We are all made of stories, we make stories and we are stories

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Books by Ruth Hartley, Reading4 Comments

I want to give up storytelling I want to give up writing – my efforts are going nowhere – nobody reads my stories – it’s such hard work – I can never be good enough – I spend all my days doing it  – and I do it alone  – shut away in my study  – tapping away at a […]

Parisot Literary Festival – writers, readers, books, stories – a weekend of pleasure and good company

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Books by Ruth Hartley, Festival, Illustration, Reading, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, Visual Arts, Writing Process1 Comment

Good company and pleasure at Parisot 82 What better company can there be? A delightful French village called Parisot, the well-organised Parisot literary festival with good companions, excellent food and wine – and BOOKS!! John and I enjoyed ourselves so much that I failed to get photos of the people I met and so you’ll have to do mostly with […]

Finding readers for ‘The Tin Heart Gold Mine’ – Lara’s London and Mandela’s statue.

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Books by Ruth Hartley, The Tin Heart Gold Mine2 Comments

London’s South Bank Centre and the River Thames Writers write about what they know. Even an imagined world must be thoroughly experienced and known to the author of a book. At the start of The Tin Heart Gold Mine, Lara, the main character of the book, lives in London and in a part of London that I loved, so naturally […]

Book clubs and choices, likes and dislikes, readers and reviewers

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Books by Ruth Hartley, Reading, The Shaping of Water, Writing Process5 Comments

What do writers want? What do writers want? They want readers. They want money and recognition of course, but they want readers most. How do they get readers? Well – they need sales. How do writers get sales? Writers need an agent, a publisher, a good deal of luck and a huge amount of energy so they can do the […]

The Vic en Bigorre Book Festival

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Books by Ruth Hartley, Festival, Graphic Novel, Reading, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, The White and Black Blues1 Comment

A very pleasant and successful day I thoroughly enjoyed myself and sold some of my books. I started the day slightly bemused as we had just returned from Paris rather late the night before. Nick Inman, Clara Villanueva, myself and June Gadsby had a table together for our books in English and Spanish. This is the second year that there […]