Please Welcome Author JOELLE CHARBONNEAU! [ Edited ]

[becke_davis]

Joelle has visited with us before, but this time she's back with a brand new series!

Here's a link to her last visit: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Mystery/Please-Welcome-Debut-Author-JOELLE-CHARBONNEAU/m-p/67...

I was lucky enough to meet Joelle this year at Malice Domestic - I wanted to post pictures, but I'm without power right now. The electric company is saying it will be out until noon tomorrow, so I'm only going to post an abbreviated introduction right now. Once my power is back tomorrow I'll add more.

Joelle's website is here: http://joellecharbonneau.com/

 

[becke_davis]

Ever since I can remember I loved telling stories. As I grew up, I started performing those stories on the stage. Creating vivid characters and singing wonderfully complex songs were my passion. I graduated from Millikin University with a Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance and then continued onto DePaul University for my Masters Degree in Opera Performance. From there I went onto perform across the Chicagoland area in a variety of Operas, Operettas and Musicals. I also started teaching acting classes and private voice lessons to pass my passion along to the next generation.

Not exactly the path you’d expect a writer to take.

I’d never dreamed of writing a novel. But I loved to read. Then one day I had an idea and I started to write. I found my passion for creating characters lived on the page as well as the stage. It is my hope that the characters I’ve created resonate with you and make you smile.

I still teach voice lessons and sing for the occasional professional event. But the rest of my time is spent with my husband and son while dreaming up new and interesting stories. I hope that someday I hear yours.

[becke_davis]

Skating Around the Law 

Skating Over the Line 

Skating on the Edge    

[becke_davis]

Murder for Choir  

Overview

Even as a struggling opera singer, Paige Marshall has never seen anything like the cutthroat competition of the Prospect Glen High School show choir. Coaching these championship-hungry students may be her toughest gig yet...

Especially when her best young male singer is suspected of killing the arrogant coach of Prospect Glen's fiercest rival. To clear his name, Paige will have to sort through a chorus of suspects, and go note-for-note with a killer who wants her out of the spotlight for good.

[becke_davis]

Please Welcome JOELLE CHARBONNEAU!

Joelle, my laptop battery isn't going to last much longer, so if we're without power as long as the electric company is estimating, I'll probably be late checking in tomorrow. I'll be here as soon as I can!

Becke

**Edited:Now they're saying we might not have power until midnight tomorrow. Arrgh!

[Fricka]

Well, since I've been MIA from the boards because of illness, I'm happy to be back, and other than becke, it looks as though I will be the first to issue a welcome to Joelle.

Welcome back, Joelle! I am very excited to read about your new Glee Club mystery, which is the  first in a new series.

I guess my first question for you is, were you formerly, or are you now, a member of a glee club?

[Fricka]

Murder for Choir  

Here's another pic of Joelle's new book. I can hardly wait to get to read it!

[JoelleCharbonn…]

Hi Fricka!

I think I was a member of just about every vocal group my high school had.  Show choir, vocal jazz, regular choir, the musicals, etc....  I guess knowing that it probably should come as no surprise that I went onto major in music and theater in college and then continued on for my master's in opera performance.  Since then I've performed in operas, musicals, children's theater and just about everything in between.  I also teach private voice lessons....so I guess you could say I have a lot of experience with the music and teaching stuff that shows up in the book.

[JoelleCharbonn…]

Becke - stay safe!  We'll be sending lots of good vibes in your direction.  Maybe that'll help the power turn on.  (We have lots of power outages here in the Chicago suburbs, too!  What crazy weather!!!!)

[Fricka]

---

JoelleCharbonneau wrote:

Hi Fricka!

I think I was a member of just about every vocal group my high school had.  Show choir, vocal jazz, regular choir, the musicals, etc....  I guess knowing that it probably should come as no surprise that I went onto major in music and theater in college and then continued on for my master's in opera performance.  Since then I've performed in operas, musicals, children's theater and just about everything in between.  I also teach private voice lessons....so I guess you could say I have a lot of experience with the music and teaching stuff that shows up in the book.

---

Thanks for your prompt response, Joelle. That's really cool, that you were a music major. You must have a red-hot voice, if you have sung in operas! I sang in chorus in junior. high and high school, but even though I enjoyed them, I was(and still am) more of the kind of singer who really is best in the shower, or when singing along to the radio when I'm driving(alone, of course). I was already looking forward to your new book, but even more so now!

[Fricka]

---

JoelleCharbonneau wrote:

Becke - stay safe!  We'll be sending lots of good vibes in your direction.  Maybe that'll help the power turn on.  (We have lots of power outages here in the Chicago suburbs, too!  What crazy weather!!!!)

