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 […]

Pascale Petit’s art and poetry: The Survival of the Artist and of our World

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Migration, Poetry, Visual Arts, Writing Process2 Comments

What connections are there between art, song, poetry, dance and all of us? Pascale Petit has generously agreed to let me put her video about her art on my post. I was moved by what she says in it and I found many thought-provoking links and connections in it to my own feelings and experiences of art, poetry and 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 […]

Why English writers choose to live in France

Ruth HartleyCreative Writing, Festival, Promotion6 Comments

That’s why it’s so hard for me to speak French I love living in France and I enjoy learning French but I also love hiding away in my study and writing in English. It’s hard to get better at spoken French when my creative world is so concentrated on English – that’s what I tell myself. What about you? Are […]