by: Joelle Charbonneau
It’s hard to believe that it has been three years since my
first novel – SKATING AROUND THE LAW hit shelves bringing Rebecca Robbins, Pop
and the entire Indian Falls gang into the wonderful world of mystery
readers. I still remember the anxiety I
felt leading up to the release of that my first published book. Would readers like the book? Would people wonder what the heck my
publisher was thinking publishing a book by me?
I mean, I was a musical theater/voice major in college who never took a
single creative writing class. What did
I know about writing books?
3 years have passed.
My career has grown in ways I never expected or dreamed of. And on Tuesday, SKATING UNDER THE WIRE, the
fourth and final (for now) Rebecca Robbins book will hit shelves.
I’m so thrilled because I love this story. It’s perhaps my zaniest of all the books
(which considering the derby girls in SKATING ON THE EDGE is kind of saying
something). The series brings a few new
characters to the series in addition to revisiting so many of my favorites that
have been part of previous books. There
is a wedding, Thanksgiving dinner and, of course, a murder. Writing this book was so much fun. I am delighted to finally share it with
everyone.
I’m also sad. Because
we often see in the publishing world – a book series often has to come to an
end. In this case, my publisher has
turned their attention to some other series they hope will find wide
audiences. While they love Rebecca and
her friends, the series hasn’t sold tens of thousands of copies and this is a
business. (Of course, if this book were
to sell tens of thousands of copies I’m betting they’d tell me they made a
mistake….it is business, after all.) And
while I love visiting Indian Falls, I have learned something important in the
last 18 months – I occasionally need sleep…which means I can’t keep writing at
my current pace. Which means something has
to give.
So it is with great delight that I look forward to sharing
Rebecca’s fourth adventure with readers and sadness that I, for now, must put
them away. But the best thing about
writing is that stories are always waiting to be told. And hopefully some day in the not so far
distant future I will have a chance to visit Rebecca, Pop, Lionel, Sean, Elwood
and the rest of the Indian Falls gang again.
They have a very special place in my heart and I am so grateful to all
of you who have given them a place in yours.
To celebrate the release of SKATING UNDER THE WIRE, I am
giving away 2 sets of paperbacks of SKATING AROUND THE LAW and SKATING OVER THE
LINE. Please leave a comment below to
enter. All entries no matter where you
live are welcome because I want to celebrate the final (for now) Rebecca
Robbins journey with a bang. (Winners will be chosen next Sunday - Oct. 6th!)
