Tell us who you are.
My name is Ruth
Barrett, and I am an actor who’s morphed into a writer. My day job
is writing descriptive video scripts for the blind, and my ‘real’
writing is my fiction. I have published a heap of short stories over
the years, and ‘Base Spirits’ is my first novel.
When did you start
writing and how long was it before you were published?
I’ve always
written stories since I was a child. I had dreams of being an author
in my late teens, but the acting took over for a few years. In my
thirties, I started getting more serious, took a few writing courses,
and an anthology published my first short story, ‘Family Secrets’.
(I’ve since rewritten and re-launched that story as a stand-alone
on Kindle.)
Tell us about
your latest book and what inspired it.
‘Base Spirits’
came about as a result of my acting in a Jacobean play, ‘A
Yorkshire Tragedy’. The story is nasty, brutish and short: a
nobleman loses his fortune and murders half of his family rather than
live in poverty. It was a true story in 1605, and Shakespeare’s
acting company cashed in on the scandal and performed the play even
before Sir Walter Calverley was pressed to death for his crimes! I
was playing his unfortunate wife, and had a chance to visit Leeds in
Yorkshire during rehearsals. Calverley Old Hall is still standing in
a nearby village. In fact, you can rent one wing as a holiday flat. I
met a local historian and had a tour through the place… and of
course it has a few ghost legends. Not a surprise, considering the
tragic past. I seemed to know more about the story than anyone, and
thought it might make a good ghost novel one day… and ‘one day’
actually took quite a few years, on and off!
What genre do you
write in, if any? How do you feel about the genre, the future of it,
and the authors in it?
‘Base Spirits’
seems to fall under a classic horror category, although it is a mixed
genre piece with a historical core. I tend to write with a dark
streak, but not always pure horror per se. The horror gang writing
today are a great bunch-- very warm and welcoming, and mutually
supportive. The genre seems to be vibrant these days. Certain things
ebb and flow in being the ‘sexy’ theme of the day, like vampires
and zombies-- as long as it’s well-written, that’s great for all
of us. Today’s readers have never had more choice.
What/who do you
read for pleasure?
I like a little of
everything. I studied English Literature at university in Canada and
the U.K., so I do enjoy Dickens, the Brontes and Shakespeare. I love
Ian McEwan, Sebastian Faulks, Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley and
Sarah Waters to name but a few. My Kindle is stuffed full of all the
new Indie authors I’ve discovered, and I need to find more time for
my TBR pile! I am not a snob about genres. If it’s well done, I’ll
read almost anything. I tend to gravitate toward dark themes… and
if a book has a British historical setting, that rocks my
imagination.
Is writing
pleasure or work for you?
A bit of both.
When I’m in ‘The Zone’, it’s like time stands still and I
write for hours on end without even noticing I’m forgetting to eat
or have a drink. Sometimes when the world is too much with me, it
takes a struggle to get in the mood. The ‘day job’ writing
sometimes has to take precedent. I kinda need to eat and pay my
bills, and the fiction isn’t doing that for me… YET!
If you had to
exchange your writing life with another writer, who would that writer
be and why?
Stephen Fry seems
to have good time! He truly loves words and language, and delights in
playing with English with such amazing wit and humour. He is also at
that enviable stage in his career where he can act or be a show host
or write… he is past all the struggle of having to prove himself
and find his audience. That is the sort of freedom I would love to
have- you can choose what you want to do next and always know that
you are secure.
How do your
friends and family cope knowing you have such dark or unusual
thoughts?
My family has
always thought I was a bit… unusual. I’m the youngest of four
siblings and the only girl. It’s likely their fault that I’m
bent. My Mom is proud as punch. My friends have been quite supportive
overall, but I think I’ve shocked a few along the way. In everyday
life, I am very cheerful and funny and so I think they expected that
my books will be light and fluffy. As ‘Base Spirits’ opens with
an execution and deals with brutal marital abuse and infanticide, I’m
sure there are some out there who quietly wonder where my demons come
from…
How supportive is
your spouse and/or your family?
No spouse to worry
about. My boyfriend has been hugely supportive and was one of the
main people who pushed me toward the Indie route to publishing. My
Mom has been my biggest champion all along. Other family members have
been generally quite supportive… and some haven’t said one word
about it.
What inspires you?
Or triggers a story idea?
I have a wild
imagination that seems to run in the background at all times. I’ll
see an image or an article that might get me questioning ‘why?’,
or have a dream that sparks an idea for a story. The best
inspirations are when a random thought catches flame and runs off in
my head. A whole novel once appeared in a single afternoon walk.
How do you see the
story in your mind as it's created? Is it like making a plan, seeing
a mental movie, or do you just write down what the voices in your
head tell you?
I don’t plan.
The idea usually plays out like a movie scene at first, and then the
voices start chattering as the characters present themselves. God--
writers really are a bit nuts, aren’t they?
Now that
traditional publishing vs digital publishing has taken really
different turns lately, how do you feel about authors going the small
press or traditional publishing route over the digital route? Indie
or Traditional for you or both and why?
