What happens when a family member goes missing?

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When someone goes missing, your life is forever changed

I received an email the other day from a German exchange student from my old high school, Antje. She sent me photos of the fun and good times we had, aged 17 going on 18, some of which are too much 80s classic to share!!

This is a photo at Antje’s deb ball, with me on one side and my best friend in the whole world, Rellie, on the other. The camera man behind us? The crime writer in me goes straight to stalker vibes!

Keeping in mind we would only ever get one shot at the photo, nobody could ever check if our eyes were open, or if it was our best angle – in every photo I’m smiling, happy, joyous and having the time of my life.

Yet, how could I be so happy, when just a couple of years earlier my beautiful cousin Ursula had gone missing and still hadn’t come home?

I know the answer, and it’s largely through writing so extensively about missing people in my seven novels I have discovered an even deeper understanding of this.

We all face trauma in our lives, in one form or another. Sometimes our trauma is so traumatic, we wonder how we can go on. For family and friends of a missing person, the continual loop of not knowing, referred to as ‘ambiguous loss’ is one of the worst traumas imaginable.

I still remember the awful, debilitating feeling of when it dawned upon our family that Ursula was ‘missing’. I also remember the awful, heartbreaking day when Ursula’s Mum, my Aunty Cheree, arrived in hysterics to tell us she knew in her heart that Ursula was dead. This was when I was 20, and Ursula had been missing for five years.

But Aunty Cheree also set the tone for the whole family, insisting we always put our best foot forward. She had a wicked sense of humour and told side-splitting stories. I’m not even halfway as entertaining or funny as she was but she did teach me to seek laughter above sadness.

When Ursula went missing I surrounded myself with my friends and did what all teenagers do – kept incredibly busy, laughed until my belly and cheeks hurt, made new friendships like the one with Antje, and held on tight to my closest friends like Rellie.

At some point I believe we make a conscious choice not to let our trauma define us completely.

This is why, when you read one of my crime fiction novels, I won’t let you linger too long on the trauma or devastation of my characters who are affected so terribly, in many different ways, by not knowing what has happened to their missing person.

We all need put our big girl pants on, walk into the void, follow our dreams and seek out happiness wherever we can find it. Not only for ourselves, but to honour the memories of our missing loved ones and the joy they brought to our lives.

Melissa x

Starting 2023 on the theme of ‘new’

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Happy New Year to you all, and welcome to my new MP Book News subscribers. I notice some from the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and it’s such a big deal for me to have so many people from around the world in my book circle. Thankyou!

I saw in the New Year in the Australian outback and I managed a pretty impressive sunset star for the last day of 2022. If you are a Yellowstone fan you might notice that sun stars are a prominent feature and I think my photo definitely gives Yellowstone a run for their money!
It means so much to us to be here after a forced four-month hiatus from being able to run our fence contracting business. We haven’t been able to get here until now because it has been under flood water all that time, including our living quarters. A lot of areas in NSW flooded during 2022 and there was extensive media coverage when towns were inundated. But one story that didn’t make the news was the one about the rural families who were isolated for months and months, desperately trying to save their livestock while flooded inland river systems converged and spread water onto paddocks where they’d never been flooded before. There were many rural businesses like ours whose equipment was inaccessible, and for all those months we had to sit on our hands and wait it out. It was tough.
It is the longest running flood in many people’s memories and the damage, destruction and heartache it created is beyond compare. The farmers who we rely on for the food we eat are saying they would prefer a drought to a flood. They were isolated for a start, with the only access to their properties by boat or helicopter. The number of sheep, cattle and wildlife that perished will break your heart because the water spread over such a large area and there was nowhere for them to go. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops* were unable to be harvested because they were under water and it will take a long time for the agricultural industry to rebuild.

But the resilience of the people who live out here is like nothing you’ve ever seen, and they are moving forward day by day and leaving it all behind. We are too. I think this is a fantastic approach for the New Year and my theme for 2023 is NEW.

New year.
New beginnings.
New starts.
New ideas.
New opportunities.
New books!

Speaking of new books, this segues into what I’m planning for today.

I’ll start by asking, what’s the weather like where you are? As you would expect in the Australian outback in summer, it is HOT. Today the forecast temperature is 42 degrees Celsius and so this afternoon my plan is to sit under my air-conditioner and keep working on my new outback crime novel! My main character’s name is Bunny Brown-Leather and I’d love to know if that resonates with you at all? Naming characters is the hardest thing to do so I’m using names from my subscriber list as inspiration. Once I have a name the character starts to come to life. Bunny is a city girl, super smart, conservative upbringing and with a dream to be a reporter. She has landed her first job in Bourke which is a wild west town, and a far cry from the suburban, leafy city streets she grew up in. Bourke isn’t quite the romantic outback town with cowboys wandering the streets that she envisaged. She’s pretty sassy though, and is determined to get the latest scoop. There’s plenty of mystery and intrigue planned and a twist you won’t see coming.I’d love to get some feedback on her name though, all ideas welcome!

