One-humped inspiration

by: Joelle Charbonneau

During the last few months of 2012, I got a bunch of e-mails asking me about Elwood the camel from my Rebecca Robbins mysteries.  So to start 2013, I thought I'd explain where the inspiration for Elwood came from. 

Until my mother heard me speak at a signing, she assumed I put a dromedary smack dab of a rollerskating mystery set in small town Illinois because there is a popular skating spin known as a camel.  You've all seen it.  The skater has one leg on the ground.  The other is stretched out behind them while they go round and round and round. 

Yes!  My mother was (and probably still is) capable of preforming this move.  Me...not so much.

But alas.  Sorry, Mom!  I was not being quite that clever when I decided to feature a one-humped mammal into the middle of this story. 

So, why a camel you ask?  Well, let me tell you.  As you all probably know, in additional to writing books, I teach voice lessons.  Over the years my student roster has included middle school, high school, college age and adult students.  One of my incredibly talented singers happened to own and jump horses.  A few years ago, just before I started writing SKATING AROUND THE LAW, she came into her lesson, said hello and mentioned that she wouldn't be able to make her lesson the following week. 

"One of my horses has to go to the University of Illinois" she said.

Unable to resist, I responded, "Wow. Smart horse."

She laughed and explained that she was taking the horse to the large animal vet clinic at the university and that she was looking forward to the experience since the last time she was there she met a guy with a camel.

Yep, the whole camel thing caught me off guard, too.  She then went on to say that the guy who brought the camel to the vet wasn't even the camel's owner.  Turns out the guy in the waiting room was the next door neighbor of the farmer who owned the camel.  While the camel lived with the farmer, the two didn't have the best relationship.  The last time the farmer tried to bring the camel to the vet without the neighbor's help, the camel broke out of the carrier and raced down Route 57.

Okay--if you haven't been to the middle of Illinois, that stretch of road is flat and filled with soybean farms and corn fields.  Just imaging a camel racing down the pavement along an endless sea of corn made me giggle. 

A lot.

A few days after that conversation, I began writing SKATING AROUND THE LAW, the first of the Rebecca Robbins mystery novels, and suddenly there was an ex-circus camel named Elwood smack in the middle of the story.   It just goes to show that sometimes you never know where you are going to find inspiration.

May 2013 bring you your own one-humped inspiration.  I can't wait to see what this year is going to hold.

SKATING ON THE EDGE - ARC Giveaway

By: Joelle Charbonneau

Happy Tuesday!

If you’re like me, you’re amazed that the summer months have flown by so quickly.  How can August already be next week?  I mean…didn’t the summer just begin.  Yes, I know that summer technically ends in September, but really, the beginning of school marks the end of the summer experience even if the calendar doesn’t technically agree.  Face it--I’m not ready to see back-to-school supplies in the stores and everything that implies.  The end of summer means the beginning of my son’s first 5 day a week school adventure.  It also means 2 different book deadlines for me (eek!) and lots of work with my high school senior voice students as we get them ready for college auditions.

Those are all good things, but I am not ready for any of them to happen.  I am in a total state of denial.

However, one thing that I am eagerly anticipating after summer’s end is the release of the next Rebecca Robbins novel!  (I also need to finish writing the 4^th Rebecca Robbins book…but I’m not going to think about that.  Today, I am the queen of denial!)  Since I’ve always felt that Rebecca and company are great beach reads, I am going to celebrate the fact we still have several weeks of summer left by giving away an ARC of SKATING ON THE EDGE.  It is the third Rebecca book, features the Toe Stop roller derby team, EstroGenocide, and thus far is my favorite in the series.  (Although, I might say the same when I’m done with Skating Under The Wire.  Only time will tell.)

So….here’s the deal.  If you would like to celebrate summer with a signed advance reader copy of SKATING ON THE EDGE, leave a comment on this post.  Next Monday, I’ll draw a winner and ship off the copy of Skating On The Edge to the winner so they can find a patch of sand, rub on some suntan oil and enjoy the last days of summer with Rebecca and friends.

SKATING ON THE EDGE

(Oct. 2nd, Minotaur Books)

 

 Rebecca Robbins, owner of the Toe Stop roller-skating rink, is back, this time joined by a tough and sassy roller derby team, and she has a new puzzling murder to solve.

It’s Native American Summer Days in Indian Falls, and Rebecca is roped into taking a turn in the Senior Center dunk tank. That is, until her rhinestone-studded grandfather, Pop, needs help setting up his Elvis act. Minutes from climbing into the tank, Rebecca has to find a replacement, and roller derby girl Sherlene-n-Mean is delighted to fit the bill---until she’s dunked, electrocuted, and killed. It’s obvious that this was no accident. Someone rigged the tank, but who was the intended target? Sherlene-n-Mean or Rebecca?

With a list of suspects in hand and Pop cheering her on, Rebecca starts asking questions. Who disliked Sherlene-n-Mean enough to kill her? Could a father really be capable of murdering his own daughter for money? Why has the bowling alley owner suddenly decided to call a truce and offer Rebecca his assistance? Who was Sherlene-n-Mean? Did her mysterious past catch up with her and get her killed or was she a victim of circumstance? Aided by a trio of self-appointed bodyguard derby girls and caught between Deputy Sean and her sometimes-boyfriend Lionel, Rebecca digs for answers, dodges bullets, and races to find a killer before the killer strikes again.