Code Words: Composer Barrie celebrates the release of his first novel

Longtime Barrie resident Richard Bullis is used to telling stories through his composition, but putting pen to paper for a book was an entirely different experience.

The 60-year-old recently celebrated the release of his first novel, A blood moon between friendsnoting that the story first came to him about 13 years ago.

“I never dreamed of writing a book, but the story came to me and I just kept hammering away at it,” Bullis said.

The fictional novel takes you on a journey through the life of John Bradley, a young man whose life is guided by a code that sees him both thrive in friendships, family and love, but also make a decision that changes everything.

Bullis described his book as a “Canadian story” about a man who grows up living by a code instilled in him by an uncle and who seeks to help him get through life after the tragic death of his father.

“Eventually he gets to a point where he has to make a decision and he goes against the code. It’s a huge mistake and it’s sending his life down a completely different path that he never would have seen coming,” he said.

By the end of the book, Bullis said readers will be able to decide whether the main character should be forgiven or find redemption.

“I leave that up to the reader,” he said, adding that the book also includes a love story, some violence and even an anti-bullying message that runs throughout the story.

While writing a novel may have been a new endeavor for him, writing stories is not – having been a composer for many years.

“Songwriting is where you get four versus… to get the point in the song and pack everything into those little parts of the song. When you write a novel, you have a lot more room to expand the scenarios and develop the characters,” he said.

“We can all recite the lyrics to our favorite songs. It gets embedded in our heads … people can read a book two or three times.”

Bullis says he hopes to release another book “in the future,” which will be a compilation of four different stories. Until then, he’ll be pleased to know that his first foray into the world of a published author has resulted in copies of his book on shelves from coast to coast.

“I’m not really a writer. I happened to write only one book,” he joked.

Bullis will be leaving in September to do a few guest speaking gigs that he hopes will inspire others to reach outside their comfort zones.

“I hope to use this book to inspire people to take up art, whether it’s painting, writing, sculpting. I want to tell people that if I can do this, you can do anything you want if you open yourself up to the opportunity,” he said.

Anyone interested in purchasing a copy can contact Bullis directly here.