Dazzling Dezmond

       Today I want to showcase my favorite news source from the entertainment world, Dazzling Dezmond, the Hollywood Spy.   If you haven't met Dezz yet then you must visit his site today and often, especially if you are a fan of the movies and want to know what's coming in the worlds of the Silver Screen and the television screen.

Dezmond's birthday is next week, April 12.  Be sure to wish
him a Happy Birthday!

Who is Dezmond?

        Dezmond lives and works in the peaceful and hardworking regions of Vojvodina, Central Europe, in the ancient city of Subotica where opposites merge into one realm – fertile fields, lush plains and rich vineyards together with luxurious mansions and palaces from the old days of the Hapsburg monarchy.


       He has an MA in English language and literature, and he has worked as a teacher and a professor for a few years before moving into the world of publishing. For almost four years now, Dezmond has worked as a book translator, translating worldwide bestsellers for the readers in Serbia. He has translated around 20 books so far.


       He is also a psychologist, a fashion and interior designer, a journalist, and vegetarian cook and a cake baker (you can check out his cakes at Dezz in the Kitchen.)


        He uses his HOLLYWOOD SPY website as a form of a psychotherapy, as a wonderful way to relax after a hard working day and daily duties by entering the world of films, TV and music and by chatting with friends from all over the world who share his love for imaginative movies, talented actors and above all positive energy.

"I also never read CATCHER IN THE RYE, which might or might not sound strange, since I'm a professor of English literature, but I have a tendency of not reading trendy books, and Salinger's book has always been extremely trendy among the teens. I have a notion I wouldn't like it. While my friends, back when I was teen, were reading Salinger, I was reading Russian classics, and now I just don't have time"  (A comment Dezz left when I was discussing the J.D. Salinger classic in one of my blog posts a while back.)

On Translating Books:

Lee:   Concerning the books you have translated so far, what kind of books have they been and from which languages? Which have been the biggest sellers in the country they were originally published? Which were the biggest sellers in Serbia?

Dezz:   I usually translate worldwide bestsellers, mostly from USA and UK, but I've also worked on novels from India, China, Ireland, Germany, Australia ... Some of the books I translated include the intriguing smash hit JESUS PAPER by famous Michael Baigent, which was also the best selling book in Serbia where it had numerous editions; then there's the magnificent book WOLF TOTEM - Jiang Rong's  Man Booker Prize winning saga which took 30 years in making. I also did Glen Cooper's world wide hit THE BOOK OF SOULS and THE LIBRARY OF DEAD and John Stack's ancient Rome saga SHIP OF ROME and CAPTAIN OF ROME, William Gladstone's THE TWELVE, Beatrice Colin's THE LUMINOUS LIFE OF LILLY APHRODITE. Last year's bestseller TIGER HILLS by Sarita Mandana, the famous sf classic STARSHIP TROOPERS by Heinlein, and many others. All of these books, and others, have scored a success with Serbian readers too.

 

Lee:  What types of books are most popular in Serbia? Which English language authors are most popular in Serbia?

Dezz:  Unfortunately, it is mostly what we call a chick lit, easy-reading books written mostly for female readers who represent 90% of book buyers in Serbia. Thus, some writers like Nora Jones or Candace Bushnell are popular here as well, but it's interesting that Nobel Prize winners are also popular here along with some other quality authors like Khaled Hosseini, Orhan Pamuk, Paulo Coelho etc. Fantasy writers also have their fans - Tolkien, Stephen King, R.R.Martin .   Serbian Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andric is also still very popular almost 40 years after his death, and domestic writers usually sell many more books here than the foreign ones. 

 

Lee:  What are some books that you would like to translate in the future?

Dezz:  I've been dying to translate some of the popular fantasy or epic sagas which are popular around the world. I was very close to translating MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, VAMPIRE DIARIES, WIZARD'S FIRST RULE, THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE, but those deals didn't work out. But my publisher is on the look-out and I'm sure Dezz will go epic sooner or later :) 

 

Lee:   Do you ever see yourself writing your own book and if so, what might you like to write?

Dezz:  ...well, first of all I'd like to say that in order to translate a book you must be a writer or at least have writing talent. It is not a mechanical or automatic job, which means it requires people who also know how to write themselves. Beside translating the words and sentences, we also have to feel the book and transmit its soul and essence into another language by choosing the right terms, the right style, the right atmosphere, the right vocabulary, by trying to translate the emotions, humor and messages that a book carries in itself. It's not an easy task, and it requires a lot of responsibility, dedication and above all it requires a very wide knowledge of pretty much everything. If you don't have knowledge as a translator, you are likely to make mistakes and misinterpret the original meaning (this means that for a historical book we need to know history, geography, religion; for a  scifi one we need to know our physics, biology, astronomy; for modern books we need to be updated with all the current events, trends, etc...).   

       And I'm not just talking about knowledge of language, but about culture, history, and everything else which appears in stories. This is why books which have a lot of cultural terms are difficult to translate.  So when you are writing a book, you might want to consider whether you want to write locally or internationally. If you fill your book with local places, local streets, local people, local products and other things known mostly in your culture, town or country it's very unlikely that you will ever get translated and that you will ever become a world-wide popular writer. 
      And I'm choosing to remain silent on your above question :) But if your readers have any questions related to translating books they may leave them in comments and I will be glad to give them answers. 

 

Lee:  You seem to have so many interests and do so much:  What is your secret of time management?

