About Us

      Joan grew up next door to the famous artist, Charles Burchfield, in Gardenville, New York. The contrast between his realistic and surrealistic paintings seems a symbolic parallel to her life and writing.
      Her first publications were in high school poetry anthologies. A  love of meter and conciseness can be seen in  her poetry collections: Again For the First Time, Mirror Me, Poems For the Asking, Women, Flowers, Fantasy, and Spirit and Joy, and over two-hundred individual poems, essays, articles, and short stories in anthologies, journals, magazines and newspapers.
     She was a teacher, actor, director, and writer for children’s theater, and then coordinated a Performing Arts Program for a boy's detention facility. She ran a small publishing company, and worked in a print shop. She  spent time visiting the ashram of Guru Maharaj Ji and the home of the  Sisters of Social Service.
    This collection of contrasts continued as she became Production Assistant for the Buffalo Catholic Diocese radio/ television programs, and then a  journalist/photographer for their newspaper. There she honed her skills in researching, interviewing, and writing dialog, returned to teaching at the SUNY Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center and became their first female full professor.
    Her interest in oral histories led to a video library and firsthand accounts of the Civil Rights Movement, plus,  two biographies of women religious. She also wrote, produced, and directed four biographical one-woman plays: Mother Cabrini's Mission to America; Always In My Heart: the Story of St. Marianne Cope;  Light and Dark: the Story of Sr. Judith Fenyvesi, SSS. and This Little Light of Mine, The Story of Sister Karen Klimczak, SSJ.
      Her Nikki Barnes Mystery Series; Agenda for Murder, Called to Kill, Close to You, and Evil examine the grittier side of life and post-war trauma. They are amateur detective novels where good always prevails. Her writing is more eclectic now. Sister Amnesia is a humorous allegory about finding yourself and finding home. Katharine Hepburn's Brownies, is about murder and the power of friendship. Guardians of Gardenville, the Fourteen Holy Helpers is a play set in her local church in Gardenville.  

Who’s Who of American Women

Who’s Who in American Education

Contemporary Authors

International Who’s Who in Poetry

Who’s Who in US Writers/ Editors/ Poets

Vesta’s Who’s Who of N. American Poets

International Authors/Writers Who’s Who

World’s Who’s Who of Women

Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders

2000 Notable American Women

Personalities of America

International Who’s Who of Intellectuals

Who’s Who in Entertainment

Directory of International Biography

        The Nikki Barnes Mysteries
               by Joan Albarella
 

          Agenda For Murder
         Called to Kill
         Close to You
         Evil

 "...she's invincible, escaping several attacks to kick butt and save the day." Publishers Weekly
 

"Things and people often aren't what they seem to be, and there are plenty of surprises..." Diane Wilde, She Magazine
 

 "Each and every character, no matter how small their role, is captivating and entertaining..." Sandra Morris, author By the Sea Shore