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Another song – Sweet Poison
This is the second song I am posting here – because I need a link for it for a project. My lyrics are not to be found online normally. Maybe I should change that. In any case, I am misusing my blog for this. Song2 – Sweet Poison: The song that inspired me to write the fantasy series “Geheimnisse der Klingenwelt” (Secrets of the Blade World). The young lady dancing in the song is the protagonist of the first book of the series: “Seelenpalter” (Splitter of Souls). Sweet Poison 1) A A9 With flowers in her hair G D A And silken scarves to flow around her body…
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An old song – Snowqueen
Since I need a URL for a song project and don’t store my lyrics online, you’ll get two songs of mine today. Song No 1: Snowqueen – an rather metaphorical song about an old fairy tale, or about a difficult relationship Snowqueen © 1996 Ju Honisch (Guitar tuning DADGBE) 1) Asus4 Dsus4 Have you heard about the boy who followed the Snowqueen Asus4 C9 Cmaj7 to her palace of glittering ice, far away on the North pole Esus4 …
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Elgar gains a voice
“Elgar Eisbär und die Zivilisation” (Elgar the Polar Bear and Civilisation) was the book that fell victim to the pandemic. It was supposed to be presented at the 2020 Leipzig Book Fair, with festive whatnots and readings in intereseting places. Unfortunately, like so many other things at the time, Leipzig Book Fair fell victim to the coronavirus and was cancelled. I don’t wish to complain. Other people suffered much more from Covid than I have. I’m still alive. Elgar is still alive too. Nevertheless, my book launch unfortunately never took place, and Elgar, the fluffy polar bear with the sharp tongue, sank into oblivion. He didn’t deserve that. Here’s the blurb: Who wants to become extinct? Not Elgar. – And neither do we. Elgar is a polar bear seeking asylum in our civilisation. Driven from his melting ice floe, he tries to find his way among us urban dwellers. In…
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Serpent of Malice – Schlange des Bösen
My new novel “Serpent of Malice” is now available in English after haveing been published in German as “Schlange des Bösen”. The German version has come out in two volumes, Vol. 1 ‘Die Studentin’ (The Student) and Vol. 2 ‘Chimären’ (Chimeras). “Serpent of Malice” fits into a single volume. German text is generally longer than English text. Many long books have therefore been divided in two halves by German publishers. Dividing the English book into two parts to follow the German publication would have resulted in two very thin books. The two German volumes have been published and can be purchased from Torsten Low Pulishing, or ordered from bookshops, or bought at any online portal. I have already done several readings and attended various conventions and festivals, with a book table. Whether you sell a lot or disappointingly few books at such events can depend on a wide variety of…
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(Deutsch) Kein theologisches Buch
“Schlange des Bösen” (=Serpent of Malice) , Part 1: Die Studentin’ was published just in time for the Leipzig Book Fair. The evening before the fair, my publisher, Torston Low , organised a reading in Delitzsch, a pretty suburb of Leipzig. There, in a whisky bar ‘No. 2 – Altstadtkneipe’, we gave a very first reading for an interested audience. It went very well. De ‘Altstadtkneipe’ is a delightfully cosy old building with the largest stock of whisky I’ve ever seen. I love good whisky. But when you have a reading to give, it’s best to stay sober at first. Torsten and I took it in turns to read. And the audience seemed quite taken with it. I like listening to Torsten. His readings are full of life and fun. If you’re ever at an event where he’s reading, go listen. It’s well worth it. And, of course, also please…
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Ilmenau – a nice town with a predilection for fantasy and SF
Last Friday, I read at Phantopia in Ilmenau . “Schlange des Bösen” (=Serpent of Malice) was presented to an interested audience, most of whom went home with a copy of the book sold by the bookshop present. That made me very happy. Phantopia is an association made up of eager and marvellous fantasy enthusiasts that emerged from the Technical University of Ilmenau= Technische Uni Ilmenau. The association, together with the town and university, manages to organise regular readings with the help of donations. And in this rather small town, there really is a large audience for fantastic literature. So I had the honour of being invited again, and I was absolutely thrilled. The Phantopians are wonderful people. By the way, a lady in the audience presented me with this nice bookworm (or reading rattie) after the reading, along with some delicious chocolate. Thank you very much, dear listener! The little…
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Travelling…
I almost only travel when I go to book fairs or conventions, lagging boxes of books. Last weekend I celebrated a good friend’s birthday. We had to do a bit of travelling for it, towards the Black Forest, almost to the French border. A party location that was perfect for medieval festivities. I had dressed accordingly. My wardrobe still holds a lot of things from the time when I was still actively attending fantasy festivals as my alter ego Gaoith na bhFharraige, the Bard. That was a lot of fun. Lately, I’ve been going less to such festivals, not because I suddenly dislike the people, but rather because of my health-related inability to sleep in double-decker beds or having to walk half a mile to the loo at night. I had also made some garments for my Beloved, but as my talent for needle and thread is as good as…
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Lost in Translation
I’m still in the process of translating “Gefangenen des Panthers” (Prisoner of the Panther) into English. I think it’s the most difficult text I’ve ever translated. Okay, it’s my own fault – I wrote it. But I have some quite lyrical paraphrases in there, apart from the short spells that have to rhyme. It’s fun. But it’s also quite a challenge. But: Anything that keeps the mind occupied is good for said mind and also for the suffernig soul, which otherwise these days tends to be caught up in the merry-go-round of international events, wishing it could do something useful with said rhyming, short spells. For example, I wish I could free nice, lovely people from their illnesses and then pass those on to soulless dictators. It’s probably a good thing that nobody can do that. I haven’t really decided on the English title yet. “Prisoner of the Panther” sounds…
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The Reading Season has started
In two weeks, “Schlange des Bösen” (Part 1: The Student) will be published by Torsten Low. I’m really looking forward to it. The English version “Serpent of Malice” will be published a little later. The first reading will take place a week before the official publishing date, and I hope the audience will all pre-order the book immediately in great numbers. They won’t have to wait long, just a week or so. This first reading will take place at CaveCon in Aschaffenburg. That’s a cozy, small roleplaying convention that also has a few book stands (e.g. mine) and at least two readings. The people there are truly nice. Readings at RPG cons are not always easy, because when everyone is playing and RPG campaign, the players often don’t like to interrupt to listen to a reading. But I promise it’s worth it. It will be exciting and funny. The story…
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My next novel – Serpent of Malice
The novel “Serpent of Malice” will be published soon in English. The German version “Schlange des Bösen” will come out first, though, published by the wonderful Torsten Low. I can’t give you a link for ordering yet. But I can give you a bit of information. In German, “Serpent of Evil” will be published in two parts, the English version will presumably just be in one book, since English tends to be a much shorter language. Still, it’ll be “big” book. A lot of action, a lot of suspense, a lot of entanglements – it all needs its place, especially when the heart also plays a (not entirely minor) role. And when have I ever been able to write short novels? As requested by the publisher, there are three versions of the blurb: 1. ultra-short 2. medium short 3. more detailed Blurb “Serpent of evil” – Ultra-short: Cambridge University, England…