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Interview with Melodee Aaron, author of
THE POLYAMOROUS PRINCESS
By: Tasha Fisher
RRT: Tell us a little about yourself.
MA: I'm 35, single, and have no children. OK...I'll be 36
on February 27th. I have to get older, but I refuse to grow up!
I was born and raised in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and moved
to the San Diego, California area 8 years ago.
Four cats and a three-legged dog live with me. Maybe I should say
I live with them. It's pretty clear who really runs the
house! I'm not much more than an automated feeding machine.
RRT: How long have you been writing?
MA: I wrote my first story when I was 5. I still have it
someplace in the things my mother saved. It was about a cat that
could read minds.
I wrote various things all through school; some that certain people
in administrative positions didn't care for. I tend to the
politically conservative side and that isn't terribly popular in
academia.
I started writing professionally in the erotica romance genre about
a year ago.
RRT: Have you have any other career than that as a writer? And
if so, what?
MA: I recently changed jobs from a college professor to a
counselor at a drug treatment center for teenagers. Very
challenging, but very rewarding as well. These kids are the
future...and they'll be picking out my nursing home!
RRT: You went from the Ozark Mountains of Missouri to
California. How are they different? How has the move made you
different?
MA: I live in the mountains east of San Diego at about 4200
feet. In some ways, the two places are similar in that you have that
small town feeling.
The biggest environmental difference is that there aren't four
seasons here. Only two, maybe three if you stretch your imagination
a little. I miss the distinct seasons, but being warm and sunny most
of the time is nice, too.
The biggest change for me is dealing with crowds...in Missouri, the
entire county I last lived in had 9300 people. There are more people
than that on a city block in San Diego! I like my privacy, and if
left to my own, I would make a good hermit.
RRT: What was it like on the day you found out that others
would be reading what you created?
MA: That's hard to put into words. Somehow, ecstatic just
doesn't do the trick. The fact that someone else can step into my
world and enjoy the visit still amazes me.
As altruistic as it sounds, I don't want to get rich or famous. I
don't want to change the world. I just want to entertain one person
and, maybe, let them escape for a few hours to a world where happily
ever after is the rule.
RRT: You have a series called the Ike Payne series,
can you tell us a little about her and what to expect from her in
the future.
MA: Siren currently has book three in the Ike Payne
Adventures pending. LUST TO THE THIRD continues the saga and
takes a hard turn into crime drama with a serial killer loose aboard
HMSS Boone. Pretty intense at times.
Ikira "Ike" Payne is a Marine. Not just any Marine, though. She's
the MP in charge of security for His Majesty's Star Ship Warren
E. Boone, the flagship f the Emperor of Mankind. She's one of
only six women in the galaxy to serve as Security Chief.
Ike is a bit of a paradox, though. Tough, hard as nails, and a
trained killer, she keeps her feminine firmly suppressed. But I am
NOT saying that Ike is celibate. Far from it! Some people are
shocked by Ike's sexcapades!
But just under the surface is a tender and caring woman. All she
needs is the right motivation to let it out. And someone to make her
feel safe when she does.
I'm working on a special project with Siren right now that will be
similar to The Polyamorous
Princess in that it will take place in the Ike Payne
universe, but not be a part of that series. Instead, this will be a
series of its own.
RRT: You just came out with
The Polyamorous Princess
from Siren Publishing. Can we expect a sequel from this hot new
Sci-fi?
MA: The Polyamorous
Princess has received raving reviews and spent four weeks in
the #1 slot on the Siren Bestseller List.
All I can say right now is that you haven't seen the last of Damon,
Allie, and Harry.
On a related note, I have been fascinated by the fan mail about
Harry and Damon...it seems both men are building quite a following
of admirers!
RRT: It seems that most of your stories are in the sci-fi
category. Have you every thought of writing in a different genre?
If so, what would it be?
MA: That's very true, and it reflects my love of hard-core
sci-fi. I grew up with Asimov, Niven, Clarke, and other hard-core
sci-fi masters as my influence.
I am moving into other genres.
Casting Call for Love
is contemporary. A series of sequels planned for
Casting Call for Love
will be hybrids of contemporary and historical. I am also working on
a fantasy (Sword and Sorcery type) and a few other ideas. I've
always had a fascination with vampires, and that shows in
Casting Call for Love.
Also, ghosts and assorted psi powers attract me. Shape shifters
never caught my attention...maybe it's the physics background, but
they violate way too many laws!
Some people have asked about making a move in the direction of some
of the other authors out there, but that's not me. Take a look at
The Polyamorous Princess.
Yes, it's a ménage, but it's very different from the typical ménage
in romance novels. By the same token,
Casting Call for Love
deals with Elektra in a different manner. The sequels to
Casting Call for Love
will take that to extremes.
RRT: I know a lot of authors collaborate on stories; if you
could do a story with another author, who would it be and why?
MA: Do I have to pick just one?
I would love to work with an author who is well versed in the
paranormal arena. Something about that genre has always held an
attraction for me.
Only one name comes to mind when I think about that...Gracie
McKeever.
RRT: In May of '07, you're coming out with
Casting Call for Love;
can you tell us a little about it?
MA: Casting Call
for Love is a contemporary romance from Twilight Fantasies.
It will be released on May 2, 2007 as part of the Twilight Fantasies
grand opening.
I say contemporary, but there is a good deal of comedy in the story
as well. Maybe not quite enough to call it a romantic comedy, but I
promise you a few good hearty laughs!
Our heroine, Valerie, is an out of work actress and everything is
falling apart for her. She's living on the streets, out of cash, and
her car is on the repo list.
Roland owns a movie studio that made the transition from traditional
porn to erotic romance a few years ago, and things are looking up
for him. He just bought the films rights to a series of popular
books about a vampire, Elektra, and is ready to start filming. But
he has to cast the film first.
Out of desperation, Valerie makes the casting call.
From there, the attraction builds and, despite a myriad of obstacles
the pair must overcome, things move toward a happy ending.
Between the two points, we get a look at the film industry, the porn
industry, and a look at the world through the eyes of a
4,000-year-old predatory vampire.
RRT: How has your family inspired you?
MA: A very great deal...it was my great grandmother, Fanny,
who inspired me to become a storyteller in the first place.
An old mountain woman, she would sit in her rocking chair smoking a
corncob pipe and tell stories to me. Some were just stories of the
old days. Some were ghost stories. All were special and touched
everyone who heard them.
She was an amazing woman.
It didn't take long for me to know that I wanted to tell stories,
too. Not just casually.
RRT: Are there any plans for you books to be put into
print?
MA: For the Love of
Payne is available now at Amazon (ISBN: 1-933563-52-4).
Desert Heat and
The Polyamorous Princess
will be available in March.
RRT: How can our readers contact you?
MA: Via E-Mail, I can be reached at
melodeeaaron@yahoo.com
I can also be reached on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/melodeeaaron
And there is my home page at
http://www.melodeeaaron.com
I sometimes have one or more of the several IM programs up and
running. The information on those is on my home page and MySpace.
RRT: Melodee thanks for
interviewing with RRTErotic |
