So what would you like to know?

So who am I, exactly? The short answer is “a translator who, instead of being given a golden thread to follow by an author, wanted to spin that thread himself.” I love to play with words, as you’ll notice from the many acronyms and puns woven into the manuscripts. And like so many parents and grandparents, I too have spent endless wonderful hours reading to our children – and in the meantime to their children as well. How time flies!

I studied modern languages at St. Edmund Hall in Oxford, trained in marketing with a group of English language schools, taught English in Germany, then drifted into professional translation. Following two full-time jobs with translation companies, many years ago my wife and I set up our own translation business here in Germany, working mainly on PR and marketing material for major industrial companies and the advertising sector. Money for old words, I reckon. It’s like a lifelong paid education. You’re constantly learning. Every field has its own jargon.

Ironically, in George and the Golden Letterseed I may have written the ultimate untranslatable book. At the very least it will take a huge amount of creative input from anyone setting out to produce a version in another language. Maybe I should ask George – he seems to have a gift for languages, as reflected once again in the second volume in the series, George and the Poison Arrow. And do keep an eye out for the final part of the trilogy, George and the Magician’s Maze, which is currently taking shape.

Thanks for your time!

Paul