Interview with Author K.E. Radke

Jessa Lucas
- Feb 2, 2021
- 5 min read

K.E. Radke

https://keradke.wordpress.com/

"There’s a joke in my house that all I do is literally sit on my a** all day...which is true because I write books for a living. I think I might start asking for standing ovations from my children when I stand up. My name is Kendra, but I can also go by Evil Queen, Princess of Snacks, or K.E. Radke, my author name, which seems like a let down after all the others…"

This is the intro K.E. Radke gave me to herself, and I am here👏 for👏 it 👏 with a chuckle and the fastest one-click purchase of her upcoming Dawn of Darkness that you have ever seen. Darkness releases tomorrow, February 3, but do yourself and preorder this baby now!

What drives you to write?

These voices in my head DO. NOT. SHUT. UP. It’s really annoying. And in order to get them down I have to put my fingers to the keyboard and bring them to life. It’s like having little ghosts following you around constantly poking you for attention. If you're a parent you understand.

What is this week’s featured book about? Tell us a little about it!

I squealed a little when you asked. I finally entered the Paranormal Romance genre with a dark fantasy twist! Two hispanic hunters, Gage and Rowan are characters I’ve wanted to bring to life for a very long time. Gabriel is my very naughty vampire who likes to cause trouble. And Amelia is the lovely lady that brings them all together...whether or not everyone makes it, you’ll have to read to find out. Remember I write a zombie series, I’m not afraid to kill people off.

What’s the book that made you “a reader”? And what’s the book that made you want to become a writer?

The Boxcar Children were the books I could not put down as a child. V.C. Andrews were my go to books for reading as a teenager. Her books were so twisted, it made me sit down at a computer to write my own story. Thank God that computer died a horrible death and no one can read it because it was probably terrible. It took a few years after I graduated from high school to get back into reading and none other than Twilight scooped me up, fangs and all, and brought me back to books.

"...my favorite characters to write are the dysfunctional, angry men. I love watching them break down into a better person... I’m very aware I have book boy problems."

Are there any common themes or tropes that seem to find their way into your work over and over again?

I love love triangles. I’m sorry, but I do. And while I’m writing I go back and forth with who I want my main character to end up with. I’m also a huge fan of enemies to lovers, which believe it or not happens in my zombie series. That’s right! There’s a little side romance between the zombie killing. But my favorite characters to write are the dysfunctional, angry men. I love watching them break down into a better person. Maybe it’s because I secretly like to torture them...with women they never thought twice about until their fate is in my hands...

I write really funny books, or really dark, sad books. Or I combine the two and make you laugh and cry at the same time. You’ll have to tell me if I managed to do it after you read my books.

What’s your writing process?

I threaten the computer on a daily basis. And I can’t write without my co-worker. Sometimes I feel like she doesn’t listen to me and I can definitely feel her judging me throughout the day. Piglet is my Yorkie who doesn’t understand that I can’t use the word smile three time in a row in one paragraph and when I vent about things like that, she disappears out the doggy door and barks first world problems at me.

Okay in all seriousness I do tell Piglet all about my writing problems and she does judge me, but my main writing process is to write everyday, except weekends because I am a mother and I’m told children need attention or something like that. (I’m kidding, I don’t ignore my children during the week). There are days I write a sentence. There are days I write 5k words. And there are days I write 500. Every day is hard. Because more than likely everything I wrote down will be crap when I reread it. But it’s better than a blank page.

"I am extremely attracted to excellent writing and story telling."

What’s the last book you couldn’t put down and why?

There are so many. I put the ones I absolutely love on my Bookbub account. The last book I could not put down was Red Rising by Pierce Brown. I am extremely attracted to excellent writing and storytelling. You should know I’m not a fan of scifi, but I loved the second half of his book where it focused on the battle instead of world building. Daisy Jones and the Six is another that's fantastically done in interview style set in the 60s or 70s when things were a little wilder. And of course Red, White and Blue, if you like LGBTQ or just love romance. It was so fantastic, the characters were absolutely lovable and entertaining.

Describe your favorite book boyfriend or girlfriend!

Giant, men that are stupid and like to show off how strong they are. Or extremely charming men too smart for their good. I know that sounds really weird. But check this out, I have been keeping track of all the men I love. Thor, Hulk, Hagrid, and Pax Teemanus (from Red Rising). They are fall into the my first category. The only one I can think of for the second is Nikolai Lantsov (Shadow and Bone trilogy). I’m very aware I have book boy problems. And the other crazy part is usually all the men I fall in love with are antiheroes, although I am a fan of America’s a** (Chris Evans aka Captain America).

What author do you fangirl over?

George R.R. Martin. His writing is phenomenal and I feel like he owns a time machine and goes back to the middle ages to do research. He puts you right in the middle of his stories and doesn’t let you back into the real world until you get that quit stick (bookmark). Keirsten White is another author I’m a big fan of. I'm currently going down her list of books to read everything she writes and have not been disappointed thus far. I have a funny feeling Taylor Jenkins Reid will be joining my autobuy list soon.

To you, what is the value of imagination?

It takes a lot of work to take an idea and make it grow. I’ve tried gardening and I have victims left and right. Nothing grows when I plant things. But I can put a story together and make people cry and laugh, and the greatest part is people read them! And like them! This is what I happen to be good at. There are some people who can imagine building and outfits and toys and drawing characters or making music. They put all the pieces to together to make something beautiful. I just do it with words, and hope people enjoy it.