Craig Baumken is a Cornwall-based author writing crime fiction and mystery-thrillers rooted in familiar Eastern Ontario settings. His latest novel, TARA, blends real-life inspiration with a gripping, high-stakes premise.
Give us an elevator pitch for your book.
You have seconds to decide. Save your daughter or a complete stranger. The one you don’t choose faces a fate worse than death. What would you do?
What’s unique about this story?
Readers will recognize places like Cornwall, the Port Theatre, the Summerstown truck stop, Hamilton Island, and the St. Lawrence River, as well as Napanee’s Flying J, Denny’s, and Springside Park, along with Toronto’s Centre Island and Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport. These settings anchor the storyline about a human trafficking ring operating along the Highway 401 corridor from Toronto to Montréal.
What first sparked the idea for this book?
The idea for TARA came about five years ago, when I was working as a school bus driver in Cornwall. One Saturday, I was sent to the Flying J truck stop in Napanee to pick up a bus being transferred from Hamilton. It was late, so I killed time at Denny’s, casually flirting with my server, Tara. She shared her story—she had moved to Napanee from Cornwall with her teenage daughter to escape an abusive relationship.
The school bus finally arrived, and we parted ways. I never saw her again. But on the drive back, I started writing the story in my head.
What are you working on next?
My next book, ERIN, is another mystery-thriller, set in the dead of winter in Sauble Beach, Ontario. I’m also working on a sequel, ERIN II – Lost & Found.
Where can readers find you or your book?
TARA is published by The Elite Lizzard Publishing Company and available through their website, as well as Amazon and Chapters/Indigo.
Craig will also be a workshop presenter at the Eastern Ontario Writers Festival in Casselman this September. Follow him on Facebook at CraigBaumkenAutho or visit: www.craigbaumken.com
Are you an author in Cornwall or SD&G &A with a new or recent book? Reach out to Nicole Winters at: [email protected] for a chance to be featured in an upcoming author’s spotlight.
About the Author
