Official Website of Mayo Lucas, Author

I invented fan fiction.  That's right.  You heard me.

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​​I was 12 when I wrote my first novel based on the characters and premise of an old TV western, Wagon Train. Soon I was writing “episodes” for other shows I liked and sharing them with my friends on the school bus each morning. The stories were all a bit smarmy—perfect for teenaged girls just discovering boys.

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​I was already a voracious reader of all things Victorian—Austen, the Bronte sisters, Dickens, plus Twain and Alcott for this side of the Atlantic; and, in an odd juxtaposition, I read every last one (all 58) of the original Hardy Boys mysteries (pre-teen fantasy fodder). However, the seminal read for me came that same year with Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. I was enthralled…but indignantly angry when Rhett left Scarlett.  When I voiced my displeasure to my mom, she said, "Then write your own and make it turn out the way you want." Right then and there, my future was born.

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My eccentric Great Aunt Evelyn fueled my  ambition further. ​We didn’t meet until I was a hostile, anti-social 13-year old writing stories of a girl spy for the WWII TV show, Combat. I refused to come out of my room during her visit (rude!), so she came knocking on my door. Deep in my method-muse, I opened the door a crack and eyed her with silent suspicion. Finally, ungraciously, I let her in and returned to my writing. Unperturbed, she perched on the side of my bed beneath her haphazard pile of hair, and won me over by waiting a bit before asking what I was doing. Shielding my paper from view (you know--in case she tried to copy), I grudgingly told her I was writing a story. Her face lit up. “Oh! I write stories, too!” And just like that, we became pals.

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I was 28 when she died and, sadly, we'd fallen out of touch. My cousins received all sorts of lovely things from her estate—jewelry, candlesticks, silver. I received none of those things. Instead, without any advance word, a big box truck pulled up in front of my house. Two men unloaded crates, boxes and a thick manilla envelope, all addressed to me. They contained her desk and chair, her portable Royal typewriter…and the originals of all her short stories. It all made me cry.  She’d remembered and never stopped believing in me! 

 

​A few weeks later, I started writing my first novel, Matters of the Heart, on that clackety, old Royal. (I’d already been struggling to understand the scenes that kept  flashing through my head each night when I was trying to sleep.  Incipient schizophrenia? Or just a story waiting to be told?  Since the first would require costly therapy, I decided on “story.”)

 

​When Matters of the Heart* was finished, I was already a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA)—and the first elected president of my Maryland Chapter, she adds modestly--and entered MOTH (as my friends have always called it) in the national Golden Heart Contest. While I didn’t win, making it to 4th place helped my agent, Oscar Collier, sell it to Avon. He also sold my second book, Camelot Jones, to them as well. By the time I was proofing galleys, Oscar was retiring, and my life had already swooped around a corner, taking off in a completely different direction.

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*NOTE: Newly revamped, Matters of the Heart will be re-released soon under it’s original title, The Lion's Share. Be sure to check back here for updates.

 

I worked on my third book, Dealer’s Choice, in dribs and drabs over the years, sold some freelance pieces, and kept my head in the game by giving lectures and teaching night classes on writing.  I judged in RWA's Golden Heart Contest one year, and the Rita another.  Eventually though, my day job starved enough oxygen from the writing life that I put it aside completely, using jewelry design and painting as my creative outlets.

 

​​Now, after years of running a human resources department for a large engineering firm, I've returned to my first love—writing!

 

​Dealer’s Choice is finally finished—and received a 5-Star review from the 2024 Readers' Favorite.  It's one of those meaty reads you can sink your teeth into.  I've also finished two other books, Amelie (another historical) and Conversations (a contemporary rom-com). Watch for them on Amazon as paperbacks and Kindle e-books.  Again, come back here for updates and details. 

 

Rate my books and read or write reviews on Goodreads at http://bit.ly/MayoLucas_at_Goodreads.

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Soon, I'll be revving up my blog again--not just about writing and my latest writing projects, but also about whatever catches my fancy.  Don't forget to add your contact information at the end, and I hope to hear from you!

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Happy reading!

​​Mayo Lucas

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