Melanie Carroll

When I was in second grade, Mrs. Carter told us to draw a picture of the house we wanted to live in when we grew up. I drew a trailer. I thought it would be fun to have a home with wheels so I could take it with me wherever I went, (which I fervently hoped would be SOMEPLACE). I wish I had a Polaroid of the expression on my mother’s face when she saw that completed assignment.

When I was in seventh grade, I dreamed of running away with the carnival that came through Texarkana every Fall for the “Four States Fair & Rodeo.” A steady diet of corn dogs and candy apples coupled with all the free rides I could stand on The Zipper sounded pretty great at that age.

When I was twenty-seven, I married a lieutenant in the United States Army. I’ve never lived in a house with wheels, but I sure have moved around a lot. I’ve lived in the shadow of Pike’s Peak (it’s a dry cold), the middle of the Mojave Desert (it’s a dry heat), less than a mile from the Federal Prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas (don’t open the door for men wearing brown jumpers), Germany (it’s a wet cold), and I currently reside near St. Louis.

I don’t know what any of this has to do with writing books, or critiquing other people’s writing. I just want you to know that I have life experience, and plenty of it! I’m not just some amateur with a website and an opinion. Or, maybe I am…

What I do know about writing is that it is hard work, and I don’t devote near enough time to it. I’ve finished my first novel, and it is abysmally average as far as I can tell, but I’m going to keep plugging away. On my tombstone, hopefully it will say something like ‘She kept trying’ or maybe ‘She rolled with the punches.’ Either one would work.

I have a degree in Journalism, three years of experience in public school public relations, and many years of volunteering under my belt. I hope one day I’ll be able to say that I am a published author as well. If that doesn’t work out for me, I hope to at least be able to see Van Halen in concert before I die.