The Repossession of Genie Magee + The Hunting of Genie Magee

The Heaviness of Genie Magee

The Repercussions of Tomas D

Another Place To Die Endtime Chronicles

Marikka

J&K 4Ever lovers on the run

Girl with Cat (Blue)

December 2024 Update

I'm back - sort of refreshed by two weeks away in Bath, Somerset (Bridgerton to you).
It was time away with daily 15,000 step walks with Mishka (vaguely Alsationish and Biscuit (definitely Cocker-Poo) and their owner my best pal Kitty. Bath is best discovered on foot. We liked to explore the wonderful parks with all the lovely Cedar trees and walk along the canals or river. You can appreciate just how amazing some of the homes are with gardens that sweep down to the water and one cannot forget the rain. Never forget your umbrella when visiting. Kitty lives in Oldfield Park and it's incredibly convenient for local shops and a quick walk down the hill into the city. The best thing about Bath is all the coffee shops (most of which allow dogs). My favourites are Café Lucca (Near Beckford Canteen and Wine Bar) and a Café No 1 by the river and bridge.

TV likes to show Bath as a genteel city where 200 years ago the Georgians all gathered to take the waters and have some naughty fun as well as show off their wealth, but in fact Bath was an industrial city with much manufacturing. It is still a place of business - mostly advanced tech companies, but the old warehouses and manufacturing plants and railway spurs are being systematically demolished to make way for apartment buildings - a great many of which are for students there being two Universities in the city. Bath is actually a city of little villages all surrounding the downtown area where the endless stream of tourists roam. It is also not a place for cars. There is nowhere to park. Best to get there by train - it is well connected to London or Bristol and onwards to the South West and northwards from Bristol. The great thing about meeting up with an old friend is picking up where you left off with total ease and just enjoying each other's company - as well as winning the trust of the dogs. Along the way I also caught up with Daisy & The Six and the final episodes of Umbrella Academy on Netflix. Umbrella sort of ended abruptly as if they got cold feet by episode 3 and Daisy Jones seemed to snort a great deal of coke and suffer no consequences at all - which I felt was unrealistic - of course this is a faux Fleetwood Mac biopic but the music didn't quite resonate with me. All in all though it was great to get away and hit the refresh button as we face the misery of a second coming of Trump. So thanks Kitty.

• My new novel 'The Restoration of Ami' is out. It tells the tale of an escaped teen and her dog from a religious cult who hitches a ride with an old NASA veteran on his way to get a special part for the vintage Studebaker he's been restoring. Two extremely unlikely people drawn together on a journey into MAGA America where violence and talk of 'National Divorce' stalk the land. Ami's banking on reconnecting with her mother but Remy has his doubts she will welcome her back having abandoned her aged 5. It's a road trip nightmare - yet an offbeat feel good story as these two strangers and Stan the dog bond over all the crazy things that happen to them on the road.

'Fabulous, can't-put-down story with quirky, original characters, a loveable dog and a great adventure'.
***** Roxy West on Goodreads.

The Restoration of Ami began back in the summer of 2013.  I was helping to clear out a barn in the French countryside and discovered behind some old hay bales a vintage Studebaker Golden Hawk – stashed there back in the sixties by the owner’s Diplomat father. My friend remembered a childhood journey in this vehicle from Madrid to Biarritz. The father died suddenly and had never told anyone where he’d put his car. They figured it had been stolen. My friend and I stared at the car and couldn’t believe it was still intact, (except the interior) and later on he found a relative who wanted to restore it. *I think he's still on the case.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m way too cack-handed to restore a car – let alone rewire it, but I’ve always had a fondness for old American cars and with another friend I remember a few weeks away in the Cape driving around in a ’37 Chevy sedan wearing my Bogart hat. Which still hangs up on my house. *Yep that's me making supper at the campsite many years ago.

I put the memory to one side and only in November 2022 decided on using that long forgotten Studebaker for the base idea for a novel.  I can’t exactly say why Remy appeared as the dedicated restorer. But I knew he would have been an old NASA guy and live in Florida.  A place I have a great fondness for.  Ami is in part based on my niece Tabytha. I’ve known her all her young life and followed her adventures. We got to spend a week together last May in Paris and I listened to her stories and obsessions.  She refreshed my memory about all her friends and how they ended up.  One in particular who finally managed to flee a highly restrictive cult situation. The dog Stan is based on Al, an Australian Sheep Dog happily living in Miami on the 40th floor.

I guess as a writer you are imagining characters and situations, but I like to have a strong visual impression of them and pull the strands of reality together.  Remy has all the aches and pains you’d expect a 75 year-old to have (no research needed) and Ami, despite all the traumas of her life before escape still retains optimism that she will find a place in the world and make sense of what happened to her. 

Remy’s role, as her unexpected protector, doesn’t come out of nowhere. His late wife was part of a committee that were dedicated to putting troubled families and their kids back together. He knows how easily a runaway teen could make mistakes or be taken advantage of, especially a girl who has no knowledge of the outside world. 

As to the context – the crazy events they come across on the road.  Well there isn’t a day that goes by in America when shootings don’t happen. He’s as bewildered as Ami is, the world he grew up in is vanishing fast and he fears for the future.  He attempts to put a positive spin on things but it’s not easy.

