Chuck Radda

Chuck Radda was born and raised in New Britain, Connecticut, and for most of his life has remained there. He attended local schools, including several that no longer exist, before enrolling at Fairfield University and graduating with a degree in English. A year later he began a 35-year teaching career at Plainville High School one town over. That same year he and Deanie were married. They still are. Radda's writing career began in 1987 at a workshop at Fairfield, but didn't really take off until he joined the Chimney Crest Writers in 2009.

"Dark Time," his debut novel, is a direct result of working with that group. The novel details Martin Wilkes's search for his wife—an airline passenger who survives the Miracle on the Hudson only to vanish on the same day.

Following that came "Absolute Truth," centering on a string of murders in a small town near Boston and a reporter for a struggling weekly, endeavoring to prove herself a serious journalist. It was published in 2015.

His third two-word title, "Flood Moon." appeared near the close of 2017. Set in the modern American West, it tells the story of Calvin Hopper, a man seeking a place to hide out and start over; and of Amy O'Leary, a woman alone in a town full of lies and secrets. It's a story of isolation and romance—of turmoil and danger—set against a backdrop of incredible natural splendor.

Northward is the sequel to "Dark Time," and again transports the reader into the stark but beautiful Nunavut in northern Canada. In "Dark Time" we watched private investigator Francis McNally make a mess of a missing persons investigation. For the nearly ten years since, he has endured the failure. But then, nearly a decade after the "Miracle on the Hudson" turned his life upside down, the chance at atonement beckons...and all he has to do is unretire, leave his ailing wife, and travel to northern Canada in the winter. Simple.

*****

When he isn't writing or blogging, Chuck is a literacy volunteer in New Britain and continues to coach girls tennis at Plainville High in the spring. He and Deanie have two grown children, and he plays a little bit of guitar and keyboard for relaxation. He is currently working on several novels including a "Dark Time" sequel once again set in Nunavut.

"It occurs almost a decade later," he says, "and centers more on McNally, the PI, who has formally retired in the interim but still does some investigative work. Some of the settings will remain, though the subject matter will differ markedly. There was a hint of spirituality in "Dark Time" which becomes more prevalent in the sequel. The novel is in its second draft, and I finally know how it ends. The pathway there is still a little nebulous."

Look for that novel sometime mid to late in 2018.