Animal smuggler leads the pack

Novel Idea voting went live yesterday and Sam Wilson’s Prestige Animals has taken an early lead, with Sarah Lotz’s Winona Forever close on his heels.

Every Novel Idea reader gets one vote, so log onto the WAP site (www.mobfest-novelidea.co.za) in your phone’s browser (or click the ‘home’ link at the bottom of your daily chapter) and then click on the orange vote button to make your choice. South Africa’s first award-winning mobilist will be decided entirely by public votes, so make yours count.

Once you’ve cast your vote, go back to the vote button to see how your favourite story is doing (there’s a nifty little pie chart). Campaigning on this blog or our Facebook group is highly encouraged!

Carrots for mobilists!

Novel Idea has been getting glowing coverage in major newspapers this week.

Vivien Horler of the Cape Argus was ebulliently impressed with Novel Idea, calling it “the 21st century’s answer to Charles Dickens’s serialised stories”.

Rapport writes “die selfoonverhale is ’n vinnige literêre happie” before urging readers to sign on to Francois Toerien’s story Onderweg.

There’s also a write-up in The Big Issue, currently on the streets.

Spreading the word, indeed!

Tech teething

Boy, have I learned a lot about cellphones. With Novel Idea we’ve had everything from phones that won’t accept WAP push messages (we now seamlessly send text messages specifically to those) to phones that try and reinterpret special characters in URLs and throw up rude error messages (the sheepish tech guys have taken the “rude” out of the error message – aw! – and are working on the URL problem…).

Thousands of new phone models are released annually, all with different tweaks and upgrades, and it’s impossible to get one solution to fit them all. The tech guys have a database of all current phone models that’s updated every three days and which they use to customise delivery for “difficult” phones.

And yet, despite the hiccups, Novel Idea is growing each week. This is unusual for a WAP site – usually they’re like fireworks; fizzling for a few days before sputtering out due to lack of traffic. But we get new readers signing on every day.

So we’ll keep working on accommodating every phone we can. Because we’re growing teeth here.

And then there were 10…

Francois Toerien’s story Onderweg launched on Novel Idea today. Here’s the first textisode:

“Ek kan nie meer nie. Ek moet uit! Ek het alles probeer. Ek kan nie meer nie. Wat moet gebeur, moet nou maar gebeur.” En toe was dit stil. Dis al wat hy kon onthou. Wie het dit gesê? Hy het drie dae later wakker geword in ‘n vreemde bed. Langs die bed was ‘n oorvol asbak en drie leë kondoompakkies. Hy’t ‘n stort hoor loop. En toe val sy oë op ‘n sweep. Boeie. ‘n Lyf onder ‘n kombers in die hoek van die kamer. In die badkamer het iemand “Give me hope, Johanna” gesing. Hy wou saam sing. Hy het probeer fokus. Sy gedagtes probeer orden. Probeer dink. “As ek net my tande kan borsel”. Sy mond het geproe na laatnag en aspirien. Dit was lig buite. Sy horlosie was nie meer aan sy arm nie. “Give me hope, Johanna”. Hy moet uit. Uit die kamer. Uit hierdie plek. Hy moet sy ma bel. Die Spur waar hy werk. Watter dag is dit? “Wat moet gebeur, moet nou maar gebeur”. Die stort het ophou loop. En toe was dit stil.

Sounds good? If you join Novel Idea now, you can access all the back chapters of your selected stories.

(Another) award-winning author for Novel Idea

The launch of Novel Idea yesterday coincided with the very w00t-able news that Henrietta Rose-Innes won the Caine Prize for African Writing. Oodles of happy congratulations! We’re flippin’ honoured to have you on board, lady.

If you haven’t already selected Henrietta’s Novel Idea story, Callback, go do so right away!

Spoiled for choice

If you’ve registered for Novel Idea you’ll receive an SMS today inviting you to select which stories you’d like to receive for next to nothing through July. For those who haven’t, here’s a taster of what you’re missing out on:

Extra Lessons by DIANE AWERBUCK: Valentine’s Day. Two boys hold an English teacher and her girls hostage in the library. What do they want? The teacher thinks she knows: One of the boys has a heart on his sleeve and a knife in his hand…

Ghost Girl by LAUREN BEUKES: Sekwa never asked to be haunted, not least by a 14 year old girl with a runaway mouth, a twisty sense of humour and bad dress sense. It’s a ghost story about the structure of things, about love and death and architecture.

FYI by RICHARD DE NOOY: Two trigger-happy psychopaths have escaped. They’re sending you messages. They think you’re someone else. You need to make some arrangements for them. They may be a little annoyed if you don’t. And cellphones are so easy to trace…

iGlassy Glassy by ROBYN GOSS: Four suburban housewives, a Zulu-speaking Ouija board and a goat on the lam; iGlassy Glassy is a light-hearted romp through the spirit world – South African-style.

