Posts Tagged ‘Abi Godsell’

review by Joe Vaz

Abi Godsell’s Idea War is magnificent.
I had the privilege of reading the first ten chapters of Abi Godsell’s sprawling Idea War series a few years ago, and it immediately grabbed my attention.
Idea War Vol One introduces us to a team of young rebels, fighting against an autocratic government that, in a not-too-distant future, has taken over the control of South Africa.
Read more »

It has been an extraordinary year for the South African women of Something Wicked.

Starting with our own editor Vianne Venter who this year wrote a bunch of scripts for four different children’s series, three for television and, most recently a bi-weekly radio programme (with songs) on SAFM. Vianne has also been working on several children’s books which will hopefully see the light of day sometime in the new year.

Cat Hellisen released the second of her Hobverse books, The House of Sand and Secrets, the sequel to When the Sea Is Rising Red.
We featured Cat’s story ‘The Subtle Thief’ in Issue 4 and again in Volume Two of our annual anthology with ‘Jack of Spades, Reversed’.

Nerine Dorman just signed with Wordsmack Publishers who will be releasing her book The Guardian’s Wyrd in 2014. Nerine short story,  ‘Last Woman Standing’ featured in Issue 9

Abi Godsell has also been signed to Wordsmack Publishers who released her first novel, Idea War, Volume One.
Abi has been featured numerous times within the pages of Something Wicked, in issues 6 (‘Making Waves’) Issue 10 (‘The Guitar Case’) SW Anthology, Vol One (‘Silver City and The Green Place’) and Vol Two (‘Red Moon I’).
As far as I know we were her first publishing credit and it makes us tremendously proud to have witnessed her journey over the past six years from teenage writer to published author.

The Three by Sarah LotzAnother author for whom, unbelievably, Something Wicked was her first published credit is Sarah Lotz. We were extremely fortunate to be sent her short story ‘The Perfect Man‘ for our very first issue, back in October of 2006. Talk about a force of nature, Sarah is an unstoppable writing machine. In just a few short years she has published 16 novels under four different names, including her own.
Her latest novel, The Three was sold to Hodder & Stoughton in a six-figure deal earlier this year and has already been picked up by Company Pictures to be turned into a TV mini-series.
Sarah stories were featured in Issue 1 (‘The Perfect Man‘), Issue 4 (‘An Eye for an Eye’), and Issue 8 (‘One Last Binge’)

 

After winning the Arthur C Clarke award two years ago for her outstanding novel Zoo City, Lauren Beukes came back in 2013 with a vengeance. The Shining Girls outstripped all expectations and went on to make best-seller lists and be critically acclaimed by the likes of Stephen King and soon after the TV rights were sold to MRC and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way to be developed into a series.
Her graphic novel with artist Inaki Miranda, Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom, a dark Tokyo twist on the legend of Rapunzel set in Bill Willingham’s Fables universe, debuted at No.2 on The New York Times Graphic Novel Bestseller List in August 2013.
Although Lauren Beukes was already an established author by the time we published her work, we were still extremely proud to feature an early chapter from her then still-to-be-published first novel Moxyland in issue 3.
Another of Lauren’s short stories, ‘Dear Mariana’ featured in Issue 8.

Despite all the amazing things that happened in 2013, for me the most exciting and awesome thing was the signing of Miranda Sherry to Head of Zeus to publish her first novel Black Dog Summer.
I am unashamedly proud of Miranda. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends and to see her succeed is the best gift I could have received this year.
Over the last several years I have been fortunate enough to read three of Miranda’s novels and trust me when I say this, she is one of the most exciting writers to come out of SA this year and I honestly believe she is going to take the world by storm with her debut novel. Miranda was featured in Issue 3 of Something Wicked, with a story called ‘Bad Boy Blues’.

This has been an extraordinary year for South African authors and we at Something Wicked are exceptionally proud that, in some small way, we were a part of these authors’ journeys to success.
Here’s to 2014.

 

Order Ltd Edition

AVAILABLE NOW FROM THESE STORES:

IndieBound / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Amazon UK / Book Depository / Kalahari

Inkless Media & eKhaya present the Something Wicked Anthology of Speculative Fiction, Volume Two.
We are delighted to announce that eKhaya will be co-publishing the Something Wicked Anthology of Speculative Fiction, Volume Two with Joe Vaz and Vianne Venter at Inkless Media. Joe and Vianne have been tireless nurturers of South African and international genre talent for years, and are thrilled to have eKhaya lend their support to this anthology.

