Ruth Anne Latta

 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...

 BEING OLD by Ruth Latta “The first time I realized I was old,” said my friend Alma, years ago, “was when I was the only customer in a boutique. At the cash I had a  pleasant exchange with one of the clerks, but when I was halfway out the door I heard her say to her friend, ‘Isn’t she cute!’  I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m so old I’m cute!” At the time, when I was middle-aged, I thought it would be nice to be considered cute, but now, at the age Alma was then, I’m still waiting for someone to say that to me.  I first realized that I was old about fifteen years ago when a bank employee was explaining the difference between two kinds of accounts. “Now, Mrs. Latta, suppose you want to write a cheque for your granddaughter for her birthday,” she began.   For a few minutes I was confused and disconcerted.  Not only did she think I was old enough to have a granddaughter, she also assumed that it was a granddaughter old enough to have a bank account a...