Courtney Cantrell

One of the founding members of the Consortium, Courtney is a dedicated student of the fine arts, but her great passion has always been storytelling.

Our artist selves are inner children who must be nourished, nurtured, protected, and given the freedom to explore everything.

School of Focus:
Writing

Other Schools of Interest

  • Oil Painting
  • Photography
  • Pencil/Graphite Drawing
  • Singing

Galleries

You can read all about Courtney below, but if you’d like to connect with her online or check out some samples of her work, you can find her at

Portrait of the Artist

Courtney was twelve years old when the TV show Murder, She Wrote inspired her to type out a one-page murder mystery. (The gardener did it.) Halfway through that first work-in-progress, she knew she wanted to write for the rest of her life.

It took several years and a few false starts, but she completed her first novel — a post-apocalyptic tale aimed at the young adult market –  at the age of 15. She went on from there to begin work on a high fantasy series of epic novels with pulse-pounding plot, heartbreaking characterization, and a setting rich with breathtaking vistas.

Those novels grew up with her, and they demonstrate the rapid improvement in her craftsmanship during her college years. Courtney credits her writing degree with imparting to her the need, value, and joy of honing her skills and following her creative impulses.

Real life proved a stumbling block, as it so often does, and Courtney spent the better part of ten years after college writing only sporadically and watching her creativity wither. Two famous writers joined forces to bring her back to life, though.  Stephen King’s On Writing and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way gave Courtney the courage she needed to return to her craft and pursue a new determination to connect with fellow writers.

She followed through in a big way, participating in writer’s conferences, hosting a monthly local writer’s group, and co-founding another writer’s group on Facebook. In the process she became friends with Consortium founder Aaron Pogue, and volunteered to write a weekly feature at his writing advice site, What I Learned about Writing this Week, that lets her share her own training and experience with other writers facing the same challenges she’s struggled with.

Courtney’s greatest writing joys are the inspirations she exchanges with the members of her writing groups, the thrill of finishing a first draft (and knowing she can finally edit and re-write with abandon), and discovering that her childhood self knew the right path for her all along.

Passionate about creativity, Courtney believes deep down that every human being is designed to be creative. She thirsts for a world where that creativity is adored and nurtured in the way it deserves, and she’s fighting tirelessly in support of the Consortium’s bid to make that happen.