Joanne Clarey

Joanne Clarey moved to High Point, NC in 2000 from Portland, Maine where she resided for over 35 years.  She earned a BA from Colby College in English Lit and taught English in public schools before returning to earn an M.Ed. and Ed.D. from the University of Maine in Counseling Psychology. She taught at The University of Southern Maine, Leslie College, and various community education facilities and maintained a private psychotherapy practice for almost twenty years before retiring to enjoy a full time career as a fiction writer.

In fact, it was the pressure of her psychotherapy practice, college teaching and mandated research publications that led her to fiction writing as a method to relieve tension. Poetry, short stories and essay writing proceeded her first attempts at novel writing, all reflecting her experiences as a psychotherapist and her interest in the motivations and behaviors of people.

Her first two novels were published in 2005, The Mysteries of Hummingbird Falls and a psychological thriller, Twisted Truth.  She is currently completing sequels to both novels, working on a literary novel, Persephone's Sister, about the changes trauma creates in the life of her female protagonist, and an inspirational essay and poetry book about nature and its ability to heal.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Murder We Write, The Triad Guild and the Roundtable Writers and spends as much time as she can visiting her grandson and two children. And she loves the North Carolina climate!