Welcome to author Carmen Radtke! I just adore her 1930s inspired covers and her story of how she became an author!
Carmen Radtke has
spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of
books by her side. She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and
always dreamt of becoming a novelist.
When Carmen found
herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on what was to become
“Walking in the Shadow” between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand,
she realised she was hooked for life.
She’s the author of
the cozy historical mysteries “The Case of the Missing Bride”, “Glittering
Death”, both featuring Alyssa Chalmers, the Jack Sullivan quick read “False
Play at the Christmas Party” and the Jack and Frances historical cozies, “A
Matter of Love and Death”, “Murder at the Races”, and “Murder Makes Waves”.
She’s busy writing the next Jack and Frances adventure.
When Carmen is not writing,
reading or dreaming of travel, she is busy acting as resident cat servant or
tap-dancing (badly).
Follow Carmen on
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/carmen-radtke
Or on Twitter: http://twitter.com/carmenradtke1
Her website (very
much a work in progress) is www.carmenradtke.com
What would you say are your strengths as an author?
Apart from my imagination and love of stories? I used to be a journalist, so I tend to be a stickler for research, especially when it comes to my historical cozies. Although it can be tough to say good-bye to some clue or riveting detail because it just doesn’t work with the timeline. Even if it’s something trivial like Cole Porter coming up with the musical “Anything Goes” a couple of years too late. Maybe I should continue the series until Jack and Francs catch up with him … There’s an idea!
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
I
write most days, but not to a strict routine. Paid work (I write content
articles) burns under my nails until I get them out of the way. If possible. I
work on my novels during school hours.
Five
years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
Hopefully
making a decent living from my writing and still enjoying it!
If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?
First
get it written, then get it right. When I was working on my first novel, I
spent days agonizing over a wonky paragraph. It’s freeing to allow yourself
just to write that first draft without worrying about perfection, put it aside,
and then rewrite. Remember, you can take as many drafts as you need.
Also,
not everyone will love your work and that’s okay. What matters is that you love
it and you’ve done your best. If you intend to publish it, make sure you get
feedback from other writers or a professional editor. Take their nots into
account but don’t blindly agree “because they know best”. Not every point of
critique is valid, but they are all worth mulling over and then deciding if you
want to act on them or not.
What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?
The
best compliment was a reader saying about Walking in the Shadow that it had
restored her faith in humanity. Another reader emailed me to say that my books
had given her a few precious hours of respite during the early weeks of the
lockdown. Is there anything better than touching someone’s heart in a positive
way?
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the next
Jack and Frances mystery, which will take them to France, and on the idea for a
new contemporary series. At least being a writer is never boring.
Masquerades,
Mimosas ... and murder
It’s a
dream come true for Frances Palmer: A voyage from Australia to England on the
“Empress of the Sea”, together with her fiancé Jack Sullivan and her Uncle Sal,
aka “Salvatore the Magnificent”. They’ve been hired to entertain the passengers
with magic tricks and daring stunts.
But all
is not well below deck, with jealousy and larceny ruffling the cheerful
atmosphere.
Frances
and Jack soon find themselves in stormy seas, together with newfound allies.
When a passenger is found dead after a costume ball and one of Frances’s new
friends is accused of murder, they decide to secretly dive into the case.
Nothing
is plain sailing, though, against a cunning murderer. Will Jack and Frances and
their friends get to the bottom of the truth, or will they sink in the sea of
deception?
THE CASE OF THE MISSING BRIDE
Setting
sail for matrimony – or something sinister?
Meet
Alyssa Chalmers. Victorian emigrant. Reluctant bride. Intrepid sleuth.
1862.
When a group of young Australian women set sail for matrimony in Canada, they
believe it’s the start of a happy new life.
But
when one of the intended brides goes missing, only Alyssa Chalmers, the one
educated, wealthy woman in the group, is convinced the disappearance is no
accident. She sets out to find out what happened.
Has
there been a murder?
Alyssa
is willing to move heaven and earth to find out the truth. She is about to
discover that there is more to her voyage into the unknown than she bargained
for, and it may well cost her life.
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