GOAL SETTING & WRITING TIPS
GOALS: Each January, I set writing goals for the year. In 2024, I set a goal to write one script per month. I finished the year with six screenplays and six TV pilots (while holding down a full-time job). As I wrote the scripts, I entered them in contests, mostly via Filmfreeway.com. I ended up […]
TRUE CRIME CREDITS — 30 PROJECTS TO DATE
Since 2014, I’ve worked on 30 True Crime projects for A+E, Discovery ID, NBC Universal, Oxygen, Peacock, Sundance, TV One, Vice, and The Weather Channel. Here’s a list, starting with the most recent projects. New True Crime Series, Season 1 (Development Producer), Oxygen Buried in the Backyard, Season 6 (Research Producer), Oxygen Face-to-Face with Scott […]
2026 WRITINGNEWS
01.10.26: My short story, “Maggie’s Beat,” is named a quarterfinalist in the 2026 Roadmap Writers/Everard Entertainment Competition. The semi-finalists will be announced on March 15, 2026. LOGLINE: After arresting a global pop sensation for DUI, a small-town cop must stand alone against a ruthless PR machine that destroys her career and weaponizes a rabid fanbase […]
Thank you to my Amazon reviewers!
A big thank you to everyone who took the time to write a review of my novel Windy City Sinners and post their thoughts at Amazon.com. Many thanks to my 5-star reviewers! Here’s what they have to say: 5 stars: My Kind of Town By The Minderbinder Review of Books on October 14, 2016 Prepare to […]
Review of WINDY CITY SINNERS: A Magic Realism Crime Novel by Melanie Villines
On November 2, 2015 renowned Chicago journalist Patrick T. Reardon reviewed Windy City Sinners: A Magic Realism Crime Novel by Melanie Villines. Find the review at patricktreardon.com. Excerpt: “…unlike most modern-day novels, Villines is interested in — wants to — grapple with the idea of sin and with the other great questions of human existence… […]
Latest Novel: Windy City Sinners
Part crime caper à la Donald Westlake, part magic realism tale in the spirit of Gabriel García Márquez, part John Kennedy Toolesque hijinks and high comedy, Melanie Villines’ new novel Windy City Sinners offers mystery and mayhem with fun and froth mixed in for good measure. The story takes place on the Far Northwest Side of Chicago, right on […]
Melanie Villines 