The International Writers Magazine August Editorial 2017

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Welcome to this August edition of Hackwriters. Read us and our amazing archives too. 18 years on-line, 7444 articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on using the links.
Hackwriters cited by HelloTravel.com as "TOP JOURNALISM/NARRATIVES TRAVEL BLOGS 2016"

Editorial:
Hope you enjoyed the total eclipse. I am sure it presages something momentous, but sometimes momentous can be difficult to handle. Sometimes you want to turn your back on the real news and the fake news of course. If not the chaos in Trump's White House, then there's Venezuela and Maduro establishing a Stalinist Dictatorship where all the people share absolute poverty (except him) - despite having more oil than Saudi Arabia. Only a true socialist could manage that. The fact that they give their oil away to other socialist countries like Cuba is not a good thing if your own people starve as a consequence. Then there's Turkey, well on the road to depositism and putting any critic of the Government through show trials. People make comparisons to the political instability of the 1930's and there are some similarities. Beligerent North Korea with a fast improving inter-continental misile system, Putin flexing his muscles and playing war games on Europes' border with 100,000 soldiers in August to distract the Russian people from a failing economy at home. The UK at sixes and sevens over the Brexit negotiations as all roads lead to ruin. Anything could flare up at any time this month ( see Charlottesville Neo-Nazis - see the article by James Campion ) and now terrorists kill 15 in Barcelona and maim 120. It's scary to think that the one person we have in charge of world peace is President Trump and a White House full of old, white, gung-ho Generals keen to prove something, not to mention 'Fire and Fury'. Oddly enough, I guess it's only the Generals that will save us from Trump in the end. But will America ever be rid of the poison Steve Bannon left behind?

The New Side Entrance to the V&A

James Campion also writes on the ACA in this months issue but healthcare isn't just an American obsession. I await to see a specialist for skin cancer treatment. Its a common enough problem these days but neverthess no one likes having holes drilled into their head. To take my mind off the wait I venture out to see the new side-entrance extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum. As you can see from the photo above, it's pretty and has a nice 1939 Tomorrowland feel to it. There is a new gallery opening underneath the square in September. If in London go see it, the V&A is a very special place. (Just don't try breast-feeding there). You can spend a whole day there really.

I'd like see if I can find someone to buy/take over Hackwriters - it's time someone younger with a good sense of design and an aversion to Trump took over. 18 years running a magazine is a long time. Contact me if interested.

The August edition has an interesting retrospective of Annie Hall by James Campion and some new fiction from Abigail George, Martin Green and newcomers Allen Cook and John Richmond. James Skinner keeps us up to date on Spain , Paul-Christian on how to survive Amsterdam and then there's a voyage around Ireland and with luck we will find out how strong Macron is when the Unions go on strike after the vacations in France. Watch that space and it may be that Brexit won't look so bad after all. (Although it looks chaotic actually).

Enjoy the remains of August. Hoping the rain will stop at some point. Remember too those who fell at Passchendaele 100 years ago in Belgium. And read Sam Hawksmoor's review of the book World of War 2020 as we drift towards the next.

© Sam North August 2017
Read: Magenta - a story of a father's desperate search for a lost daughter
The Sam North Novels

*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.
also read The Repercussions of Tomas D

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 all new edition of 'ANOTHER PLACE TO DIE: ENDTIME CHRONICLES By Sam Hawksmoor and 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 this year. If you enjoyed it, please post a remark on Amazon or Goodreads. It all helps. * Now published as Rüya by Marti Yayincilik - The Turkish publishers of TOZ & Golge

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