The International Writers Magazine Editorial December 2020

TRAVEL

COMMENT

LIFESTYLES

REVIEWS

FICTION

Welcome to this December 2020 edition of Hackwriters. 21 years on-line, 7762 + articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on

Covid has reached 80,815,430 cases worldwide and 1,766,796 deaths. Source: Worldometers. 27th Dec
Covid USA: 19,436,732 infected with 339,934 deaths - 14.00 hrs GMT

EDITORIAL: Stay Safe - Wear a Mask. Don't go anywhere on New Year's Eve.
Did you zoom for Christmas? Exhausting process catching up with six different open windows. But nice to see family.

The UK and the EU have finally struck a deal. The document is more than 1500 pages long so the devil is currently printing the details... But this is good news on a week when the virus is setting new infection records (no doubt related to all that Christmas shopping and the crowded streets). January will be tough for all.

In the UK we are in Tier 4 now as Covid has mutated and become much more infectious. It means no one can go anywhere except to panic buy at the supermarket. If you are vegan you can't really stockpile veg as they go off too fast. The French Blockade is over but I wonder if any of those truck drivers who missed Christmas will ever want to come back?

In the USA it's utter mayhem as you still have an anarchist in the White House who is determined to kill off as many of his own followers as he can before he leaves.  Trump is following a scorched earth policy right the way up to Jan 20th and I learned that 84 million Americans visited family over Christmas- it's going to be like a slow-mo re-enactment of The Purge. It's a tragedy for the 12 million Americans who now find themselves without benefits and facing eviction because Trump didn't sign the relief bill. Perhaps he thinks it's only Democrats that need help.

Remembering spy/thriller author David Cornwell (John Le Carré) who recently passed away. He generously provided a scholarship for one student to study on my post-graduate course at Falmouth University College twenty years ago - a three year agreement. Every year he would come and chat to the students and the suprise for me was how amusing he was. He engaged with wit, offered genuine insights and had a twinkle in his eyes.

We Feel Your Pain Hammer and Tong December 2020 ISBN-13: 979-8699087693 *Review: a captivating adventure that ...could be compared to a Roald Dahl tale filmed by Wes Anderson .. My new mystery/crime novel ‘We Feel Your Pain’ is published.  Begun in 2017, it has been a tough one to write.  I was in so much pain, from what was diagnosed as fibromyalgia, I had to give up teaching and went on all kinds of adventures in pain management, cures, visits to osteopaths etc, I can truly say I did my research.

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

© Sam Hawksmoor - December 2020

Happy Christmas Holiday (That's me cooking supper long ago sitting on friend's Chevy.)
Stay Safe – Stay Sane – Wear the Mask
* 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 the 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. Can you get ahead of the virus? 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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