Winona Forever by SARAH LOTZ: Lars and the Real Girl meets Silence of the Lambs in a black comedy featuring life-size realistic silicone dolls, Winona Ryder and a Sea Point serial killer.

Callback by HENRIETTA ROSE-INNES: Violet’s always liked telephones – ever since telling her secrets to a toy one as a child. So when the phone salesman comes to the door with a very special offer, how can she refuse? Never mind his strange tattoos and peculiar odour. But when the frightening voices start to come down the line, she realises there’s more to Callback Telecommunications than meets the eye …

City Fun by STEPHEN SIMM: Okay, so he wasn’t an oil painting, and clearly he hadn’t been 100% honest in his profile, but Jen had been internet dating for 2 months now – long enough to know that most people tend to colour a little outside the lines. What Jen didn’t know was that this was not only to be her worst date ever – but also her worst night ever…

The Opportunist by ZUKISWA WANNER: The story of 1 professional African man’s battle 4 acceptance in Joburg. A desper8 decsn 2marry a S.african woman 4legal reasons & his f8tful falling 4anotha woman make this story as heart wrenching as it is romantic.

Prestige Animals by SAM WILSON: Drug Lords! Smugglers! Guns! Planes! Badgers! Eugene and Dennis are in a very unlikely amount of trouble.

Remember, if you JUST send NOVEL to 33879, you WON’T be registered. You MUST register your number on the site – this lets us know that you’ve opted in.

Let the story begin…

M-day

Well, Monday’s the day. If you’ve SMSed ‘novel’ to 33879 and registered your cell number, you’ll be getting as SMS from Novel Idea on Monday inviting you to pick which stories you’d like to receive updates of during July. Pick one, pick all nine: it’s up to you.

On Tuesday, you’ll receive your first proper chapters from your selected authors. And the fun begins!

It’s been a really interesting journey to get to this point. I’ve now read all the authors’ full stories – I guarantee you’re going to be thrilled to be receiving them. If you haven’t already, go and sign up. You don’t want to miss out on this.

7 July 08: Novel Idea Takes Off

The story begins on Monday, July 7: will you be reading?

SMS novel to 33879, click on the link you receive back and register through our WAP site.

Thereafter, from Monday, you’ll be pinged with fabulous short fiction from the likes of Dianne Awerbuck, Lauren Beukes, Richard de Nooy, Robyn Goss, Sarah Lotz, Henrietta Rose-Innes, Stephen Simm, Zukiswa Wanner and Sam Wilson.

If you’ve already registered, ask some friends to join you. And meanwhile RSVP to our Facebook event!

The ring

Henrietta Rose-Innes‘ Novel Idea story starts with a deceptively dull delivery from a quirky salesman…

I agreed on the spot. True, the salesman was odd: tall, gaunt, in a tight black suit, cracked leather shoes and worn black-velvet skullcap, with a peculiar odour of snuffed-out candles. There was also something weird about his stare; when he blinked, I saw tattoos on the lids: a second round pair of eyes. And sure, it was unusual, selling phones door-to-door. But I was pissed off with Telkom, and pleased they had a competitor at last. The terms were ridiculously good: free landline, free calls, a small once-off joining fee. “Lady,” he said, pushing a cardboard box through the security gate into my hands, “you won’t be sorry.” It was heavy, with CALLBACK TELECOMMUNICATIONS handwritten on a label. Then the guy was gone, before I could tell him my name, or sign a contract, or give him a cent. But I wasn’t concerned. It was a telephone, right? How complex could it be?

Indeed. It’s easy to find yourself answering the call of… HORROR!

Seriously, It’s a very spooky story. Sign up and register to get it for (next to) nothing on your cellphone. SMS ‘novel’ to 33879, click on the link and send your cell number to the WAP site to make sure you start receiving stories next Monday.

Plastic Posse

Sarah Lotz launched her new novel at the Book Lounge last night. To celebrate, here’s the first chapter of her Novel Idea story:

It almost hurts to look at what he’s done to her. Slashes and scrapes across her stomach; hair pulled out in jagged chunks leaving bald Os. And the make-up! It’s almost as brutal as the damage. Bright green eye-shadow and orange lipstick. Even though I know she can’t hear me I whisper in her ear that I’m sorry. Steve looks over at me and shakes his head. He says she’s the worst he’s ever seen. I don’t think I can bear to send her back. But what choice do I have? I reach for the silicone and get to work.

One of the most intriguing so far… Want to read more? SMS novel to 33879, click on the WAP link and send in your cell number to register. (It’s a little convoluted, but we want to be sure you’ve opted in – no spamming from Novel Idea!)