Issue 5 - The Infinite Deadline

Wow...
Issue 5 is done and was signed off this morning.
It was, without a doubt, the hardest deadline we've pulled to date. A combination of dozens of stories to go through, awesome art to commission and a complete overhaul of the design and layout pushed this one a lot longer than we expected.

We were hoping to finish it off by Monday or maybe Tuesday at the latest... I finally delivered the pdfs to the printer at 11am on Thursday morning, having done 23 hours straight.

It kinda turned into the never-ending deadline.
We're used to pulling all-nighters on the final night of deadline - what we weren't expecting was the final night to go on for four days.

As a result I've got myself completely sick. My head hurts, my nose is blocked and for some strange reason I can't actually hear out of my right ear - which is infuriating and makes me feel like a tool whenever I'm talking to people.
And V has a week's worth of deadlines to catch up on for the other 3 publications she writes for, so she hasn't actually stopped working - she just put down her pen from Something Wicked and went straight into the 6-odd articles she was supposed to submit this week.... sheesh.

But... Was it worth it?
I think so. I did the ritualistic hanging up of the new cover on the wall next to the other 4 and it looks good. The new layout, I think, looks absolutely gorgeous. The logo, too, looks good and we've got some beautiful art and fiction - so...hopefully it was worth it.

We launch it next week Saturday at the HorrorFest and hopefully people will turn up. It's always a little petrifying doing an event like this 'cause you just don't know if anyone will show up.
I've invited some of the artists and writers of Issue 5 to join us and sign some copies so it should be a fun day.
Afterwards we'll stick around and watch some Horror Movies at the fest.

I was thinking of getting some Champagne or something - I don't know - it is our one year anniversary, we really should do something special but I don't know how well Champagne will go down in 30 degree Cape Town heat... any suggestions?

Meanwhile, here's a little pic our good friend and Something Wicked alumni, Digby C Young took of V and I on the first night of the four-night deadline.
The reason I'm on the couch is because my incredibly comfortable 500 buck office chair was beginning to screw up my back so I moved down there for the last few days. (I'm back at my desk now, in case you're wondering).

Short Story Competition

To celebrate our One-Year Anniversary we're holding another Short Story Competition.

We're giving away a R1000 cash prize to 1st place as well as great prizes to 2nd and 3rd place.

Rules:

• Stories must be under 2500 words in length and can be about anything as long as they are Science-Fiction and scary, suspenseful, supernatural... etc.
• Only Email entries will be accepted and all entries should be attached as a Word Doc and emailed to scaryscifi@somethingwicked.co.zaThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - with SHORT STORY COMPETITION in the subject line - the usual Submission Guidelines apply.
• Please include your name and contact details with your entry. We will be unable to process stories without contact information.
• Deadline is Midnight (GMT) on the 1st of December 2007
• Entrants must be resident in South Africa
  
• Judges Decisions will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Start Writing Now!!!

A Month and a Half in The Life... Part 1 - Icon

Where to begin...
It's been awhile since I last wrote in here, but rest assured there are good reasons.

I guess we should start where we left off.
After the book fair we got down to emergency stations to try and get Issue 4 ready on deadline - which we failed, but on the up-side we did get a whole bunch of flyers, business cards and T-Shirts printed up and launched headlong into Icon Role Playing Convention where Outer Limits kindly allowed us to set-up shop for three days.

It was a hell of a weekend as I hadn't been up in Joburg in over 6 months and Vianne and I arrived with less than 24 hours to set up our stand.
So throughout the weekend I had friends and relatives dropping by to say hello and welcome me back to Gauteng.
We also had a few visits from contributors. Amongst those to drop by were Miranda Sherry (writer of Bad Boy Blues - Issue 3), Domenico Pisanti (writer of She Wrote at Night - Issue 1), C Hellisen (writer of The Subtle Thief - Issue 4) and Digby C. Young, (writer of On The Road Again - Issue2).
We also got Digby to autograph his story for Zoobeans from Comicworx, who is a huge fan and was thrilled to meet him.
Another surprise visitor to our stand was DaRC from Otaku who bought a copy of every issue.

All in all it was an absolute blast and wonderful to meet so many of our contributors and fans and to have new fans buy Issue 1 on the Friday and come back to buy the others on the Saturday 'cause they'd finished it already.
The T-Shirts were a great success and I'll put them up for sale in our Online Store very shortly.Above: Our Official Something Wicked T-Shirts - For Sale Soon.
Left: Some fans pose for us.
Right:Vianne makes a sale.

Cape Town Book Fair - Day 3

Well...Day 3 and for me the last day.

It's been an amazing, and exhausting, experience.
It was lovely to meet so many of our readers and fans and also to discover that the name Something Wicked has been reaching out beyond the obvious circles.

