TBR: Welcome to TBR, Charlene Raddon.
Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Charlene: I’m a grandmother with more hobbies than
I have time for. I started writing over thirty years ago because of a vivid
dream and have been at it ever since. Kensington Books published five of my
western historical romance novels in the 1990s before the bottom dropped out of
the historical market. After that I took a bit of a break, tried a
contemporary, unsold, finished an old book I’m polishing, and am reworking that
first book inspired by the dream. I also do genealogy, needlepoint, digital
scrapbooking, Ukrainian dyed eggs and love to travel. I live in Utah with my
husband and a very neurotic, paranoid cat.
TBR: Tell us about TENDER
TOUCH and where it's available.
Charlene: TENDER
TOUCH was originally published in paperback in 1994 and was a Golden Heart
Finalist in 1991 under the title Brianna.
Now that I have my rights back, it’s being e-published by Tirgearr Publishing.
It can be found at Amazon,
Smashwords, Tirgearrpublishing.com,
and most other e-book stores. At the moment Tirgearr is having a big
extravaganza blog tour and all books are half-price, so it’s a good time to buy
TENDER TOUCH or my other e-book, FOREVER MINE.
TBR: Please tantalize us with a
story blurb or excerpt.
Charlene: After three years of an abusive marriage
Brianna Wight fakes her own murder. Harboring terrible secrets that could mean
her death in reality, she escapes to St. Louis. There she hires Columbus Nigh,
an ex-fur trapper turned guide, to take her to Independence where she hopes to
join a covered wagon train to Oregon.
Losing
his Indian wife left Columbus Nigh a wanderer, necessity made him a wilderness guide.
Now he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic woman who’s hired him to lead her
westward. Her gentle strength stirs his lonely heart…her tender beauty arouses
his deepest passions. But the perils of the Oregon Trail pale beside the
murderous wrath of the man tracking them. Brianna knows the only way to save
herself and Columbus is to risk their tender love. Only then can she free
herself from the horrors of the past—and embrace a rapturous future.
BLURB
Three
nightmarish years of marriage had shattered Brianna Wight’s sheltered world.
Faking her own murder, she fled St. Louis…harboring terrible secrets that could
mean her death.
The
tragic loss of his Indian wife left Columbus Nigh a wanderer; necessity made
him a wilderness guide. But now he found himself drawn to the enigmatic woman
who’d hired him to lead her westward. Her gentle strength stirred his lonely
heart…her tender beauty aroused his deepest passions.
But
the perils of the Oregon Trail paled beside the murderous wrath of the man who
tracked them across the harsh frontier. Brianna knew the only way to save
herself and Columbus was to risk their tender love. Only then could she free
herself from the horrors of the past—and embrace a rapturous future.
EXCERPT
St. Louis, Missouri, April 1849
Brianna Wight’s heart pounded as she reluctantly followed
her housekeeper’s son inside the dingy, cavernous livery stable. She felt as
though she were entering the very bowels of hell.
Heat from the blacksmith’s shop blasted her delicate skin
through her clothes and fluttered the veil covering her face as she waited for
her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The flames leaping from the forge and the
murky silhouettes of men, dancing about the fire like so many devils, were all
she could make out.
Harsh, angry voices flew at her out of the blackness, like
hurtled knives. Instant terror stiffened her body and she threw up an arm to
shield her face.
“Wait your turn, stinkin’ squawman. Whaddya need yer horse
shod for anyways? It’s only one o’ them Injun ponies. Get back to yer slut
squaw an’ have her pick the lice from yer hair, why doncha?”
The voice that answered was soft, deep and—Brianna
thought—deceptively calm, but the words were unclear.
“Why, you bastard!” the first voice yelled.
The sound of flesh and bone striking flesh and bone froze
Brianna. Her heart stuttered. That sound was entirely too familiar, as was the
pain that always followed. She tensed, waiting to feel the expected blow.
Instead, a man sailed toward her out of the smithy. Brianna
screamed in the instant before he slammed into her. Together, they tumbled to
the straw-littered floor in a tangle of arms, legs and skirts.
“You blasted squawman!” someone bellowed. “Look what ya
done now. Get up, damn you! That’s a lady you’re laying on.”
Brianna fought for air and shoved frantically at the heavy
man weighing down her already bruised and battered body. Pain from a hundred
places threatened to rend her unconscious. Inside her head, a voice shouted,“It’s not
Barret! Not Barret!” But the fear had her
in its grip. She could not stop batting for her life, as she had been forced to
do, so many times before.
TBR: What inspired you to write
about the theme?
