MELANIE VILLINES studied acting, directing, and playwriting with David Mamet and William H. Macy at their St. Nicholas Theater Company, as well as Chicago's Goodman School of Drama.

After acting in and directing a variety of Off-Loop theater productions, Melanie turned to playwriting; Melanie's 15 plays include the following produced works: Hearing Things (1982), Private Meetings in Public Places (1983), and Cowboy Pictures (1988). She was cowriter of the acclaimed NBC drama Crime of Innocence (1989), which the Chicago Sun-Times cited for its "rich, thought-provoking script."

Her screenplays include: Strange Times (1991), finalist in the Illinois/Chicago screenwriting competition; Calling Oz (1995), finalist in 12 screenwriting competitions, including the prestigious Austin Heart of Film Festival; The Voice of Chicago (1998), finalist in the 1998 Illinois/Chicago screenplay competition; and Just Say the Word, top-10 finalist in the 2002 Illinois/Chicago screenwriting competition.

Her novel, Tales of the Sacred Heart, which was published in January 1999 by Bogfire Press, has received glowing reviews from two of the country's most respected writers, Tom Robbins and Fred Chappell.