Writing

Conjuring scenes in my mind, and inventing characters with histories, quirks and mannerisms as realistic as anyone I’ve ever met, is probably my biggest passion. Writing is one of the things I’m most private about, and it might be the single most thing I’m proud of, possibly because it stems from somewhere unknown. I started writing as a child, mainly short stories, then some poetry in my adolescent years. It evolved from there.

Many years ago, a family member told me I am related to the famous poet Robert Frost, but my ancestry research has not yet confirmed it. To be honest, solving this mystery is no longer a priority. Sure, Frost wrote some nice poetry (Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…), but I never knew him personally, as he passed away fifteen years before I was born. He’s not my hero; I would rather write my own, and so I do, with every intriguing and believable personality I create.

When I find myself pulled back into a writing phase, it consumes my every thought. It keeps me up late at night, gets me up early in the morning, takes over my dreams, and allows little time for other activities. It’s a big part of me.

Through Shallow Water - a novel by Julia Melano

Way back in high school, I began drafting my first fiction novel—Through Shallow Water—although I had no idea this story would turn into a lifelong journey. In a way, this book grew up with me. For over two decades, it was an unfinished treasure I kept locked away and rarely tapped back into. But at long last, in early 2021, I completed it, hired an editor, and self-published it on Amazon Kindle. Then in August 2023 I added the paperback version!

Synopsis
Can you ever be sure you’re in the right place, living the life you’re destined for? You may imagine tasting other realities, but how would you react, if given the chance? Eve’s small Wyoming town in the 1980s seems to offer her little more than an uninspiring future. Dreaming away her summer days in barns and meadows, she longs to be anywhere else—until fate intervenes and inexplicable things begin to happen. The border between dreams and reality blurs and a stranger enters her heart and mind, forever changing the course of her life. An unfathomable event nearly destroys her, and the path forward fills with twists and turns. She must follow the strange clues she’s tried so hard to ignore, as solving those mysteries will guide her through the thorns.

 

In the coming months, I plan to update this page with snippets of my other writings, which will include some drafts of children’s stories. My goal is to publish a few children’s books in the years ahead, complete with my own illustrations. Please keep checking back!