Physician and sculptor, Richard Novak from Rockford, Illinois, United States has won a publishing contract and audiobook production from Spectrum Audiobook in the Page Turner Awards eBook Award, for his Historical Fiction novel, An Uprising in Rome 1849.
Richard entered the Page Turner Awards, where published and unpublished fiction and non-fiction writers of all genres can enter their writing to get discovered by high-profile judges from the literary world.
An Uprising in Rome 1849 is about an American sculptor’s love for an Italian woman belonging to a subversive secret society. It draws him into her dangerous world of Italian politics. After he joins Garibaldi’s unsuccessful defence of Rome, they flee to Florence, where they begin their perilous journey to America.
An Uprising in Rome 1849 is based on actual events in Rome that led to the loss of the pope’s temporal power or rule over the Papal States and eventual unification of Italy. Little has been written about the events of 1849 in Rome.
For Richard, maintaining a medical practice and sculpture studio at the same time was comparable to having a split personality.
Working in the quiet of a sculpture studio was always a welcome relief at the end of a busy day or during free weekends.
It eased the pressures of medical practice and kept him relaxed and working with the medical students kept him young.
Richard said, “Entering the Page Turner Awards has been an enlightening journey through unchartered writing territory for me. Writers are accustomed to summarizing their novel for a back cover of a book or dust cover but putting together the package for this competition made me rethink how to pitch my book. I learned a lot.”
“It reminded me of when I had to prepare a lecture on a complicated biological concept and knew I had to eliminate most of the details that scientists thrive on and get to the heart of the matter or it would be a waste of the time for the students. And now, having won this publishing prize and audiobook production…wow! What a fantastically pleasant surprise!”
The Page Turner Awards, sponsored by ProWritingAid, writers and authors the chance to enter unpublished or published fiction and non-fiction books, where a group of literary agents and publishers will read the work.
Kelly Rinne from Spectrum Audiobooks judged the eBook Award and was immediately captured by the narrative in An Uprising in Rome 1849and offered Richard a publishing and audiobook production.
Judges are carefully selected literary agents and publishers who are looking for writers to represent and publish, plus influencers in the publishing industry.
Founder of Page Turner Awards and award-winning novelist, Paula Wynne said: “There are writers from all walks of life, from manual labourers to academics. All with stories to tell, most of them heart-warming and moving. We’re proud that our Awards celebrates excellent writing and helps writers and authors to get their stories discovered.”
Find out more about The Page Turner Awards: https://pageturnerawards.com. Submissions for 2021 will open on the 1st of January 2021.
