I have to admit that the publication of a French translation of STAKED really has me stoked. I haven't actually held a copy yet, but I checked out the free preview on a few sites and from what I can tell with my smattering of French, the translation seems like a good one. It's hard for me to tell how harsh Eric's language is from one language to the other, though.
More interesting, however, is seeing what the French think about the book. I mean, Eric is not the nicest guy when the series starts (though I do think he becomes, if not more pleasant, then more understandable and a little more heroic as the series progresses) and there is always the chance that the series will be misinterpreted as a love story between Eric and Tabitha and... It isn't.
That's one of the reasons I had Talbot spell things out so clearly to Tabitha in STAKED. I think Tabitha's "heroic journey" has more to do with growing up and understanding that she has let men and what they want from her define her entire existence for way too long. She has to move beyond that and value herself. Having written her is several books now, it will be cool to see if I get to play around in the Void City universe long enough for Tabitha to make that change and become as kick ass as I think she can be. I think we see a glimmer of that by the end of BURNED.
Also. I'm always worried that the reason Eric treats his lovers so badly, when they aren't in bed, is too easy to miss. Does the whole "cruel to be kind" thing come across? A reader once asked me about Eric infamous "moist, warm, tightness" statement: "It's almost like he was trying to make her dump him."
My answer: "He was" seemed to shock the reader.
The series does have a love story in it, but it's not the one people tend to think it is. There are two, really: The platonic love story between Eric and Greta and the core romantic one between Eric and Marilyn. Of course, there is also, the whole heroic journey aspect, the delving into vampire politics aspect, and the simple fact that I love to highlight the dark humor in things whenever I can. What also has me super curious, is how, if Milady continues with the series, will Greta's POV come across in French as she slowly takes over the role of secondary main POV character... I can only wait and watch in gleeful anticipation. :)
