Kristin Butcher... has novel ideas

... Or, if your Spanish isn't up to snuff, Zee's Way. In Slovenian, the title is Zeejev Nacin. It's weird to suddenly see your book appear in a different language, especially when you don't know that language--which for me includes everything except English. I'd have a fighting chance with French, but it would be ugly. You look at the words on the page, and you think about the hours you toiled in front of the computer to get the phrasing just right, and you can't help but wonder if the translation is true to the original manuscript.

There's much to be said about translators of literature. They are artists in their own right. At least they are if they're good at what they do. It isn't enough simply to translate from one language to another. They must capture the essence of the original story, and that requires a writer's sensibility. So those who translate books are both translators and writers. Is there a prize for that? If there isn't, then there should be.

My first book, The Runaways, was sold to a Belgian publisher, translated to Dutch, and hit the European market as De Vluchtelingen. I was told by a fellow from Amsterdam, whom I met at a party, that the title meant 'asylum seekers'. Since runaways would probably be seeking asylum, I was okay with the translation. As for the text of the book itself -- I have no idea. I did receive an email from a boy in Belgium, who claimed to have enjoyed the book, so I choose to think the translator had done a good job.

My most recent book to be translated is The Trouble with Liberty. I don't have a translated copy in my hands yet, but I'm looking forward to the day, though I'm not sure why. It's all Greek to me.