Today it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Charlene Raddon, author of FOREVER MINE. Hope you enjoy the interview below!
Liz: Welcome, Charlene! You’ve been writing western historical romance a long time, and your book, which was just released as an e-book, Forever Mine, was originally published by Kensington. How many books have you published?
Charlene: Kensington published five of my historical novels, one—The Scent of Roses—under the pseudonym Rachel Summers. Forever Mine is the first of my backlist to be made into electronic form, but I hope to have all of them out there soon.
Liz: I hope you do. Why historical? Have you ever written a contemporary romance?
Charlene: I love historicals because of the way they can immerse you in a whole different world, a whole new way of living. As for contemporaries, I have tried my hand at them. I wrote a contemporary fantasy set in Wales about a frog princess, which I need to try to sell one of these days.
Liz: A frog princess? In a contemporary? That must have been fun.
Charlene: It was. I also started two other books, one about a woman who buys an old Native American necklace, puts it on and instead of herself in the mirror, she sees a white girl in Indian garb who appears to be pleading with her, but in a Native tongue the heroine can’t understand. My other partial features a woman psychologist on the run who hides out at a working beefalo ranch for troubled teenage boys.
Liz: You come up with great ideas. What is a beefalo ranch?
Charlene: They raise cattle cross-bred with buffalo. Fantastic meat.
Liz: Well, tell us what’s next on the slate for you. Will you have another book out soon?
Charlene: Yes, by the end of the year, I hope. I’m proofing my book Tender Touch, an Oregon Trail story that was the second book I ever wrote and a Golden Heart Finalist.
Liz: That should bring you some new fans. But Tender Touch is another from your backlist. Are you working on anything new?
Charlene: Yes, sort of. I’m reworking the first book I ever wrote, a time travel called Time Weaver. The heroine is the descendant of a much respected Ute medicine woman in charge of keeping their songs, dances, and stories alive and in use. Now she’s been called back to the past to relearn everything so she can return to the future and help today’s Ute people find their way back to the path.
Liz: You certainly have a fertile mind, Charlene! Your stories all sound fascinating. Tell us a little about Forever Mine, your new e-book.
Charlene: The heroine of Forever Mine, Ariah Scott, agrees to travel from Cincinnati to the Oregon coast to marry an assistant light keeper, but falls in love with her intended’s uncle before she ever reaches the lighthouse. In love with one man, promised to another, and running from a secret that could endanger them all, Ariah is in real trouble. I call this my Ethan Frome with a happy ending story. The hero, Bartholomew Noon, the man Ariah falls for was tricked into marriage by a shrew of a woman who locked her bedroom to him and made his life miserable. Bartholomew never knew a woman as lovely, generous, and vivacious as Ariah existed, let alone that she would return his affection. It’s a tender but passionate love story in a wonderful setting. When it was first published, Forever Mine received a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award nomination and was an Affaire De Coeur Reader/Writer Poll finalist for favorite historical.
Liz: Sounds wonderful, Charlene. I’m sure it will be a huge success. Thank you for visiting with us today.
Charlene: Thank you, Liz. It’s been fun. As you know, I’m holding a drawing to go with this post. Everyone who enters a comment and leaves their e-mail address will have a chance to win a copy of the Forever Mine e-book.
Visit Char at her blog: http://www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com/
and her website: http://www.charleneraddon.com
