The first Cajun Mutt Press book release of 2023 will be Shooting Myself in the Dark by Carrie Magness Radna!! Look for it on Jan. 17th, and “shoot” me a message if you grab a copy. I’ll mail you some CMP logo stickers! Please leave a review as well. I’ll have a copy to post some more pictures of soon, and I’ll share the Amazon link once it goes live.
Cover by JDCIV
“More so than any troubadour I know, Carrie Magness Radna is an artful prodigy when it comes to blending the subtle chasm between poetry and musical cadence, creating compositions that stir the senses with their tonal acuity and polyphonic jolts. In Shooting Myself in the Dark, her latest assortment of euphoric and often erotic story-songs, she solidifies her status as a bardic traveler and chronicler of life’s manifold beats and wallops. Radna’s expressive lilt is a symphony of authenticity, beauty, and, of course, love, with a rhythmic fusion of colorful runes drawn from her vast knowledge of pop culture and her astute reckoning of our daily struggles. In these poems, she aims to make sense of the disquieting doldrums by drumming up a chromatic world of “tipsy valentines,” “tangerine oxygen,” and “ruffians in Nantucket.” Radna infuses her whole spirited self into this multihued collection. Listen closely to her melodious linguistics and you will hear not only a bold, blunt, badass, and sometimes brokenhearted voice; you will also hear the harmonic hum of humanity. So get ready for a romping, stomping, bopping rollercoaster of a rousing good time. No matter your mindset at the moment, Radna’s notes will strike just the right chord.”
—Cindy Hochman, editor-in-chief of First Literary Review-East
“I love a book that plays like a record album, poem sequencing as fade-ins and outs are carefully crafted. Radna’s intro (ABACAB), opens on the word “Angel” and sings of “Beautiful Dreamers,” leaving the reader unprepared and surprised to hear the voice of Lucy Van Pelt three poems later. This made me laugh out loud. Musicality, surprises, and laughter are sprinkled with romance, in all its practicality and insanity from the intro to the outro: “1st Year in New York,” a love poem written to both Radna’s adopted city and also, deservedly, to herself.”
—Puma Perl, writer and performer, author of Birthdays Before and After