new Moxyland cover

the real die-hard readers of this site will remember a time, quite long ago, when I was helping a friend with her book launch. well that friend has since had her novel snapped up by Angry Robot publishers, who have bought the first novel and are paying her to write a sequel, and have also insisted on a new cover to go with an international launch (Moxyland will be launching in the UK and Australia – read about all the details here). i’m very sentimental about the old cover because it took up a very real part of my life, but i like the new cover too. here are both:

The South African launch cover, designed by Joey Hifi. Click the image to see more of his awesome work.

The UK / Australia Angry Robot version.

The new cover definitely takes the book into teen territory, which may or may not  make Lauren a billionaire (achoo-Twilight). Anyway I look most forward to watching Lauren take over the world, one Moxyland at a time. And now for a picture of the author in repose with her beautiful daughter:

Too cute. That's a baby creative genius right there.

moxyland book launch: the photo story

i know i’m like a million years late with this but it’s been one of the funnest things i’ve worked on to date so i want to write about it. it was for the launch of my genius friend Lauren Beukes’s first novel – Moxyland – no doubt you’ve seen the name on my site before. anyway the launch was totally atypical to a normal book launch, as we tried to bring the sci fi world of Moxyland to life in the Book Lounge cnr Roeland and Buitenkant streets in Gardens. This is how you experienced the launch if you were attending:

1. You arrive at the venue to have pamphlets shoved in your face. Looking at the pamphlets, you see it’s a protest against genetic engineering on animals, specifically the genetic enhancement of police dogs, which are called Aitos. Aitos have articificial and ruthless intelligence, and are used as crowd control in Moxyland.

Anelisa Phewa protests the plight of "Sick Puppies" - bio-engineered police dogs at the Moxyland book launch in Cape Town. (For full text of the flyer go to http://www.moxyland.com)

2. You are then greeted by a Door Bitch who asks for your name and checks it against a list. If you weren’t on the list she says to you: “I’m sorry, this entrance is for corporates only, please use the civilians entrance round the side.” She directs you round the corner of the building.

Door Bitch - only nice to corporates.

3. If you are classified as “Civilian” and you have to use the entrance round the corner, you are met by an uncouth and seriously annoying guy who looks like he might slit your throat when you blink your eyes. This is because in Moxyland, the good life, a fair life, is property only of people who work for corporates. Civilians have it rough. Sorry hippies!

Stefan ruthlessly and relentlessly harasses those bolshy Non-Corporates who think they can just waltz into the event at the Moxyland book launch. He also manages to offend Andre Brink. Hi Five.

4. If you make it through the corporates entrance, you are greeted by 2 funkified Moxy appropriate ladies who give you a test tube and advise you to get tested downstairs, because “you might be infected”. This alludes to the highly contagious virus within the book that is activated as a means of crowd control, and a way to reign in the feisty citizens who protest to the way things are.

Lauwrisa Blaauw on Ghost stamp duty and Kristi Launders (with skull necklace) greet those Corporate guests effusively.

5. You then descend to the clinic, which is downstairs in the basement, where your specimen in the test tube gets tested. We had tubes that reacted chemically and turned green and smoked a bit, and then we had non-reactive tubes. If your tube reacted you were given an immunisation shot, which was a big friendly syringe filled with green Apple Sours.

Doctors Peter and Sam prepare to test specimens for signs of infection. Remember the Health Dept cares about you.

6. As an opening promo, we had pieces of “evidence” lying around for guests to collect. The first to collect all 3 received a Moxy toy and book, and a drink for their efforts. Though the first person to get all the evidence was a kid, so there was no drink.

Animator Tim Wang has found evidence that something sinister is afoot in Moxyland. He's also holding his test tube.

The Moxy mutant toys are made by the Montagu Sew & Sews, a group of women living below the breadline in Montagu in the Klein Karoo. The toys, based on Michelle Son’s pattern for the original cover monster, are currently only available from The Book Lounge in Cape Town. R100 of the R150 retail price goes directly to the women involved. Contact +27 21-462-2425 or booklounge (at) gmail (dot) com to order.

7. Rob van Vuuren (Crazy Monkey, The Most Amazing Show) got into character as the CEO of the company featured in the book, and let loose an amazing speech. Most of the audience didn’t know what was going on, since the book had just launched that day, but it set the scene really well. Also Rob’s damn funny.

"Maybe you thought leading biotech firm Inatec Biologica's capabilities were limited to cosmetics, the subdermal stuff that boosts collagen and cleans up free radicals? Or maybe you knew about their really quite revolutionary work with Aitos – the police dogs, using nanotech and chemical signals to micro-train them and track suspects. But this is the first time we’re breaking out the technology for human application."

8. And a good time was had by all! The venue was packed, and it must be made known, The Book Lounge are pioneers in their field and are far more supportive of local authors than ALL of the local publishers that I’ve dealt with.

The Book Lounge - pioneers. Cnr Roeland and Buitenkant street, Gardens, Cape Town.

PS. YES i was the Door Bitch. Don’t say it! Also check out the RAD poster that was done for the launch of the Moxyland Soundtrack, also by Dale Halvorsen, who designed the cover:

Poster for launch of Moxyland Soundtrack

**********for all the ins and outs of the Moxyland brand click HERE**********

Moxyland Soundtrack Album – out now

i got this as a birthday gift from the author, amongst many fabulous gifts, but i am very excited about it. i’ve never heard of a book being released with a sound track, let alone a south african work of fiction. apparently you can buy them with the book in store. i’ve included a back pic so you can see which tracks are on it. am happy to see super evil’s there – it is iconic as far as original music goes in cape town. i particularly love the THIS IS NOT DEMOCRACY hidden in the clip in the jewel case. cover design by SA designer Dale Halvorsen.

south african novel of the year: Moxyland

25th of April is the launch date for Lauren Beukes’s first novel – Moxyland. I have been privvy to the manuscript pre-publishing, and i sincerely hope it goes cult classic. set in a future Cape Town, your life is controlled by your cellphone, you are hostage to a government that oppresses its citizens through censorship and genetically modified Alsations called Aitos watch your every move. the character cast is made up of an artist who sells her body to an energy drink in exchange for being able to create her art, a super genius hacker who helps her digital graffiti friends break through information control to disseminate the truth and a rich kid blogger who has a sociopathic lack of conscience. i sincerely hope it gets picked up by a large rich studio looking for something different to produce and gets made into a movie. anyhow watch this space, i will be well documenting the launch.