The International Writers Magazine Editorial October 2024

TRAVEL

COMMENT

LIFESTYLES

REVIEWS

FICTION

Welcome to this edition of Hackwriters. 25 years on-line, 8,022 + articles - reviews - stories - travel -
share any feature you like and pass them on. October 2024 - Previous Editorial here

Welcome: Editorial - October

Just returned from two weeks away in Bath, Somerset (Bridgerton to you).
It was time away with daily 15,000 step walks with Mishka (vaguely Alsationish and Biscuit definitely Cocker-Poo) and their owner my best pal Kitty. Bath is best discovered on foot. We liked to explore the wonderful parks with all the lovely Cedar trees and walk along the canals or river. You can appreciate just how amazing some of the homes are with gardens that sweep down to the water and one cannot forget the rain. Never forget your umbrella when visiting. Kitty lives in Oldfield Park and it's incredibly convenient for local shops and a quick walk down the hill into the city. The best thing about Bath is all the coffee shops (most of which allow dogs). My favourites are Café Lucca (Near Beckford Canteen and Wine Bar) and a Café No 1 by the river and bridge.

TV drama likes to show Bath as a genteel city where 200 years ago the Georgians all gathered to take the waters and have some naughty fun as well as show off their wealth, but in fact Bath was an industrial city with much manufacturing. It is still a place of business - mostly advanced tech companies, but the old warehouses and manufacturing plants and railway spurs are being systematically demolished to make way for apartment buildings - a great many of which are for students, there being two Universities in the city. Bath is actually a city of little villages all surrounding the downtown area where the endless stream of tourists roam. It is also not a place for cars. There is nowhere to park. Best to get there by train - it is well connected to London or Bristol and onwards to the South West and northwards from Bristol.

The great thing about meeting up with an old friend is picking up where you left off with total ease and just enjoying each other's company - as well as winning the trust of the dogs. Along the way I also caught up with Daisy & The Six and the final episodes of Umbrella Academy on Netflix. Umbrella sort of ended abruptly as if they got cold feet by episode 3 and Daisy Jones seemed to snort a great deal of coke and suffer no consequences at all - which I felt was unrealistic - of course this is a faux Fleetwood Mac biopic but the music didn't quite resonate with me. All in all it was great to get away and hit the refresh button. So thanks Kitty.

I got back in time to post some new essays by our American correspondent James Campion. I’m trying to blank the idea of Trump winning the US election and the almost certain chance that the evil menace that is J. D. Vance will be President within a couple of years when Trump chokes on a hamburger. Luckily I don’t live in the USA, so I don’t have to worry about Obamacare disappearing or all those teachers and federal workers getting fired along with the destruction of democracy. I don’t have to own a gun to stop rioters running amok after the election. Luckily James Campion believes women are coming to Save America.
           
However I do live in the UK and we have a load of worries too. We elected a socialist government by a landslide who immediately gave striking doctors and railway workers and anyone who asked huge pay rises worth £10 billion or so and then blamed the previous government for this £22 billion black hole they’d left behind. If you repeat a lie enough times people come to believe it. Ask Trump how that works. Worse everyday we learn how from the Prime Minister on down have been accepting huge bribes and favours and are even more corrupt than the previous goverment. Does anyone have any faith in polititians anymore anywhere?
           
There are 7.7 million people on the waiting list to get hospital treatment but since doctors no longer seem to work weekends it isn’t going to shrink any. And the nurses are upset as doctors got 22% pay rise and they were only offered 5.5%.  I’m quite sympathetic to their grievance as they do all the work in hospitals. That was very evident during the doctors’ strike when I needed treatment.  Just two weeks ago I was having coffee in the café in the park when a member of staff burst into tears as she learned her urgent operation was postponed yet again. There is only so much pain one can endure.
           
I’m not forgetting the war against Ukraine and how we are happy to supply Zelensky with weapons but not let him use them. Ukraine might as well use them anyway and do as much damage to Putin as they can now in case Trump wins. He has already sided with Putin. Remember he loves dictators. Now North Korea has sent soldiers to fight the Ukrainians. This war is expanding.
           
* I’ll make a plea here for readers to download or buy my new book ‘The Restoration of Ami’ it is set in the immediate post-election American aftermath. It might make interesting reading.

© Sam Hawksmoor - October 22nd 2024            
*Sales of Sam North's and Sam Hawksmoor's books help keep Hackwriters going. Sam Hawksmoor's Books below

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. There are doubts he’ll be able to make the drive, doubts about his bladder, his heart, but he’s determined to go. 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 Road Trip Adventure 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

*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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