The International Writers Magazine Editorial APRIL 2019

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Welcome to this April 2019 edition of Hackwriters. 20 years on-line, 7600+ articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on using the links.
Once again celebrating Hello travel.com - Hackwriters Best Travel blog 2018:

Editorial: Brexit, Death & Doctors

I guess one might expect that now would be a good time to reflect on Brexit.  But guess what – it’s too hard, too divisive, too crazy to make any sense of.  BST: Brexit Stress Trauma has set in.  I’m probably not alone in blaming my sleeplessness on it. No-Deal has been taken off the table by just one vote. Mrs May and opposition leader Mr Corbyn are locked in a probably fruitless meetings to find a way through to some kind of compromise. Meanwhile the Tories are angrily tearing themselves apart. My vote on the petition to revoke Article 50 has been ignored, as were the other six million + quite a few dubious ones I suspect. If I'm wrong, then hopefully you have an indicative plan to hand to solve everything. Didn't think so. I'm still praying we don't leave at all. Now here we are on Friday 12th and we haven't left and indeed have an extension until Halloween. (Someone has a sense of humour in Europe after all.) This gives us a chance to be rid of Mrs May, have an election and be shot of quite a lot of current MPs and also with luck decide to stay in. If we don't do this pretty quick all industry and banking and serices will have decamped to Europe or Singapore and we'll just be left with making potato chips - if there's anyone left to pick the spuds. Meanwhile Nigel Farage has formed another anti-europe political party 'Brexit' and hopes to have 70 foaming at the mouth MEPs sitting in Brussels by June. It's all craziness and driven by hatred. Not sure what the cure is though.

*I suspect there will be some bargains to be had shortly as everyone tries to get rid of their stockpiles. Pay attention to the Easter Sales!

I should discuss the fact that I had the PSA test (checking for cancer in the prostate) and it was ‘normal’ but all relief was tempered by the fact that The Times tells me that PSA is unreliable and prone to errors.  So my Doc is sending me for scans to make sure.  This is the doctor whom upon learning that I refuse to take statins (they killed my arm muscles) he stared at me and loudly said ‘You Will Die or, have a stroke and be incapacitated’. He then repeated it so people in the waiting room could hear it too.  ‘You are going to DIE. I can’t help you if you won’t take statins.’ I protested that I don’t smoke, I’m vegan. That has to count for something. He shook his head. ‘Diet has noting to do with the heart’.

Right then I knew I had to change doctors.  What is wrong with these people?  If you cut out fat from your diet you have to increase your chances of survival.  It stands to reason.  But British doctors know nothing about diet and are obsessed with dispensing pills for everything, perhaps because patients expect pills, even though they may have no effect whatsoever.  Will statins prolong my life?  Dr Greger from NutritionFacts.org suggests that statins might only increase your life by 3 mins overall.  I have read his ‘How Not to Die’ and I think that his advice is more valid that a Doctor who tells you ‘You’re going to Die’ with a glint in his eyes. A more vulnerable patient might have a very adverse reaction to such a remark. Diet and a sense of humanity are just not in the medical training manual it would seem.

Right now I’m painting walls, ceilings, banging things together as I restore a 1930’s house (read: money pit) and I figure that if I can do all this I’m being active enough to stay healthy, the only caveat being dying from paint fumes or the chemicals in it, which would be ironic I guess.  Or brick dust.  So much brick dust was pouring out of my front door last weekend as we made an opening for a new door that my neighbour called the fire brigade!  Amusing, but probably annoying for the fire department.

I’ll close with this worry.  There are warnings now that drinking a bottle of wine a week is equal to smoking six cigarettes.  Did it cause me to pause before I poured my five o’clock glass of Shiraz.  Er - no.  I suspect all the paint fumes, brick dust, silicone sealant are equivalent to 500 cigarettes and I’ll pay a price later. I note few of the workmen who come here wear masks and scoff at health and safety. In the end I guess they might be right, pegging it whilst drinking a decent glass of wine has to be better than drinking nothing at all.

Do explore this month's issue. James Campion is worked up about the New Jersey Governor not fulfilling an election pledge, James Skinner has decided women will be the deciding factor in the upcoming Spanish elections ...first reactions to the Mueller report Mueller 2 and living in a Minivan has its downsides says Jenny Garman... then there's Earth Day looming April 22nd

© Sam North April 13th 2019
PS Taking a few days off now for Easter. Catch you all later.

*As ever Hackwriters is supported by sales of our books - so do buy, print or kindle, we aren't picky.
The Sam North Novels - still available to order on Lulu or Amazon
** The Heaviness, Another Place to Die: Endtime Chronicles are recommended also read
The Repercussions of Tomas D

Girl with Cat (Blue) - Shortlisted for the Rubery Book Award 2018 'a funny, bloody, colorful narrative that never fails to surprise the reader. Girl with Cat (Blue) provides great entertainment'.

'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. 2018 - Honorable Mention

J&K 4Ever - Love and Devotion in the Wastelands 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.  She is pursued by ruthless Enforcers on horseback, whose task it is to bring runaways back, dead or alive. '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, you will gasp with shock, and you will struggle to read the words through your tears. Gemma Williams - Amazon.co.uk 2015

The new edition of 'ANOTHER PLACE TO DIE: ENDTIME CHRONICLES By Sam Hawksmoor & Sam North Could you live in a world where antibiotics no longer work? Print & Kindle Q&A interview with the authors here A city gripped by fear as a lethal virus approaches from the East. No one knows how many are dying. 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. Do you stay and hide, or do you flee? Review from the First Edition: 'Beautiful, plausible, and sickeningly addictive, Another Place to Die will terrify you, thrill you, and make you petrified of anyone who comes near you...' Roxy West - Amazon.co.uk

Spy/Romance thriller set during the Blitz in WW2 - Kindle download All proceeds go to keeping Hackwriters going 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 with alternative facts ' *download the Kindle version or buy the paperback from Hammer & Tong

'The Heaviness' for any reader who likes to think about such things as betrayal, revenge, relationships and the laws of gravity. An original Genie Magee story 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

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