On of my favorite things at BN.com is introducing debut authors, as I did last week. This week we have another debut author - ROCHELLE STAAB!
I read her book WHO DO, VOODOO? a few days ago - it officially comes out on Tuesday, November 1st. Some bookstores might have it early - it's worth checking, because it's a perfect Halloween read!
Rochelle's website is here: http://www.rochellestaab.com/
She's on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/rochelle.staab?ref=ts
And on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/#!/rochellestaab
Rochelle Staab is a Los Angeles mystery writer who can be found most afternoons at her computer, plotting fictional murders and breaking fictional curses.
Rochelle displayed a flair for the dramatic early in life. As a child in Milwaukee, she performed pop music by microphone (a hairbrush) and built a personal library filled with a diverse selection of titles (comic books and Nancy Drew mysteries.) She appreciated the nuance and influence of small screen cinema (television.) She also loved school. Her front row desk was her stage; her textbooks served as her script. She recited each line to perfection, but repeating the words of others was not enough. She dreamed of becoming a novelist and informed everyone who would listen that one day she would write books.
But, as all creative types know, Rochelle had other things to do first.
Rochelle loves pop music.
One of Rochelle's first jobs out of school was as Programming Department secretary for a Top 40 radio station in Milwaukee—her dream job and first taste of the entertainment business. Hard work and experience led to a promotion and a move to the station's chain headquarters in New York. Within four years Rochelle was named National Music Director and then became Vice-President of Programming for the group of Top 40 radio stations, the first woman and youngest person to earn the title.
Still in her twenties, she moved to Los Angeles to program KIIS-FM, eventually segueing into a marketing position at Warner Bros. Records, the most successful music label on the West Coast. Throughout her career at the label, she had the honor of working with a multitude of talented WB artists and accumulated gold and platinum album awards as part of the marketing department. When she was named Vice-President of Advertising at the label, the campaigns Rochelle and her team produced for artists earned awards for both creative excellence and innovation.
Rochelle is fascinated by the supernatural.
Rochelle's interest in the mystical was sparked as a child when she overheard her Mother and Aunts whisper behind closed doors about trips to a fortuneteller—a scandalous taboo in their devout Catholic family. As a teen, she and her friends dabbled in the occult until a rainy afternoon at the Ouija board scared them straight. After Hurricane Katrina, a tour of the New Orleans French Quarter with a voodoo priestess inspired Rochelle to weave elements of the supernatural into her writing.
Rochelle loves mystery.
Rochelle's dream to become a novelist came true in the UCLA Writers' Program—a "do it or quit talking about it" challenge she gave herself. While in the Writers' Program, she started Who Do, Voodoo?, her first mystery novel. After completion, Who Do, Voodoo? won a Conference Choice Award at the San Diego State University 2010 Writer's Conference, was a 2010 RWA Golden Heart finalist in the Contemporary Series—Mystery/Adventure/Suspense category, and sold to Berkley Prime Crime. Who Do, Voodoo? is coming this November.
Rochelle is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters In Crime, International Thriller Writers, NARAS, and Mensa.
(Note: The juicy, sexy parts were omitted to protect the guilty and the innocent. Rochelle writes mystery, not romance. Seriously.)
BLOG TOUR:
October 31-November 5
Barnes & Noble Mystery Book Club, guest author 
November 1
The Qwillery Debut Author Challenge
November 1
Lori's Reading Corner
November 1
My Bookish Ways
November 1
Todd Ritter "Writing With..."
November 1
Berkley Prime Crime website "Dear Reader" letter
November 2
Killer Hobbies
November 3
Dru's Book Musings
November 3
Thoughts In Progress
November 4
Romance University
November 7
VR Barkowski A Writer's Blog
November 8
Socrates' Book Review Blog
November 10
Fang-tastic Books
November 11
Get Lost In A Story
November 13
The Lipstick Chronicles
November 22
Seeing Night Reviews
November 23
Escape With Dollycas
November 28
Mysteries and Margaritas
December 13
Jungle Red Writers
December 28
Under the Tiki Hut
WHO DO, VOODOO? the first novel in Rochelle's thrilling new Mind for Murder Mystery series features no-nonsense Liz Cooper, a Los Angeles psychologist forced to embrace the occult to clear her best friend of murder...
When Liz Cooper's friend Robin Bloom finds an unusual tarot card tacked to her front door, Liz writes it off as a prank. Robin refuses to ignore the omen—her late husband drew the same card, the three of swords, in a reading the night before he was killed in a car accident. As more cards and darker threats appear, Liz realizes someone very dangerous is upping the ante.
Liz turns to her brother's ex-college roommate, occult expert Nick Garfield. As Nick leads her into the voodoo community to locate the origin of the deck, she can't ignore their attraction to each other. Then a woman is found murdered and Robin becomes the prime suspect. Determined to clear her friend, Liz joins forces with Nick to unravel otherworldly secrets and seek help from beyond—or risk being outwitted by a cunning killer...
