DeLauné Michel was raised in South Louisiana in a literary family that includes her uncle Andre Dubus, her mother Elizabeth Nell Dubus, and her cousin James Lee Burke. Ms. Michel was named for Helene DeLauné, the first woman over from France on her mother's side of the family. Helene DeLauné was in the court of Marie Antoinette and her husband, Jules Andre, fought in the French Revolution. Antoinette gave Helene DeLauné jewels to help her and her husband escape to South Louisiana, a far cry from the court of France! Ms. Michel's father's family was the eleventh family in New Orleans. Upon leaving high school, Ms. Michel moved to New York City. She did some modeling there and in Europe, then spent several years studying acting in NYC with teachers from the Neighborhood Playhouse, The Actor's Studio, Juilliard, and the Yale Drama School. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she had guest starring roles on TV shows such as NYPD Blue, The Gilmore Girls, and Judging Amy, among others. She did a number of independent films that never saw the light of day (happily for some, sadly for others) and Equity-waiver theatre, including her own one-woman show. In 1996, Ms. Michel created Spoken Interludes, a critically-acclaimed reading series where award winning, bestselling, and up-coming writers read their own work. This literary institution has been covered extensively by publications ranging from The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, GQ Magazine, LA Magazine LA Weekly, and has been heard on NPR. The salon begins at 6:00 with an exquisite buffet dinner. The readings follow at 7:30 until 8:30, and feature writers such as: Kathryn Harrison, Arthur Phillips, Michael Connelly, Arianna Huffington, Ann Packer, Michael Korda, Alice Sebold, Mona Simpson, Bruce Wagner, and Amy Hempel. Since its debut in May of 1996, Spoken Interludes has provided a place where people come together, enjoy great food, and hear stories like their own reflected in the voices of others. In 2001, Ms. Michel made Spoken Interludes a non-profit arts organization through which she developed, taught in, and continues to run Spoken Interludes Next, an out-reach writing programs for at-risk teenagers in LA public high schools and detention halls. To watch a short video about the program, please click here. The Spoken Interludes reading series has been heard on National Pubic Radio and continues to have readings in Los Angeles and New York. For more information, please visit www.spokeninterludes.com. The first two short stories that Ms. Michel wrote won recognition in the Thomas Wolf Short Fiction Competition sponsored by Duke University. Later work won the Pacificus Foundation Literary Award. One of her short stories caught the eye of an agent, who then sent it to Joyce Carol Oates. Ms. Oates called Michel's writing "a wonderful, idiosyncratic voice and an extremely promising talent." But Ms. Oates felt that the story was actually a chapter of a novel. Ms. Michel agreed and her first novel, Aftermath of Dreaming, was born. In Aftermath of Dreaming (William Morrow/HarperCollins, April 2006), Ms. Michel explores with humor and pathos the universal themes of abandonment, forgiveness, and letting go. Her second novel, The Safety of Secrets, was published by HarperCollins in May 2008. She lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband and two sons and is currently working on her third novel.