Local author Carol Cram, president of the Bowen Island Arts Council, is celebrating the recognition offered by the Chanticleer Authors Conference in Bellingham, Wash., for her writing in the genre of historical fiction, and also forging on through her next two works.
Towers of Tuscany tells the story of a woman who dares to follow he own path in the all-male domain of the painter’s workshop in medieval Italy. Published in 2014, judges at the Chanticleer Authors Conference awarded the novel with first place in the Chaucer Division. Her second novel, Woman of Note, won first prize in the Goethe Category.
Cram is busy working simultaneously on her third and fourth novels, and is going back to Tuscany next week to do more research.
She says that while awards are great, they are not her motivation.
“The only real motivator is the desire to tell a good story that people want to read,” she says. “Money and sales are nice, of course, but ultimately I think I get the most satisfaction out of engaging with the characters and the words on the page. I just really love doing the writing and the editing and hanging out with my imaginary friends.”
