Storytellers, readers, writers and reviews

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine2 Comments

We are all storytellers. We are all readers. Some of us are writers. Not all readers write reviews but all writers need reviews and even bad ones mean that we have been noticed and read. In this post, I am going to tell you in a 4 short paragraphs, about 4 books that have given me great pleasure and that […]

My story, is it a memoir, an autobiography, or a novel?

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Graphic Novel, Memoir, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, Writing Process4 Comments

What is my novel? “How much of your novel is an autobiography?” It’s a good question to ask a writer. A good question It was asked at the launch of The Tin Heart Gold Mine, but it’s not a simple question to answer. I immediately wanted to ask the other writers there what they thought. It’s easier to answer this […]

June Gadsby — author of 24 multi-genre books

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Book Publishing, Creativity7 Comments

This post is to introduce my neighbour, the writer June Gadsby. We have known each other for over 7 years and June has been a kind and supportive friend. June and her husband have lived in this small corner of rural France for over 20 years and her lovely home and garden have hosted many pleasant gatherings. What is very […]

Writing and selling The Tin Heart Gold Mine

Ruth HartleyBook Launch, Promotion, Southern Africa, The Tin Heart Gold Mine4 Comments

Writers need to sell books Writers write – rather than talk about what they write – but the current publishing market forces us to become Independent Authors and acquire self-promotional skills entirely different from writing. The idea of a book launch for The Tin Heart Gold Mine gave me sleepless nights, but, nevertheless, we decided to hold the event at […]

Writing, hunting Agents, surviving Rejections, reaching Readers

Ruth HartleyBook Launch, Digital Publishing, Self-Publishing, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, Writing ProcessLeave a Comment

All that happens before the book launch This post will be published the morning after the book launch of The Tin Heart Gold Mine. I had to write and schedule it before the launch and so can’t report on that event. I’ll do that the following week and then I’ll give all my loyal readers a break and only post […]