Wordsmack in demand - find the radio and TV interviews here

The Wordsmack team has been featured on radio and TV in the last month, and we can't get enough of chatting about our incredible authors, and how our controversial city, Johannesburg, is fast becoming the new base camp for science fiction writing.

We have more exciting events coming up - so stay tuned on Twitter and Facebook.

Firstly, our authors Abi Godsell, Mico Pisanti and our director Louise Cosgrave, were on Radio Today. You can listen to the podcast here. We talked about Johannesburg as a location for sci-fi writing and about how young writers have a very fatalistic, yet practical outlook on the future.

Louise was also on Kyknet. Talking about ebooks and speculative fiction in her best Afrikaans. She chatted about Wordsmack Publishers and why we focus on African speculative fiction. She also touched on the future of reading: is the physical book dead or will we always have a soft spot for the ancient technology of paper?

You can watch the broadcast here.

   

Free: Comprehension and language worksheet and content

Attention teachers looking for some local content: You can download the free Idea War: Volume 1 Comprehension and language worksheet for Grade 9's here. The worksheet is CAPS-compliant and the story is relatable as it is set in Johannesburg. 

(The link takes you to Abi Godsell's blog, sorry for the redirect, but Wordpress can't host pdfs.)

Idea War: Volume 1 by Abi Godsell launching today

Jet-packs and socio-political sci-fi set in a future Johannesburg, South Africa. That and more is what awaits readers of the first instalment in the series Idea War, released today by Wordsmack Publishers.

Author and Johannesburg-cheerleader Abi Godsell uses her city of birth as the setting for her dystopian coming-of-age series. 

“It’s why I write the way I do, locating stories in very specific places. At least, this love of city, and wanting to share that love is one of the reasons,” says Godsell.

“I hope that someone reading Idea War, would take a look at the map and recognise a landmark in the text and suddenly say ‘Hey! But that’s my street! I drive that street to the veggie shop every Saturday,’” says Godsell.

About Idea War: Volume 1:

Sixteen-year-old Callie Baxter refuses to just sit tight and accept the invaders who have occupied her city. Underneath the new Government’s façade of order and fairness lies the ugly reason for its being here, and it’s up to Callie’s group of underground rebels to expose its brutal objective.

She’s worked hard to keep her fledgling group of passionate rebels alive, but as the Government’s hit squads narrow in on them, she realises she has only just begun to understand the pain of loss, and the true cost of growing up.

Idea War: Volume 1 is the first installment in a thrilling new urban series which outlines the story behind the fight for the soul of a future Johannesburg.

The city represents a shining example of recovery to the outside world, but can a small group of determined teenagers overcome the decay that has taken root at its core? 

Buy Idea War: Volume 1 here.

You can read more from Abi at these two blog posts:
Joburg as the perfect setting: 
http://violininavoid.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/writing-joburg-a-guest-post-by-abi-godsell/
Strong female characters in science fiction: 
http://feministssa.com/2013/11/04/gender-roles-story-stereotypes-and-strong-female-characters-in-speculative-fiction/

Be sure to enter our competition 

Follow Abi on Twitter @cyanseagull and read her blog here http://cyanseagulls.wordpress.com 

Cover reveal: Idea War: Volume 1 by Abi Godsell

Finally something new in the Young Adult genre! 

Wordsmack Publishers is super excited to reveal the cover for Abi Godsell’s Idea War: Volume 1, which will be published on online platforms in November. The cover was done by Fool Moon Design's Louisa Pieters. 

The cover is designed to appeal to the young adult market and includes a local reference – the duiker, a small antelope – as a symbol of the main character’s resistance to a foreign oppressor. Classic science fiction fans won’t be disappointed either as futuristic technology and quality writing combines to create a great read.

Find Abi on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cyanseagull

Blog: http://cyanseagulls.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbiGodsell