Chop-Chop, Mad Cap!

And so, here it is, the fantasmegaglorious cover of my very first novel and actual book in English: Chop-Chop, Mad Cap!
It's all there: the psycho cat, the spuds of doom, the chocolate stains, the mystery, the crazy hair and er... Mad Cap herself!
The art is by Sadie Cramer, the design by Paul Woods and the publishing by Little Island.
While the printers are busy running their press, I'm taking a MOSTLY DESERVED break in lovely Paris, where I am thinking about school and library visits, reading great books, eating intriguing ice-cream and devising ways to achieve world domination. The usual.

Chop-Chop, Mad Cap! will be available from the bestest bookshops (real and virtual) from July 6th. Can't wait!

First Encounter

This morning I received a copy of my first publication in English! It's the translation of a picture-book published last year in France, called A la Recherche du Bonheur/In Search of Happiness, and it's illustrated by an award-winning French artist, Eric Puybaret. You may have encountered his rendering of Puff The Magic Dragon.
I'm more than a little nervous at the idea of reading somebody else's translation of my story, so for the moment I'll just look at the cover. It's the same as the French one, but hey! they've added both our names on it! Thanks, Hammond!
This is encouraging. Let's have a peep inside. Of course, all the pictures are the same, and the story seems to be all there, but... where is my hero? where is Manoug? He seems to be gone, replaced by one Alexander. Okay, why not? It's a surprise, though.
Let's see what else has changed.
And this is when I realise I'm the person the least qualified to judge this new incarnation of my book. It's got nothing to do with the translator's job (Andrew Weller). That's fine. But as I read his words, I keep hearing mine and thinking: but where's this rhyming bit? And the rhythm there isn't quite the same, is it? Well of course it isn't! Had I done the translation, I would have played around with the text much more than Andrew did. But it wouldn't have been a translation so much as a rewriting and that wasn't Andrew's mission.
So, really, what I need is for you to read this book and tell me what you think. Here's a (non-exclusive) list of adjectives to choose from: great, superb, splendid, fantabulous, amazing, awsome, unputdownable, unputaside-able, marvelous, magnificent, wow. That's all for the pictures, of course! ;o)
Here are a few more, just to celebrate. Enjoy!

Different countries, different looks

Here is the cover of the French translation (by yours truly) of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, coming out this March. Have a look at the US paperback edition and the German cover. It's interesting to see the differences. I like what the Germans did; it's very much the fashion, that graphic approach, no characters, no scene, no decor. It makes it look like a Fantasy book (which it kind of is) and the cover should appeal to readers of Garth Nix's Sabriel series and to Cornelia Funke's fans (what with the book and all). The other two place the novel more in Sci-Fi than Fantasy, I think. The Americans went for the photo-collage, which I'm never a great fan of, but that's just me. Their Alcatraz looks quite the cool dude, it has to be said, and there's a lot of detail in the background that you wouldn't notice at first, so that the image is not too cluttered and yet ''full of surprises''. The French chose the photo option too, but their Alcatraz seems much younger, almost girly and oh no! he's wearing black shoes, which is a heresy, as I've just discovered while translating book 2. Oh well, we'll see if anybody brings it up. I like the airy, organised French library decor and the fact that the dinosaur is more immediately visible. Here too, there are plenty of details that you would only notice if you've read the novel. Finally, they did well with the font of the title: it conveys the spookiness and the humour of the book. Because, as you will have guessed, that series doesn't take itself too seriously. That's what makes it fun to translate.