Dezz:   The secret is in living for what you love, working in what you love, and breathing in what you love :) If there's love there's always enough time as well. And we must always have in mind our personal mission. If the mission is to make people happy and fill them with positive energy and inspiration by translating a great book for them, by teaching them language, by baking them a great cake, by designing a great living space or some outfit for them, or by solving their psychological problems or by informing them on latest film news... then there's always  enough time for everything, because you never grow tired and you never feel exhausted. 

Is this guy cool or what?

           I've been a big fan of Dezmond  for a good while now.  After hearing Dezmond's take on things I have an even greater admiration for his incredible talents and his outlook on life.   He's not just "dazzling" in his knack for capturing the glamor of the entertainment world; Dezmond has some pretty amazing talents.  Many of you already know him.  If not, go and say hello to the Hollywood Spy.

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Awards Keep Coming!

             I find myself still catching up on awards.   And sloppily at that.

Alex at Breakfast Every Hour passed on this cool Stylish Blogger Award.  Thank you, Alex.

The rules for this one:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.  I did it already.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.   I have done this many times, not to mention the many blog posts in which I talk about me.   Enough about me for today.

3. Pass the award on to ten newly discovered bloggers and let them know.   Maybe later, but I'm still so behind with all of my other bloggy things and I won't be the first one to bypass this one.



During the fabuliciously glamorous awards event hosted by Dezzy at Hollywood Spy I was honored with this Man of Integrity award.  Thank you, Dezmond.  I feel like a celebrity.

            I'm pretty sure I still have another award or two, but I'm still going through my accumulation of holdiay emails and haven't found the one that I'm pretty sure is there.  Well, there's always next Saturday for more awards.

And a reminder:   Don't forget Alex J. Cavanaugh's Top Ten Countdown Music Blogfest coming this Monday January 24, 2011.   You can still sign up!

And just in case you've missed it (and I don't see how anybody could) --  be watching Tossing It Out (the blog that you are reading now) this coming Wednesday January 26, 2011 for an announcement that I think many of you will find interesting.

Lot's happening out there.  What's going on with you?

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Dezmond's Big Awards Show and Banquet!

           Today is Dezmond's big award show at Hollywood Spy.   This is the blog event of the season and you don't want to miss it.   All the stars of the blogosphere will be in attendance so don't be left out.  Pull out your finest from your closet and get gussied up for the ceremony.  

           If you aren't following Dezmond's blog yet you really need to click on his follower button so you won't be missing out on the latest entertainment news.  Now get on over there and see what I'm talking about.

Now where did I put my tuxedo?   Hmmm---do you think this might pass as a formal blanket?

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The Elephant In The Blogroom

             Sometimes mysterious things just seem to appear in our house out of nowhere.  Nobody will lay claim to having brought them and we don't know how they got there.  Some of these things have been in my house for many years, and some of them even have been carried from previous abodes to the home where we have  resided for the past thirteen years.  Where do these weird things come from?

               I started thinking about this the other day when Alex J Cavanaugh requested that we post an elephant picture for Dezmond of Hollywood Spy.    I immediately thought of a strange elephant figurine that sits on my office bookshelf.  This homely elephant has been around for at least five years I guess.  I've rescued it from the garage a few times when I think my wife was trying to get rid of it.  Now it resides safely in my office.

         I don't really collect any figurines--not intentionally at least.  I have acquired a few over the years as gifts or as found objects like my elephant.  If I were a collector of any kind of animal figurines, I would probably collect elephants.  Since I was a child I have always liked elephants.  I used to like to draw them.  The first elephants I ever saw were at the circus.  I can recall once when my parents' car became stuck in the muddy circus lot, someone brought one of the elephants to pull us out.  That must have impressed me.  The old tent circuses commonly used the strength of the elephants to do heavy chores and to help raise the big top.

           The particular elephant figurine that I have in my office looks like a very amateurish attempt at some sort of craft project.  Someone has taken a very cheap plastic elephant figure and glued a multitude of tiny colored beads and mirror squares, many of which have fallen off and continue to fall off.  I try to avoid handling the figure lest any more beads and mirror squares fall off.  

           There used to be another plastic elephant that had the appearance of being made out of jade.  It was a classier looking elephant even though you could tell it was cheap plastic when you picked it up.  On the shelf it looked like jade.  That elephant is gone now.  I think my daughter Angelina may have taken it home with her.  It was probably hers to begin with.  In fact, both elephants were probably something she picked up at a yard sale or in a thrift shop.  When she was still living at home with us she used to pick up weird things to decorate her room with.  Probably several of the strange things around our home originated with one or another of our daughters.

           I don't think I can blame any of my daughters for this zebra creamer.  I'm pretty sure this one was a white elephant gift I received at a church party nearly twenty years ago.  So even though it's a zebra, it's also a "white elephant" and it is appropriate to include this photo today.  This creamer is also on my bookshelf--no way I would use it for holding cream and it just looks weird enough to keep the ugly elephant company.

           Dezmond, I hope you enjoyed my elephant pictures and stories.   Maybe you'll start collecting elephant figurines and can show them off on your blog one day.  Hopefully, they'll be nicer than the ones I have.  On the other hand, mine have histories to go with them and mysteries to ponder, which makes them kind of special.

            How about the rest of you?  Do you have any special things that you collect to keep on display around your home?  Do you have any sentimental "atrocities" like my elephant and zebra?  What are some strange things that have appeared in your home that you have no idea where they came from?   If you can, post an elephant for Dezmond.