about

That's me at the Dublin Writer's Museum in 2010, during a layover with my husband on the way to Warsaw, Poland for an anniversary trip. He goes along with anything "writer" and I have to thank him for that. It isn't always a thrill.

I write fiction, short stories and poetry. I recently finished a novel called The Orphan's Daughter, have started a second novel about a Corporate career mom who goes through some adventures (for readers who liked Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It), and will continue to submit new short stories and poems to magazines.

Before this career, I was a Marketing Director for a major credit card company, and before that an Account Director in a New York ad agency. While working in advertising, I was fortunate enough to work abroad for three years in both Warsaw, Poland and Paris, France. Both places filled me with ideas and will show up in my writing in the years to come. The Orphan's Daughter was inspired by Poland and my desire to tell a story about the country that hadn't been told yet.

After my expat experiences, I got an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. You might wonder, can an M.B.A. really be a creative writer? We'll see. If Pulitizer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan could incorporate Powerpoint into her novel, maybe there's a place for people like me in fiction. I also hope my business skills will help in an environment where authors are having to do so much promotion on their own, even if they do have a publisher.

If you have a few more minutes to read, my two favorite posts in this blog are the one I wrote about my decision to launch into writing, and the one I wrote about my return to Warsaw ten years after living there. I also spent the first five months of 2011 assembling a book list comprised entirely of "top" self-published fiction. You can check out the "Indie 180" here.

What's been the best moment of my writing career so far? It's still early, but I'd have to say that when my 5-yr-old son told someone "my mom writes stories!", that felt pretty good.


I love hearing from readers and writers, so feel free to reach out to me anytime by email: Melissa (at) thebookorbust (dot) com.