I joined up with the writing team behind the animated tv-series Pax Afrika, Lauren Beukes (author of Exhibitionist - Issue 3), Sarah Lotz and Sam Wilson again to do a talk on Sci-Fi, fantasy and horror to a bunch of school kids, which was wonderful and fun and inspiring.

Made a few more important contacts and hopefully secured the way for some viable alternative distribution channels.

Well that's all from us for now, catch us next at the Icon Games Convention in Joburg on the weekend of the 13th of July.
We'll put up more info soon.
Thanks again to all those who stopped us and said hi, we really do love meeting the fans, and an extra special thanks to the Reader's Den guys who have been flying our flag and gave us somewhere to sell stock at the expo.
Joe


PS Remember Reader's Den will be at the fair for one more day and you can still pick up your isues of Something Wicked at stand G16

Cape Town Book Fair - Day 2

Joe's Book Fair Diary - Day 2, 17 June 2007

My feet...oh god, my feet...

The day started out way too early as I crawled out of bed at 11am, still recovering from yesterday's ordeals - we of the freelancing fraternity don't do well with early mornings.
I rushed down to the Fair to make my 12pm discussion on Pratchett and was quite concerned when at 11:56 I still hadn't spotted my co-speaker, scriptwriter for Pax Afrika, Sam Wilson.
I looked around nervously, thinking that perhaps he had decided to sacrifice me to gods of bad speakers. I was just about to start looking for the nearest hole to exit through when I looked back up at the Science Fiction stand and noticed that he had mysteriously materialised at the stand - with him was Dr. Jesicca Tiffin, lecturer of English at UCT.

The talk went great, now that Sam and I were backed up by someone of real intelligence. We babbled our way through Pratchett's unique brand of comic-fantasy, parosy and post-mordernism, (don't ask me, I have no idea) and the crowd seemed genuiningly interested, with loads of vehement head-nodding as they agreed with everything we said. At one point I was almost mistaken for the man himself as some, not-too-clued-up reporter asked a fan which one of us was Pratchett.

The crowd looks on in disbelief as Sam, Jessica and I, Pratchett on about Terry

After the talk I once again forgot to mention to the large crowd that Something Wicked is for sale at the Reader's Stand and that we are giving away a signed Stephen King book. I decided to punish myself for my lack of foresight by standing outside the Reader's Den stand for the next 45 minutes handing out flyers while announcing the King news loudly - you're right, I have no shame.

After couple of hours of walking around the fair looking for publishers and/or printers to speak to I realised that all the publisher's stalls are simply shops and that there isn't actually anyone there who could answer questions.

With my feet about ready to detach themselves from my ankles and run away to soak themselves in a hot tub, I decided to come home for the day.

I now have ten minutes to get dressed and get back to the Fair for another Sci-Fi, Fantasy talk on Nix, Pullman and, (for some obscure reason) King. Wish me luck.
Check you later.

Greg Hamerton poses with the latest copy of Something Wicked and his new book, The Riddler's Gift

Cape Town Book Fair - Day 1

Joe's Book Fair Diary - Day 1, 16 June 2007

Well having just barely survived day 1 of the Cape Town Book Fair I returned home heart-warmed and overwhelmed at the day's events.

First up I was asked to join a discussion on Fantasy Literature, featuring brand new up-and-coming fantasy author Greg Hamerton, as well as winner of last years Short-Story comp, Sarah Lotz . It turned out to be a huge amount of fun and garnered us some new fans and some face-to-face contact with some of our old fans.

To all the readers who came by and said hello, thank you, it really means a lot to us when we meet the fans. Our job is very quiet and isolated, so these opportunities we have to interact with you guys are always great.

After having spent the day running around and accosting media representatives, chatting to writers, artists and readers we finished up at the official launch of Mamba #5.

Cartoonists Zapiro, Stephen Francis, Rico and others were on hand to congratulate Andy Mason on the fifth issue of his inspiring Mamba. Books were sold, cards were swapped and free booze was inbibed.

Some of the awesome South African Produced Comics, Mags and Graphic Novels featured at the Mamba Launch.

We were also thrilled to bump into Jesca Marisa, the phenomenal artist who illustrated Sarah Lotz 's winning story Perfect Man in Issue 1 . Jesca has also done the coer for Issue 4 of Something Wicked.

Our very own Vianne (left) discusses the finer points of promoting local art and literature to Issue 4 cover artist Jesca Marisa standing on the right. Notice the brand new copy of Something Wicked Issue 3 sticking out of her bag. Trying to look nonchalant is Damon Berry - reader of Evan Morris' The Breeding Season Podcast.

Tomorrow promises to be another insane day, and hopefully I'll see more of you.

I've been asked to join in on a Terry Pratchett discussion at 12 midday at the Science Fiction Stand (L6). After which I will be walking around meeting fans and trying to get new ones. Come on down, it's always great to meet you guys.
Cheers.