DeLauné Michel was raised in South Louisiana in a literary family that
includes her uncle André 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 André, 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 Actors 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 theater, including
her own one-woman show.
In 1996, Ms. Michel created Spoken Interludes, a critically acclaimed reading
series where award-winning, bestselling, and up-and-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,
LA Magazine LA Weekly.
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 nonprofit arts organization through
which she developed, taught in, and continues to run outreach writing programs
for at-risk teenagers in LA public high schools and detention halls. 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. The novel is loosely based on an intimate six-year
relationship she shared with Warren Beatty.
The Safety of Secrets, was published by Avon
A/HarperCollins in May 2008. She lives in Westchester County, New York with her
husband and two sons.
DeLaune Michel's website
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As the title suggests, The Safety of Secrets looks at the costs
exacted by secrets—the innocent (or seemingly innocent) ones and the more
insidious. And L.A.—and the film business, in particular, in which this story is
set—is, in its way, a city of secrets, both manufactured and organic. Can you
talk about what drew you to this rich theme?
I wanted to explore betrayal in a lifelong friendship. And it occurred to me
that one currency of intimacy in a best friendship is shared secrets, so I
wanted to see what would happen to that relationship when its most powerful
secret is given away, and given away thoughtlessly, like so many pennies dropped
on the floor. I was interested in the way that secrets are used to ally and/or
alienate ourselves from those that we love. There is such stark and deep
knowledge of one another in an ages old friendship that I wondered about how
some secrets are used as a mask to hide and protect ourselves, or are used to
continue to be that person that we think our best friend needs, or to try not be
that person anymore, even when we still are. I felt there was a mirroring of
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