---

Here's another thought--sometimes we have power outages here, too, and our family often just got in  our car(which of course has AC) and would drive around, sightseeing places we hadn't been for a while, just taking up time until we thought the power had probably been turned back on. It's surprising what  solutions the mind can come up with, when you are faced with problems like the power going out! If the power has gone out during the day, you might want to think about heading to the local mall or library, both of which should have back-up generators, making them good places to hang out while you're waiting for the power grid in your neighborhood to be restored.

[Ryan_G]

A glee club mystery, what a fun idea.  

[high96]

Hello! Welcome. Your books sound interesteing. I will have to find them. Can anyone learn to sing? or do they need to have an ear for it?

[eadieburke]

Welcome Joelle:

I just started your book, SKATING AROUND THE LAW, this morning. It's been in my to-be-read pile for awhile. Since you are visiting this week, I decided to read it. I'll be back later and update you on my progress. 

Thanks for visiting with us again!

[becke_davis]

---

Fricka wrote:

Well, since I've been MIA from the boards because of illness, I'm happy to be back, and other than becke, it looks as though I will be the first to issue a welcome to Joelle.

Welcome back, Joelle! I am very excited to read about your new Glee Club mystery, which is the  first in a new series.

I guess my first question for you is, were you formerly, or are you now, a member of a glee club?

---

Fricka - I hope you're feeling better now!

[becke_davis]

---

JoelleCharbonneau wrote:

Hi Fricka!

I think I was a member of just about every vocal group my high school had.  Show choir, vocal jazz, regular choir, the musicals, etc....  I guess knowing that it probably should come as no surprise that I went onto major in music and theater in college and then continued on for my master's in opera performance.  Since then I've performed in operas, musicals, children's theater and just about everything in between.  I also teach private voice lessons....so I guess you could say I have a lot of experience with the music and teaching stuff that shows up in the book.

---

Joelle - Hurray! My power came back on in the night! 

I love the picture of you from your website, where you are performing in a musical. It reminds me of some pictures I have of my mom - she performed in both high school and college. I'll see if I can find them. 

[becke_davis]

---

JoelleCharbonneau wrote:

Becke - stay safe!  We'll be sending lots of good vibes in your direction.  Maybe that'll help the power turn on.  (We have lots of power outages here in the Chicago suburbs, too!  What crazy weather!!!!)

---

In the past week we lost water for five hours one day, lost power for 15 or 16 hours another day, and then lost power again last night. We had been working hard all day emptying our basement so we just hit the sack early. The power came back on sometime in the night - hurray!

Of course, now we don't trust it. We've got battery-operated Coleman lanterns with fluorescent lights, but the problem is the heat. Luckily after the storm hit last night the temperatures dropped into the 70s (they're back up in the 90s now) so we slept with the windows open.

[becke_davis]

---

Fricka wrote:

---

JoelleCharbonneau wrote:

Becke - stay safe!  We'll be sending lots of good vibes in your direction.  Maybe that'll help the power turn on.  (We have lots of power outages here in the Chicago suburbs, too!  What crazy weather!!!!)

---

Here's another thought--sometimes we have power outages here, too, and our family often just got in  our car(which of course has AC) and would drive around, sightseeing places we hadn't been for a while, just taking up time until we thought the power had probably been turned back on. It's surprising what  solutions the mind can come up with, when you are faced with problems like the power going out! If the power has gone out during the day, you might want to think about heading to the local mall or library, both of which should have back-up generators, making them good places to hang out while you're waiting for the power grid in your neighborhood to be restored.

---

That's a great idea! We thought of going to a movie (assuming the theater still had power) but we were too tired last night.

The problem has been the scope of the power cuts - not just houses but business and whole malls. Our local Kroger lost 90% of their perishable stock when we had the long power cut the other day. I guess the back-up generators only work for a limited time.

[becke_davis]

I just got Joelle's newsletter in my email. I forgot to mention this:

Joelle is the featured Sunday writer at
Do Some Damage
and alternating Tuesdays at the
Stiletto Gang.

[JoelleCharbonn…]

"I just started your book, SKATING AROUND THE LAW, this morning. It's been in my to-be-read pile for awhile. Since you are visiting this week, I decided to read it. I'll be back later and update you on my progress."

Thanks for reading Skating Eadie!  I hope you like it.  Skating is set in a small town, which is a lot of fun to write.  I didn't realize how different writing MURDER FOR CHOIR would be, but setting a book in a larger community--in this case a suburb of Chicago--makes sleuthing more of a challenge.  But a fun one.  I hope you enjoy and please keep me posted!!