The International Writers Magazine Editorial April 2024

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Welcome to this edition of Hackwriters. 25 years on-line, 7,991 + articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on. April 2024 - Previous Editorial here

April Editorial: Ever feel powerless to change things? Not just politically, but closer to home, your own life.To change things politically they say ‘well you have the vote, use it’.  Yeah sure, but what if the extremes in politics now means you are inclined to vote ‘none of the above’. That surely is a very real prospect in the USA today and to a certain respect here in the UK.  Trump is toxic, as his party and Biden is old and lacks the necessary inspiration to fire up voters despite engineering a very positive economy. There is a fringe character in the shape of RFK but he’s a conspiracy theorist and financially supported by Republicans to take votes away from Biden. Sadly, they might well succeed in that task.   In the UK we have had the Tories in power for the last fourteen years riven by bitter rivalries and still stained by the Brexit vote and Covid that has reduced the British economy by twenty percent. Add large numbers of illegal immigrants arriving on our shores this has thoroughly destabilized the nation, as there is nowhere to put them. (We see the same phenomena in the USA with the border issue and Italy in Europe).  Yet in the UK we are being asked to vote for an alternative Labour party that threatens to give unions such power it will end up paralysing the nation.  It’s bad enough we still have the doctors on strike demanding a totally unrealistic 35% pay rise, train drivers on strike (despite being offered huge salary increases) and civil servants refusing to go back to the office and do some actual work.  This means a huge number of people just don’t feel inclined to vote as no matter whom they vote for the ‘government’ always gets back in.  Powerlessness writ large.   There has been a lot of talk in the newspapers lately about loneliness and mental health. (Yep I still read a printed newspaper every day). Loneliness is often the result if you are divorced or single (or in an unhappy marriage) even if on social media. But then again it is the very people on social media who seem to complain about being lonely despite their thousands of followers.  Virtual life vs actual conversation face to face over drink or coffee is no contest as far as I’m concerned, but failing that, a daily phone conversation with a friend is critical too. Even if you have nothing to report - just the act of a conversation is a healing moment for both parties. (No doubt AI will provide virtual friends for the lonely for a price). Both my young 16-year-old nieces also complain of loneliness and are wary of toxic ‘mean girls’ who troll those outside their ever changing social groups. Both have experienced ugly hostility on their phones or at school since the age of 12.  It’s interesting to discover that they have voluntarily retreated from social media now and focus on what interests them.  A lack of trust in people is a common complaint from them.  Bullying isn’t new. Ask anyone who ever went through private education. If not fellow students, it can be the teaching staff who are practiced in the art of divide and rule.  With the added terror of smart phones to the mix it must be hell now.  I was incarcerated in a private school from the age of seven to seventeen.  Not sure how I survived really but it does scar you for life.  Heaven help you if you don’t conform or stand out in some way. To cope I discovered long distance running so I could escape into the nearby forest on my own for hours on ‘sport’ afternoons. I still love the sound of the wind through the trees and the scent of pine.   My immediate neighbour sent me a message this week.  Needs to talk.  Feels isolated. My opposite neighbour revealed she is desperate to sell up and move but I fear she will take her loneliness with her.  All are retired, divorced or widowed.  It’s kind of weird but I live in a street of single middle-aged homeowners – several are dog owners.  I know the names of the dogs but not the neighbours.  Funny really.   I read that the so-called silver surfer generation are the leading cause of the spread of sexual diseases in the USA and UK. So obviously there are great many people in their sixties and seventies hooking up.  Clearly, I am missing out, but then again, sexual disease swap parties don’t seem too appealing to me.  Maybe Tupperware parties were safer ways to meet people. Now they’ve gone too.   I’m heading to Amsterdam, taking my elder sister there, as she has never been. Considering she nearly died in January from an infection she picked up in Miami, she’s very brave to want to travel again.  But luckily one can go by Eurostar train from London all the way there, without all that sadistic punishment that goes with air travel these days. Looking forward to walking and finding new coffee shops. The Art Museums are fully booked already so I guess I'll take my culture from the architecture. * Just back and will write something about it this weekend. Meanwhile I appreciate those readers who have bought and read my new book ‘The Restoration of Ami’ and taken the trouble to post a review. It all helps. Thank you.

© Sam Hawksmoor April 26th 2024
Editor and author of We Feel your Pain & Mission Longshot
*Sales of these books help keep Hackwriters going.

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.

A Road Trip Nightmare 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? 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 Creative Screenwriting competition 2023

'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 and kindle 2 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 Kindle & print Thanks to readers who have been buying this title. * Also published as Rüya by Marti Yayincilik - The Turkish publishers of TOZ & Golge Read Part Two: The Hunting of Genie Magee - the fight for the right to exist

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

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