Melani moved to New York City to pursue writing after the death of her husband, Neal. She believes NYC saved her as the city was a formidable distraction when she needed one most. 

Melani began her writing career by chronicling a year of online dating with her award-winning blog: 1 Year of Online Dating at 50. The blog led to television appearances on the talk shows, The Steve Harvey Show and Katie. Melani was also named one of the “Ten Best Online Dating Experts.” She has no idea why. Seriously, not a clue.

Melani was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada but has lived in several US states as well as the countries, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Russia. 

Melani has recently finished a memoir, working title: MUDDERLAND, about the two years she and her husband lived and worked in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Her New York Times Modern Love essay, “From Russia with Mixed Feelings,” gives a snippet of her experiences in Eastern Europe. 

Melani has created a television series she hopes to sell, also titled, MUDDERLAND, based on her life in Russia.

When Melani isn’t writing you will likely find her doing something (or nothing) with her little dog, Birdie nearby. She is nuts about Bird. Melani is a volunteer foster for the Humane Society and sometimes, when she’s lucky, a cat or a litter of kittens are in her care.

Melani loves to cook and believes she can take any good recipe and with a few tweaks, make it even better. She’s known to say, “I’m not Martha fucking Stewart, but I can make the best version of someone else’s dish.”

Melani believes in hormone replacement, Provence rosé and quality bed linens even when money is tight. She does not believe in online dating.

Photo credit: ABCinematography