The International Writers Magazine Editorial OCTOBER 2019

TRAVEL

COMMENT

LIFESTYLES

REVIEWS

FICTION

Welcome to this OCTOBER 2019 edition of Hackwriters. 20 years on-line, 7600+ articles - reviews - stories - travel - share any feature you like and pass them on using the links.
PS we are mainly in archive mode now with sporadic updates. Next update Nov 3rd 2019
Once again celebrating Hello travel.com - Hackwriters Best Travel blog 2018:

EDITORIAL We have an election? In December? To be Confirmed today 29.Oct 2019 Photo: Biarritz at low tide 2019

Trump is to be impeached and about time too.  It doesn’t matter what for, he should be impeached for associating with dictators like Little Rocket Man and Putin and now for betraying the Kurds who saved the Middle-East, Europe and most likely the world from ISIS. What an imbecil.  Turkey played him just so Erdogan can get himself re-elected on a populist ticket. No matter how many innocents now will die. Simply put, Trump only likes people who can assassinate, embezzle and rig elections with impunity, he’s jealous most likely, as evidenced by his phone call to the Ukraine. 'Can you do me a favor?' Oddly enough exactly what the Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia asked someone when troubled by a journalist critical of his regime. How inconvenient to have a robust media (excepting Fox News, of course) examining Trump's entrails each and every day. Now Putin has stepped in to spread his evil influence further and keep the Turks apart from the Kurds. But as Putin got Trump elected I guess this was the plan all along.

In the UK Boris Johnson must wish he had taken an overdose, such is the vitriol against him.  Not only does he have half his own party trying to lynch him, but the entire opposition and Rupert Murdoch too.  The only person who likes him is also the most hated man in the USA, which leads us back to Trump.  Doesn’t everything?

Now Boris has a conditional deal with the EU to leave but as ever Corbyn and Tory enemies will vote against it or attach a referendum demand which could lead to some very violent reactions in the Leave camp and an even bigger vote to quit the EU. Confused? You should be. Some of these anti-democratic MP's are running a great personal safety risk. One day, soon I suspect the public will crack. We need an election to clear the air and Labour are running scared of it for very good reasons - they will lose big time. *I hope.

So it was bliss to spend nine days in France avoiding the news.  Although it was touch and go getting there what with someone trying to commit suicide in front of the train I was on, then catching a ride to another station back down the line to get around my stranded train, then the tube and another train.  I arrived at Stanstead just as they were filing the last passenger onto the plane.  90 minutes later with great relief I stepped off the plane and was swept away by mon ami Lionel to their home for a much needed glass of wine.

Biarritz (recently the location of the G7 meeting) is a perfect place to be in September.  The big crowds have gone but the weather is beautiful, the Bay of Biscay is around 21C and the water is clean, although the waves can be fierce and the undertow is scary.  You don't expect to spot a bride of the beach but there she is with her entourage and photographer. I didn't, for discrete reasons, take photos of some young Swedish girls who arrived on the beach with their luggage, stripped off to nothing and ran into the waves. But if you fly to the sun, it's entirely appropriate to embrace the reason you're there and fling yourself in. Beats swimming in Sweden for sure. I almost want to fly back in October as Costa Gravas (Z) will be speaking at L'Atlanta in Bayonne and showing his latest film. To be honest I didn't realise he was still alive but he was a part of my political awakening and it would be good to see him live.

On the Saturday we drove to Spain to buy vegetables and fish and visit friends in St Jean de Luz close enough to the Spanish border on the French side.  Repeating the experience on the Monday to listen to an all male Basque choir in the church preceded by an excellent supper overlooking the Nivelle River with very generous hosts and a creme caramel made especially for me. ( I had complained no one serves it anymore). *I must confess that I went to see the latest Woody Allen movie 'A Rainy Day in New York' and just couldn't believe how bad it was, or how amateurish. Please stop making films Woody, they are sexist and totally unfunny. Elle Fanning did her best but it was embarassing to see three older men lusting after her.

I have no idea why people in the UK are so darn keen to leave Europe.  Perhaps it’s because we can never live up to the brilliant roads, the well organised civil structure, the incredible choice of foods and wonderful social structure that glues everything together there so successfully.  I mean, why would we want that? Although I confess you don't exactly see many people in yellow jackets in Biarritz marching against the changes in pensions and employment hours. And I've watched the TV series *'Spiral' to know that being a cop in Paris is no fun at all. Series 7 now on BBC 4 every Saturday.

Now back in the UK all they can scream about is Brexit, as indeed is all they have done now for three and a half years.  Nothing else is done and business can no longer invest, house prices are falling and uncertainty is destroying the very fabric of the nation.  Leave or stay but PLEASE make up your minds now! Boris has a deal, vote for it. It has to be better than no deal.

Meanwhile in the process of finally finishing a new novel and heading off to Bath for my birthday and to read and edit the same. Two years since I started this novel and it's been hard. Back early November.

© Sam Hawksmoor October 21st 2019
Author of Girl with Cat (Blue) - 'funny, scary and full of surprises - a must read' LD

*As ever Hackwriters 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 Sam North Novels - still available to order on Lulu or Amazon
** The Heaviness, also recommended & The Repercussions of Tomas D -'best time travel WW2 story in a long while'

Girl with Cat (Blue) - Shortlisted for the Rubery Book Award 2018 '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. 2018 - Honorable Mention

J&K 4Ever - Love and Devotion in the Wastelands 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.  She is pursued by ruthless Enforcers on horseback, whose task it is to bring runaways back, dead or alive. '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 2015

The new edition of 'ANOTHER PLACE TO DIE: ENDTIME CHRONICLES By Sam Hawksmoor & Sam North Could you live in a world where antibiotics no longer work? Print & Kindle Q&A interview with the authors here A city gripped by fear as a lethal virus approaches from the East. No one knows how many are dying. 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. Do you stay and hide, or do you flee? Review from the First Edition: 'Beautiful, plausible, and sickeningly addictive, Another Place to Die will terrify you, thrill you, and make you petrified of anyone who comes near you...' Roxy West - Amazon.co.uk

Spy/Romance thriller set during the Blitz in WW2 - Kindle download All proceeds go to keeping Hackwriters going 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 with alternative facts ' *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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