Cheré Dastugue Coen

 

Cheré Dastugue Coen is an award-winning journalist, photographer and author living in Marietta, Georgia. 

 

A native of New Orleans, Cheré began her career in communications at the 1984 World’s Fair. She has worked for Variety magazine in Hollywood, the Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge, Gambit Weekly in New Orleans and the Gannett newspapers of Louisiana, among many others. 

 

She currently writes freelance for a variety of publications, including AAA Southern Explorer; New Orleans magazine, Louisiana Life and Acadiana Profile of the Renaissance magazine group of New Orleans; TravelAgeWest magazine; Country Roads of Baton Rouge; Louisiana Country; Florida Currents; South Carolina Currents; Tennessee Connection; Southwest Georgia Living; and many others. 

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Her personal blog featuring fun and crazy snippets of her travels, plus Southern foodways and books, is Weird, Wacky & Wild South.

 

Cheré also blogs for various publications such as:

 

Travel The South Bloggers

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 Let's Go, Louisiana (defunct) 

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California Tours:

 

Nashville 

Deep South Music 

 

Lafayette, Louisiana

 

Deep South Traveling

 

Mardi Gras and New Orleans

 

Lafayette (Louisiana) tourism: 

 

Festival International de Louisiane and more.

 

40 Years of Festivals Acadiens et Creole

 

Chere's nonfiction books include "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History," "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana," and "Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Tour of Acadiana" by The History Press, the cookbook travelogue “Cooking in Cajun Country” with "Cajun" Karl Breaux (2009, Gibbs Smith Publishing) and “Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets” (2010, Llewellyn) with Jude Bradley.

 

Her fiction, under the pen name of Cherie Claire, includes the Viola Valentine mystery series, the Cajun Series of historical romances, and The Cajun Embassy, a contemporary romance series. 

 

Cheré has sat on the boards of the Lafayette Public Library Foundation, the Festival of Words literary festival, the Writers Guild of Acadiana, and the Heart of Louisiana Romance Writers of America. She has appeared numerous times at the Louisiana Book Festival, Romance Writers of America's national convention, the Los Angeles Times Book Festival, the Louisiana Library Association conference, and many other literary events. Contact her for speaking engagements and workshops at cherecoen@gmail.com.

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You can read examples of Chere's writing at The Advocate newspaper of Baton Rouge, Country Roads magazine of Baton Rouge, Acadiana Profile, New Orleans magazine, TravelAge West, Louisiana Life, DeSoto magazine of Mississippi, and AAA's Southern Traveler. 

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You can listen to Cheré on the following podcasts/webcasts:

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Explore Louisiana Part I - Lafayette

Explore Louisiana Part II - Staycations

Explore Louisiana Part III - Charming Louisiana Towns

KRVS "Out to Lunch" with Cheré and Charles Garret

Discover Lafayette

Recalculating Route - How to Turn What You Love Into What Makes You Money

Guest on The Extra Mile with Linda Boudreaux, 2014.