler is when things like this show up without my expecting it:

(Click to Embiggen)

I didn’t know the Danish version of the book was close to being finished. I’d never even seen the cover until I opened the envelope a couple days ago and found this inside.

I think this is translation number… six? Let me think, so far I’ve had editions in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan… Number five then. Six will probably be the German version that’s coming out later this month. I’m excited to see that one too.

Later all,

pat

This entry was posted in foreign happenings, My checkered past, translationBy Pat36 Responses

36 Comments

  1. black Sunshine
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 6:11 PM | Permalink

    i love seeing the different covers . . . !NOTW anime? how about it? i think it’d be awwwesome . . . i remember you mentioning anime before, which series do you watch?

  2. Pat
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 6:19 PM | Permalink

    I haven’t been watching much lately. But Avatar is just about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen… I haven’t finished the series yet, though, so no spoilers.

  3. Ann
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 6:22 PM | Permalink

    An on-line friend of mine from Denmark just read it, LOVED it, and wrote a review here:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4596199.Vindens_navnShe translated her review into English below the Danish review.I found it interesting that she had the same experience reading the book in Danish that I did in English… so kudos to your translators for keeping your voice intact!

  4. greg
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 6:36 PM | Permalink

    Is it just me, or do the languages that have specific possessive cases for nouns lose something when it’s translated. The Wind’s Name just doesn’t mean the same thing to me, doesn’t have the same connotations as The Name of the Wind.Either way, it’s fantastic news! I want a future where I get checks in the mail!

  5. TeichDragon
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 6:56 PM | Permalink

    I just bought the german version today and it looks REALLY REALLY great.(PS: An image of the title can be donwloaded on the Klett-Cotta page: http://www.klett-cotta.de/uploads/tx_shopextension/Rothfuss_NameWind.jpg)

  6. Tim aka the Blue Frog
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 7:01 PM | Permalink

    Congrats on translation #6. I’m almost through with your book. My wife read it a few months ago, and she kept telling me I needed to read it. Now I wished I’d picked it up sooner.We left the house the other day, and I made a mental note of the page I was on. While we were out, we stopped at a book store for a couple of hours. I found a copy of the book and read it until we left. Got home and moved my bookmark. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that… ever!

  7. Marcus
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 7:21 PM | Permalink

    Urm you do know they didn’t have to translate it into English for the UK market :)

  8. pangalactic
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 7:45 PM | Permalink

    Just a question… Does the UK version really count as a translation? I’m pretty sure we speak English over here, for the most part ;-) Unless somebody went through and replaced any Americanisms with Briticisms (if Briticism is a real word…).

  9. caranorn
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 8:04 PM | Permalink

    German version out this month? About time too to get all my lazy friends who won’t even bother to read english hooked. Now I’ll have to convince them to read 910 pages (yes, that’s the page count amazon.de gives).And of course it’s too late to get it for a birthday present this week:-(

  10. Reverend Sin
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 8:07 PM | Permalink

    I can’t wait for a copy in Russian to come out, I’m working on improving my ability to read Russian and I find that if I read a familiar book that’s been translated I have an easier time comprehending and understanding.

  11. Anonymous
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 8:23 PM | Permalink

    I’m waiting for a pig latin version. “Ethay Amenay Ofay Ethay Indway”, By Atrickpay Othfussray – Ay OvelnayMake it happen!

  12. Anonymous
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 8:51 PM | Permalink

    Its wierd, of all the versions of the book, i have tosay the american cover is among the worst. I mean, sure the Italian one was pretty out there–but other than that, i like all the other cover arts alot more. Especially the Dutch one!

  13. adam
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 8:52 PM | Permalink

    The note in the bottom right corner of the picture…is that the beginnings of a treasure map or some complicated riddle? “Down past the…of the old…” And was that minaret-shaped thing the pen actually used to write the note? I think the “posters” here should play a Rothfuss version of Mad Libs.

  14. Rachel
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 10:00 PM | Permalink

    It’s a beautiful cover. Grats on a new translation!

  15. Louise
    Posted September 23, 2008 at 10:27 PM | Permalink

    Wow… Thats really big. The danish fantasy market is just so small that most fantasy never get translated. Only the classics and the really popular volumes get there, so congratulations. Either it’s a classic or you are just popular :)

  16. Laura
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:16 AM | Permalink

    I can use exactly two words of Danish (“dygtig pige,” which means “good girl” — my dog is Danish-born!).Looking at that cover, I wish I knew more.

