WRITER
STORYTELLER
TEACHER
Julie Hartley
Welcome to my website! I’m a novelist, poet, creative writing teacher, editor, retreat leader and parrot owner. Here, you’ll find details of my books, including my two historical novels, set in England during World War 2 and released by Bookouture. You’ll also find information on this website about my annual creative writing retreats in Mexico and Costa Rica, and my creative writing classes for adults and teens. Check out my blog, too, for writing prompts and techniques, tales of travel and musings on a creative life. Oh – and there are a few stories about the parrot, too.
The Promise She Made is Out Now!
It’s September 1940, and with the Blitz underway 18-year-old Ruby is determined to protect her little sister from the bombs – after all, she promised as much to their mother, just before she died. So, Ruby books passage for them both on the SS City of Benares, to safety in Canada. However, her plan backfires when the Nazis torpedo the ship as it crosses the Atlantic Ocean. Ruby is injured, and eight-year-old Eliza is reported ‘lost at sea’.
Back in England, Ruby sets about rebuilding her life, determined to plough all her energy into the defeat of Nazi Germany. She trains as a spy and prepares to parachute into Occupied France. But then, she stumbles on a letter that changes everything. It seems her sister may not be dead, after all.
The Promise She Made is available on Kindle and in paperback through most online stores or by following this link: https://geni.us/ThePromiseSheMade
Writing Matters – a Newsletter for Writers
Several weeks ago, I started a newsletter for writers. The newsletter is a free service. It goes out every Friday by email and is packed full of prompts and writing tips. This blog is an excerpt from the very first newsletter. If you like what you see here, and you want to receive the newsletter every week in your mailbox, simply drop me a note: julieAT SIGNcentauriartscamp.com Today, I’d like to introduce you to the writer’s best friend: the Free Write. What’s this? It’s a way to beat the blank page, the blank screen – to help your words flow freely. Imagine that your passion was dance, not writing. Would you ever slip out of your winter gear and leap immediately onto the stage to [...]
Costa Rica Retreat – Days 6-8
Day 6… After breakfast by the pool to a cacophony of screeching parrots, we set ourselves a bizarre challenge this morning: use what we have learned this week to collaborate, in just an hour, on the plot outline for a novel! We explored different ways to generate ideas, warmed up with a 15 minute free write, then in less than an hour, we outlined a complete novel. Our inspiration was a simple question: what is essential for life? What would happen if one of those essentials was taken away? This morning, we also shared, critiqued and celebrated the character pieces we worked on yesterday – several participants were so inspired by these that they have already worked them into short stories! This afternoon, several group [...]
Costa Rica Retreat – Days 4-5
Our lives have fallen into a wonderful pattern, here. We wake to a cacophony of rainforest noises in the morning, drink coffee and eat a breakfast that consists of produce either grown or made right here at Fina Luna Nueva: delicious breads, jams, kafir, kombucha, farm fresh eggs, chaya and yucca pancakes and platters of fresh fruits. We eat overlooking the forest on one side and the lovely pool on the other. We take our coffee with us up to the terrace, where we hold a 2 hour writing workshop each morning, trying not to be too distracted by the hummingbirds zipping between the flowers and the parrots screeching overhead. On Day 4, our writing workshop explored story and plot; we explored several ways to [...]