Archive for November, 2008

I’ve been working through the weekend on various projects. For a major Japanese automaker, I did the following:

• Continued to work on the internal magazine dealing with company’s operations and history in an Asian country.
• Wrote a press release concerning a vehicle lease to the Japanese government.
• Wrote a press release concerning an event in which children got to ride in an advanced new vehicle.
• Translated a Q&A series concerning environmentally responsible technologies.

All of the above documents required Japanese-to-English translation. The Q&A documents I do for this automaker tend to feel more like pure translation, perhaps because there is much less of a necessity to make the document flow well from one part to the next (each question and answer set is pretty much self-contained).

In local news, I am helping a Web development company in Southern Indiana by editing content it will be adding to a new website (the company’s own blog site, in this case). Also, a friend from a local networking event invited me to help him write a book. His project sounds very interesting, and I may take him up on his offer. Of course, I’m already helping another colleague write a book, so I’ll need to manage my time carefully.

I’m piled high with work right now, but December tends to be a slow month as people in both Japan and the United States turn their attention to the holidays. I welcome any new project inquiries. Why not have your marketing materials in place for the new year?

I have not updated in a while because a lot of jobs have been in progress: changes to the Japanese originals, and so on. It definitely keeps me busy.

I have got a new job in, however. Recently I did a translation of a video script about the history of a major Japanese automaker in Thailand. Now I have been privileged with the task of translating a short magazine (not an article, but actually an entire internal magazine) on the same topic. This is quite a chunky job and will consume about a week’s worth of time.

I have continued to work on my mysterious “business literature” book with my mysterious author. We are making good progress, and I feel that this book will be of great help to many people.

I have also been getting out and networking a lot lately. Indy is a great town for networking: I am a member of Rainmakers, and there are many other organizations and events. From the attitude of people around here, you would never think there was an economic downturn in the works. Perhaps our Hoosier spunk will see us through!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INDIANAPOLIS, November 13, 2008–Premier college football magazine Touchdown Illustrated has published “Center,” a short story by Indianapolis-based writer Matt Rouge. Set in the summer of 1948 and featuring authentic period detail, “Center” is the story of star center Dale Trump and the challenges he faces and overcomes in transitioning from high school to college.

According to Editor-in-Chief Tom Nondorf, Touchdown Illustrated, or TDI, is purchased and distributed by colleges and universities across the nation and boasts a circulation of over 100,000. Fans enjoy feature articles on a wide range of college football topics, interviews with players and coaches, quizzes and other entertainment pieces, and original fiction by established and up-and-coming authors. Advertisers include automakers, electronics manufacturers, major retail chains, and sporting goods companies.

TDI commissioned Rouge to write “Center,” serializing the story in five installments starting with an issue celebrating the history of college football. Because TDI provides subscribing institutions a full season’s worth of issues at a time, the five parts of “Center” will become available according to the game schedules of each individual college or university.

President of commercial writing and Japanese translation firm Marrubium Inc., Matt Rouge is receiving increasing notice for his poetry, plays, and short fiction. Said Rouge, “I am very proud to have TDI publish this story, and I hope the fans get a kick out of taking a peek into life and college football 60 years ago. I did my best to research all the details, and Tom has added some great period photos to the layout that really bring back the spirit of the times. Tom and the crew at TDI are always fantastic to work with.” Further information about Matt Rouge and Marrubium Inc. are available at www.marrubium.com.