I have been writing as a hobby for decades. Before the ease of a computer, I wrote inside notebooks during class, as far back as elementary school. Teachers submitted my short stories into school contests, but I never took writing seriously beyond that even though it was something I loved to do. I kept many of my unfinished “books” in a container with all my school mementos.
I’m a member of the Romance Writers of America and a local group in another city that I travel to every other month for meetings. I’m the local group’s secretary for the next two years.
And I love to write romance…
Just after college, I started my first “real” book—(at that time) a contemporary romance with a little mystery involved—again, as a hobby and something for myself. (I tend to read a lot of mysteries/psychological thrillers but prefer to write romance.) I spent a couple of years on it and was three-quarters of the way done. I told many family members and friends about the book, in every detail. They liked it and told me to go for it. But I didn’t. I’d like to revisit that unfinished idea again at some point and make it first person POV/dual POV. Someday…
Near the end of 2009, I began my second novel, A Brush With Fame, with the concept that I’d be okay if it were edited and torn apart. The first revision was finished in 2010. Friends critiqued it and placed sticky notes on every page where a suggestion was made. This feedback was vital and helped me become a better writer.
Then my mother was terminally ill at the end of 2013. She’d never asked me about my writing journey or my potential books. But I sat beside her hospital bed, opening up about this dream I had to be a writer (and so scared to be in a world without her). My mother told me, “Get your book done.”
By the end of 2017, A Brush With Fame was nearly ready, four long years later, but certainly not wasted. Those years allowed me time for countless revisions, edits, getting the word count back down, cleaning up the text, having it read and critiqued by many who love the same romance authors as me, more adjustments, attending monthly romance writing group chapter meetings, gathering more information from editors, agents, and guest speakers, applying all tips suggested, and deciding that self-publishing would be the best route for me. A Brush With Fame has been edited three times by three different people, a second edition was put on Amazon in 2020, and it’s had four different covers. It was the novel to test the waters, to tweak, try different formats, and pretty much experiment with so that things would be easier by the time I had to deal with my second novel, Edge of Eighteen (a forbidden love story that takes place at summer camp). I plan to do another revision with all that I’ve learned since the last one, and clean it up some more. When I have time… When do I have time?
If I had to say what my specialty is, it would be character development—having an MFC and MMC who are loved and who you as the reader care about. You want the two together. Their dialogue is sometimes witty as well as very natural—what a couple might talk about—while keeping it fresh, fun, and flirtatious. Story-wise, I’m about the strong foundation a couple possesses and the obstacles thrown at them to deal with.
A little trivia about my books…
So far, in all of my novels, my MMC names end with the letter n and MFC names end with the letter a. I choose to use a golden retriever MMC (loyal, affectionate, and supportive), or as I see it, “the nice guy next-door” who others might not notice at first but the MFC does and falls for. A golden-retriever hero doesn’t mean he’s boring but can be quite the opposite. And I try to show that.
Another parallel among my novels is that I typically have a pool scene (or several) and a dance scene. Two of my books (one’s published, one’s not) focus on the MFC being involved with a celebrity because that subject has always fascinated me. What would it be like to have someone famous want you? And I find songs that remind me of my characters as I’m writing a novel. For my first two, I made it a point to have songs placed periodically throughout the stories. In later revisions of two works, I included additional songs, many of which I’d listened to while writing but hadn’t initially mentioned.
My next two books…
I’d written two more novels within nine months (there was a lot more time to write in 2020), one which is published and another which is getting a new ending before being sent off for editing. Heart Wreck (a summer vacation romance) is available as of late 2025. Many asked for an epilogue. I wrote one in 2024 and had it made into an EPUB for download. The novel was revised to add a QR code to my author mailing list and a download for the bonus epilogue. Told from Cillian’s POV, the epilogue continues the story beyond the ending, reflecting on the first year of his and Camellia’s relationship. I’m excited to show off my new cover as well as an AI-voiced audio version of the book.
Presently, I’m finishing the ending of Love Act (reverse age gap/faking they aren’t dating/celebrity). Edge of Eighteen also has a bonus chapter for download at the end of the book. It’s Devin’s POV of the first three weeks of camp since learning Dahlia has a crush on him. The main book isn’t dual POV, so the reader isn’t in his head to hear his thoughts and reactions. I hope this bonus chapter will give readers a glimpse of who he is and what he thinks. There’s also an AI-voiced audiobook available. Eventually, I’ll tackle A Brush With Fame and do the same (bonus chapter from Evan’s POV and an AI-voiced audiobook). I’m also working on a universal reader magnet for a free download on BookFunnel. It’s Devin and Dahlia’s story seven years in the future from the events of Edge of Eighteen. I chose it because that one is my favorite book. I love the couple so much. When asked what time I would return to to relive, I say church camp during the summer of 1984. It was one of the most special times of my life. And it was the inspiration for Devin and Dahlia.
More personal…
I’m from the Southwest, and my job is substitute teaching with a specialty in special ed. I have a B.S. in family studies and have worked most of my life with children of all ages. I volunteered at summer camps back in my 20s. And yes, (as in Edge of Eighteen) our camps did those anonymous back rubs before a time that it would be considered sexual assault. It was the way to find out who liked you, soft music did play, and we called it “aardvarks and giraffes” to know which group you were in (rubbing a back or getting a back rub). And nothing inappropriate went on that I’m aware of…
Photography is a passion of mine and was a side job for a time. One of my other hobbies is to help adoptees search for their birth families, and I have helped run a local search and support group. I’ve advocated and spoken in my state’s legislature for adoptees to have their original birth certificates at age eighteen. I’ve been in reunion with my own birth family since 1989 and still don’t have mine. I can’t request it for another two years under current law.
I have one child. My son is twenty and all grown up, so no more soccer mom on the weekends. Not sure if he even knows what I write even though books are on display here and there. Once, he said a friend was looking through one when I wasn’t home. Hmm… But he’s the reason I choose to write about golden retriever MMCs. I want him to aspire to be a “hero” to whomever he is with—a golden retriever, a nice guy—and treat whoever well. He’s a pre-med student and on his way to saving lives.
I love The Time Traveler’s Wife and the movie The Notebook. I love iced lattes. My husband makes one for me every day and leaves it in the fridge overnight so it’s ready when I wake up. He is a golden retriever and my best friend. We have so many adventures together, and he’s certainly not boring. And we never skip going to Disneyland (my happiest place on Earth) every year, if I can help it. I have the perfect husband because he loves it just as much as me.
I write books I want to read because everything happens in them that I want to have happen. Yes, if I’m ever stranded on a deserted island, I’m taking the Bible and my books with me. 🙂
Like they say, authors should always be writing…
Romance Writers of America (RWA) member
Valley of the Sun Romance Writers (Phoenix RWA) member
Melinda Hazen 