Bestselling author Charlene Raddon began writing in 1980 after waking up from a dream she knew had to appear in a book. She dragged out a portable typewriter and began writing. That book took nine years to write, as she learned her craft at the same time. A time travel, it has not yet been published. Next, she wrote Tender Touch (Brianna), entered it into the Colorado Gold contest, historical division, and won. That victory prompted her to enter the RWA Golden Heart Contest and Tender Touch became a finalist. She acquired an agent and a year and a half later, signed a three-book contract with Zebra Books, an imprint of Kensington Books.
In 1999, when the historical market plummeted and western romance became almost impossible to sell, she took a hiatus from writing, but her imagination wouldn’t leave her alone. Eventually, she got back into the game. In 2011, she won back her rights to her books and had them released as eBooks by Tirgearr Publishing. In 2012 Tirgearr released two of her books in print, Taming Jenna and Tender Touch.
Charlene grew up near Los Angeles but always felt she was in the wrong place and time. She yearned to live in a small town, maybe on a farm. Her ancestors had all been farmers. Perhaps her blood was calling to her. In 1971, she got her chance and moved to Nephi, Utah, a town of about 3,000. But the need for paying work forced her to move again and she ended up in the Salt Lake Valley. Now, she finds herself once again in a big city, still yearning to move to a small town.
In 2011, Charlene’s artistic nature prompted her to try a different path and she began designing book covers. Today, she has a long list of clients and her own cover site, silversagebookcovers.com where she specializes in historical romance covers, primarily western.
Her writing and graphic arts business keeps her mightily busy and happy. But she always has time for family, travel, and helping other authors.
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