Welcome - The International Writers Magazine - February Editorial 2011
*Due to a small donation we will continue on in a slightly smaller capacity for 2012.
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Well hello, Didn’t expect to see you here.  Hell I didn’t expect to see me here either.

Life has unexpected moments.  A small gift meant that Hackwriters can continue for another year.  (Although this is only for hosting not running it).  I intend to keep it a bit low-key and limited as I am going through a big change at the moment and won’t quite have the necessary time to post the regular 45 articles a month that has been traditional on Hacks.  So please don’t upset if I don’t respond immediately or seem inordinately picky.  I have to try and earn a living – something that gets harder as the years go by.

On a positive note my house finally sold.  Exactly one year after putting it on sale and two previous offers that fell through.  It’s been a long nightmare and even now anything could be a last minute hitch but I don't think so.   I went to see a house I saw on-line.  The owner will only allow people to look at 2pm on a Sunday.  Quite a contrast to myself who allowed any time any day and even provided coffee if they needed it.  Of course there are many reasons a house doesn’t sell.  (Not allowing anyone to see it being number one I would have thought).  Others include not keeping it tidy or in one case of a house I went to look at, the presence of a heavy smoker meant rejection, the stench of cigarettes was in everything.  There are so many programmes on TV on how to sell or buy a house and I heard some good reasons why no one would buy mine.  Stairs too steep, only parking for one car, garden too full of plants, too many bathrooms, we wanted one further up the row…  plenty more.  Finally a couple have fallen in love with it and will take care of it.  When selling best to not get involved really.  The more enthusiastic someone is – the less likely they are to buy it it seems.  Odd actually.

When it comes to buying – welcome to the trough of despair.  In the UK most people use Right Move website to view peoples homes.  An American or Canadian would laugh at our poky kitchens, the careful construction of a home with the least convenient access to bathrooms, second bedrooms only 7 foot wide or smaller or the wonder of nightstore heaters.  Never under any circumstances hire a British builder/architect to design a home for you. Most are hopeless, rarely take advantage of the sun and they, meanwhile, invariably live in some grand Edwardian building with lovely proportions, no doubt sneering at those suckers who buy their cramped ugly designs.  Yep, I am finding it hard to find anything I like in the meagre budget zone I am stuck in.  Kit, being mean to me says you can only afford a trailer home.  Joke is, they are REALLY expensive.  It is actually cheaper to buy a real home with bricks and everything.  Anyway the search is on.

*For the record, there is a buying frenzy out there right now that the news media has only just picked up (House sales up 29% this month). A tax concession for first time buyers is about to expire on March 25th and they are buying anything that moves right now. My guess is at least a hundred thousand homes have sold this week. No doubt the press and the government will be surprised when they finally catch up. Gazumping is back too. (Offering more than the asking price). Needless to say my price was cut. Sigh. Mope.

Enough about houses for now.  My erstwhile correspondents James Campion and James Skinner will be examining the entrails of the US election and Spanish economy as usual and we will see what else arrives to keep our readers interested. More to come with some great stories from Abigale George and of course our dear Mr Borok wants to pick a fight...

Sam Hawksmoor – a regular contributor to Hacks has a new YA novel called
The Repossession coming out on March 1st so order your copy now. It's an exciting read.
First reviews are really good. View the Trailer here
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© Sam North February 2012
hackwriters (at) gmail.com
Editor – Hackwriters.com
Author of 'Diamonds - The Rush of '72'
The Fantastic True story of the 1872 Diamond Rush in the USA
'If you liked Butch & Sundance - you will love this' - Nick Strange
also available as an e-book on iTunes

Please note you can buy my Sherlock Holmes novel The Curse of the Nibelung as an e-book direct from iTunes now or from Barnes and Noble

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Another Place to Die has passed the 3030 figure now and that cheers me up and is available as an e-book. Now if I could get Mean Tide or Diamonds to sell as well, I'd be really happy you can now download them as e-book on iTunes or Lulu.
* The good news is my Sherlock Holmes novel The Curse of the Nibelung is now available as an e-book on itunes. Download here or Here

Mean Tide by Sam North *Buy now and get 25% off (Now a Young Adult Mystery e-book) Mean Tide - a tale of spiritualism and a young boy's fascination with a murdered man. Lulu Press - ISBN: 978-1-4092-0354-4 http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/mean-tide/15665337 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.

The Curse of the Nibelung - A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Sam North *Buy now and get 25% off e-book 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 * New revised ebook edition now available here - Amazon UK Amazon USA Barnes and Noble & Waterstones

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