I chased that
elusive traditional route for years. I had success in individual
stories getting published by anthologies and chapbooks. I won a few
contests and was awarded a writing grant. This is a good pedigree to
have when you are trying to woo agents and publishers, and I know
that it helped me get onto the right desks instead of slush piles
sometimes. I have a professional editor who loved the book and
started dropping it off to the Big Six publishers on my behalf even
BEFORE I started working with her! The feedback from editors and
agents was always positive… but never did anyone take me on. It was
enormously frustrating. I would go in fits and starts, re-write, and
try again… but I found it utterly disheartening and time consuming.
I went Indie after
some hesitation. There was such a stigma for so long (and there still
is, to some degree) that if you self-publish you must suck. It was
only after nearly dying from the flu at New Year’s 2011 that I
decided that life was too short, and finally listened to my friend’s
gentle suggestions to look into all of this e-publishing stuff. I do
like a lot about being Indie, but it is a LOT of hard work trying to
get your writing noticed in the flood of new work constantly on
offer. There are a number of folks out there who unfortunately are
not helping the ‘you must suck’ Indie stigma by putting out
sub-standard work. If you aren’t prepared to hone your craft, hire
an editor and have a professional-looking cover, then you are doing
yourself an injustice and making other Indie writers look like a bad
bet for prospective readers.
I see that some
publishers are starting to present more ‘writer friendly’ deals,
like Scott Nicholson has with Thomas and Mercer. He still owns all
the rights and profits for his other work, but has a three-book deal
with them. That is good business for both parties. Publishers are
going to have to change the way they run if they want to stay in the
game. It’s been a case of them being the impenetrable gate-keepers
for too long. A deal like that would appeal to me-- it would take a
bit of pressure off by letting someone else hire the editor and cover
designer, pay for book printing, and do a lot more effective
marketing than I can on my own. It would also help sales of my own
Indie stuff and free up more time for actual writing. I don’t think
authors need to choose one or the other route anymore-- it’s a
matter of what makes the most sense at the time.
What's the best
book you ever read?
The Complete Works
of William Shakespeare.
Who are your
influences in literature?
Shakespeare gives
a writer great grounding in character development and use of imagery.
My theatre and TV background drive my work. I ‘see’ what I write
like a stage piece or a film… and all of my actor’s training of
getting into a character’s head helps my fictional characters come
to life. I mentioned a few other favourite writers earlier on, but I
also read heaps of Stephen King, Peter Straub and John Saul as a kid
and I’m sure that had a huge influence.
Do you feel
traditional publishing may become a niche?
There will always
be traditional publishers. Publishing is in a state of evolution and
re-invention right now. Whether that results in it becoming a ‘niche’
remains to be seen.
What
is your education and job, other than writing?
I
have a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature-- I studied
at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario and did my third year
abroad at the University of Leeds, UK. I returned to England and did
my theatre training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
(LAMDA) in London. I’ve since taken a few creative writing course,
notably the Humber School for Writers correspondence course under the
enthusiastic mentorship of Booker Prize inner Peter Carey. My day job
is working in described video services for the blind and visually
impaired. I write special described narrative scripts for TV and
film, and sometimes I get to record the narration, which makes the
actor in me pretty happy. I love doing voice-over work. I had a
special project last year: live-to-air improvised described narrative
for the Royal Wedding.
Do you ever, like
Truman Capote confessed doing, take from real life, friends, and
family situations or characters to use in your fiction? If so, do you
tell them or keep it secret?
I once said that I
have a mental scrap bag of bits and pieces: the inflection in a
voice, or the way someone jingles change in their pocket, or a facial
expression… and yes, true-life interactions between real people
sometimes find their way into the scrap bag as well. I never base a
character exactly on a real person-- I’ll stitch bits together like
a crazy-quilt. And as Margaret Atwood said, ‘Sometimes we just make
things up’! I’m no fool. I never tell anyone if there’s an
aspect of them in a character. If they do notice, I hope they only
notice the positive stuff.
Do you think
networking on social sites has helped your career and sales?
That is the only
way I have any sales! If I didn’t Tweet and lurk around on
Facebook, guest blog and do interviews like this, I’d have sold a
few books to my friends and that would be about it. I find this to be
one of the coolest things about going Indie- I’ve made tons of
friends and interacted with readers. I try not to be overly pushy,
and just joke about and share ideas on-line. I have no problem with
sharing other authors’ news or blog posts, and I hope they return
the favour if they feel moved to do so. It’s not a competition, is
it? If someone likes to read, they’re going to buy more than one
book… and if an Indie author can point the way to other quality
Indie writers, everyone wins.
Writing fiction is
important to all authors, but how much does it mean to you? If there
were no outlets for fiction of any kind, how would that feel? If for
some reason you could not write anymore, what would you do instead?
I can’t imagine
a world without a fictional outlet. It wouldn’t feel complete or
fulfilling. What a horrible thought! If I couldn’t write, I’d
have to be acting again- there is a strong need in me to tell stories
and explore characters… move people to laughter or tears or a new
way of looking at something… or just entertain them.
What three things
should our world have that would make it a better place?
If the world had
more empathy, generosity and selflessness, we’d be living in an
earthly paradise. That would pretty much solve all the major problems
like war and terrorism, religious strife, disgusting capitalist greed
that destroys nature and human lives for the sake of the almighty
buck, and the bizarre right-wing Conservative attempt to take over
the world!
Base Spirits on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/
Base Spirits in Paperback: http://www.amazon.
Family Secrets on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/
