Publications/Interviews

F-35 Lethal Lightning Jet Roars Over the Unheard ~ About Place Journal

In this part personal/part journalistic essay, Melissa speaks directly to the varied and lasting repercussions of traumatic noise produced by F-35s on her most vulnerable neighbors.

I Survived the Santa Monica Farmers Market Crash: Car Attacks Can Happen at Any Moment ~ USA Today

With motorized vehicles now the weapon du jour, Melissa speaks out about what we need to do to feel safer and less afraid as we live our lives in the face of this frightening new norm

Tilt-A-Whirl ~ Tahoma Literary Review

“Tilt-A-Whirl,” a Notable Mention in The Best American Essay Series, invites readers into Melissa’s dizzying yet sometimes comical life with a traumatic brain injury. To join Melissa on an afternoon of shopping, where she provides a zoomed-in snapshot of the inner workings of a brain re-wired by trauma, go to Sound Cloud at Tahoma Literary Review.

The Black Binder ~ Purple Clover Magazine

When Melissa finds a binder of baby photos on the side of the road, the heartbreak of her experience with loss tugs hard, and she is determined to return it to its owner.

After ~ Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine

In 1999, Melissa thought she had seen everything in her 12-year nursing career: burned children, premature babies, one-eyed babies. But never conjoined twins. Her story is also available at Kaleidoscope, Exploring the Experience of Disability through Literature and the Fine Arts.

When My Abusive Father Got Alzheimer’s, Spoon-Feeding Him Helped Me Forgive ~ Narratively Magazine

Melissa didn’t think she’d ever be able to face her father without fear, but in his docile, vulnerable state, they forged a new dynamic.

After a freak car crash, I thought I was too broken to find love ~ The Washington Post

Melissa came to terms with her scars after sustaining life-threatening injuries in the 2003 Santa Monica Farmers Market Crash.

Vehicles are Weapons Too ~ The Jerusalem Post

In her op-ed piece, Melissa speaks out about vehicles as weapons of mass destruction – “Your vehicle, and mine, can be transformed into engines of destruction in a matter of seconds.”

Reaching for the Key ~ Saranac Review

In “Reaching for the Keys,” Melissa writes with emotional authenticity about her anger toward Russell Weller’s family for not taking the car keys away from him before he stepped on the gas pedal. Yet, when she is faced with taking the keys away for her own father, she learns that it’s not as easy as snatching them from the key rack in the kitchen.

Right Foot Left Foot ~ Under the Gum Tree

Melissa’s hope to connect with others who have suffered life-changing trauma inspired her to write “Right Foot, Left Foot,” an imagistic narrative about her determination to walk after nearly four months in a wheelchair. Her story received Special Mention By Dinty W. Moore in the 2013 creative nonfiction contest held by Hunger Mountain Journal.

Faded Scar with Palpable Edges ~ Humanthology

After decades of living with her secret struggle with Anorexia Nervosa, Melissa courageously shares her deepest fears and anxieties. Founder and CEO Valerie McCarthy describes Melissa’s story as”rich” and “honest, “the model of the authentic, insightful personal story that we aspire to collect.”  Her essay also appeared in the fall 2015 issue of The Medical Literary Messenger, an online journal dedicated to the healing arts.

Bananas ~ River Teeth Journal

In very few yet precise words, Melissa finds insight amidst the challenges of her father’s dementia.

Code 309.81 ~ Preservation Foundation

A few months after the Santa Monica Farmers Market crash, a psychologist diagnosed Melissa with post-traumatic stress disorder. “Code 309.81,” is a cinematic portrayal of how PTSD has changed the way she views the world around her. The essay received Honorable Mention in the 2014 story contest held by The Preservation Foundation.

Invisible Bruise ~ Chicken Soup for the Soul: Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injuries

Mild traumatic brain injuries are the most prevalent of TBIs, many of which go undiagnosed until years later, and result in life-long cognitive difficulties. As a TBI survivor, Melissa knows too well the hard work it takes to navigate day-to-day life with a re-wired brain. In her personal story, “Invisible Bruise,” it is her hope to increase awareness of this often misunderstood injury.

Translating Trauma into Memoir ~ Writerland

Author and blogger Meghan Ward invited Melissa to share how she learned to mine the metaphors embedded in her writing, helping her to create what Meghan describes as a “valuable piece of art.”

Review of Darin Strauss’s ‘Half a Life’ ~ Brevity

In her book review of Darin Strauss’s tragic memoir, Half a Life, Melissa, who suffered life-threatening injuries when she was hit by a car years before, explores the psychological fall-out of such trauma from the driver’s point of view. In this case, Strauss was the driver: His life forever changed the moment he accidentally struck and killed a classmate riding her bicycle.