Woman wearing glasses and a black t-shirt sitting at an art desk in front of a brick wall.

Hello! I’m Melanie, middle grade author, and former copywriter, travel writer, and magazine editor.

Originally from Wiltshire, I left the UK twenty-five years ago and have since lived in Indonesia, Vietnam, Albania, Georgia, Hong Kong, and Spain. No surprises then, that I love books about geographical identity, motherland, outsiders, and language. I’ve spent most of my life in someone else’s homeland.

Much of my writing (and photography) has been for corporate clients, but fun stuff has appeared in DestinAsian, Venture, Action Asia, Travel + Leisure, The Jakarta Post, The Jakarta Globe, Georgia Today, and Tuttle Publishing.

I’m currently writing my debut children’s novel.

RECOGNITION ALONG THE WAY

Winner: Bath Children’s Novel Award 2025

Second place: Yeovil Literary Prize, 2024

Winner: WriteMentor Novel-in-Development Award, 2023

BOOKSTAGRAM

A few books I’m excited about reading soon…

Sally Jones and the False Rose by Jakob Wegelius

The Whisperwisks 2 by Jordan Lees

One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens

One Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym

Mr Fox by Barbara Comyns

A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk

If you fancy reading any of these with me, let me know on Instagram!