The International Writers Magazine Editorial JULY 2020

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Welcome to this JULY 2020 edition of Hackwriters. 21 years on-line, 7700+ articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on using the links.

*As of July 26th around 16,227,000 have been infected worldwide, with 649,000 deaths. Take comfort that over 9,929,000 have recovered. (Worldometers.info) ** Covid-19 is climbing fast in the Americas.

It’s not when you die. It’s how you die that matters.
Be vigilant. Be warned. The virus can find your weakness and exploit it.
Wash Your Hands – Wear Your Mask
 Health Advisory Warning No. 331  - Endtime Chronicles

SUMMER EDITORIAL: Time to contemplate life post-covid and make plans for the future? Hold that thought...

Finally it is mandatory to wear a mask when shopping or going inside a cafe or anywhere other than your home in the UK.  It’s no joy but it just might save someone’s life. Annoying my Etsy maks have not yet arrived though.

I’ve been trying this new joyless dining/coffee shop experience.  Perspex walls around you, limited menus (virtually nothing vegan anymore as it’s too much effort).  Sanitiser on toast is just no fun at all but that’s the way it is and will be for months, possibly years until we have all had the vaccine.  It seems to me that family owned cafés and restaurants are the most welcoming with a gung-ho attitude. 

You may have noticed that Trump has reappeared on an update on Covid-19 (with his mask stashed in his pocket) and has confidently reasserted that no one has dealt with the virus better than him and that it will magically disappear real soon.  Meanwhile four million Americans have been infected so far, 144,000 + have died and around 70,000 a day are catching it.  It may soon be peaking but that doesn’t mean it won’t come roaring back in November in time for the election.

The virus isn’t the most pressing issue for the USA, the imposition of Federal troops in Portland, Chicago, Kansas and soon to be shipped into New York and other Democrat controlled states is a grand plan to destabilise the Election.  Trump is deliberately antagonising the BLM movement to create a ‘civil war’ situation that only Trump can ‘solve’ and or be forced to postpone an election because of civil unrest. See Trump Police State here by James Campion.

There is a clever strategy at work here to legitimise chaos and get his base out to vote for him.  Trump is painting Biden as a radical revolutionary who will destroy the American economy, when it is Trump who by inaction, sheer callousness and intent has demolished civil behavior and infrastructure.  He pretends Biden wants to ‘defund the police’ but Trump has defunded the environment, taken away medical care from millions, and actively encouraged gun violence in society – all to get reelected.

But to what purpose?  What can he really offer the American people other than more debt to hand to their children, unsafe neighbourhoods, defunded schools and teachers, a collapse of trust in government and the quality of life?  He and the Republican Party are destroying the foundations of society, all to enrich a small one percent of the rich.  It’s not a pretty picture.  For months now I have been thinking that this August there would be conflict with China over Taiwan or Putin might make a move on former Soviet territory thinking Trump wouldn’t respond.  Never did I think that Trump would declare war on Americans.  Watch that space.

This month were checking out our archives from ten years ago and interesting material from a period when you could live and travel without fear. Venice, Israel and travel first-class are featured. We will be tested severely in the next few months as the US Election hots up and dictators on tigers test the boundaries of American power and influence.  Our guards are down as the virus eats away at trust, kills with impunity and devastates the world economy.  I hope you’ve put money aside for the coming winter.

In this issue we welcome young writer Damilola Omotoyinbo with I am Not a Hero and meanwhile James Campion reveals the mafia running the Justice Department in Washington and a 1000 reasons to Dump Trump 7.16.20

July has arrived with lightning speed.  Can it really be four months since we went down into lockdown?  I sometimes feel I’m in the spacestation circulating Earth wondering if it’s safe to return to the planet or whether to sign up for another six months to be safe. Compliance seems to have gone out of the window.

Dr Fauci in the USA is worried they will see 100,000 new cases a day (following an 80 percent rise of Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks) - it's holding steady at around 65,000 daily which is bad enough. He is also worried that less than 70 percent of Americans will take up the vaccine when it arrives and that won't give North America the herd immunity it needs. If you aren't worried, you should be. To add to the bad news, in the US and UK kids haven't been getting their measles vaccines due to the virus restrictions. Measles can kill, can cause all kinds of trouble, especially in adults. If your kid is due, get it done for the sake of humanity.

I know things are difficult and it's virtually impossible to see your doctor. I got a text from mine saying take your own blood pressure readings and send them in. What if you don't have your own machine? So getting vacinated I can see will be an issue. My blood pressures' high, thanks for asking, but no, I won't take statins. Ever. Been there, took three years to get over the muscle pain. Luckily I just discovered an online pharmacy that will send the stuff you need without the doctor being involved. Crazy, but it is just impossible to see a doctor now. But they're still getting paid right?

I’ve got used to cutting my own hair but when I finally met up with my pal Kit she shrieked with horror and immediately shaved my head! 

I’ve just seen the trailer for Unhinged the new Russell Crowe movie that will be the first movie you can see as the cinema’s open.  Really?  A guy going ape shit crazy and trying to destroy a woman’s life is what we’ve been waiting for post-lockdown?  Hell I was worried that I had put on weight, but Russell is huge.  This is Falling Down on steroids.  (F. D., by the by, is still a great movie by the late Joel Schumacher starring a manic Michael Douglas). When will you feel safe to go back to the moves?

Meanwhile here’s a ‘Things I think about when I’m watering the hydrangeas’ prompted by the news than many people are now facing enforced retirement.

© Sam North - July 2020
The Sam North Novels - still available to order Amazon or Lulu
Another Place to Die: Endtime Chronicles. The 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, also recommended & 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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