Wednesday, June 5, 2013

The Wanderlust of Summer

By Marilyn Brant


The Polish edition of A SUMMER IN EUROPE.
“Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” -- Freya Stark

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that the Polish language version of A Summer in Europe finally had a cover and was listed on the Prószyński i S-ka (publisher) website! For those writers who may already have multiple translated editions of their stories in print, maybe the thrill slowly starts to dim a little after a while...but for me? I'm not even close to being blasé, LOL. I was beyond excited to see it (embarrassingly so, in a dancing-around-the-living-room kind of way), and even more pleased to know that Polish speakers would soon have the option of reading it. It'll be released on June 18th, and I have my fingers and toes crossed that new readers will enjoy the novel.

So, even though this book originally came out from Kensington a year and a half ago, I've been thinking a lot about the story and the characters lately, wondering how they'll be received by a brand new audience. Also, since the timeline of the characters' actual journey takes place during June and July, I find myself imagining the European tour I'd created for my heroine Gwen and her fictional companions, and mentally traveling with them...especially to Venice, one of my favorite cities in the world.

There's something about summertime that always brings out my wanderlust anyway -- too many years as a student and then a teacher, I think. I equate summer vacations with backpacking and dusty road trips, sweating through t-shirts and wearing out the soles on my sneakers. I remember being a kid and riding in the car with my parents to see relatives out of state -- the windows rolled down, classic '70s or '80s songs on the radio (before they were considered "classic"), my mom's homemade sandwiches packed in the cooler and stashed in the backseat, along with chilled 7-Up and washed apples. I'm in the mood for a road trip like that right about now.

But what I remember most about those excursions were intangible things -- especially the intense longing to be further along on the journey than we were and that insatiable desire to see more and see it faster. To be able to gulp down the world around me so I'd understand it better, not feel so marginal to it. In many ways, it reminds me of the writing life. It feels like a similar kind of long and winding adventure. Lines from Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" flow back to me whenever I think about those car rides: "Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels, looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields..." Memories of driving trips from decades' past meld together into a montage as my husband, my son and I zip down the open road in June. I don't even need to close my eyes to daydream -- my internal photo album flips ceaselessly from page to page as the landscape changes.

And, every once in a while, I remind myself that I need to slow down and savor these moments. Not to gulp. To let the experience seep in. Remembering that this day, too, will soon be a memory.

Do you have any favorite travel adventures from summers' past? Did you drive? Fly? Sail to get there? Any particular place you're longing to return to? I'd love to hear about it!

Now available: THE SWEET
TEMPTATIONS COLLECTION.
[FYI: If you're an armchair traveler and would like to take an excursion around Europe with me, I have photos and highlights from my blog/travel tour right here, featuring many of the great cities my characters visited in the book, from Rome to Vienna to Paris to London.]

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Marilyn Brant is a national bestselling author of contemporary fiction. A Summer in Europe (Amazon, B&N and more) was featured by the Literary Guild, the BOMC and the Rhapsody Book Club, where it was a Top 20 bestselling title in Fiction & Lit. Her latest release -- just out last week! -- is The Sweet Temptations Collection (Amazon and B&N), which is a digital three-book boxed set of light romantic comedies. Her love of travel shows up in these stories, too, as does her ice cream addiction ;).

14 comments:

  1. Your road trip description made me nostalgic, Marilyn. Congratulations on the Polish copy! It's beautiful!

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    1. Thanks so much, Lori!!
      Glad you liked the cover, too (I know I'm biased ;), and that the post brought back some memories...

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  2. Love this post, Marilyn. It made me nostalgic, too!

    And I never tire of seeing foreign editions of my work. Especially the new covers!! Now, if I just had any idea what they said....

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    1. LOL, Brenda!
      I know what you mean about not knowing what the foreign covers say. I was so curious about mine that I went to Google Translate and cut/paste segments of the book description and cover copy. I now have a basic idea of what the Polish translation is, but I'm sure it's far from exact :).

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  3. That is so exciting, Marilyn! I adore the cover. I have several copies of the German translation of Everyone She Loved. One of the surprises was the new title, which I sometimes think was more appropriate to the book's theme:
    "When I'm Gone" is so apt for a family reeling in the wake of their mother's death. Ah, just enjoy!

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    1. Sheila,
      I remember reading and really enjoying Everyone She Loved -- and, yes, I can see how When I'm Gone would be a wonderful and fitting title, too! A Polish-speaking friend told me that the translated version of mine would be A European Vacation, and the online translator program said it was Holidays in Europe -- either way, I think it works!!

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  4. Lovely cover. And now i'm in the mood for a road trip!

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    1. Thanks, Christa ;).
      I'm a little envious of the fact that you're retired now and can go on a road trip during any season you'd like!! I'm hoping to do more of that eventually...

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  5. Marilyn, Congrats!!!! on the Polish edition.
    you've brought back memories for me too.
    Although when I was young and my mother and father told us all to pack in the car I dreaded it, now however I look upon it with fond memories. It was not uncommon for us all to load in the back seat and sitting between my sister and brother to keep them from fighting while they annoyed me, we'd often be gone all day traveling for more than two or three hours getting to our destination. Now I wish I could remember more.
    thanks and congrats again

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    1. Deb, thank you so much!!
      I loved hearing about your car-trip memories ;). I only have one sibling, but my brother was very, very particular about his "space" and his things when he was a kid. It was always really funny watching him get set up for a trip in the backseat next to me. His handheld video games and toys had to be put in a certain order. His window had to be adjusted just so. His socks had to be pulled up evenly. It was a production every time, LOL. I usually just had a book with me, so I stayed clear of his paraphernalia and read!

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  6. Great cover, Marilyn! The pub date for the Polish edition of my book This Little Mommy Stayed Home was yesterday! I don't know if the thrill ever wears off, but I found it so exciting. Thanks for the post.

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    1. Oh, Sam, congrats on your Polish release!!
      Glad you got to experience the excitement of this, too -- what fun!

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  7. Oh, Marilyn, I am SO at the opposite end of that spectrum, the kid who was terminally carsick! However! I am excited for you that A Summer in Europe will soon have brand new audience in Poland!! Many congrats and happy summer... Said from the safety of my non-moving sofa.

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    1. Laura, ohhh, no!!!
      Carsickness would definitely stop me from rhapsodizing about long road trips -- I really sympathize! I've been fortunate not to be affected by that, but I did experience a *really* choppy boat ride once, and I was not in great shape afterward ;). So, I do not wish you any car trips this summer, LOL, but I do hope there will be tasty treats and good music within easy reach of your sofa!

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