The International Writers Magazine Editorial APRIL 2021

TRAVEL

COMMENT

LIFESTYLES

REVIEWS

FICTION

Welcome to this APRIL 2021 edition of Hackwriters. 22 years on-line, 7788 + articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on.

Source: Worldometers.
Covid has reached 150,870,215 cases worldwide and 3,172,259 deaths. Source: Worldometers. April 30th 2021
Covid USA: 32,994,925 infected with 588,476 deaths
* India had 386,829 new infections on Thursday (But may be undercounted by 50% says NY Times)

EDITORIAL: April It's great to be able to sit outside a pub again but keep your distance! The virus is still out there - big time. 3 Million + deaths worldwide so far! Don't book a vacation without checking the covid figures at your destination. Maybe consider no flight vacations - stay local.

World politics is one thing to watch - I watched Shadow & Bone on Netflix instead and loved it.

As Putin retreats from causing WW3 in Ukraine, Biden commits the USA to reducing emissions by 50% by 2030. Meanwhile China is increasing coal consumption and promoting coal production right across Africa. In the end China will kill Earth well before 2030 as extreme climate change causes havoc with crop production and rising sea level. Only 9 years to go. Enjoy your muesli whilst it lasts.

Getting vaccinated is the most important thing you can do right now. It's the only way to stop this pandemic. And don't panic about blood clots. It's statistically rare. The Astra vaccine is here to save our lives! It just won't be saving lives in Europe, America or Africa it seems.

Lockdown is over here.   Now we can be grateful for still being alive. I walked to the park almost every day. The sun reappearing helps, the freezing wind does not. Very occasionally I’d even get to speak to someone I know who does the same thing from the other direction.  We have little in common so conversations are a tad banal but nevertheless important to have and we can always complain about the litter or the dog poo that people no longer pick up. Even got to talk to my local MP about that. You never know who is out there walking around.

I try not to think about politics but get angry when I see children being murdered in Myanmar or the complete stupidity of Bolsanaro who has effectively murdered 383,000 of his citizens in Brazil, preaching ignorance about the virus. I got my second AZ vaccine yesterday with zero side-effects! Over 400,000 vaccinated daily UK wide. But the rapid rise in infections in India is very sobering and a warning to everyone on this planet. It is completely out of control. And this is where most of the world's vaccine is produced.

Restrictions are easing here.  We can now legally meet up to six people outside. Had an excellent Sunday lunch at the pub and it was a pleasure to sit in a sunbeam with a glass of wine at last. We can get a haircut now. (At last on Thursday for me) No doubt everyone will rush back to ‘normal’, forget their masks or start hugging and about a month later we shall all be locked up again. I am not sure there is enough money left in the kitty to keep doing this.  And then there is the great rent due bombshell about to explode.  Not just home renters, but shops, warehouses you name it where people have declined to pay rent and landlords have not been allowed to repossess.  I hear there’s billions overdue.  I suspect that it’s not going to end well.

Life has shrunk during Covid. **See how Walli F Leff survived lockdown in New York here.   I am lucky because I kept myself busy writing a new novel. I have no mental health scars from being alone as I am used to it and have daily phone conversations about my friend Kit’s new puppy.  But I can understand that many have gone deep into rabbit holes and it will be hard to drag them back to a rational existence.  Everyone keeps saying that people prefer working from home and won’t go back to the office or other places of work.  But I wonder about that.  If you don’t leave home and only see people via zoom where will your next relationship or friendship come from?  Don’t we need to be out there, talking, exchanging ideas face to face?

Spring brings regrowth; sparks optimism, gives one an opportunity to feel the sun on your face.  This spring, because we have learned that life is more precarious and precious that we thought – make a new friend in real life.  No screen between you.  Keep the mask of course and keep it local, so you’ll have to someone to walk and talk with next time we have to close our doors to the world. I was happy to hear from Martin Green in California that now he and his wife have had their second jabs they are free to dine out, get hair cuts and be social. Long may that last. And my friends in France who bravely got the Astra jab and are back to a normal life without stress.

© Sam Hawksmoor April 2021
Read Sam Hawksmoor’s new novel  ‘We Feel Your Pain – so you don’t have to’.  Order now!

We Feel Your Pain Hammer & Tong ISBN-13: 979-8699087693 Review: 'I really enjoyed living with Delaney, Asha and Maria. And I particularly revelled in that obedient and loving dog, Rufus.  They were lovely characters and it was a good story. The author evokes amazing, vivid pictures of St. Joes with human misery and the beach and Jasmina’s neighbourhood and the apple farm'. B. H. February 2021 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? We Feel Your Pain is available in print and as a download.

All pain teaches us something - it is for you to understand what that lesson might be.
- Guru Gurajani

* Keep abreast of the latest virus numbers here. Source:

The Sam North Novels - still available to order Amazon or Lulu
Another Place to Die: Endtime Chronicles. A definitive pandemic novel.

Read Girl with Cat (Blue) - 'funny, scary and full of surprises - a must read' LD

*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'.

'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, you will gasp with shock, 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' 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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