About Melissa
One of Melissa’s children describes her as
Mum
Short, bossy
neat, loving, caring
A book writing machine
Mummy
For almost three decades, Melissa has been helping business owners, project managers, community leaders and everyday people in rural and regional Australia understand who they are, what they do, why they do it.
She then puts it into real words, real stories to sell real products, engage real stakeholders and deliver real results.
Melissa also write bestselling novels that make people stop in their tracks.
She does TV, podcast and radio work including commercials and presenting. She organises major events including writers festivals, conferences, charity events, business launches, book launches and media conferences. She injects new life into tired and boring brands and marketing.
Got a story to tell? Melissa will teach you to tell (and sell) it.
She prides herself on being strongly community-based – real stories, real people, real news.
Melissa started her writing career in 1993 in the harsh outback heat of western Queensland for a small weekly paper called The Western Sun. When she left Queensland Ishe moved to the tri-weekly newspaper, the Wimmera Mail-Times in Western Victoria, and enjoyed a frantic five years in the newsroom as a journalist, chief of staff, sub-editor and special features editor before founding her media marketing company mp|media solutions in 2000.
In 2013 she published her debut crime novel, an international bestseller, which led to a new investigation into one of Australia’s most baffling cold case mysteries.
Melissa spends her time between the Australian outback and working from a virtual studio on her farm on the NSW South Coast.
She is the only Australian author who is a family member of a missing person tackling the complexities of missing through fiction.
Ursula had been missing for 30 years before being found, and Melissa’s concentrated drive over a five-year period to find her family answers through storytelling, the media and close collaboration across relevant agencies is a testament to her initiative and commitment.
A life-changing choice
A voice for missing people
Through Melissa’s fiction writing she is a strong advocate for missing people around the world. She is also the founder of Picnic for Missing, an event where families can remember and celebrate their missing loved ones. In 2015 the Daniel Morcombe Foundation appointed Melissa as a Day for Daniel Ambassador, a role which continues today. She supports missing persons organisations in Australia via public speaking and advocacy work.