Helene DeLauné was in the court of Marie Antoinette and her husband, Jules André Dubus, fought in the French Revolution.
When she was 17, during her junior year of high school while living alone with her mother following her parents’ explosive divorce, her mother decided to end Michel's education at St. Joseph's Academy, the all-girl, Catholic high school that she was attending, and arranged for Michel to get a GED, and move into an apartment with an older sister.
To support herself, Michel became the manager and buyer of a boutique in what would have been her senior year, and was the first to bring Williwear, Max Studio, and Norma Kamali clothing lines to Baton Rouge.
[citation needed] After moving to Los Angeles, Michel had guest starring roles on TV shows such as NYPD Blue, The Gilmore Girls, and Judging Amy, among others.
One of her short stories caught the eye of an agent, who then sent it to Joyce Carol Oates, who referred to Michel's writing as "a wonderful, idiosyncratic voice and an extremely promising talent.
In Aftermath of Dreaming (William Morrow/HarperCollins, April 2006), Michel explores the universal themes of abandonment, forgiveness, and letting go.
It’s a book that will take its place in Southern tales of deception with the mass appeal of The Glass Castle.” Adam Gopnik) She lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband and two sons.