The International Writers Magazine Editorial JULY 2025

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Welcome to this edition of Hackwriters. 26 years on-line, 8,075 + articles - reviews - stories - travel -
share any feature you like and pass them on.- Previous Editorial here

Welcome: What keeps you up at night?

*What is like to live in the Hunger Games of Gaza, This is the real price of a bag of flour there.

Ever get that feeling of helplessness?  Watching the news is an act of self-harm these days. Whether it’s Trump’s lies over how successful his bombing of Iran was or that he thinks he should get the Nobel Peace Prize for it, or how his ‘Great Big Beautiful Bill’ won’t pile trillions of debt onto America’s economy and completely impoverish 40% of Americans and take away their Medicaid, just so that he and his rich friends can have even more cash. Now were back to imposing ridiculous high tarrifs on just about everyone. It's a mystery that prices aren't rising faster in the USA but I'm guessing once the inventory is used up they suddenly will start climbing. Trump has fallen out with Putin for the moment, so has promised to resupply wepons to Ukraine via NATO. But will they get there before he changes his mind again?

Musk hasn't learned any lessons in his foray into Trump politics. Starting a political party will waste billions meanwhile BYD are eating his lunch with EV's worldwide and they are better than Tesla. I sense there needs to an intervention to save him from himself. Maybe Mr Miller will have him deported to Eswatini. On the other hand seems Musk was right - Trump is in the Epstein files. 'Those who lives in glass houses shouldn't throw stones' comes to mind. Naturally Trump will now try to divert MAGA attention onto his bete noir Obama!

Perhaps this feeling is amplified by the certain growing realisation that the UK is well on its way to bankruptcy with unaffordable taxes being imposed on business and benefit costs rising exponentially. Now they want a wealth tax to drive away the last wealth creators to Europe and elsewhere.

Then there is the relentless push for ever faster AI that will totally destroy the livelihoods of creative people worldwide, so around five individuals can make trillions more. The courts seem to even support AI companies over the rights of authors as it allows them to train on copyrighted material (so they can create new fiction without human input?).  I guess we have to accept that in future most people won’t care that the music they listen to, or books they read are created by machines.  They probably won’t mind as virtual movies are created without the use of film crews, camera personnel, writers, musicians and even human actors as long as it keeps people amused for ninety minutes. We are on the cusp of a huge cultural change – a time when individual talent and creativity is being hijacked and will no longer be respected of protected.

Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, the AI start-up behind chatbot Claude has warned that AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years and could push up unemployment by up to 20 percent. AI will destroy more jobs than it will create. No one is even teaching the right college courses in the West to cope with this huge change and graduates face years of debt and no jobs. Not everyone can train to be plumbers (the safest job according to many experts.)

Already jobs are going fast for humans in advertising for example and law and medical professions are next for transformation. For the young, the race will be on to identify ‘hand-on’ jobs that AI or robots can’t yet do. (Note the yet).  Already China is racing ahead to create autonomous robot soldiers. (Don’t be fooled by video of dancing robots holding flowers – if they can dance, they can shoot).  Robocop and robojudges will be a reality by the 2030’s.
What will be all do if AI takes the jobs?  Don’t be lulled by Chatbots that say we are only here to assist; they are here to replace. In future how will people pay the rent or mortgage? Or pay off your student loans? Go see your robobanker perhaps. Good luck with that.

Recently I got an email from India offering me a stream of travel articles all generated by AI. I refused, but many magazine and zines won't. Hackwriters is definitely a relic of a bygone internet age but everything on it has been created by humans. How quaint huh.

We are entering the world the writer Philip K Dick invented 70 years ago without a thought about how the hell we will survive it.

Of course, if you own DeepSeek or all the competing AI systems in the USA such as Grok, Open AI, Chat GPT you’ll be yippy skippy. Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg and Altman will be sitting in their bunkers as chaos reigns above, counting their Bitcoin, assuming cyber currencies have any value in a time of revolution.

 Remember machines need nothing except power – just like autocrats the world over.

© Sam North July 27th 2025 -

A Cure for Sceptics - Is it a Scam or for real - an extract from the mystery novel
by Sam North - ebook only
ISBN-13: 9781445255606

*Sales of Sam North's and Sam Hawksmoor's books help keep Hackwriters alive. Sam Hawksmoor's Books below

Whatever Happened to Genie Magee?

Whatever Happened to Genie Magee? • Sam Hawksmoor - Published 2025 ASIN ‏: B0DZTLNJHW ISBN-13: 978-1-7385181-1-1 USA Amazon link In a world where rich people want to live forever - a girl who never seems to age would be a tempting target. Her DNA would be very valuable indeed... Genie wakes up with a head injury from serious car wreck. She has no memory of the crash, or who she is. It appears this might have been a kidnap gone wrong. The abrasions on her wrists indicated she was tied up in the back of the burning vehicle. As she begins to recover her identity, she accidentally discovers a graphic novel is serializing her life, in horrific detail.  Her therapist is deeply skeptical this could be true and worries for her sanity. But all she can think of is, why is this happening to her? And how can she stop them? No 4: In The Repossession of Genie Magee series ...

The Restoration of Ami: ASIN: B0CVQMH78C - Kindle ISBN: 978-1-7385181-0-4 - Print UK Pub: Hammer & Tong/KDP 2.29.24 Remy has one last obsession – to complete the restoration of his ’57 Studebaker Golden Hawk.  He’s planned a road trip to Montreal to find a part he desperately needs. It’s a long way from Florida; his Chevy truck is almost as old as he is. At the very first urgent stop in the pouring rain, a dog appears from nowhere and jumps into his truck, quickly followed by a drenched teen. Scared, the girl, Ami, urgently needs a ride. She has escaped from a nearby religious cult and is desperate to find the mother who abandoned her there when she was just five years old. One old man, a troubled teenage girl and Stan the dog are on a road trip into MAGA America. With each mile they travel Montreal seems to get further away. 'Fabulous, can't-put-down story with quirky, original characters, a loveable dog and a great adventure'. ***** Roxy West on Goodreads.

