Welcome - The International Writers Magazine - February 2011
Welcome to the February edition of Hackwriters. The Magazine written by writers from all across the globe. Feel free to share these articles with friends.

Feb 26th:
So much has been said on change and viloence in the Middle East I will leave it others and experts elsewhere on Hacks. Right now I have been on the hunt for somewhere to live. Trying to decide whether to go North and be mortgage free or stay south and move to an apartment with all the accompanying layers of charges is dizzying in complexity. Herding people through your home as you try to sell the darn thing is tough too. All very well for experts to tell you to de-clutter but where do you put all this stuff? Next place I live in needs to be the Tardis I think.
Another showing tomorrow. And why is it you have to sell cheap and everything you look at is so expensive? Who knows.
Enjoy the Oscars. Only film worthy of winning is 'Inception' in my humble opinion. Here's hoping.

Feb 16th 2011
Sometimes you read something and you get the wrong end of the stick. So imagine my surprise seeing this headline yesterday: Silvio Berlusconi faces sex change
and I'm thinking, the guy's 74 isn't it a bit late for that - shouldn't you make your mind up about what sex you are earlier and what will the Italian people say about that? If they are going to vote for a women in Italy, surely it would have be an attractive women rather than this old guy in make-up and a skirt. This is not be sexist, but the evidence in Italy is that young attractive former 'friends' of Silvio enter politics quite successfully. Anyway I looked again at the headline and suddenly saw that it wasn't change but charge. Is this the subconcious at work? I have no idea, but having Silvio up on a sex charge seems - well - a bit late in the day really. Besides, surely the point of being an Italian Prime Minister is to have a little fun - right? The odd orgy or two or three. He's been entertaining the tabloids with his extra curricular behaviour for almost two decades now - so why now? Is it because the girl is Turkish I wonder? Or have the Italians developed a sudden taste for proper governance in a chaotic world. There have been more than 60 governments in Italy since the war, at least Silvio has slowed the rate of attrition. Of course, Belgium gets by without any government at all. Perhaps that is the way to go. No Prime Ministers, no problems.
Alternatively Silvio could lower the age of consent in Italy, that make more sense in this case... Watch that space.

Feb 11th 6pm. After the bitter disappointment of last night's delayed broadcast to the nation, Mubarak finally admits defeat and the Army takes over. For now the crowds in the square celebrate, but what next? Let us hope that democracy rather than Theocracy follows. The Army will moderate that change I think but which country will be next to succumb to people power? Interesting developments indeed. With luck the crowds will go home tonight and normal poliitcal party building will be begin and a lifting of the state of emergency.

Earlier I wrote: Well as they say when cursing in China 'May you live in interesting times'. Events in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere are moving so fast it has hard to keep up. Is this a 1989 moment? Or will it all be crushed? Or worse will the Muslim Brotherhood take over the entire North African seaboard and we shall end up with Iran's allies and nuclear proliferation in the most volatile region on earth. Is this as the USA thinks Iran2?

The Year of the Rabbit comes in teeth barred and ready to bite.
And what of Israel in all of this as Hamas gains huge allies across the border and Jordan dismisses its government. Nervous? I should cocoa. Marwan Asmar keeps us up to date here with events in Cairo as Al Jazeera resists being banned in Egypt. *A pity that the people of Zimbabwe can't topple Mugabe whilst the world is in this mood to be rid of tyrants. Sadly he is well protected by China now who put their selfish interests ahead of the people of Africa.

18 days now of prostest in Egypt and the revolution succeeds. One thing is clear by preventing real opposition in Egypt it has meant there was no one with national visibility to 'negotiate' and placate the crowds. I guess you reap what you sow. The point of real democracy is that you learn to tolerate others disagreeing with you and the people get to decided every few years as to who is right or wrong. Let's hope that toleration wins in Cairo and the next phase is democratic elections.

There is little good news so this is the moment to retreat into good books or better yet, start one. Whilst all about you are in panic, update your Facebook page. Ha. Revolutions aren't what they used to be I think. *Congrats are due to former Hackwriters contributor Quentin Bates whose novel Frozen Out is now out. Buy it, you will enjoy this pacy Icelandic Crime Novel. Oh yes and welcome back Tabytha Towe who has been documenting her life with us for eleven years now.
__________________________________________________________________
© Sam North February 11th 2011

Share |

Editor – Hackwriters.com

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this February edition from all over the world. Many thanks too to those who have bought my books recently (Discounts now available via Lulu). Another Place to Die has passed the 2960 figure now and that cheers me up. I will be discontinuing this title soon as I am in the process of selling a new version of it to a mainstream publisher. Now if I could get Mean Tide or Diamonds to sell as well, I'd be really happy. It really does help keep Hackswriters going. Take care out there.  Get writing.

Modern Thai Food. Read Oi's fantastic recipies

---

You probably need cheering up now but the Swine Flu Threat is not over 254 died of it in the UK this month for exampl. As of December 2010 there has been an outbreak in the UK and gowing fast. Few people took up the offer of the winter flu jab which included Swine Flu vaccine. It attacks pregnant women in particular and when schools go back watch out! Worldwide more than 214 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 18,398 deaths (WHO figures) since it began. Download my book Another Place to Die if you want to be ready for when the next flu pandemic really does take off in the future. *Many thanks to those who have ordered my book recently. Thanks too to those who spread the word on it. I really appreciate that.) Often being a writer, especially for one whose books are only mostly available on-line it is very isolating, but now I know it is selling every month it really feels as though the two years writing it were worth it.

Mean Tide by Sam North *Buy now and get 25% off 'Extraordinary novel about a child's psychic awakening' Lulu Press - ISBN: 978-1-4092-0354-4 Review: 'An engaging, unusual and completely engrossing read' - Beverly Birch author of 'Rift' His father has disappeared, his mother is sick. Oliver, recovering from chemo, is sent to live with his psychic Grandma by the river in Greenwich. Oliver quickly discovers he is living with a world of strange people. When he finds a dog with its throat cut on the riverside, everything changes. Oliver wants to find the people who did this terrible thing and discovers the terrible truth about himself. (Young Adult Mystery)

The Curse of the Nibelung - A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Sam North *Buy now and get 25% off ISBN: 13: 978-1-4116-3748-1 302 pages - Lulu Press USA 'Chocolate will never be the same again' - Sunday Express Buy from your favourite on-line retailer Amazon UK Amazon USA Barnes and Noble & Waterstones Book also available from The Nineveh Gallery, 11 The Pallant Havant, PO9 1BE. UK  and to order from Blackwells in Portsmouth

• Back to Index

© Hackwriters.com 1999 - 2011 - Twelve years on-line
We are Carbon Neutral

FICTION . TRAVEL . LIFESTYLES - REVIEWS