I'm such a fan of the FATED MATES podcast, which spurred me to read Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series (squee!) and is such an thoughtful, sharp conversation about that series, about romance as a genre, and about being an author. 

Its cohosts are Sarah MacLean (I just finished Brazen & the Beast - such deep longing!) and Jen Prokop (if you like romance & don't follow her work, change that now.) During one of their interstitial episodes of the podcast's first season they delved into the concept of bodily autonomy in romance, and I was thrilled they included ROLL OF A LIFETIME as one of their examples. 

Anyway, it's an important topic to me (as you've guessed from reading me) & I loved being lumped in with some of my favorite fellow authors who are also creating characters with power over their reproductive choices. Give it a listen! 

Writing Let the Good Times Roll was a challenge, and not just because I transformed Chloe from antagonist (in Eye of the Tiger) to main character I spent every moment longing for Cajun food, and for New Orleans. 
(Well, I wrote part of it while visiting New Orleans, so I wasn't longing for much then. Except for more hours to explore and eat and walk and talk and eat and eat and eat. Lucky me!) 

As I do for all of my books, I created a Pinterest page full of the images that inspired me for this novella. Before you check it out, a warning: you will long to visit New Orleans for yourself! (As an alternative, read Let the Good Times Roll!) 

Feel so so sorry for me. I'm recently returned from New Orleans. 
I had to go. It was research.
(It was also so I could chaperone my son's field trip, but don't tell his band director that was my primary motivation.) 

You remember Evan's mean sister Chloe from Eye of the Tiger? You didn't think she deserved her happily ever after, did you? Well, I am more forgiving than you. (I am probably not more forgiving than you.) (I admit that writing her comeuppance was fun, and not just because it gave me an excuse to visit New Orleans.) 

Let the Good Times Roll will be available very soon! Subscribe to my newsletter and you can be the first to know when it's published. 

Roll of the Dice, Book 3 - Natalie's story is now available for pre-order! 

Order now, and TIGER will leap onto your e-reader on 2/29 (#FunFact: 2-29 is Bachelor Day. This doesn't bode well for Natalie's matchmaking mom!)

Warning: contains several silly, lewd limericks. (Evan is a charming, light-hearted man--or is he?)

I'm excited for y'all to read where Natalie's roll of the dice is taking her, whether she's ready for it or not. 

Happy New Year! I'm so excited by the crazy amount of work I've lined up for this year.

First up, the latest ROLL OF THE DICE novel, EYE OF THE TIGER! I'll go on about Natalie and Evan's story at greater length once I've recovered from the virus-that-doesn't-want-me-to-work, but for now I'm excited to share the gorgeous cover (designed, as always, by the talented Killion Group.)
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The other novels and novellas on the cards for this year are going to be such fun to work on...so long as I don't get too obsessed by my new favorite distraction, Instagram. Come follow me! You'll surely never tire of well-filtered shots of my gorgeous dog. 

I hope your plans for 2016 are energizing enough to keep your spirits up even if you, too, have the virus-that-thinks-you-should-sleep-lots-more-and-forget-words-halfway-through-saying-them. 
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I was excited this morning to find the narrator of my Roll of the Dice audiobooks, Amy Rubinate, interviewed at the fabulous romance audio site, Audiogals.

Head over there to find out more about Amy and her intriguing new audiobook production company. There are giveaways for free audios, too! 

You can hear samples of Amy's narration of Rocket Man and Ready to Roll on those titles' pages here. And buy them at Audible.

PS - Retreat to Love will be available in audio someday, too! I haven't started that process yet. 

You, dedicated readers of melaniegreene.com, will have noticed my new Signings page. That's because I'm booking author events now! 

I'm diving into the deep end by attending the Houston Authors Bash this Saturday 2/28 - yikes! That's tomorrow! There will be over a hundred area authors and hundreds of awesome readers, and I can't wait.

Because I'm getting organized in what can politely be called "a bit of a rush" I'm not going to have time to get nervous. Or that's the theory anyway. I'm excited to mingle with other authors from my city, especially the ones I already know from West Houston RWA (I'm shy at heart, so it's always a comfort to know there will be familiar faces in the large crowd!) (Also, they're great writers and fun to visit with!)

See you soon!

I have such delightful friends! 

There's a group of us who went to middle & high school together & they've been listening to me talk about writing for... let's guess no more than 3 decades? So I'm sure in their eyes the publication of ROCKET MAN has been a really long time coming! 

Anyway, we try to get together monthly, and today was brunch. One friend has created a tradition for us of passing around this superb Milestone Trophy. It reads:

SHAMROCK HILTON
CHRISTMAS DANCE
CONTEST
1957
1ST.

And today, in recognition of the milestone of my debut publication, it was awarded to me! 

Obviously, I've got it sitting proudly on top of the roll top desk in my study, where it shines on me as I sit to write. 

It's particularly apt, as I'm currently finishing up READY TO ROLL, which is the novella featuring Janice and Miguel from ROCKET MAN. Why is a dance trophy particularly apt for that novella, you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait slightly less than a month, then you'll find out. 

(Is it unfriendly of me to hope none of my friends have milestones soon, so I get to keep it a while?) (Is it really really unfriendly of me to hope that, considering one of them is planning her wedding?) (...it's okay. I know the answer.)