Hell-ooooo Out There!

I have returned.

Me hanging out with Bill at Shakespeare's Birthplace last year

Well, I never really went anywhere -- just to hell and back, as some of you may or may not recall from a few of my poignant and terrible previous posts. I kept on promising that I'd try harder and keep up the blog. For so many reasons (and no reason at all) I found I didn't have the need or the drive... and so I left this poor blog on the side of the road to fend for itself.

There had been more death and loss in my immediate circle than life and joy in recent times, and healing has been both necessary and slow. I don't think I'm all the way back yet. I don't think the old me will ever quite manage to come back fully restored, and that is simply the way of it.

If you really want gory details, go back a few posts and you'll see what I went through. And the worst was yet to come in the ongoing saga with the loss of my Mom in December of 2015. I still feel rudderless in the wake of Mom's death, and am adjusting day-by-day to my relatively new status as an orphan.

But it's not all doom and gloom. I have been working on my health and have made good progress. I have been writing a wonderful, odd story that eventually became a novel... and that in turn seems to be Part One of Three. The world of Haresmoor is layered with ancient mysteries. At its heart, there lies an age-old battle between the Cunning Ways and the titled nobility who have taken over their sacred lands. It is a strange feat of imagination but set in a specific real place and time -- Wiltshire at the very end of World War I. I am finding my grandmother's voice and my mother's within the pages. Izzy is the girl at the centre-- the last of her Cunning kind with a long, hard road ahead. There is a rambling manor house full of secrets and long-suffering staff. A stone circle crowned by rooks and magpies. Animal characters have presented themselves: tricksters and helpmeets, primarily Meep the cat, Crow and Fox. I'm loving the weird invention of it all and am reveling in exploring language in new ways. What is Haresmoor? It's Englsh Folk Horror. It's Magic Historical Realism. Who knows? The genre might be a tricky one to nail down! "Downtown Abbey meets Harry Potter," a friend quipped. But that sort of pastiche is too easy and simplistic... though that sort of broad appeal would be welcomed by me!

Avebury Stone Circle, 2016.

It's meant my returning to the U.K. and tramping about in search of visceral details. If I can make the trip yearly, I shall. In a perfect world, I'd split my time equally between Ontario and England. That is still the goal -- despite the fact that the England in my mind doesn't match the depressing reality all that much these days. But my stories live there. My soul lives there, entwined in the family roots and embedded in its soil. I'll share imagery and words in my coming posts.

Other news! Base Spirits has been adapted as a screenplay by a Toronto filmmaker, Carolyn Kelly, and I'm now combing through the novel manuscript ahead of taking a pass through the script. It is instructive to revisit old work and see just how much I have since grown as a writer.

Haresmoor is the present main creative focus. I am closing in on the complete first draft and then the editing and rewriting will begin. I am also actively seeking new ways to reach audience and expand my readership. I have a LOT of writing to share and it is time to get it out into the world. Watch this space... I shall reveal details as things unfold in the coming months.

I promise.

An Overnight Success... in Only 25 Years!

This post is all about being in it for the long haul.

Let me tell you about my dear friend Stephen Ayres. (Remember that name. You'll start hearing about him soon, I promise... and not just here on my blog.)

Cheers to Success!

I met Steve in our first year at Trent University in 1986. He was relatively shy compared to my general 'out there' self, but we were in a lot of the same classes and the same residence hall. He came to see me in a terrible play I was in during first term, and we both worked on a production of Othello later in the year: him backstage and me 'out there' as Emilia. We also ended up doing some short films around campus-- just 'cause we wanted to.

Steve was-- and is-- a 'film guy'. He loves movies. He has a quick wit, a great eye, and a way with storytelling. He's always wanted nothing more than to be a part of it all. After earning his BA at Trent, he moved on to Ryerson for film and the shy guy really blossomed.

Jump ahead a few years.

Steve met and married a lovely Australian woman, Kim. They ended up living Down Under in Sydney and have two great kids... now teenagers. Kim works in health, and has become very busy in her career with a cancer foundation and the specialty training of nurses. Steve ended up working in banking and finance for years, and all but put the idea of filmmaking on the back-burner. Where does the time go?

Yes. Where does it go? And what about the idealistic dreams and goals we have in our younger days? Do they ever entirely vanish, even as people build a family and a home, and make all those realistic tough decisions along the way... like getting a 'real' job? Who was that clean-shaven guy in the mirror wearing a suit and heading out everyday to a job he loathed in the core of Sydney's financial district?

So-- a few years ago-- a very unhappy Steve decided to give himself a little time to get back to screenwriting and see what he could do. Kim's job is good, and he took a package from the bank when he left. It was enough to buy some time: not indefinite, but a bit of breathing and writing space.

