Short Story Writing Challenge

A fellow blogger, Yvette at in so many words.. is hosting a short story challenge thta looks intriguing.

A few days ago she posted a story about this painting discovered in an apartment in Paris that had been untouched for 70 years. Read how much the painting was worth.

Yvette thinks there must be a flash-fiction story in there some where? Check her challenge here.

Your time limit is to write a story and post it on your blog by Valentine's Day 2011.


Let your imagination run riot! Surely there is a mystery here.

Lost in Translation Reading Challenge

The rules of the Lost in Translation Challenge are simple.
All you have to do is read six novels in translation in 2009, either post or blog on what you read and link back to the host of the challenge.

I came across the meme at The Reading Life, and thought "here is a challenge I think I have already completed."

In fact I have read many more than 6 this year, so here are my best 6 crime fiction titles so far for 2009:

• ECHOES FROM THE DEAD, Johan Theorin (Swedish)
  Bantam Dell, Delta trade paperback, 2008, ISBN 978-0-385-34221-6, 385 pages,
  translated from Swedish by Marlaine Delargy.
• SHADOW, Karin Alvtegen (Swedish)
  TEXT Publishing, Melbourne, 2009, written in Swedish 2007,
  translated into English by McKinley Burnett 2009, ISBN 978-1-921351-97-6, 311 pages
• ARCTIC CHILL, Arnaldur Indridason
  Harvill Secker, 2008, ISBN 978-1-846-55065-2, 344 pages.
  Translated from Icelandic by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb
• THE REDEEMER, Jo Nesbo
  Published by Harvill Secker 2009, ISBN 9781846550409,
  translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett, first published in Norwegian in 2005, 457 pages.
• UNSEEN, Mari Jungstedt
  translated from the Swedish by Tiina Nunnally 2005, Doubleday Press 2007, originally published 2003, ISBN 978-0-61119-0, 244 pages.
• THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, Stieg Larsson
  Originally published in Sweden in 2006, published in Great Britain in 2009,
  translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland 2009, ISBN 978-1-84724-557-1, 569 pages.

I do seem to have had a bit of a leaning towards Swedish novels don't I?
I read many of these for the CWA International Dagger awards earlier this year.

Here are the other translated novels I've read this year if you want to check them out

• THE SWEETNESS OF LIFE, Paulus Hochgatterer
• THE PYRAMID, Henning Mankell
• THE CHALK CIRCLE MAN, Fred Vargas
• THREE BAGS FULL, Leonie Swann
• THE GLASS DEVIL, Helen Tursten
• THE CRUEL STARS OF THE NIGHT, kjell eriksson