WRITER
STORYTELLER
TEACHER
Julie Hartley
Welcome to my website! I’m a novelist, poet, creative writing teacher, editor, retreat leader, storyteller, and parrot owner. Here, you’ll find details of my books: a middle grade novel called The Finding Place, a collection of poetry bizarrely entitled Deboning a Dragon, and a guide for teachers who want to instil in their students a lifelong love of Shakespeare. You’ll also find information here 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.
How to Write Historical Fiction
Are you interested in writing historical fiction? Here is a simple prompt to get you started: 1. Choose a historical event that you find interesting and research it for half an hour. Setting yourself a time limit for the research will [...]
Why I LOVE Writing – and Reading – Historical Fiction!
If you had asked me back in 2020 which genres I preferred as a writer, I would have said fantasy, science fiction, young adult, middle grade… anything but historical fiction. But then I discovered writers like Kristin Hannah and Kate Quinn, [...]
A Creative Writing Prompt
As we move towards spring, here is a brand new creative writing prompt to inspire your creative processes! Choose a comfortable place in which to write, and take care to read all the instructions below before you begin. If you follow [...]