May20

Ich wünschte ich wäre hier

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Ich wünschte ich wäre hier

I could also say: Ojalá estuviera aquí.

And soon it will be: [whatever “Wish I Was Here” is in French].

The publisher asked authors if they’d like their Kindle e-books translated into German and Spanish.

“Sure!” I said. “Why not?”

“They’ll be up within 72 hours,” was the response.

Clearly, that means they’re AI-generated. I hope the robots did a good job. Not that humans can’t make mistakes, of course. In fact, as well-refined as AI has become, maybe it did a better job than a human could. Still, some carbon-based life form proofreading after the fact would probably be prudent. I’d like to say I could do it, but…

Conozco ein bisschen Español y Deutsch pero nein Français. And certainly not enough of the first two to be a decent judge.

If anyone wants to 1) test their foreign language knowledge, 2) help out a blog buddy, and 3) enjoy a good book, especially as a fun summer read, try Wish I Was Here in the lingua of your choice! [Click/tap See all languages and editions then choose a language from the drop-down menu. It’s only $6 or free if you have Kindle Unlimited. Yes, I have an affiliate link, FWIW.]

Other ways my book goes international

The Travel Architect emailed me a pic of my book on her lap at the airport as she awaited a flight to Copenhagen.

“Oooh! Send me a pic of it at cool places,” I requested.

A couple of days later, I received an email titled Malmo City Library, Sweden.

Among its foreign friends

And another titled Malmo Castle.

Yeeessss! So cool! Thank you, Travel Architect!

If any of you take my book some place, even if it’s just your local grocery store, (I’m easily amused) I’d love to see it and share it with everyone here. Maybe we could do a “Guess where the book is” or a “Who held it best” contest.

It’s a wild world. We’ll see what happens.

Another wild thing

Driving home one day, I saw my neighbor, Subie, my Jiu-Jitsu friend Surfer Dude’s bandmate, getting into his car. I pumped my fist out the window as I shouted, “Exterminator!” in my best deep scary voice. In other words, not deep. Not scary. But he probably got what I was going for. He smiled and waved back.

A couple of weeks later, I saw SD in class and asked if Subie had told him about it.

“Yeah, he did,” SD said.

“So he saw that crazy lady that lives on his street,” Her Royal Highness rightfully pointed out.

I was honored Subie thought the incident worth mentioning, but maybe I should’ve asked if he found the encounter positive or if it was more like, “She’s on my street, dude. You gotta help.”

It’s probably best I don’t know what the man was thinking. He’s merely a rockstar. Not everyone can be a dork like me [blows on fingernails, polishes them on shirt]. But seriously, that these 20-something metal heads deem my Instagram worthy of following is an honor.

Since I mentioned Surfer Dude…

One night I was trying to take him down from a standing position, not really using any Jiu-Jitsu techniques, because by the end of class, my brain is fried.

“You’ve got to push into me,” he said.

I threw my whole weight into him. He didn’t budge. “You’re like a brick wall,” I said.

He grinned.

And then somehow I wound up flat on my back with him standing over me. I must have bounced off him and fallen backwards.

“On the ground. Just where I was trying to be,” I joked.

Then he let me play around for a bit before he got bored and submitted me. Just another typical Wednesday night.

Old Q: Signed December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812.

“Too easy,” Herb complained. Okay, Herb! How about THIS ONE!

Q: Not only does this group with a number-three hit in 1999 like girls who wear Abercrombie & Fitch, but Chinese food makes them sick.

Good luck, Herb!

Bonus Q (though not trivia): Which foreign translation would you want to read: German, Spanish, or the forthcoming French?

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56 responses »

  2. I wish I could help you out on the translation thing, but I don’t know many modern languages. I do know a little Spanish (well enough to order drinks and find the restroom) but not enough to read a novel. I do know a couple of ancient Elvish dialects and can read many Dwarven cave runes. Also I understand a bit of Orc — mostly curses and swear words … sadly I doubt that’s much help to you.

    But next time you find yourself with a band of Dwarves fighting Orcs, call me, I can help.

    and sorry to fail you, but I don’t do pop culture (I mean LFO was pop culture, right?) — only history and obscure facts.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • “I understand a bit of Orc — mostly curses and swear words.” I literally LOLed but also thought, isn’t that basically all orcish is?

      Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. SO sneaky, Andrew! 😛

      Liked by 1 person

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  3. I actually DIDN’T approve translating my books to other languages and Kindle still did it. I was concerned about the AI translations. I’ll be interested if anyone takes you up on your offer and what they think.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I would be too. Hmm. Maybe I’ll look out for complainy reviews saying the translation is terrible. I guess you haven’t gotten any? That’s a good sign. Not cool that Amazon did it against your wishes, though.

      Liked by 1 person

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  5. 😂
    hahaha ““You’ve got to push into me,” he said.

    I threw my whole weight into him. He didn’t budge. “You’re like a brick wall,” I said.

    He grinned.

    And then somehow I wound up flat on my back with him standing over me. I must have bounced off him and fallen backwards.

    “On the ground. Just where I was trying to be,” I joked.

    “You’ve got to push into me,” he said.

    Like

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  7. your jj story is hilarious and i can help with spanish if do a pre-k version as i took spanish with my class for 21 years. that being said, the teacher said, ‘well, at least you’re trying.’ so there’s that. if your book was all color names and animals and family, i could use my spangish to help…)

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Okay, you got me. I give. I know nothing about music after the 80s, if it existed.
    It’s cool that you’re being translated but I don’t really know any languages ‘cept American. I’m happy you’re so well-traveled. Or at least your book is.🤣

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I was driving home tonight and an 80s song was playing. I thought, what is this, Journey? It was Lynyrd Skynyrd. Shame on me. But I’m a 90s girl, not well-versed in 80s. It would be fun to see my book even more places, but a Swedish castle is hard to top.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. Ohhh, AI translation. Because just like english, something might be technically correct, but ai can’t tell the difference between technically correct and what the writer is actually trying to say. As for me, heck, I don’t like the fact that your book is in English. I wish it was in American!
    ba dum tish!

    Your book could be the next Elf on a Shelf thingy on the internet. Maybe your third book could be titled “Wish I was in …..” and people have to fill it in with their own country or town. And take pictures and put it up on Instafacetok.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Congrats on going global! How fun to have travelled to Sweden with your book. 😊

    And getting AI to translate your book is an ingenious way to use the tech. My one word of caution – as you likely know – is that your book and content is now part of the AI’s training model. On the bright side, you’re not available to a larger market! 😊 You should look into Chinese translation too!

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. When I saw your blog title I thought, “Oh no, Ilsa got hacked!” Very happy to see it was a legit post. Spanish looks elegant next to German (y yo solo hablo Espanol), but French wins out over both. I think French looks and sounds so elegant. Spanish is supremely practical in SoCal (which I can attest to from my formative years) but I think I would’ve latched on to French even more. SO cool to see your book displayed in exotic locales! Our local electric cooperative in Colorado did a similar thing, where they’d push customers to pack their quarterly mag wherever they travelled and then send in pics to prove it. No clue (or even interest, LOL) in the trivia but at least I’ve already answered the Bonus Q by default 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. I recently had to promote an upcoming Spanish language event for CheeseGov en Espanol. Having nada knowledge of Spanish, I turned to AI and asked it to translate the verbiage. It spit something back quickly, and it looked legit, but again: what do I know? So, I ran it by our resident Spanish speaker, who also happens to be running the event.

    His verdict? A perfect translation. I was muy impressed!

    And I vote for a Polish version of WIWH.

    Liked by 1 person

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  16. Hmm, now I have to buy the English and the German version. To see how bad the translation is 😉 Or maybe it’s surprisingly good, who knows? It’s summer holidays in two weeks, then I’ll have time, inshallah. And also to make a cool photos. Or two. One in Qatar, one in Austria?

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Oh my gosh, that would be AMAZING, Andrea! I’m thinking more of the photos. Checking the translation would also be amazing, but I love your photos so much. My book included… so cool. Perhaps one on the back of a horse? Haha. 😛

      P.S. Thank you for making me learn something new by looking up inshallah. That’s cool. I dig it. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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      • Inshallah is what you say whenever you refer to the future. Because the future is not in our hands. I can plan anything I want, but who knows what happens tomorrow… 🤷🏼‍♀️😉 So – inshallah, God willing, I’ll download and read both versions of your book and I’ll take some nice photos in both countries.

        Liked by 1 person

  17. My husband and I love to sing along to that song, but I’m unsure of the band. LFO? Which I don’t know what that even stands for.

    After having to read multiple novels in French in HS and college, merci, mais NON!

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      • Okay, I have never heard that song, unless I blocked it out. The Macaulay Culkin line was funny. The rhyming is a bit over the top. Why would they steal girls’ bikes?

        Like Kevin Bacon but hate Footloose?! Sacrilege!

        Like

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