Welcome to our New Faces column, where you'll meet debut authors in the romance genre. This issue we are visiting with Melynda Skinner, whose first published Regency is The Blue Devil, an August 2001 release from Zebra Regency.

Melynda, welcome to The Romance Reader! Tell us about yourself.

I live in Florida with my own loving husband-hero of eleven years and our two girls--charming and intelligent hellions, ages 3 and 6--and the requisite orange marmalade emperor...er, cat. I grew up in rural Florida, spending my early years reading or ranging alone through orange groves, lakes, swamps, pastures, and wild forests, where I gained a deep respect for my fellow creatures and an appreciation for how natural systems intertwine. A Meyers-Briggs INTP, I'm interested in nearly everything, and I thrive on challenge. In my spare time (what little I have of it!), I like to run, fence, go orienteering, quilt, sculpt miniature cottages, design web pages, play cut-throat hearts or spades, and play the piano (poorly, but with much enthusiasm, trust me!).

Are you coming to romance writing from another job?

Before sitting down to write my first book, I taught science and English. Before that, I waited tables; did clerical and computer work for two non-profit organizations; worked on monorails and rides at Disney World; manufactured ceramics; did research for a P.I., and sold tickets, performed, and lectured at a science museum. I also hold a real estate license. I think I'm what some people might politely call a "Jill-of-all-trades," but what others might refer to as a "n'er-do-well." I, of course, prefer the term "Renaissance Woman." Right now, I'm concentrating my effort upon my children and my writing.

What led you to write romance?

I began writing at age five, when I attempted to liberate the characters of my first-grade reader from their dreary, boring lives. My first story involved brother Jimmy intentionally starving their family dog, which left younger sister Sue to glory in heroic triumph. I have three elder brothers, so it isn't difficult to see where I got my inspiration for ~that~ storyline! My brothers provided plenty of fodder for my increasingly odd imagination. As I grew up, I was always writing alternate storylines and rewriting endings--and I was always reading. Other kids shared the usual heroes: Matt Dillon, Wonderwoman, Batman, Cinderella....but I had authors. Fantasy, science fiction, and romance authors like J.R.R. Tolkein, Robert A. Heinlein, and Victoria Holt. I idolized them, and I wanted to be like them, yet I always had an urge to tinker with their stories! Since it seemed grossly irreverent to tinker with The Lord of the Rings, or Time Enough for Love, or On the Night of the Seventh Moon, I decided to write my own stories.

Tell us about your road to publication.

My first romance was a short contemporary that had zero conflict. A real stinkeroo, it found a final resting place in the merciful obscurity of the bottom drawer of my filing cabinet. At least I had sense enough not to try to submit it! Next, after receiving encouragement from the late Carol Quinto--a wonderful Regency writer and gentle Southern Lady--I began a Regency and found I loved writing Regencies as much as I loved reading them. That story was a finalist for a Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award and was judged by--and sold to--my editor at Zebra Regency, Amy Gavey. The Blue Devil is an August, 2001 release. While it might sound like I was an almost overnight success, I must admit it took me ten years to learn what I needed to succeed. When I began writing romance, I was an English teacher, but that certainly didn't qualify my to write great fiction! I had a lot to learn. Along the way, I joined Romance Writers of America, hunkered down and listened attentively, and finally applied what I'd learned. Publication and my relationship with Jennifer Jackson, my incredible literary agent, were the result of equal mixtures of hard work, patience (or perhaps I was just too stubborn to give up!), and luck.

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

ou know, I read everything on the Regency I could get my hands on. Period writers like Jane Austen, of course; period newspapers, magazines, diaries, correspondence, maps, travel guides; modern histories--whatever I could get my hands on. Regency readers are so intelligent, and they're very demanding! They really know the era, and they appreciate correctness. So do I. When I read, I want to be ~educated~ as well as entertained. So, before writing The Blue Devil, I did my homework. And yet, in spite of hours and hours of meticulous research, I discovered a couple of anachronisms after it was too late to make changes. Small details, yet I still cringe thinking of them. I hope no one notices them!

Who are your influences as a writer?

Oh, my, what an uncomfortable question! There are just so many authors whose work I have loved! I can't possibly name them all. Let's see...in romance, there are Victoria Holt, LaVyrle Spencer, Jude Deveraux, Mary Balogh, Barbara Metzger, Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, Barbara Delinsky...and from other fiction genres there are Heinlein, the team of Niven/Pournelle, Zelazny, Tolkien, Anthony, Asprin.... It seems their voices have all crept into and blended with my own. Sometimes I recognize one of them in my style. It's like looking in the mirror and--for a fleeting moment--glimpsing your mother or father staring back at you--a circumstance at once disconcerting and oddly comforting.

What does your family think of having a romance author in their midst?

I have an outrageously supportive family! My mother--a big romance fan who read to me so often when I was small that she had all of our Golden Books memorized--is especially proud. My brother David was my first critiquer--a dreadful job he performed with gentle ruthlessness, bless him. I named my first heroine, Kathryn "St. David," after him. My brother Christopher and my father-in-law, who between them know simply everyone, have both offered to pitch my books to everyone they meet.

And then, of course, there's my rock, my wonderful husband. He never doubted my ability. When I had the first copy of The Blue Devil in my hands, he quietly said, "I told you you could do it." Having someone believe in me like that was humbling--and essential.

My family are all thrilled for me and are vastly enjoying the whole thing. It's such fun to share it with them!

Tell us about plans for future books.

My friends were good-naturedly arguing amongst themselves over which of their favorite secondary characters from The Blue Devil deserved a sequel more: the too-affectionate Lydia or the wickedly clever Jane. That's when a third character announced to me that ~she~ was the best choice, since she was an intriguing runaway heiress in disguise. Who knew? Not me! Miss Grantham's One True Sin will be a February, 2002 release from Zebra Regency.

In that story, Miss Grantham's wealthy parents are trying to marry her off to a title--any title, so she arranges a false betrothal in order to buy herself the time she needs to find her true love. Unfortunately, the fake fiance she strikes a bargain with is not the gentleman she mistakenly believes him to be, but a rake. He is stunningly, dangerously attractive, however. Ordinarily, Truesdale Sinclair wouldn't look twice at the social climbing chit, but he's just taken on the guardianship of three little girls, and he's badly in need of funds. So, True Sin, as he's known to the ton, decides to court her in earnest with a calculated seduction--only to lose his heart.

I'm also currently hard at work on a third related book, tentatively titled Lord Logic and the Wedding Wish. In it, the ultra-logical, ultra-fashionable hero clashes with a superstitious and impulsive Gypsy, who insists it's their destiny to marry.

My first few books are all connected by a recurring character, a flamboyant and outrageous old matchmaker, whose own story slowly unwinds with each book, and by a piece of fabric that begins its journey as the hero's blue waistcoat in The Blue Devil and passes from book to book, undergoing a surprising transformation each time.

How can readers get in touch with you?

I'd be delighted to hear from them! Readers are most welcome to write me at:

Melynda Beth Skinner
7259 Aloma Avenue
Suite 2, Box 31
Winter Park, FL 32792

Readers should kindly enclose an SASE if they wish a reply. Or, they can email me at melynda@melyndabethskinner.com .

They can also visit me on the world wide web at http://www.melyndabethskinner.com .

Melynda, thanks for joining us, and best of luck with your books! Readers, we have a review of The Blue Devil on our Regency page.

August 11, 2001