More free books

Amazon Kindle is offering the next two books in my Rhiannon Series for free this month. If you are still book binging for the holidays, now is a great time to download them so when you reach the cliffhanger of each one (sorry, not sorry) you can keep going!

Go to my Amazon page to keep an eye on when which book is free. When they’re not free I have them priced as low as Amazon will let me, less than a cup of takeaway coffee, so they are more accessible to more people.

If you are reading my books and love them, I would love if you could share a review. This helps my books get noticed in the biggest bookstore in the world, plus gives me a huge confidence boost and inspiration to keep writing. Have a great day wherever you are!

Melissa x

*I don’t know the exact numbers for crop losses or stock or wildlife losses of the NSW Floods, so the hectares of crop losses is an estimate only

Confession time, I didn’t achieve all my 2022 writing goals

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I don’t know about you, but as I get to this time of year I feel a level of exhaustion I can hardly describe! Also some panic for the many things I had hoped to do during the year which I didn’t…including finishing writing another crime novel. *sigh*

Confession time. I haven’t achieved my writing goals and I have lacked writing motivation. I have three books on the go. One is finished and written as a memoir but I’m in the process of turning it on its head and using it as a backdrop to another crime fiction novel. The other is the next book in my Rhiannon crime mystery Series and I’ve got writer’s block about halfway through. The third is a very well planned out crime fiction novel set in the outback but the writing has been slow. I’m up to Chapter 3 and I’m loving where it’s going, but I have had such limited time for writing that it’s been challenging to maintain momentum. I’m definitely looking forward to a fresh start in 2023 on all fronts, including being a motivated writer!

I have just completed a fabulous writing workshop with Nadine Davidoff, a brilliant book editor in Australia, as the first step towards dedicating more time to my writing goals rather than trying to squeeze it in around everything else. It was so helpful and I am definitely inspired. All I need now is to be a motivated writer and FOCUS!

Knowing that you have all received a myriad of correspondence in this busy time of year, I will keep this short and take the opportunity to wish you all a safe and happy festive season. I know it is also a difficult time for many people, especially for those who are having their Christmas after losing someone special in their life and those who have experienced extreme trauma through a natural disaster or personal challenge. I am sending extra kindness to you all.

Perhaps you might find some solace and joy in a great book, which is always my go to and escape tool in times of great stress and anxiety. If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed on my stories I’ve been sharing some of my favourite books, there are so many wonderful books out there, if you have any recommendations please send them my way!

Melissa x

The cowboy stories on screen that inspire me

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I’ve spent the past few weeks immersed in Yellowstone in anticipation of the Season 5 launch, which is probably time I should have spent writing my next crime fiction novel, so you can blame Rip!
I love a good Western and escape from reality, as much as I love a good crime movie or series. Some of my favourite cowboy movies are:
  • Billy the Kid inspired – Young Guns 1 & 2, Old Henry
  • Clint Eastwood – The Mule, Unforgiven
  • Sweet Country, The Proposition, 3:10 to Yuma, True Grit
  • The Homesman
  • Open Range
  • Tombstone (Val Kilmer is brilliant as Doc Holliday)
  • I also love No Country for Old Men even though it terrifies me from the moment it starts!
This is only a very small sample, I’d better get my day started and spend more of my time writing about Rhiannon McVee and her cowboy Mac and less of my time watching westerns!
*Image of RIP sourced on Google after a search for Yellowstone RIP images

Soggy spring provides outback crime novel inspiration

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In Australia it’s been raining. A lot. The impact has been devastating for many communities, and I am among those who have been significantly impacted. But if there is one thing I’ve learnt having grown up on the land and living a big part of my life in rural Australia – you can’t control the weather.

However, you can use it for inspiration in your next crime novel.

I am taking my sweet time with the new crime fiction novel which Candice Fox and I planned on a napkin during the Sisters in Crime festival weekend, and it’s a whole new experience for me. Despite being tempted to launch in and write randomly every spare moment I have, I am holding onto the incredible opportunity of being around seven of Australia’s top crime writers for a whole weekend (for those who are new, check out my website for the full story). Even though Sulari Gentill seems to be able to write brilliant books as a ‘pantser’, I’m determined to change my approach and put the time into figuring out what is going to happen and when. It’s already made a big difference to how the story is evolving, and I’m finding plot holes and fixing them before I’m knee deep in them!