A MAGA Road Trip by Sam Hawkmoor

The Book of Ashes • Sam Hawksmoor ISBN: 979-8-837434-952 ASIN: B0B85HFK86 Hammer & Tong - print and kindle 'an immensely satisfying story' - Walli Leff on Goodreads. 'a fun read with unique elements ... exemplary in its voice and style' 'Judge, 10th Annual Writer's Digest E-Book Awards An extract from the Book of Ashes		The Book of Ashes - Some secrets are meant to be kept forever The Case: Delaney and Asha run their own investigation company now. Hired to find a writer who stiffed a client of $10,000 - things go bad pretty fast. "This was supposed to be a simple track and trace job. Find the writer, bank the money. Now it's a horror show."

'We Feel Your Pain' by Sam Hawksmoor ISBN-13: 979-8699087693 Published by Hammer & Tong Print & Kindle Book One in the Delaney & Asha series		We Feel Your Pain – So you don’t have to. The Case: Delaney (42) and Asha (22) run the Office of Berg City Oversight. Their role is to expose the scams, keep the city safe from unscrupulous people.  When something looks too good to be true – it’s a scam, right?  But what if the scam works?  What kind of scam is that?

MISSION LONGSHOT: how far will you go to save one life? 2024: Honorable Mention in the Purple Dragonfly Awards (Sci Fi) Gerry is convinced aliens are going to attack on Millennium Eve - Y2K night. Everyone else is preparing for the end of civilisation. That night only Gerry notices aliens land. He and his spacenut pals Jolene and Kali race to be the first to greet them... 'Climate change, lost alien civilisations, adventures in deep space. Great fun with endearing characters'. Kitty Thomas

The Sam North Novels - still available to order Amazon or Lulu - catch A Cure for Sceptics *New 2025

*Keeping Hackwriters archived is supported by sales of our books - so do buy, print or kindle, we aren't picky.
Magenta - A chilling story of kidnapping, burning and strangeness set in the wilds of Lincolnshire

** The Heaviness, & The Repercussions of Tomas D - 'best time travel WW2 story in a long while'

The new edition of 'ANOTHER PLACE TO DIE: ENDTIME CHRONICLES By Sam Hawksmoor & Sam North There's no safe place to hide from a lethal pandemic Print & Kindle - Q&A interview with the authors here A city gripped by fear. People are petrified of being thrown into quarantine. Best friends Kira and Liz once parted are scared they will never see each other again. Teen lovers, Chris and Rachel, prepare to escape to the islands. a taster here The Last Ferry Review from the First Edition: 'Beautiful, plausible, and sickeningly addictive, Another Place to Die: Endtime will terrify you, thrill you, and make you petrified of anyone who comes near you...' Roxy West - Amazon.co.uk

Girl with Cat (Blue) - Shortlisted for the Rubery International Book Award 'a funny, bloody, colorful narrative that never fails to surprise the reader. Girl with Cat (Blue) provides great entertainment'. * Screenplay a quarter-finalist in the Screencraft competition 2024

'This book was amazing! I was hooked from the first few pages and couldn't put the book down.' Judge, 26th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. - Honorable Mention

J&K 4Ever - A post-apocalypse love story Sixty years after the end of everything the city of Bluette survives, controlled by a malignant sect.  A place where men rule, girls receive no education and are matched at 16 to the highest bidder.  No one is ever permitted to leave the city and outside is a murderous wasteland of despair. Orphans Kruge and Jeyna have been devoted to each other through all the years of terror in this harsh regime and sworn never to be parted.  But the beautiful Jeyna has been betrayed by the Warden. Kruge has been swiftly banished to the Scraps, under the control of the Keeper. Jeyna is heartbroken; she will not accept her fate and escapes to find Kruge.   'A genuine romance in a bleak but plausible and terrifying setting'.

J&K 4Ever

MARIKKA- exclusively on Amazon Print only Based on a tragic real life event, Marikka flees from an arson attack on her home to the sea, where she meets Starfish boy – a runaway working for Jackson, a scarred man hiding a sinister secret from the world. Meanwhile her real father searches for her with the aide of Anya, ‘the girl who can read objects’. More about the writing of this book ‘Long after my tears dried, my heart stayed with Marikka, Starfish Boy and the strange girl who reads objects.’ CT You will smile, and you will struggle to read the words through your tears. Gemma Williams - Amazon.co.uk

Spy/Romance thriller set during the Blitz in WW2 - Kindle download The Repercussions of Tomas D A Hero? Or Englands Greatest Traitor? USA Paperback here 'Disturbing and very poignant YA love story that presents a chilling alternate future for an England that lost the war.' Marcel d'Agneau 'A brilliant imagining of living in the Blitz, well researched.' Amazon UK 'This is Man in the High Castle for teens and scarily plausible ' *download the Kindle version or buy the paperback from Hammer & Tong

'The Heaviness' betrayal, revenge, relationships and the laws of gravity. Genie & Renée have just 36 hours to save Rian or he dies. 'Without a doubt, one of the best YA Sci Fi series out there.' Evie Seo - Bookish * Also published as Rüya by Marti Yayincilik - The Turkish publishers of TOZ & Golge Part 2: The Hunting of Genie Magee - fight for the right to exist

*December 9th: Sara Troy interviews Sam Hawksmoor on Self Discovery Wisdom

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