SERIES: The Paranormal DownUnder - Mel Teshco

In Australia, 2012 is the National Year of Reading. What better way to celebrate this than by finding a new-to-you author or revisiting a favorite one?

This series of blog posts, entitled The Paranormal DownUnder, aims to do just that!

Any of my regular readers know I'm passionate about introducing 'local' talent (aka authors from Australia & New Zealand). This time around I'm keen to feature those who write in this genre.

So, be prepared for a swag of authors & some blatant promotion of their books as they share their thoughts on the paranormal genre and why they find it so compelling.

Please welcome my next guest...Mel Teshco.

Mel Teshco grew up in Australia, where her seemingly gypsy dad and ever patient mother saw her living in many areas of the East Coast, along with her sister and two brothers.

Each new home stimulated an already over-active imagination, where she spent as much time dreaming about fantasy worlds as the real world - the fantasy sometimes being much better.

Now living on a small rural property with three horses and a handful or two of cats, she is happily married with three children of wide-spread ages and loves writing gritty, sizzling paranormals and the occasional contemporary with darker tones.

You can find her at her website. And at her blog.

What compels you to write in the paranormal/sci-fi genre?
I find the world building so liberating–no rules or restrictions—and the hero’s tend to be alpha, the heroine’s strong, often kick-ass. Plus there are SO many variables to writing your own rules and your own world, which I’ve found especially true in my alien sci-fi series (especially on the alien’s planet.)

These genres are also what I’m drawn to read, so it’d be silly not to write what I love to read.

Is there something you'd like to write but have yet to attempt?
I really want to write a YA story. I’m hoping that will be next year’s ambition =)

Who are auto-buys for you in this genre? What makes their books so appealing to you?
I haven’t read near enough authors – so many are on my ‘to be read’ list, but I’m a bit of a fan of JR Ward, Kelley Armstrong, Kresley Cole and our own Keri Arthur. And then we've got our home grown talent, like my CP's Tracey O'Hara and Kylie Scott - and we can't go past Kylie Griffin either =)

Some of Mel's books: