Although she considers home to be wherever the moment moves her, Deborah Fletcher Mello was born and raised in Connecticut and maintains base camp in rural North Carolina. In addition to crafting fiction and poetry, her writing experience encompasses twenty-plus years of scripting technical resources and training documentation for numerous corporations throughout the United States and abroad. Deborah's first writing endeavors began in junior high school when she scribbled poetry into a science class lab book. An astute teacher encouraged those initial writings and in 1986, Deborah placed second in the Stamford Festival of the Arts Literary Competition for her nonfiction essay, THE EYES OF MY CHILDREN. In 1995, Deborah won the Good Housekeeping / Kindercare Essay Contest with her entry, WHAT I WANT FOR MY SONS. In 2000, Deborah's fictional novel, RESTED WATERS, was one of three finalists in the Sonja H. Stone Fiction Competition judged by author, Edwidge Danicat, and officially released under the MaGregor Press imprint in 2011. Deborah's first novel, TAKE ME TO HEART, published by BET Books' Arabesque imprint was released in December 2003 and was a 2004 Romance SlamJam Best New Author nominee. In 2005 she received Book of the Year and Favorite Heroine nominations for her third novel THE RIGHT SIDE OF LOVE. Recognized as a national best-selling author, Mello's fifth book, LOVE IN THE LINEUP was released by Harlequin in August 2006 under their new Kimani Press imprint and in 2009 she won a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for her ninth novel TAME A WILD STALLION. With the release of her second literary work, GRAYE in 2012 and her fifteenth romance novel, PASSIONATE PREMIERE in 2013, Deborah knows that there are no limits to her writing career. For Deborah, writing is as necessary as breathing. Weaving a story that leaves her audience feeling full and complete, as if they've just enjoyed an incredible meal, is an ultimate thrill for her.