  17. Laura
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:17 AM | Permalink

    Drat, forgot to mention: nice pun in the post title. ;-)

  18. Karl Ruben
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 4:03 AM | Permalink

    greg: <>Is it just me, or do the languages that have specific possessive cases for nouns lose something when it’s translated. The Wind’s Name just doesn’t mean the same thing to me, doesn’t have the same connotations as The Name of the Wind.<>We have those specific possessive cases in Norwegian too, but I never would have thought of a thing like that as a significant “translation loss”, at least not before you pointed it out. In the Scandinavian languages, a more direct translation – “Navnet til vinden” – <>would<> mean something else, something with slightly wrong connotations. One of the most fascinating things about translations, that: how you have to twist and turn things to achieve the original effect.

  19. Pat
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 4:44 AM | Permalink

    Extra points to Laura for acknowledging my pun….

  20. Murdoc
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 5:13 AM | Permalink

    Congrats on the newest translation Pat. Seriously, I think that would be the coolest part of being an internationally published author: collecting all the different versions of your one’s own book. You should get a nice display case to house them all.Also, completely unrelated but still awesome: Felicia Day guest starring on House. Don’t know if you watch the show, but it was a cool surprise seeing her on there.

  21. Anonymous
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 5:42 AM | Permalink

    I was curious as to when one may be expected in Australia?

  22. Jenna Pitman
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 5:56 AM | Permalink

    I love that you said “embiggen!”

  23. marky
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 8:49 AM | Permalink

    I know the feeling of being skint. It isn’t nice. To quote John Scalzi, Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs and also, people being surprised to discover you’re not actually stupid.Congratulations on another book translated. The Danish are an exceptional race, so I’m sure they’ll love it. Fortsat god dag.

  24. Anonymous
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 11:52 AM | Permalink

    Oh my goodness that is so cool! I live in Norway and for a second I thought that this was the Norwegian version… But Danish is weirdly cool too. I can imagine it. Danish is a funny language;)

  25. greg
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 12:03 PM | Permalink

    @Karl Ruben – Now I just have to ask, what would the connotations of a more literal translation be in Scandinavia? The idea that Pat’s book title might be slightly risque is amusing.@Pat – if I knew we got point for pointing out puns, I’d have been all over it.

  26. Ryan G
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 12:34 PM | Permalink

    This whole post just made me smile! ^_^ I’m paying my tuition as i go, so i fantasize about getting a random check i’m not expecting. that’s really cool ^_^It looks like my trip to japan may be post poned.. one reason i’m glad? I should be here for your second book’s release!!!! ^__^

  27. Tycho
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 2:17 PM | Permalink

    Orange juice will not cure sickness.

  28. Amanda
    Posted September 24, 2008 at 5:12 PM | Permalink

    It’s gorgeous :)

  29. Kanna
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 3:02 AM | Permalink

    I Love Avatar :DBTW, Pat, I dreamed about you last night. You came to Austin, I was so happy. Then you turned into a girl….Brilliant Cover!

  30. Jennifer
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 3:47 AM | Permalink

    Oooh, pretty cover. We really need an audio version. And since this my fantasy, hire Patrick Stewart to read it. Rawr. I’ve really been pushing my husband to read the book. I know he’d like it. The only thing holding him back is that English is not his first language and it takes him forever to read things in English. If there was an audiobook, I could load it up on my iPod for him and he could listen to it while unloading trucks at work. Or I need to track down a French translation. Is there a French translation yet? I’m afraid I’ve been a bad fangirl and lost track.

  31. Karl Ruben
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 4:49 AM | Permalink

    <>Greg<>: No naughty connotations, I’m sorry to say. Throwing the preposition in there would just make the phrase a bit clumsy, which again would dull its effect as an evocative title for a book.and re: points for puns… what happened to Pat Points, anyway? ;)

  32. Anonymous
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 6:39 AM | Permalink

    Stares at right-hand corner of picture….Nice handwriting ;)

  33. Captain Joe
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 10:39 AM | Permalink

    Karl gets five Pat Points for reminding us all of Pat Points.Awesome new cover, awesome pun, awesome amount of awesome all round.

  34. galdrin
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 12:44 PM | Permalink

    You should have a page with all of the different covers displayed.I usually grab the most interesting ones and post them on my office door. People wander the hall, they catch one out of the corner of their eye, and they”l stop to look and ask about it.

  35. gypsyharper
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 3:01 PM | Permalink

    Congratulations on the new translation! I second the person who suggested a page showing images of all the different ones.Orange juice may not cure sickness, but it always makes me feel better. And it’s chock-full of vitamin-C goodness!

  36. Kalligenia
    Posted September 25, 2008 at 6:45 PM | Permalink

    Gorgeous cover. Congrats on the newest translation, Pat! :)

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