The International Writers Magazine Editorial January 2022

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Welcome to this January 2022 edition of Hackwriters. 23 years on-line, 7842 + articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on. January 31st 2022

Coronavirus UK: 62,399 tested positive - 85 deaths (1,837 last seven days) - Jan 30th 2022 4.30pm
Get Vaccinated! It is still infecting and killing unvaccinated people and rising! Get Boosted!

Editorial: Can 2022 be a good year?

Perhaps you could start the year off with positive thoughts my sister asked me.  'Y’know, before everything goes downhill'. So despite everything that 2021 threw at us, let’s celebrate that we’re still here, right?

I’m trying to think positive about Putin wanting to start WW3 but for the life of me, I can’t find a single positive there for Ukraine or any of the other nations he wants back into his evil empire.  Can’t he just collect stamps or something?
Invasion looks nailed on and Europe seems powerless or unwilling to stop it. The reality of war is beginning to wake people up. Bitcoin at $10 if it kicks off anyone?

Meanwhile every day is a party day at No.10 - message to Boris 'Screw you and your shocking indifference'. All the staff from the bottom to the top should be fired including the PM. Maybe they can find better people at the job centre. Couldn't do worse. As it is likely we face war with Russia - you think there's any truth to the rumour Boris called Putin to hurry up and invade so we'll all forget about 'partygate'?

We got the vaccines, then the boosters, which helped fight off the fourth variant Omicron. The unvaccinated of course did not and are filling up the hospital ICU units as I write this and dying. Darwinism at work (something else they probably deny). The sad thing is that healthcare workers, the doctors and nurses are totally exhausted and almost 25% are off work with Covid themselves, mostly caught from these selfish people (which sadly also includes many NHS staff).

There are positives of course. Omicron is great at spreading itself but not so great at killing us (unless unvaxxed).  This is the natural evolution of a virus. Still inconvenient to us, but with regular annual boosters (like the flu shot) will be manageable in future.  In a year we may forget all this ever happened. Which is why you read so few novels about the Spanish Flu pandemic written after the event – people just decided to have amnesia about it, despite it killing 50 million worldwide.

2022 leaves most world economies ravaged by debt, heating gas at a record high price and supply chains wrecked.  The most positive among us will be looking forward to January sales as all that stuff that was meant to arrive before Christmas gets dumped onto the market at discount.  Buy, buy, buy for next year I guess.  For those of you who just might be short of money right now – yep your great fixed price mortgage, or energy bill are just about to come to an end and it’s going to make your eyes water for the next ‘deal’.  We could try a collective refusal to pay our bills maybe. There’s power in numbers, right?  Of course, learning to live without heating is good practice for when they come to take our boilers away and force us to go green in 2025.  However, we might not feel so great about saving the planet as we shiver under blankets, but with half of us freezing to death. Earth will thank you for checking out early. Brownie points in heaven or hell for us all.

Climate Change will continue to ravage the planet. The Antarctic is melting at an unprecedented rate, rain is devastating crops in some places and drought doing the same all over the world. The positive is that people and some politicians are finally paying attention, but will it be enough? My tip, don't buy waterfront property.

We started this online adventure in January 1999 in Falmouth, Cornwall.  We’re less keen to do monthly updates during the 23rd year and Hackwriters will be only sporadically updated this year as we are planning travels. (Covid permitting).  For example I have planned a trip to Miami in May. There’s a new book to write that requires research in the USA.  Like many of you I long to be anywhere, but within the four ‘almost’ square walls of my house.  I want to meet people and talk and laugh (woke sensibilities permitting).  So that’s my positive for 2022. Planning journeys and staying well.  One can dream. I hope you also can plan to do things you always wanted to do. If we learn anything from Covid, it's that we only want to work in jobs that make us happy and travel to places that expand our universe. Let's hope that can happen.

I might take a moment here to thank readers who buy Sam Hawksmoor’s and Sam North’s books to help keep this site going. Please continue and if enjoyed, post something on Amazon to say so. 

Happy New Year from us at Hackwriters

© Sam North January 2022 - Editor - and yes buy my new novel 'A Cure for Sceptics'!
Ever been scammed in healthcare? Then is crime fiction novel is for you. A great gift too!

A Cure for Sceptics by Sam North Publisher: Hammer & Tong ( July 2021) Paperback & kindle: 326 pages ISBN-13: 979-8537465874 Delaney and Asha run the Berg City Office of City Oversight. Their role is to expose the shady characters running scams and fraud against the city. 300 complaints flood in for a $30,000 treatment that claims to abolish pain forever. Unfortunately the Mayor himself is touting the scheme. When Delaney finds himself left for dead at the bottom of a cliff he gets the message that he's supposed to leave this one well alone. 'A great human story that wears it's heart on it's sleeve.' Dr Allen Cook - Bridgeport University ‘a brilliant and intriguing tale’ Amazon **Sample Sam North's new novel here.

Covid Numbers worldwide - Source: Worldometers.

Celebrating the publication of MISSION LONGSHOT: how far will you go to save one life? The climate is changing fast - the future of humanity is at stake, who wants to escape to an alternative planet on that spaceship with Elon? (Well not that actual spaceship but you know what I mean). Buy a ticket and enjoy the ride. But don't forget to buckle up. It might not go where you thought it would. 'Gripping adventures with highly engaging characters.' W. Leff - Goodreads

The Sam North Novels - still available to order Amazon or Lulu

*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 a lethal 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. 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 *Quarter Finalist for the ISA Screenwriting Awards 2022

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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