Melinda Roberts Tyler was born in Alexandria, Egypt, where she spent the first few years of her life.  Melinda’s family settled in Bozeman, Montana, where she grew up the victim of childhood sexual abuse.  

Melinda moved to San Francisco as a teen, to pursue her dream of becoming an actor.  There, she enjoyed some success in the city's theater scene, performing in such venues as The Magic Theater, The Actor's Ark,  as well as touring the country for two years with the New Shakespeare Company. 

Melinda's focus then shifted from the theater to music, where she became involved in the city's burgeoning punk rock scene of the 1980's, performing with the all female band, "Wild Women of Borneo."  During this time, she began what would become a long history of substance abuse, supporting her habit working as an exotic dancer and high-priced call girl.  Melinda also started the world's first fantasy phone call service,  "Julie's Hotline," which was the focus of the 1980's documentary by Liz Sher, "Community Service." Her involvement with drugs culminated in a twelve-year addiction to cocaine and heroin. 

After losing her first husband to heroin addiction, Melinda spent a year living on the city streets, until she finally lost hope and made three serious attempts at suicide.  After awakening from a three-day coma, resulting from the third attempt, Melinda made the life changing decision to enter treatment, where she remained for nearly six months.

Reunited with her family, she returned to the mountains of Montana and enrolled in Montana State University, where she graduated with highest honors.  From there, she entered a doctoral program at Penn State University as a fully funded graduate student.