PHOTO: Marliss Melton, an award-winning author known for her military romantic suspense novels, pictured near her hometown in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Crafting Stories Of Courage, Love, And Authenticity
Marliss Melton shares insights into crafting heartfelt military romance, blending action and emotion, and how her personal experiences as a military spouse shape her authentic portrayal of elite warriors.
Marliss Melton’s literary odyssey is as intricate and dynamic as the lives of her characters. Born into a world of international intrigue as the daughter of a Foreign Service officer, she found herself immersed in diverse cultures and settings that would later breathe authenticity into her stories. Her novels, often set against the backdrop of daring missions and heartfelt personal struggles, emerge as poignant explorations of courage, resilience, and connection amidst danger. From penning medieval romances to crafting modern tales of military romantic suspense, Melton’s voice resounds with a profound understanding of both history and human nature.
Through series like SEAL Team 12 and Echo Platoon, she unveils the vulnerabilities behind the valour, offering readers a closer look at the soul beneath the soldier’s armour. In bravely confronting themes of trauma, sacrifice, and redemption, her stories strike a delicate balance—delivering thrilling, high-stakes plots alongside nuanced, tender expressions of love. For Melton, the tension between vulnerability and strength isn’t merely a narrative device; it’s the heartbeat of her fiction, one firmly rooted in her personal experiences as a former military spouse.
As Marliss transitions into Christian military romance under her Rebecca Hartt pen name, the essence of her storytelling remains steadfast: authenticity, emotional depth, and the transformative power of faith and relationships. Her work invites readers not only to marvel at elite warriors and covert operations but also to reflect on enduring human truths—trust, healing, and the complexity of love. To read Marliss Melton is to embark on a journey where action-packed adventures meet delicate explorations of the heart, leaving an indelible mark on the imagination and the soul.
Your Echo Platoon series recently concluded with Insider Threat. How did writing Kelly Yang, an FBI specialist uncovering a leak, challenge you compared to your earlier SEAL-centric protagonists?
Writing about an FBI special agent as opposed to a SEAL presented an enormous challenge. Whereas I’m personally familiar with how the military works, having been a military wife, I knew nothing about the FBI’s lingo, procedure, or mindset. I put out an SOS on social media and found retired FBI Special agent Stephen Gray to help me out. What a blessing! Every day I would send Stephen what I’d written, and he would reply with copious notes that greatly informed the direction of my story. The result is a spy thriller that is unlike any of my previous novels.
Friendly Fire integrates archaeology, romance and covert ops amidst Mayan ruins. What inspired you to combine such disparate elements in that particular novel?
Authors are a peculiar breed. Give us a unique experience and we’ll weave a story out of it. In the case of Friendly Fire, the magic ingredient to spark the story was a cruise—my first and only, across the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatán Peninsula, with stops in Belize and Cozumel. The story about abduction during an excursion to the Mayan ruins popped into my head while on the cruise—possibly informed by an article I had read in the news about a similar, real-life kidnapping. Authors are constantly scanning the environment for story ideas.
In Danger Close, Sam Sasseville wrestles with emotional barriers. How do you balance authenticity of trauma with hopeful romantic arcs?
My Navy SEAL hero, Sam, has a chip on his shoulders—namely a deeply held mistrust of anyone born with a silver spoon in his/her mouth. As a Hispanic immigrant, Sam had to fight for everything he has attained. My heroine, on the other hand, is the daughter of an oil tycoon now running for the Senate. No way is Sam going to trust her. But he is helplessly drawn to Maddy anyway. The question becomes, can their romantic love heal Sam—or at least help him move beyond his traumas?
Your experience as a military spouse clearly colours your portrayal of elite warriors. Can you share a specific anecdote that informed a character or scene?
I have to confess that nearly every aspect of my life informs my characters and scenes! I often feel like my books are as much autobiographical as they are fictional accounts. My very first SEAL book, Forget Me Not, was begun after the tragic death of my first husband, an Army officer. About a year after his death, I dreamed that he hadn’t actually died—that he was back, only different. This dream evolved into the story of Navy SEAL Gabe Renault who vanished on an op in North Korea and is believed dead. His wife, Helen, is resolved to go on without him—after all, Gabe wasn’t an easy man to live with. You can imagine her astonishment when he materialises a year later with no memory of Helen or his stepdaughter. Forget Me Not proved to be an enormously popular debut novel for me in this genre.
In Hard Landing, Brant “Bronco” Adams’s story explores vulnerability behind bravado. How did you approach that complexity in his character development?
Bronco is an easy-going but confirmed bachelor who finds himself in a sticky situation: He’s become really good friends with the wife of his task unit commander, Mad Max. Under no circumstances would Bronco consider a romantic entanglement with Rebecca—but when she comes to him with proof that her rather nasty husband is stealing money from Spec Ops, Bronco’s overpowering impulse is to protect her. As sparks begin to flare between them, Bronco’s priorities shift from protecting Rebecca, to keeping her alive, to making her his very own.
You’ve written across SEAL Team 12, Echo Platoon, Taskforce series and medieval settings. What core themes or motifs do you ensure persist across such varied genres?
Funny you should ask. I’ve actually created a short video that ties together the commonalities between my historic series and my contemporary ones. Here it is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LvSTwZ6tBY4?si=mL6ZcFlK5URrocqQ
Regardless of the century, warriors are warriors, and women have responded to the alpha males since the dawn of time. When it comes to romance, however, a key component is striking the right balance between a hero who can protect his woman at all costs and one who is sensitive enough to meet the heroine’s needs at every level. These enduring themes persist across my varied genres.
Your blog reveals personal insights on dating over fifty. How has exploring your own mid-life journey influenced the emotional depth of your heroines?
As I have aged, my heroines have aged with me, though not quite so quickly! My characters used to be in their late twenties; now they tend to be in their 30s. Why is that? Because the wealth of experience that people acquire over time is exactly what makes us interesting. Nobody wants to follow the romance of a woman who is a blank slate with no back-story, no wounds, no deep-seated fears. While romance has put me through the wringer, I can say I’m grateful for the chance to be single again in my 50s because I now get to make relationship decisions with all the wisdom I have gained over the years. While my heroines are decades younger than I am, I tend to make them wiser than their years because I want their experience of romance to end well—and to last the test of time.
What key piece of advice would you offer aspiring authors aiming to write compelling romantic suspense with authentic military or law enforcement elements?
I encourage anyone who feels called to write in this genre to follow their dreams. It took me ten years and four novels to finally get published. (This was way back before self-publishing became an option.) But to write successfully, you must write what you know. Military and law enforcement are worlds unto themselves with their own procedures, lingo, and operational feel. If I hadn’t been a military spouse myself, I doubt I would have ventured into this sub-genre. Even then, I have sought out experts in the field like former Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine (author of Uncommon), who has edited my action scenes, along with too many individuals to name here. While I do write fiction, it’s important to me that my stories ring of authenticity. Therefore, my advice for aspiring authors is this: Write what you know, whether from experience or from your fertile imagination!
