The glamorous life
by: Joelle Charbonneau
Get up.
Make beds and then breakfast for the tot and myself.
Run errands.
Run around after the tot (which currently involves taking
him to swim lessons, camp, the playground and other fun summer activities).
Answer e-mails (on either my computer or phone depending on
which tot adventure we are currently having and only if the tot will let me
type).
Teach a voice lesson or two.
Make lunch for the tot.
Get the tot down for a nap.
Then blessed silence.
This is the start of many of my days.
In the silence I admit that I often think about taking a
nap. Or maybe reading a book. Very often I know I need to clean or do
laundry or other tasks that keep the house running. But I don’t really want do. This is the time before I start teaching
afternoon lessons, before the house becomes chaos again with the sounds of
toddler happiness or tears, before I need to make dinner and my husband comes
home. This is my time. There are a number of things I could do with
this time, but one thing that I never fail to do.
I write. Sitting on
the living room chair or sometimes on the couch.
Some days more than others.
Some days the words come fast and furious and the kid wakes up too
soon. Some days the words refuse to come
and still I attempt to fill the page.
Are there other things I might want to do?
Yes.
Are there other things my family needs me to do?
Of course. I’m a
wife, a mom, a daughter, an aunt, a friend.
There are always things that need to be done.
But those things can be done at other times. When my husband is home or the tot is
watching Blues Clues. It might not be as
easy to do the tasks when others need my attention, but my decision to be a
writer means I don’t ever take the easy path.
So I write. In the
silence. No music. Although, I know many writers have music that
puts them in the mood. It distracts
me. Perhaps because my other job is
teaching and singing music I find myself bopping along to the song instead of
putting my fingers on the keyboard.
When naptime is over, I take off my writer persona and get
back to the business of being just plain old me. And when the house is quiet again at night, I
pull out the writer, sit back on the living room chair, and start the typing
again.
When I’m writing a manuscript, I write every day. Even if the day is packed with activities, I
find at least fifteen minutes to write so that the story keeps moving
forward. I need the momentum that
brings. With a four year old around, I
consider every day I write a victory, but I do have goals. 1000 words.
It is a goal that is attainable.
And if I’m lucky, I type more.
Some days, I’m not so lucky and I do not reach that mark. But I try.
On the days that I reach it I celebrate because the little victories are
important. When I don’t make my goal, I
give myself credit for all I did get done that day with the knowledge that I
will get up and try again tomorrow.
Growing up, I was a huge reader and I have to admit that I
assumed that writers lead fairly glamorous lives. Ha!
For me being a writer means wearing jeans and t-shirts, drinking lots of
caffeine and losing lots of sleep. But I
wouldn’t trade it for anything.
About the Book:
Paige Marshall has worked hard to become the next opera sensation, only the big break she’s been dreaming of still hasn’t come. With bills to pay, she moves into her aunt’s house in the northern suburbs of Chicago and takes a job as a vocal coach and show choir instructor at Prospect Glen High School. After all, she’s sung at the Lyric Opera. How hard can coaching show choir be? After two days of teaching at the end of summer annual show choir camp, Paige decides coaching show choir is hell. The students don’t trust a classical singer to lead them to victory and the other coaches treat her like an unwelcome outsider. But when Paige finds a rival director strangled with a microphone cord and one of her students comes under suspicion she realizes she has one choice: to give the performance of a lifetime and track down the real killer before the killer strikes again.
- File Size: 491 KB
- Print Length: 304 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0425251373
- Publisher: Berkley (July 3, 2012)
About the Author:
Even as a struggling opera singer, Paige Marshall has never seen anything like the uber- egos of Prospect Glen High School show choir. As their new coach, she’s getting an icy reception from championship hungry students who doubt she can take them to a first-place trophy. Toughing this gig out may prove harder than scoring her big break…Especially now that her best young male singer is suspected of killing the arrogant coach of Prospect Glen’s fiercest rival choir. For Paige to clear his name, she’ll have to sort through a chorus of suspects—and go note-for-note with a killer who’ll do anything to knock her out of the spotlight for good…
Synopsis for End Me a Tenor (April 2013):
Following Murder for Choir is the second book in Joelle Charbonneau’s comedic murder mystery series, titled End Me A Tenor (April 2013).
It’s Christmas time in Prospect Glen, which means the Music in Motion show choir is gearing up for the Winter Wonderland Concert. Paige is trying to juggle preparation for the high school concert with rehearsals for her own performance – singing the soprano role a high profile version of The Sing Along Messiah. When the lead tenor of The Messiah keels over dead, the director is arrested and the show is on the verge of being canceled. With her career in jeopardy, Paige has no choice but to turn sleuth again and with the help of a few of her meddlesome students, find the killer before the curtain comes down on them all.
Website: JoelleCharbonneau.com
Author blog: dosomedamage.blogspot.com and thestilettogang.blogspot.com
Facebook: AuthorJoelleCharbonneau
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