Mimi, our new CAT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Build It, They Will Come

 IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME The saying, “If you build it they will come,” originated in Field of Dreams, the baseball movie starring Kevin Costner.  The film was Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying those words to him, and  feels the need to act. Though others think he has looped the loop, he builds a baseball diamond on his land, with his wife's encouragement, and the ghosts of great players appear on the field.      Some years ago a fellow-writer said that authors who intend to self-publish their books believe too much in “If you build it, they will come.” A writer should have a marketing plan, instead of taking the attitude that once the book is written, fate or luck will help them sell copies. Of course she was right. And yet... Sometimes the universe unfolds as it should. I haven’t been posting on my blog for a while because I’ve been researching and writing a novel set in 1940s Montreal about a woman wh...
Read more

An Excerpt from my novel-in-progress

      For the past year I have been researching and writing a new novel about an artist's life in Montreal in the turbulent 1930s and 1940s.  I've written earlier Canadian historical novels set during the Great Depression of the  1930s, and enjoyed revisiting this decade (and the following one) through the eyes of a fictional woman painter busy juggling art and motherhood.     I haven't yet decided on a title for the novel, but think it will be either "Forty Mermaids" or "Beax,Arts."     I will call the excerpt below, "A Father-in-law's Visit." A Father-in-law's Visit. (c) Ruth Latta, 2025           Luke and his sisters called their father “Papa” and deeply respected him, so much so that the phrase “As Papa always says,” came to irritate Merle. Many people found Rev. Mr. Howard Croft profound, witty and wise, but to her he was a bore, and although he always treated her kindly, she doubted that he had the wisdom o...
Read more

The Art World of my novel-in-progress, "Forty Mermaids."

  My new novel, Forty Mermaids , to be published in 2026, is about a fictional Montreal artist’s development as a painter during the first half of the 20th century. My central character, Merle, faces obstacles to her work. Like many “women artists,” she struggles to carve out time from homemaking to pursue her painting. Her work is misinterpreted by art critics. Friends advise her to concentrate on domestic life. Like many innovators, she runs into conventional notions about what art is. As well, the Great Depression of the 1930s was not a good time for those in the arts.          While the administration of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt  provided opportunities and funding for American artists through the Works Progress Administration, Canada had no such program. During World War II, however, the Canadian  government funded artists to work on pictures about the  war effort.           I have always li...
Read more