Guest post: A Woman of Note by Carol M. Cram (with giveaway)

A Woman of Note
by Carol M. Cram
-Historical, Music
Just released: September 8, 2015
Amazon | Goodreads
Virtuoso pianist Isabette Grüber captivates audiences in the salons and concert halls of early nineteenth-century Vienna. Yet in a profession dominated by men, Isabette longs to compose and play her own music—a secret she keeps from both her lascivious manager and her resentful mother. She meets and loves Amelia Mason, a dazzling American singer with her own secrets, and Josef Hauser, an ambitious young composer. But even they cannot fully comprehend the depths of Isabette’s talent.

Her ambitions come with a price when Isabette embarks on a journey that delicately walks the line between duty and passion. Amid heartbreak and sacrifice, music remains her one constant. With cameos from classical music figures such as Chopin, Schubert, and Berlioz, A Woman of Note is an intricately crafted and fascinating tale about one woman’s struggle to find her soul’s song in a dissonant world.

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by Carol M. Cram
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1. What is your favorite book of all time?
It’s a toss-up between two Jane Austen classics—Pride and Prejudice and Emma. I think that Emma probably edges out Pride and Prejudice only because I like that Emma is not wholly likable. She makes lots of mistakes which is very human and endearing. Also, Emma is even funnier than Pride and Prejudice, if that’s possible. An all-time favorite from my childhood is Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery, who wrote all the Anne of Green Gables books. “Rilla” is the story of Anne’s daughter and is one of the first novels written from the point of view of Canadian women during the First World War. I’m not sure why, but I can pick up that book at any time and be instantly transported back to 1914 and still cry at the sad bits! I try in my own work not to be sentimental so it’s ironic that one of my favorite books is about as sentimental as a book can get!

2. What is your dream vacation?
My dream vacation is one I take as often as I can—it involves going on my own to research locations where I’ve set a novel. For “A Woman of Note,” I traveled to Vienna and for “A Towers of Tuscany,” I spent ten glorious days in San Gimignano and Siena in Tuscany. I absolutely love wandering about a place, soaking up the atmosphere, stopping to jot down notes, enjoying people watching and just being alone with my thoughts.

3. Describe your writing style in three words.
Write, Think, Repeat

4. Any recent works that you admire?
“All the Light You Cannot See,” which recently won the Pulitzer Prize is a marvelous book—so beautifully written and layered. I was riveted. That’s probably the best book I’ve read so far this year, but admittedly I don’t read as many books as I would like, particularly when I’m deep into my own writing.

5. What is your writing process?
If I don’t manage to get right to writing soon after I get to my desk in the morning, I sometimes end up doing business and other computer work for most of the day and then between 5 and 7 pm I sit down and pound out most of the words I manage in a day (anywhere from 50 to 1500!). It is unfortunate that my most productive writing time falls right at my family’s dinner hour and I am the family cook! Fortunately, my husband, who is a visual artist, understands and makes do with snacks until I drag myself away from the screen and rustle something up! Quite often, I just go out and he fends for himself. I think it’s essential for writers who have partners to choose someone who understands the creative process and is not jealous of the time required to think and write. I feel very fortunate that my husband totally “gets it”!

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Guest post created by Carol M. Cram, author of A Woman of Note
© 2015. All rights reserved.

About the author:

Carol M. Cram is the author of The Towers of Tuscany, an historical novel about a woman painter in fourteenth century Italy. In addition to writing fiction, Carol has enjoyed a great career as an educator, teaching at Capilano University in North Vancouver for over twenty years and authoring forty-plus bestselling textbooks on business communications and software applications for Cengage Learning. She holds an MA in Drama from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Carol is currently focusing as much of her attention as she can spare between walks in the woods on writing historical novels with an arts twist. She and her husband, painter Gregg Simpson, share a life on beautiful Bowen Island near Vancouver, Canada.

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Blog
Twitter @carolcram

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by Carol M. Cram
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* I am currently reading this book and looking forward to posting my thoughts later this week.

* SIGNUP to win this review copy (here).

* guest post courtesy of book tour sponsored by BookSparks. @booksparks