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Kris Radish: Profile of a Writing Goddess

by LaRita Heet

IF Kris Radish’s books were wine, I would pour them into a bathtub and soak in them until every word was absorbed into my skin. From the first pages of The Sunday List of Dreams, my baptism by Radish, I was hooked. The more I read, the deeper I gave myself over to the altogether magical experience of reading a book by one of today’s top-selling women fiction writers, and arguably the most women-centric novelist of our time.

Radish’s words are so eloquently spoken, her characters so beautifully strong, wise, and wonderful, and their interactions so tenderly portrayed that I immediately recognized – while the stories themselves were not “lesbian fiction” – that their author was not only a woman, but a woman who truly loved and appreciated women. Kris Radish seems to effortlessly spin a simultaneously heartwrenching and heartwarming tale that – unlike few authors have done before – truly articulates what it is between a woman and her friends: the devotion, the love, the nurturing, and so much more.

“I am a lesbian who is an author, but I am not a lesbian author. …[But] my books are realistic – there are lesbians and gays in each one of my books, and I address that. I’m totally out [in my life], people know who I am, and to my total joy, it’s not an issue. Can you imagine how that’s happened? That this woman who has a partner and [is leading a normal life and no one cares?]” she says. “And that’s how life should be. …I have the most remarkable, unbelievably emotional, life-changing discussions at my book events, because these women relate to me, they see me as a peer no matter who I am or what my sexuality is.”

Radish, who is best known for her four novels: The Elegant Gathering of White Snows, Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn, Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral, and most recently, The Sunday List of Dreams, does more than write about worlds in which women challenge themselves, let go of fear, and open themselves to the freedom of “What if?” – she also reaches out from not only her books, but from her Web site and letters and talks, to truly make a difference in the lives of women all over the world.
“What I’m all about is empowering women. I can’t just tell a story. I have to tell a story that deals with issues that I’m living, and that real women are living… My characters are defined and they’re whole and they have real lives,” says Radish.

Radish really does write what she knows – and what she knows is being a dedicated mom to two children (one out of the nest, and the other heading off to college in the fall) and a loving partner to Madonna Metcalf (who is both Radish’s current manager, and working toward opening her own wine shop). When Radish is not penning the eloquent novels that have touched the hearts of women (and yes, some men) across the world, you might find her smoking a cigar, drinking a glass of wine, volunteering with women-centric organizations – or riding her Harley.

With four novels under her belt, and another, Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA due out in January of 2008, Radish awaits the day that Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral, hits the big screen. “Two years ago when ‘Annie’ came out, there was a lot of great interest [about making it into a movie] because the book is just a movie waiting to happen. I decided to let [producer] Joni [Levin] have the rights to the book – the same way I make a lot of decisions in my life, because I have this little homing device, this lovely female homing device in me that I feed with everything from red wine to calcium tablets because I’m in the middle of menopause… and I had this remarkable discussion with Joni [in which we really connected], and Joni is going to make this movie happen.”

How much of Kris Radish is in her characters? She explains this with – what else? – a story. “When my daughter was about 13… she called me [at work]. She had just gotten to the middle of [one of my] books and she [said], ‘Oh my God, Mom, I know about these characters.’ And I said, ‘What do you know?’ And she said, ‘There’s a little bit of you in each one of the characters.’ And it’s true… when I’m writing Connie, I am Connie. When I’m writing Jessica, I am Jessica… I write about issues that are important in my life,” she says.

Though she shies away from those who try to fit her books into the “Chick-Lit” genre, Radish says if she had to choose a category for her books, she’d call them “Broads Who Have Been There.”

“Part of the reason I’m here is because I never let go of my dream and I want other women to know that. It’s going to get hard sometimes and it’s going to be wonderful sometimes, but if you just keep that [dream] at the center of who you are, then it’s going to happen,” says Radish.

To buy her books or just enter the world of Kris Radish, visit her Web site at www.krisradish.com.