Melissa has never been good at choosing just one path. After finishing high school with the dubious honor of being voted "most likely to end up in jail," she went to college and graduate school.

Eventually, she went on to bartend at a number of other weird little bars, teach lit both live and online, and discover the joy of tattoos.

After marrying someone who shares the love of ink--on the page and on the skin--Melissa began moving around the country. In the process, she discovered how vast the Mojave really is, how many incredible museums are out there, and how hard it can be to think about settling in one place. She's continued teaching along the way, but traded beer-slinging for book writing.