Both Sides Now

“They’ve all been translated by you,” was the response I got when I asked my editor for another chick-lit to translate.

“What? Am I that workaholic?” was my first reaction, before thinking, “Now, WHAT am I going to do?”

I continued reading the rest of the email and found out that I had two options:
a. Translate a book from another genre (in this case, romance), or
b. Edit a translated material.

Hmm.. Tough choice.. 😀 First of all, I don’t (really) like romance books. Nothing wrong with them, it’s just personal preference. After all, I did start out with translating three romance books. Second of all, I don’t know the first thing about editing. Well, of course I always edit my own work, but that doesn’t count.

After some thinking, I told the editor that I wanted to try both. “Opportunity doesn’t knock twice” and all that.. (“All that” being I need a distraction from some personal issues and yes, I admit, I AM a workaholic :D)

All I can say right now is: editing is hard. I don’t know if it’s the genre (again, romance), the fact that I’m a newbie, or, well, the quality of the translation, but I’m frustrated with my own speed. I’m so used to accomplish 20 pages (of the source) a day when doing a translation whereas with editing, 10 pages (of the translation) a day was all I could manage in the first week. It’s also my first time to actually use “Track Changes” feature and I was so disoriented by all those red marks until I found out how to hide them (and then, of course, I had to check the document again from the beginning because apparently those marks made me look like I don’t know how to use spacebar properly). I’m still doing the editing. Faster now, but I still wake up every morning worrying about the deadline. I thought this was supposed to be romance, not suspense! 😀

While waiting for me to finish the editing, why don’t you just sit back and enjoy these articles I translated for Tiger Tales Indonesia and wish me luck? 😀

Up, Up and Away

The last month of 2013 was a bit depressing for me. It rained a lot so we rarely went to the beach. My daughter had problem eating up to the point we had to take her to the ER. Suspected she has ADHD and finally told her teachers at the end of the term. Got a translator’s block for the first time in my 10+ years in the field and had to return an assignment. Bad haircut (and too expensive I felt robbed). Fell sick on New Year’s Eve. *sigh*

Well, there are a couple of good memories, i.e. my daughter got to be one of the angels in our church’s Christmas play, I got to get together with my close friends and see The Hobbit 2, and managed to fly a paper lantern on the beach. Not bad.

But now that last year is so, well, last year, change is in the air. Started the first day of 2014 learning French. Then nailed the Macaroni Schotel recipe. Got news that my new assignment would be a book by C.A. Finally went to the beach again. Good haircut. The latest translations for Tiger Tales Mandala have been published here (shown here in the gallery). Aaaand my birthday is coming up this week. Not that I have plans or anything (both for my birthday and this year in general), but I believe–when I managed to fly up my lantern at the end of 2013–that life is going to take me far and to high places in 2014. 🙂

Happy new year, everyone!

Flying Tiger, Re-enter the Dragon

What I like about living here is that it feels like there are 25 or even more hours in a day. I get to do everything that needs to be done and still have time to do things I wanted to do but didn’t have the time back then. For example, I only spend 5 minutes walking my daughter to school and back whereas in Jakarta it took me about 1 hour on a motorcycle every morning (and still she was almost late every time). By the time I got home from dropping her off, I was tired and almost always needed a nap. Here, after dropping her at school, I can sit down, have a cup of tea, and warm up my machine before taking a shower and work.

With all this “spare time”, I decided it’s time to make an online portfolio and sell my services. After 11 years in the field, I finally feel confident to say that I’m a LITERARY TRANSLATOR (considering I was originally trained as a graphic designer). I have yet to design, prepare the content, and publish it, but well, one step at a time and all that, right? Last month I already bought the domain. This month I hand-made a set of business cards. My translated books are all still inside the plastic boxes from relocating, but they will come out eventually one of these weeks. I will also need to put aside some money for the hosting service and time to figure out the technical parts.

Speaking of portfolio and spare time, last month I managed to spice things up a little by translating articles for in-flight magazine. So while waiting for the whole online portfolio thing, please enjoy my recent work for Tiger Tales Indonesia (October 2013). 🙂

Welcome Note

Malacca, Malaysia – 1

Malacca, Malaysia – 2

My Hometown: Zhuang Wubin – 1

My Hometown: Zhuang Wubin – 2

Re-enter the Dragon – 1

Re-enter the Dragon – 2

Re-enter the Dragon – 3

Re-enter the Dragon – 4

Re-enter the Dragon – 5

Re-enter the Dragon -6

Touchdown – 1

Touchdown – 2

Touchdown – 3

Touchdown – 4

Check out the complete published version here.

Pride and Joy

It feels like ages since the last time I sat down at my desk and translated a book. Actually, after the big move I only got to do my work (properly) again yesterday.

As if on cue, I got news that the book I finished translating before the big move was finally out. Not only that, two more will soon follow suit. It boosted my spirit even more.

This afternoon a courier came to our new residence and delivered the newly published book, safe and sound. My new life has officially begun. 🙂

The Translator’s Pet

Phew!

Finally finished translating the book last night. Usually I don’t get deadlines from the publishing company, but it seems like this particular author (or her agent) wants the book to be published around the same time around the world. It was an honor for me to do the job, really. In fact, this is not the first time I translated her book.

I read the first book of her popular series almost 10 years ago. I could easily relate to her characters and writing style. I guess it was why I chose to translate chicklits after I passed the ‘probation period’ as a newbie translator. (Well, actually there is no such thing, but being a newbie you don’t really get to choose what genre you’d like to do.) I translated many chicklits since 2003 but it was only in 2010 did this author’s book land on my desk. If I google my name now, the search will turn up a review of the book (Indonesian version) and I’m glad that the review and most reviews I read are positive.

Ever since that book, twice I was assigned to translate her books under her real name (yes, surprise, surprise.. The books under her pen name are more popular.) Soon I discovered the other side of the author. If the books under her pen name are sweet, then these are the bitter ones. One is romantic comedy, the other drama.

Last year she published another book under her pen name but it was not assigned to me. A bit disappointed, of course, but mostly because I didn’t get to read it firsthand. Haha. Imported books are expensive, you know. :p

So I was thrilled when I got that email a month ago, asking if I could do her latest book. I practically locked myself up at home for a month to finish the book on time. Now that I’ve sent it to the publisher, let’s hope that I did the book justice and it will be well-received.

Tomorrow (April 23) is the US launch of the book, followed by UK on April 25. I don’t know when the Indonesian version will be published, but I expect very soon. I’ll let you know.

What?

Oh, her name?

It’s her. 🙂