I'm the author of seven historical novels having recently just signed a two-book contract with AVON/Harper Collins under my new name, Melody Thomas. My first book with AVON, which I'm really excited about, is titled In My Heart, with a April of 2004 release. My second book, Some Enchanted Evening, release date is to be announced.  More information about that will be up on my website the summer of 2003.

My publishing career is the realization of a life long goal and the culmination of a truckload of rejections that I gathered together then went to school on the suggestions which they'd contained. I joined Romance Writer's of America in late 1996, began to learn my craft, studied writing books, and how the industry works. I didn't sit back and wait for information, I actively sought every how-to manual and workshop I could attend. 

During this time I kept writing and writing, finishing three novels. After finalling in the Golden Heart contest in 1999, I sold my first book, My Lord Pirate, to Berkley. Shortly after that I sold, Indigo Moon & Autumn Star to Leisure under a pseudonym, Lori Morgan. This was where it paid off to have kept writing through all those rejections. Since my books first came out in 2001, my work has won the Holt medallion, finalled in the Bookseller's Best, and been reviewer nominated both by Romantic Times and the Dorothy Parker Awards for Best First Book and outstanding historicals.

As I look back on my love for writing, I can honestly say there hasn't been a time in my life that I haven't written stories. When I was nine, I used to create weekly Star Trek television scripts or scripts for my favorite westerns on television that I would ask my mom to mail wherever it was people read those things. My characters have saved the world many times, defeated bad guys and always one the love of his heart. My mom always took those scripts and stories, smiled brightly, and never told me that she didn't mail them off. To this day, I never thought about asking.

I consider myself a wordsmith and a passionate believer in happy endings. A product of thirteen schools and twenty-two moves stretching across the United States and Europe, most before I was out of highschool, I developed an appreciation for historical intrigue that has clearly carried over to my work today. 

I would have to say the catalyst that sparked my future love of historicals began when I visited the Tower of London and learned that Henry the Eighth had beheaded two of his wives. Wow! This was great fodder for my teenage imagination. The injustice of it all!! During this time, I had also discovered Victoria Holt, Kathleen Woodiwiss, and M.M Kaye--all three my heroes. Later, I graduated with a degree in criminal justice from the University of Oklahoma where I'd met and married my soon-to-be-fighter pilot in the Marine Corps. In 1991, I retired my spouse's wings and followed my husband to Chicago where I now write full time. 

What three things do you enjoy about writing in your sub-genre? 

The romance genre itself embraces everything that I love to read in any book. The thrill of the romance itself and the journey to a happily ever-after ending that is prevalent in the fairy tales that I loved as a child. Writing historical gives me the opportunity to create worlds and integrate my characters into living history. 

For me, my work brings these figments of my imagination to life. Since I love the emotion and passion of certain historical settings, historicals also give me the ability to create a colorful tapestry that I am able to interweave into my character's lives. Finally, I love the research. You should see my personal library and witness that love in its true literary form.  I love history.

I think romance heroines are enjoyable to create because?

Creating a great romance heroine depends most of the time on who my hero is. I've discovered that the creative process for me usually begins with some dialogue the hero says and grows from there. Heroines are great to create because she is the catalyst that usually moves the story and in some way brings redemption to the hero. Writing a story is like building a puzzle where by the end of the book, all the pieces fit together. The challenge is tremendous and very rewarding. My proactive heroines are the key to making that happy ending work.

Publishing Credits

Professional Associations & Presentations