URL: www.melodeeaaron.com

Contact: melodeeaaron@yahoo.com

ABOUT MELODEE

Melodee was born in 1971 in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Anyone who has ever watched the Beverly Hillbillies will know that the Ozarks is absolutely awash in storytellers. One of Melodee's earliest memories is sitting in the front porch of her great-grandma's house listening to the old woman tell stories about the old days.

"Fanny" by name, great-grandma could remember the days before airplanes. And she talked about men landing on the moon. The stories blended modern technology and society with old values and down-home common sense. The blend didn't always coexist perfectly.

Be that as it may, coming from a long line of storytellers, Melodee soon tried her hand at the craft. Writing stories in grade and high school that often invoked the ire of her teachers, she was never able to fit into the mainstream of "proper" literary attitude. Even non-fiction work drew the attention, all negative, of her teachers and school administrators. A paper she wrote in 7th grade supporting the death penalty by means of public hangings for sex offenders gained her three days off from school.

Attending SEMO University, Melodee soon came to the attention of several frat houses for her habit of reading Penthouse Forum in the school cafeteria. She also came to the attention of the dean and, eventually, the chancellor. After three years of study, a year off to work at Steak 'n' Shake waiting tables, and another year of school, Melodee finally received her degree in Liberal Arts.

Because of being a voracious reader of science fiction, most of Melodee's stories took on a sci-fi spin. She has sold, under several other names, a number of short stories and articles that have appeared in magazines and Internet publications. In addition, she has a good list of print novels published.

In 2005, Melodee turned her attention to erotic romance. This seemed a logical step since all of the stories she writes have a romantic element in the plot. The addition of erotica to the mix simply leaves the bedroom door open.

Melodee lives near San Diego, California now in a small town whose claim to fame is that it is the former home of Dennis the Catman. The high desert is an interesting place. Between getting about 4 inches of rain a year, the annual wildfires, the occasional 16+ inch snowfall, and 100+ degree heat, it never gets boring! But it's never really green.

INTERVIEW

Q: Who is your favorite author?

A: I actually have a lot of favorites from one genre to the next, but if I had to pick just one, it would be Larry Niven. Unless you're a hard-core science fiction fan, you probably have never heard of him. His stories always involve very complex characters, and I'm a nut for character development. Just read his book Ringworld for an example.

Q: Besides erotica romance, in what genres do you write?

A: Just about everything. Science fiction is my favorite, though, and most of my works have at least a little SF in them. I know it sometimes drives my publishers crazy, but I think of myself as writing SF in an erotica romance setting...not the other way around. Recently, I have done some work in paranormal and horror, and that was fun. It doesn't replace SF, though.

Q: What is your normal day like?

A: I tend to be an early riser, and I usually get up between four and five. I like to sit on the deck with a cup of hot tea and watch the sunrise. After that, I try to "work" for an hour or two, but not on new projects--this is the time for edits, evaluating cover art, communications, and other details of the publishing business. I try to take a walk before lunch, weather permitting, and get in a couple of miles with my dog Tripper. Luckily, here in sunny Southern California, the weather usually cooperates. After lunch, I write. Just the opposite of my session before lunch, this time is for new works...I don't do edits and such. The evenings are reserved as time for my family. I like old movies, and they have caught the bug from me.

Q: Do you really write everyday??

A: I try to, but to say that I'm always 100% successful would be lying to you. That plan probably works out three or four days a week. Maybe.

Q: What about writer's block?

A: I honestly have never had that problem. Maybe I'm different from other authors, but I try to look at writing as a job, and I have to get it done. The readers and publishers are my bosses, and how would your boss feel if you didn't perform?

Q: What is the big project you're working on now?

A: That's easy. The Immortal Love Universe is my project. All of my books with Siren are set there, and the universe spans the entire galaxy and more than twelve billion years. Yes, billion. It's a big place, and it's my personal playground. The number of stories and people there are staggering, and so are the details. Right now, I have more than 100,000 pages of notes about the universe and people who live there, and more are added everyday. There are some 5,000,000 words of stories in various stages of completion, and I've only scratched the surface so far.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: I have a few esoteric hobbies, like working on M-theory (aka String Theory) and grand unification theories (GUT), but I doubt that's what you mean. I have several, but maybe the most surprising is that I work with animal rescue and specialize in venomous reptiles, spiders, and scorpions. In a nutshell, I go out and remove rattlesnakes from people's homes and then relocate them. Yes, I have been bitten.

Q: Tell us something about yourself that no one knows.

A: That's another easy one, though it's a bit strange for me to reveal. It's not really a secret, but I tend not to discuss it very often. I'm almost totally deaf, and I have maybe 1% of "normal" hearing. It's due to a birth defect, and hearing aids, surgery, and other things have no benefit for me. Now for the funny part...I love music. I "listen" to music by feeling the vibrations. If the music is loud enough, I can even dance pretty well. All of this means that, as far as I am concerned, I can hear. I just hear in a different way from you. Like most people with severe hearing limitations, I have what most people would call a "speech impediment". Think Marlee Matlin and you have the idea. I use ASL (American Sign Language) a lot and, again like most people, I have my own signs for shorthand. It drives my family crazy sometimes!