The International Writers Magazine AUGUST Editorial 2016

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Welcome to this summer edition of Hackwriters. Read us and our amazing archives too. 17 years on-line, 7339 articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on using the links.

Congrats to TEAM GB - your success in Rio is amazing and inspirational

Editorial: August
How often have you heard someone tell you 'Just put it out there - the universe will provide'. Of course your response might be a tad negative, such as an immediate need to bop them one on the nose, but sometimes miracles do happen. Under extreme duress from family and friend pressure I put it 'out there' that I'd like to sell a book and get a job again. The universe kept its silence and I forgot all about it.

However earlier this year I discovered the editor of my Turkish language edition of The Repossession (Now called TOZ) had posted the cover of the book on Facebook. First I knew that it had been published and they did a really nice job too. So when I finally got hold of a copy courtesy of my pal Kit who arranged it, I sent the editor a copy of the third and final Genie Magee story 'The Heaviness'. I had no proper address and never heard if it arrived. It always worried me and still does that Brazil bought the first two and so did France but never book three. Any reader overseas would be puzzled the books end so abruptly. Today just over four months later I hear from Facebook again. The publishers would definitely like to buy The Heaviness in Turkey. Yay!!

Attempted coups aside, life goes on and books need to be translated and published. Sometime down the road, in about a year perhaps, a reader will finally get to finish the Genie story in Turkish. Believe me this is an unsual story. Selling a book is hard. I'd like to repeat the experience with the French publishers but a writer is always last to know when a book might be coming out or if published and under what title. But just occasionally there is a happy ending.

Better yet, I heard from my old University (Lincoln) that they'd like me to come back and teach for a year on the MA in Creative Writing. I start late September and will enjoy the interaction with students once more. I never miss the meetings or the paperwork, but I do miss teaching and being useful.

The question is - how do you thank 'the Universe'?

§§§

This is one of those strange times when you pick up your horoscope and it exactly matches what is happening in your life: ‘…you probably didn’t plan on spending the first half of July decluttering your life… but that’s exactly what you have been doing. Don’t hesitate – say farewell now.’

Of course I can’t be the ONLY person moving house, but quite a lot of unexpected things happened in Hackwriters world in July.

First there was Brexit on June 23rd.  Then after one year and three months of trying - my house finally sold.  I was all ready to go to live in France.  The pound collapsed after Brexit and now we have the uncertainty of whether anyone who buys in Europe would be allowed to stay, or taxed out of existence and/or denied access to medical facilities at a reasonable price.  You could say I was despondent.

Now I'm all packed and culled. The charity shops have had a bonanza around here from me.  The rule is: if I haven’t used it or needed it for the last for four years and I am never going to use it (or wear it) chuck it.  Nothing is more depressing than trying on clothes you no longer fit and anyway what was I thinking in buying them in the first place?  I still haven’t entirely decluttered, thinking that this is pretty, this is nice, this is useful and putting them in boxes that will probably never be reopened.

But still I was suffering from post-Brexit depression.  Blocked from my escape, what the hell was I to do, where to go?  I was inconsolable for a while. My friend Kit tried to cheer me up - and my sister Sara reminded me that the Universe was still making plans. Ha! But turned out things happen for a reason. I was out walking with Kit on Newbury hill when the text came in out of the blue about the job in Lincoln. No France for me, work instead. It's not a bad compromise when you think about it.

Trying to buy a place without a mortgage means you’re looking at places you really don’t want to live in.  We all live beyond our means and one is competing against people who can borrow hundreds of thousands all in the hope that house inflation will pay it all off one day.  When you are older (like me) they will only lend for a short duration and only a small sum, hardly worth it, but that’s the way it goes.  Everyone from the Governor of the Bank of England and down is prediciting a major recession. Does one hold off buying? It's hard to run a life (and a magazine) when you aren't living in a fixed abode.

I am currently without a home or office.  (If we don't reply for a few days at a time that will be why). Luckily August is when people go on holiday and a desperate call for ‘will you look after my dog, Mr Trouble,’ was seized with both hands and (a wag of the tail).  I have a place to rest my hat for a month.  Yay. The darn Universe is working overtime by now.

Last week I put an offer in for a converted stables - breaks most of my rules. It's in the country, a mile from a shop, won't allow pets, but it has something that new builds don't have - character (and no doubts draughts and hidden problems). Crazy is as crazy does and it looks like they have accepted. Argghhhhhh. The thing about buying a home is that it is pretty damn final. Expensive to buy and very expensive to sell if it doesn't quite 'fit'. Yes I am having regrets but I haven't anything else I can afford or like. I still hanker after Anglet, living in a small place near the beach, listening to the pounding waves.  Now I shall be living in wheat fields being kept awake by combine harvesters. Plus ca change as they say. Worse the pound drifts ever downward and looks to be staying there for the next few years. This might be it - the last house. (Number 29 in actual moves but only the fifth I have ever bought).

But still, now I know The Heaviness is worth buying - I am on a mission to sell it to more publishers. As they used to say in dreaded school reports 'must try harder'.You can buy the book here in English. The Heaviness

**This month in Hackwriters there will features on Trump and Clinton from James Campion, on leaderless Spain by James Skinner, on more on travel with new fiction from regulars and new writers as well as lifestyle issues and making plans to live a more organised life.

© Sam Hawksmoor August 17th 2016
Joint Editor

*As ever Hackwriters is supported by sales of our books - so do buy, print or kindle, we aren't picky.
**And thanks for those who do. The Heaviness, Another Place to Die: Endtime Chronicles are recommended.
The spy/romance Repercussions of Tomas D set in the Blitz has a small following now. Spread the word.

New in 2016: J&K 4Ever - A touching young love story in a post-apocalypse Sixty years after the end of everything the city of Bluette survives, controlled by a malignant sect.  It’s a place where men rule, girls receive no education and are matched at 16 to the highest bidder.  Everything ‘modern’ is considered evil and prohibited.  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 and matched to the recently widowed Master of the Sewers, who has paid well for his virgin bride. Kruge, the carpenter’s apprentice, 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.

*New - J&K 4Ever Sam Hawksmoor

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 all new 2nd Edition of 'ANOTHER PLACE TO DIE: ENDTIME CHRONICLES By Sam Hawksmoor and Sam North (2015 version) 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 Williams - 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 *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 The Heaviness published by Hammer and Tong 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 this year. If you enjoyed it, please post a remark on Amazon or Goodreads. It all helps.

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