When Cheri Radke joined us for our first ever Quail Retreat this past fall, she was already gearing up for the publication of her debut novel, An Accident of Dragons, which publishes April 28th from Erewhon Books, and imprint of Kensington. On the Book Journey podcast, Cheri and I talk about what the writing process was like for her and how she knew THIS was the novel she was going to query (unlike others she’d written in the past). We discuss how she found her agent, and what the editorial process was like before going out on submission. This book was part of a two-book deal, so we touch on what it was like to be in copyedits for one novel while writing the next in the series (she’s already finished with the second book, which will be published in 2027!).

Cheri also discussed the importance of having a writing community (we agreed!), and how when she was querying and in the submission process, she didn’t have other writers to lean on, to ask if what was happening was normal. In coming to NCWR, she gained her writing community and we’re so happy to have her and lift her up throughout this publication and onward to book 2!

​Cheri Radke​ has been a librarian, a bookseller, and an academic coordinator. She studied Linguistics at New York University and went on to earn a Masters in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. She lives in Woodland, California and can be found on social media @cheriradke.

About An Accident of Dragons: An unlikely lord finally meets a problem he can’t flirt his way out of in this adventurous and light-hearted queer cozy fantasy featuring pirates, dragons, kidnapping, tea, and other high-fantasy delights for readers of Rebecca Thorne, TJ Klune, Sarah Beth Durst, and Travis Baldree.

In theory, the dragoness of Summer can make any resident on her island the ruler, if the previous Lord Summer is so careless as to die without an heir. In practice, absolutely no one expected her to choose Teddy, the last lord’s middle-aged fancy man. With his quick wit, heaps of charisma, and excellent dress sense, Teddy brings plenty of virtues to his new role, but statecraft, pedigree, and decorum are not among them. That’s all right: he’s done his duty to the island, and his five-year-old daughter, Zinnia, will make a brilliant Lady Summer when her time comes.

Except when a ship of desperate mainlander thieves arrives, Zinnia’s caught in the fracas and taken hostage. Teddy jumps into the rescue mission without delay, even though his days of adventures on the mainland are long buried with his lover. But his sailors have never seen their destination, and worse, the hard-liner admiral who leads them thinks Teddy’s a worthless dandy. Against a conniving robber baron, a sorceress who’s tamed her own dragon, and ordinary people with everything to lose, the crew faces terrible odds. But with all he loves in danger, Teddy must prove there’s more to him than he’d ever intended to show.

I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Happy listening, reading, and writing,

Heather

founder + director, Northern California Writers’ Retreat

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit norcalwritersretreat.substack.com