 

The awesome cover art has been illustrated by celebrated South African artist, Vincent Sammy, a Something Wicked stalwart.

Volume Two marks the official transition of Something Wicked from magazine to annual anthology, featuring 25 brand new stories by writers from South Africa and abroad; seasoned veterans and first-timers brought together in a single book containing tales of post-apocalyptic dystopias, alternate realities, far-future science fiction and good old-fashioned blood-chilling horror, edited and compiled by the doting godparents of South African genre fiction, Joe Vaz and Vianne Venter. Let your mind wander across distant galaxies, down darkened alleys, and across oceans of floating cities and let Something Wicked be your guide.
Let the journey begin. “Joe and Vianne are talent-spotters … par excellence.” – Lauren Beukes

Order The Limited Edition:

Published by eKhaya & Inkless Media
Paperback: 388 pages

BUY Trade Paperback:

IndieBound / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Amazon UK / Book Depository / Kalahari

Buy eBook:

Amazon / Amazon UK / Kalahari PDF / Kalahari ePUB

BUY NOW
IndieBound / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Amazon UK / Book Depository / Kalahari

Edited by Joe Vaz & Vianne Venter

“Like a serial-killing zombie clown’s suitcase, the Something Wicked Anthology is full of deliciously wicked surprises, packing more stellar stories into its pages than anyone has a right to expect. Guaranteed scares, superb illustrations and stunning production values from the doting godparent of South African shocks – don’t read after midnight, and don’t miss out.”  

– SL Grey

 

“[Editors] Joe and Vianne are talent-spotters of writers and illustrators par excellence, and superb editors. Definite recommend!”

– Lauren Beukes, author of Zoo City

 

Published by Inkless Media
Paperback 386 pages
Available Now From Amazon and Barnes & Noble


Buy Now From Amazon.com Buy Now From Barnes & Noble

Read more »

edited by Joe Vaz & Vianne Venter

Limited Edition White-Cover Anthology: Order Yours Now.  

"It is hard to find a body of work more darkly enjoyable than the twenty issues (to date) of Something Wicked magazine. ...Something Wicked has an extraordinarily high hit rate. There's a great combination of daring taste and excellent talent on display, making this an incredible collection of magazines."

- Jared Shurin, Pornokitsch.com

  Published by Inkless Media PB 386 pages Pre-Order Now!
Read more »

interview by Joe Vaz

The ideas were something that I’d been wondering about for a while and then we were required to write a short sci-fi piece for university. I hit on the sentence “I dreamed of a green place where I could no longer go” and the story grew naturally around that.The ideas were something that I’d been wondering about for a while and then we were required to write a short sci-fi piece for university. I hit on the sentence “I dreamed of a green place where I could no longer go” and the story grew naturally around that.

Cover Art by 

Vincent Sammy From Issue 11 (July 2011)
Read more »

by Abi Godsell

The doctor is small and grey-haired. He talks rapidly and jumps between subjects. It's hard to believe that this abrupt little man headed up the team that implanted the world's most advanced artificial intelligence into the body of a brain-dead teenager.

My editor is going to have a field day.

"It worked out well though. Her parents had given up, they were looking for a reason to pull the plug. Donating the body to science must have seemed easier.".

Cover Art by Vincent Sammy From Issue 11 (July 2011)
Read more »

By Abigail Godsell

Jarred tapped the steering wheel in time to the drumbeat, as his black Ford Mustang cruised down the desert road, blaring heavy metal. Dust trailed him, clouding the view in his mirror. The song’s rhythm wasn’t doing much to cut his boredom. It wasn’t a particularly good one. It was however, the only track on the CD, given to him by a friend who’d told him he needed some decent road music. Sometimes he really hated Tristan’s sense of humour.

His eyes scanned the horizon, running over the border between desert and sky blankly until they alit on something curious. It grew as he drove nearer, slowly morphing from a curious, small, black speck into an even more curious, tall, black girl.

Something Wicked Issue 10
Published in
Something Wicked Issue 10


Read more »