Friday, February 3, 2017

Veu do Tempo

3rd February 2017

Around the time my book Veil Of Time was published by Simon & Schuster, a publisher in Brazil bought the rights for a translation into Portuguese. That was only for Brazilian Portuguese, though. If Portugal wants the book, they will have to negotiate the rights separately. At the time, my editor told me that eventually a book with my name on it and a Portuguese title would arrive on her desk and when it did, she would pass it on to me. Forward to a few days ago, when a Tweet in Portuguese appeared in my email box, and since so much time had passed since the original purchase, I thought this must be a Portuguese comment on one of the many Tweets I put out in the name of Scotland and her interests. I didn't understand the Tweet itself, of course, but good thing I thought to click on the link, because it was about the launch of Veu do Tempo in Brazil.  What do you know!

I actually like this book cover a lot. Rather than trying to sell with sex, it is fairly faithful in representing what the book is about: a woman with her cup of tea dreaming wistfully of bygone times in Scotland. The castle in the picture is from a much later time in Scottish history than my book is set, but still, it is on a rocky mound overlooking the sea, and I appreciate that they took the time to convey the sense of the book. What lies between the covers is anybody's guess, since no Brazilian translator ever contacted me to ask, "What is this: when someone is asked a question, they just look away to the hills?" Goodness knows what they made of the Gaelic lines or of the dour Scottish temperament in general, quite different I imagine from anything you might come across in Brazil.


Anyway, perhaps Veu do Tempo might sell well down there. Perhaps the book-count may go up on my "Recent Activity" page on the author portal at Simon and Schuster that I try so hard not to click on. It's life, and, whether American politics or your opus magnum, pretty much everything is just a feather weight away from tipping the balance.  

2 comments:

  1. Hi Claire!
    I am very happy that Veil of Time is finally published in Brazil. I posted about your book in my blog (Paixão Por Livros) and the release date was in the beginning of February. I am also excited to read your romance and hear a little bit about Scotland <3 . And just to you have an idea about how much I love Scotland, last year I spent some days in Edinburgh and Glasgow - lovely places, great culture, wonderful architeture and amazing histories. And now, due to the passion for this country, the background of my personnal profile at Fcb is the St Giles' Cathedral <3

    I wish you success. Anything you need, just let me know. I will be glad to help you ;-)

    Kind Regards,
    Vick

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  2. Hi Vick! How exciting to hear from Brazil. Thank you for writing about my book on your blog. I hope the translation into Portuguese was a good one! I'm very curious about what the translator did with the Gaelic phrases. I'd be happy to send you a signed English copy, if you'd like one.
    Thanks again, Claire

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