He sweated over ideas and honed scripts. Pitched to agents and producers. Felt hope. Saw hope dashed. Made his kids' lunches and ironed their school uniforms. Cooked dinner for Kim and did the laundry and the yard work. Soul searched. Nearly gave up but never did. Got into some prestigious Australian screenwriting programs, and inched further ahead toward that elusive dream.

Finally, a couple of years ago, a big producer finally took proper notice of one of his many scripts. Su Armstrong produced a little movie called Good Will Hunting. You may have heard of it.

Wow. Surely this was the proverbial 'it'. Any second now his film would be shot and hit the big time, right?

Not quite.

It still took a lot of back-and-forthing. A lot of pitching to get a director and a cast on board. That meant chasing a lot of dead ends and the heartache of schedule conflicts. Even with the main players falling into place, funding still needed to be secured... and that meant getting an international distributor on board to win the funding bodies' confidence. It's a long, slow state of limbo with no guarantee.

But? He kept that hope alive through some very dark moments.

And we don't get there alone, folks. His family and friends stuck by, and enough people along the way believed in his writing to make it happen. And now a distribution agent is backing the film... and suddenly it's a go!

I am THRILLED to be able to tell you that my pal's screenplay 33 Liberty Lane is going to be shot this summer directed by Peter Hewitt. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sandra-oh-emily-watson-nia-vardalos-melora-hardin-317904 Yep. That's the Hollywood Reporter carrying the story. And yes, those are the incredible women who are starring in MY old buddy's first produced script! Not too shabby.

I am so, so proud of Steve. For over two decades I've watched-- from up close and at a distance-- as he took baby steps forward and got shoved back time and time again by bad luck and circumstance, and the vagaries of the film industry, and real life and family being more important. Here we are at last!

This story is an example to all of us who struggle to keep that spark of hope alive through the darkest of times. We can do this. We CAN.

Now go follow your own paths, and I'll stop blogging and get back to my novel in progress.

Great Reviews and News for Base Spirits!

The week is unfolding with all sorts of wonderful news...

First off-- as I mentioned in my last blog post-- I had a great review of Base Spirits from Jon P. Bloch of the Kindle Book Review team. He called it a 'distinctive debut worthy of attention'. If you want the full 4 star review, here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2UZZDTJUGDDS/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B005L38G8E&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode= He also thought it could be easily dramatized as a screenplay... interesting, as I had a message from a Facebook pal in the 'business' just last night suggesting that very thing. I have but to come up with a screenplay, and he has some producers in mind who are looking for a dark project to back.

That would be perfect-- but where to start? If anyone has suggestions or experience, I'd sure love to hear some advice! My friend was encouraging, though. He figures if I can manage to write a novel, I am capable of writing a screenplay. My day job does require me to write film and TV scripts, but they are specialized and purely technical to provide descriptive narration for the blind and visually impaired.

I had a lovely Valentine's gift in the form of another stellar review from Stacey Turner on See Spot Read! http://seespotread-spot.blogspot.com/2012/02/base-spirits-by-ruth-barrett.html Here's a quote that certainly warmed my cockles:
"Honestly, there wasn't anything I didn't enjoy about this book. Since I'm hesitant to give out five star reviews (they're flung out so willy nilly these days that who really believes them?), I'm definitely giving this one a ringing four star recommendation. Anyone who enjoys history, ghosts, possessions, England, or horror in general, is going to enjoy this book. I don't know how many people know who Barbara Erskine is, but her novels are what this book put me in mind of. And I'm a huge Barbara Erskine fan. Which makes me a huge Ruth Barrett fan."

Wow.

That is yet another comparison to Barbara Erskine-- I think that's the third so far from enthusiastic readers. I've gone out and bought my first Erskine novel today so I can see for myself what makes us similar (if I can just find some time to read! My TBR pile is threatening to topple over and crush me.)

Base Spirits is also one of two Book of the Day selections on the new RG2E (The Reader's Guide to E-publishing) site. They seem like an exciting new source for connecting readers with new writers-- if you are either/or, take a look and sign up-- although their primary focus is on readers. There are regular giveaways of intriguing new e-books and a Kindle e-reader or two... http://thereadersguidetoepublishing.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/todays-eotd-include-ruth-barretts-base-spirits-and-sharon-hamiltons-heavenly-lover/ For all you writers out there, RG2E is a sister site to the very popular WG2E (The Writer's Guide to E-publishing). Check them out for great tips and articles. http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/

A busy week indeed-- and it's resulted in a modest bump in sales. I'm also newly on Triberr and experimenting with that site, and there is still a featured author spot to come before the week is out! *Whew* Stay tuned... and thanks for dropping by.