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 […]

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 […]