Read an Extract of Chapter One here
The Restoration of Ami is available now
ASIN: B0CVQMH78C - Kindle USA
ISBN: 978-1-7385181-0-4 - Print UK
Pub 2.29.24

© Sam Hawksmoor December 2024
author of 'We Feel your Pain' & 'The Book of Ashes'

About 'The Book of Ashes': ISBN: 979-8-837434-952 ASIN: B0B85HFK86 Hammer & Tong - September 2022 - ebook & Print "Great characters, a gripping mystery and the wonderful return of Rufus the dog."BH 'an immensely satisfying story' - Walli Leff on Goodreads. 'a fun read with unique elements ... exemplary in its voice and style' 'Judge, 10th Annual Writer's Digest E-Book Awards My new mystery novel The Book of Ashes is published.  It’s the second Delaney and Asha investigation following ‘We Feel Your Pain’. Now they have set up on their own – their next client is a young cryptocurrency millionaire who commissioned a biography of his father, now suffering from dementia.  Only the writer disappeared with the $10,000 advance.  It seems like a simple track and trace job, but of course, it turns into a total horror show.

Every father is hiding something it seems – some more than others. The Book of Ashes is set in New England. It’s cold, it’s nearly Christmas and New England in the snow looks great on a postcard but can be lethal in reality.  Delaney is deep into his new relationship with Asha, his adopted daughter Maria is now an awkward 15-year-old and of course, Rufus the dog will still need feeding and walks.  Rufus, quite naturally steals the show – as events unfold.Writing a sequel can be a challenge. No longer do you have the frission of the main characters meeting each other for first time. But, of course, you have to remember that a reader might start with book two and wonder how they hell they even got together. Then you also need a compelling mystery. In this case I have long harboured an idea about a biographer uncovering unsavoury secrets about their client. In this case I added the complication of the writer having little chance of any cooperation as the subject has dementia. Had a little fun with Wolfie the feckless writer. Shan't reveal who he might be based on, but there really are people out there exploiting people who want their memoirs written for them - no matter that few or any relatives will actually care.

Happy reading. Berg City awaits you. Order now

**About writing 'Mission Longshot' a sc-fi space adventure

Earth 2032 - The climate has changed - food is running short. War is imminent. Whole cities are in danger of going under water fifty years before they said they would. Mankind is in real danger. Naturally you're going to build a spaceship to take the best and brightest to a new world. 3000 kids essentially put into deep freeze for a 70-year journey into space.

Moonbase 2057 - The first light-speed spaceship is about to be tested. (Despite eight billion dollar explosive failures so far). News comes in that the Colony ship has been struck by asteroids on Year 23 of it's journey. There is one survivor, Celeste Kandar. She knows no one can rescue her - she's going to be alone for the rest of her life. If the light-speed ship works they could rescue Celeste - if it works... What could possibly go wrong?

Earth: Millennial's Eve 1999 - Gerry is waiting for aliens to land. If there was ever a time to attack Y2K night is the night.

It's a real voyage of discovery for Celeste exploring a nearby planet that just might be trying to kill her and the kids attempting to rescue her on a flight that might be a one way ticket...

More about Climate fiction

© Sam Hawksmoor  2024 - *The Sam Hawksmoor Books List and other links

The Repossession of Genie Magee returns in a new Kindle & print edition Combining the elements of science fiction, mystery and supernatural, it is definitely one of the best, and most fascinating, debut novels I've ever read. more

The Hunting of Genie Magee returns in a new Kindle edition Genie and Rian must flee down the river with a $10,000 price on their heads. They must fight for their right to exist. more

'We Feel Your Pain' by Sam Hawksmoor ISBN-13: 979-8699087693 Published by Hammer & Tong Print or Kindle from Amazon Reviews: '...a captivating adventure which could be compared to a Roald Dahl tale filmed by Wes Anderson ...where rythm, wit, humour and punchy dialogue mix with irrepressible, warm sentiment...' 'I really enjoyed living with Delaney, Asha and Maria. And I particularly revelled in that obedient and loving dog, Rufus.  They were lovely characters and it was a good story. The author evokes amazing, vivid pictures'. Delaney and Asha run the Office of Berg City Oversight. Their role is to expose the scams, keep the city safe from unscrupulous people.  When something looks too good to be true – it’s a scam, right?  But what if the scam works?  What kind of scam is that? When Delaney finds himself left for dead at the bottom of a cliff he gets the message - someone doesn't want him near their honeypot.

‘We Feel Your Pain - So you don't have to ’. Read the first book in the series now so you're primed for the next Delaney and Asha investigation.

2023 - The Screenplay for Girl with Cat (Blue) made the Quarter Finals for ISA Connect International Adventure Screenplay Competition - you can read the fantasy novel now. The Sara Troy interview with Sam Hawksmoor 1.12.21 About the Writing of Girl with Cat Blue here

More about Sam Hawksmoor and his writing background here
Hammer &Tong (UK) is a small indie publisher of Sam Hawksmoor's books
Based in Lincolnshire - all messages via Sam Hawksmoor contact page

* Background research on anti-gravity here - **Thinkpiece: What if you read a book you loved and never told anyone, especially the writer? more What did you want to be when you were a child?.... more One question I used to dislike the most when a kid was ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ more Kindle for The Heaviness - Sam in Canada More Background to Genie Magee's world. Search and you'll find some extra stories about the main characters. * If you write me on old fashioned email, I do check and will write back as soon as I can. see Contact 'Terrifying alternative outcome to WW2 - the Blitz brought vividly to life.' THE REPERCUSSIONS of Tomas D Tomas accidentally goes back in time to London in the Blitz. Captured and tortured for what he knows about the war... WW11 abruptly ends in 1941. The day after Tomas disappears, his girlfriend Gabriella wakes up to realise she's the only one who remembers that Germany was supposed to have lost the war... Sample Chapter here THE HEAVINESS of Genie Magee (Book Three) Someone with a grudge wants Genie dead. Rian is kidnapped and forced to do experiments. Genie and Renée have just 36 hours to find Rian or he dies - but the one person who can help is aleady dead. Gravity isn't the only thing that can pull you down... 'The best Genie Magee story left till last. It might just break your heart.'