Hundert-Meilen-Herz
The German Runhundred
If you google me right now (nobody does that except me anyway), you will come across a mysterious new book of mine that is supposed to be released on September 24, 2024:
"Hundert-Meilen-Herz – Mein lebensverändernder Western States 100 Lauf"
What's behind it?
You guessed it...
"Hundert-Meilen-Herz" is the German version of debut book “Runhundred”, originally written and published in English.
The Setting
As you know, I've been working on the German translation of the book for quite some time. But unlike the first time, with this one I didn't postpone all the organizational side matters, but took care of them in parallel. With success.
"Hundert-Meilen-Herz" will be published by Motorbuch (Pietsch) Verlag as part of the new Runner's World book series. This is a completely different setting than my original English publication. I made a conscious decision to publish the German version with these two partners.
On the one hand, of course, to reach even more people with my story.
I love my bubble, but like any bubble, it has its limits. That's how bubbles work. My wish and hope is that readers who have no idea what Willpower is, what bands I used to play in, and why you can still have fun running (and living) as a vegan, tattooed person will discover the book, find the story great, and take something away for themselves.
But also to gain more experience as a writer. I don't plan to stop writing anytime soon. The new setting throws me in the deep end in many areas and the learning curve is steep. Processes like this usually take me to places I would never have discovered otherwise.
At the same time, there are familiar cornerstones in this partner setting. I'm particularly looking forward to working closely with Runner's World, especially with Martin and Henning, both of whom I've known for many years.
More than a translation
I now see “Hundert-Meilen-Herz” as a project in its own right. A process that slowly crept in. The final decoupling from “Runhundred” took place through the title. “Hundert-Meilen-Herz" evokes as many memories and feelings in me as "Runhundred" did, but in a different way.
Although the book tells the same story as "Runhundred", I realized during the first translation attempts that it simply feels different in German.
As my mother tongue, German is closer to the emotional truth. In "Runhundred" I write the following lines about why I initially chose English:
"It's an emotional shield. It puts a distance between the act of writing and reliving every single moment. Some dialogues in particular still bring a lump to my throat when I remember them.”
This last protective shield came down in “Hundert-Meilen-Herz”. Thanks to the translation, or rather the "rewriting into German", the story has become even more direct and intimate. At least for me and hopefully for you as well.
It's still a while until September 24th. So there's no need to get excited, but a little anticipation is allowed. At least that's the case for me.
Of course I will report on the progress of the “Hundert-Meilen-Herz” project. Here in the Das Z Letter and, to be fair, in two languages.
Everything not running
Remember last summer when I told you where the intro and outro of Das Z Sprachnachricht (That’s the German audio summary of each Das Z Letter) comes from? It's a song by my last band GWLT. Or rather a cover version. From maybe the most important German-speaking rock band of all time: Ton Steine Scherben.
There's now an incredibly cool podcast documentary about Ton Steine Scherben called "Musik ist eine Waffe" (“music is a weapon”) on RBB (German language only), or wherever you can get podcasts. The documentary tells the eventful story of the band and their late singer Rio Reiser. With great attention to detail, unpublished original interviews and great guests who all tip their hats to the work of Ton Steine Scherben.
So listen to the podcast and "Macht Kaputt Was Euch Kaputt Macht".
good news....ähh, gute neuigkeiten. ich freu mich!