Charlene: Even as a child I was fascinated by the
Old West and stories of the Oregon Trail. I always wanted to experience the
journey myself. Writing about it was the next best thing to actually taking the
trip.
TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?
Charlene: I’m a bit of both. I think my instincts
lie in the pantser direction and that’s how I wrote my first few books. Then I
began laying out my plots in advance to avoid a ton of rewriting and false
starts.
TBR: How do you develop your
characters?
Charlene: I do usually fill out personality forms,
but once I get into the book and know my characters, I forget the charts and
let them guide me.
TBR: Any tips or tricks for world
building you’d care to share?
Charlene: I think it’s important for authors to
listen to their instincts and take the advice of others’ with a grain of salt.
Trying to please everyone and follow all the rules that are thrown at writers
can be confusing and inhibiting, and can also prevent the discovery on one’s
“voice.”
TBR: Do you have a favorite quote
you’d like to share?
Charlene: To fulfill a dream, to be
allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given the chance to create, is the
meat and potatoes of life.
~ Bette Davis
TBR: Which of your characters would
you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?
Charlene: Brianna’s husband, Barret Wight, because he’s
a vindictive bully, much like my first husband, and I’ve had enough of his
type.
TBR: While creating your books, what
was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Charlene: How fun the research could be. I can
become totally absorbed in it and have to remind myself to limit what I try to
include in the story.
TBR: What's next for you?
Charlene: I have two completed books, one a
contemporary fantasy, the other a western historical, that I hope to slap a
final polishing job on and see published soon. And I’m reworking the first book
I ever wrote, a time travel that has haunted me ever since I began it in 1980.
TBR: Any other published works?
Charlene: Yes, I have five western historical romances
published in paperback which I’m in the process of getting turned into e-books,
Forever Mine and Tender Touch, which are already available, and To Have And To Hold, which will be out
January 31, 2013. After that I’ll get my other two books, Taming Jenna, and The Scent
of Roses, e-published. Along the way I hope to fit a new book in there
somewhere.
TBR: What’s the most challenging
aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
Charlene: The most challenging for me is not
second guessing myself and rewriting over and over. The most rewarding is
seeing what’s in your head in actual print, and on a bookstore’s shelves, or an
e-book listing.
TBR: Who
are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Charlene: I adore Penelope Williamson, Lynn
Kurland, Maggie Osborne, Catherine Anderson, Susan Wiggs, Kristin Hannah, Linda
Lael Miller, the list is endless. Right now I’m reading Stealing the Sheriff’s Heart by L. B. Shire and enjoying it very
much.
TBR: Is there anything you’d like to
ask our readers?
Charlene: Yes, I’d love to know what they’d like
most to see in a historical romance novel but rarely find.
TBR: Readers,
Charlene has a treat for you – she’ll give away an ebook and the computer game The Oregon Trail to
one lucky commenter. She'll pick a winner on November 22 and announce the
winner here. Be sure to leave your email address so she can contact you.
Thanks for visiting TBR, Charlene.
All the best to you.
Bio
Charlene began her writing life at an early age, often penning stories with herself
cast as the heroine. Usually, once she’d vented her spleen, she threw out these
stories. Her first serious writing attempt didn’t come until 1980 when she
awoke one morning from an unusually vivid and compelling dream. Deciding that
dream needed to be made into a book, she dug out an old portable typewriter and
went to work
While that book never sold, her second one did. Tender Touch became a Golden Heart finalist and earned her an agent.
A short time later she signed a three book contract with Kensington Books. Five
of Charlene's western historical romances were published between 1994 and 1999:
Taming Jenna, Tender Touch (1994 Golden Heart Finalist under the
title Brianna), Forever Mine
(1996 Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer's Choice Award Nominee and Affaire de
Coeur Reader/Writer Poll finalist), To Have and To Hold Affaire de Coeur
Reader/Writer Poll finalist); and writing as Rachel Summers, The Scent of
Roses.
After the collapse of the historical romance market, Charlene took a break
from writing, but not for long. Since then she has completed two novels, A Kiss and A Dare, her first contemporary
paranormal romance, and Divine Gamble, which earned first place at the 2010 Romance Through The Ages
contest in their western historical romance category. At present, while
polishing her completed works, Charlene is reworking that first book she wrote
that was inspired by a dream.
When not writing, Charlene loves to travel, do needlepoint, research
genealogy, create digital scrapbooks, and dye Ukrainian eggs. She also enjoys
camping and fishing with her husband, spoiling her grandchildren and playing
with her very neurotic cat.