Forget dry dusty outback scenes, this crime novel will show a whole other side of the Australian outback in flood.

Although water is life and people in these far-flung Australian landscapes have lived through more droughts than they’d care to remember, there are so many devastating and heartbreaking stories that are not being told in the news from this flood so I will be using these as inspiration in my narrative. Like the family who have not been able to return to their home for several months because the roads are cut off by floodwaters, only to discover when a neighbour flew over in a helicopter that their beautiful homestead which they had been hoping was spared was under water. Then having to wait for goodness knows how long for the water to recede to go in an assess the damage.

Or the families who haven’t left their remote properties in months and are getting groceries and mail via helicopter, and are spending their days waist deep in water trying to save their livestock while dead animals float by. Whole towns are cut off, entire crops have been wiped out, and all the rural businesses who rely on being able to move around and get from here to there have ceased trading.

All the while watching the skies and wishing it would stop bloody raining!

Please don’t despair though, there are flood stories that will warm your heart and give you faith in humanity again – but then again, it is a crime novel so be prepared for a plot twist you didn’t see coming!

New book release Feb 2022: SEARCH FOR SKY

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NEW BOOK COVER REVEAL

The moment you’ve all been waiting for (cue drum roll).
The next book in my Rhiannon Series is Search for Sky.
Release date: 22-2-22.
I took the background photo in September as the sun was setting on The Marra plains in outback NSW, where much of this book is set. The incredible coincidence is that I wrote half of this book in 2017 before I’d even been to The Marra…life really does work in mysterious ways 😉
Thank you again to Lara Walsh for your magical cover design.

Book 4 in the Rhiannon Series.

Pre-order Kindle e-book

In Australia Ayala Philips is still missing.
So is Keely Johnson.
So are thousands of others.
Their cases are getting colder and Rhiannon McVee’s hopes of solving them are fading.
But hope can come from the most surprising of places.
When someone starts leaving clues in the remote Australian outback, leading Rhiannon closer and closer to a suspected serial killer, will the next body she discovers be Ayala, Keely or someone else?
Crime fiction inspired by real life, written by the cousin of one of Australia’s most compelling and heartbreaking missing persons cases.

Working from home series: Productivity

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This week my conversations with clients getting used to working from home, many of them with children who are adjusting to schooling from home, have centred on productivity. Here are a few simple things I’ve learnt over the past 20 years that help keep me ‘productive’ in my home office:

  • Set a routine and accept that this might not be the same as what you’re used to. Do what works in your household, and don’t forget to take breaks!
  • Turn your phone over so you don’t see every single notification. Every time you look at your phone it interrupts your concentration and reduces productivity.
  • Turn your phone to silent and put it on vibrate for when it rings. You might miss a call or two but that’s what voicemail is for.
  • Make a list of 6 things to get done in your day, it’s more realistic to achieve 6 things than a long list of everything.
  • Consider altering the number of hours you work. When you’re in a workplace you have interruptions and distractions so even if you’re at work 8 hours a day that doesn’t mean you’re solidly working for 8 hours. At home, with less distractions, you are more productive so you can get more done in less time.
  • Be kind to yourself. If you can’t sit at your computer for 40 hours a week, that’s okay. Prioritise and do what you can.

Working from home series: simple tips

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A lot of people think that I write books all day (actually most of you know by now that at the moment I’m NOT writing books all day given that I haven’t published a novel since 2017!) – what many don’t know is that I have owned my own media and marketing company for more than 20 years, mp|media solutions.

Here are some tips on working from home inspired by conversations with many of my clients who have shifted into their home offices and I’ve been helping them adjust to this ‘new normal abnormal’.

I’ve been working from home for 20 years, always with children underfoot, at my elbow, on my lap or calling out from the next room. Here are a few things I do to make it work:

  • Make the bed
  • Get dressed and brush your hair
  • Don’t forget to eat lunch, try and keep it healthy. Also work out in the morning what you’re having for dinner that night
  • Try and exercise every day
  • Take regular breaks and go outside when you can
  • Set your work hours. I’m better in the mornings so I start really early, I might take a couple of hours during the day for a walk or bike ride, and even when I am super busy I try and finish at 5 because I’m not producing valuable work after that time!

Okay, this is what it would be like in an ideal world, it doesn’t always turn out like this, but each new day is a fresh start.