Melani Blazer

There’s no way I can write about myself in third person, so I won’t even try.

When I was a little girl, I always said I wanted to be a doctor. Not sure why, or how, but as I proceeded through school with that goal in mind, I snuck in some extra English classes, then a Journalism class and finally became Copy Editor and photographer for the school newspaper. While I still take lots of pictures, I got tired of the…lack of imagination in writing news articles.

But I didn’t delve writing into a fiction writing career. I took off time to get married, have a kid, buy a house and settle in to a routine that included chasing four cats, building a muscle car and doing this “office thing” to pay the cable internet bill.

Now I work days, write nights, well, until it’s time for bed so I can get up at the wee hours and start all over again. My first book, Legend of the Leopard–about an accidental leopard shapeshifter–allowed me to delve into some of the medical training/science that still fascinates me. I combined it with envelope pushing erotic content (for me). Ellora’s Cave published it in March, 2004. Since then I’ve written the types of books I love to read, mainly paranormals with a root in reality, a practice of “what if”.

I find inspiration everywhere–dreams, songs and daily life. I think my love of photography allows me to see the big picture, then zoom in on just a portion of it and create a world around it.

Brand Name Dates is my first–and only to date–chick lit style story. The idea actually came from a cover idea I had. Picture a woman going through a clothing rack. Instead of simply outfits, men of all different varieties hung there, and she was “shopping” for a date. The book has a deeper level than simply it’s shopping theme–and for those with happy endings, no worries, I included one.

I’m a huge Nascar fan and when other publishers started introducing this fast paced sport to the romance world in their novels, I knew I could write one as well. Samhain Publishing released Trophy Girl in July of 2006 and it’ll be available in print in November, 2006.

Is there anything else you want to know about me? About writing, what’s coming up or…anything? I’ll leave comments open, but try to edit answers in to this informal FAQ area….