INDUSTRY NEWS
New South African publisher Nollybooks has released a series of chick lit/romance novels aimed at young African women - but there's no sex. Nollybooks, the brainchild of Moky Makura, an actress, writer and entrepreneur, decided to take a responsible approach with Africa in the grips of an HIV/AIDS epidemic. "(The sex) happens after the story finishes," Makura's been quoted saying. And she is hoping her publishing company, modelled after super-success story Mills & Boon, will entice more young Africans into reading. The books are written by a stable of authors whose names don't appear on the covers. Here's three of the recent releases:

Unfashionably in Love: When Fikile Mathubela walks into a Cocoa Rouge shop, she gets more than she bargained for. Not only does she meet the charismatic Joe Silongo but ends up landing a fashion design internship at the popular retail chain. Fikile immediately gets stuck into designing hip, stylish and chic clothes. Her designs on Joe, however, are something she intends to keep a lid on, particularly as he doesn't appear to be the man she first thought he was. But will she manage to do so and will this mean she has to break her golden rule of never falling in love?

Looking for Mr Right: Cassandra is fed up with making wedding gowns for other women while she remains single. Online dating seems like a good idea - until she realises that what glitters in cyberspace isn't gold in the flesh... In her search for Mr Right, Cassandra is determined to not let anything or anyone get in her way, not even her friends who want her to be happy. Then Mr Right comes along - but Cassandra's not ready to give up online dating, and her dream guy hates her online alter ego. She has to pull out all the stops to get him hooked before he finds out her cyber secret. If it works, Cassandra will finally get a wedding of her own. If it doesn't, she'll break more than just her heart.

Working for the Enemy: "Thandeka Shabangu's hunger for writing sees her shutting the door on her civil engineering career. Not an easy decision for a girl whose late father lost sweat, blood and tears to take her through university! Lacking both training and experience in commercial writing, Thandeka finds herself forced to join the magazine of one Thulani Zikwe, best friend to her brother and foe to Thandeka, for five-year-old reasons! Will the collapsed friendship between the two be rekindled or will Thulani's dictatorship make her crazy enough to give up her lifelong dream?"
You can find out more at the Nollybooks website.