Melissa Marr

Melissa Marr has never been good at choosing just one path. After finishing high school with the dubious honour of being voted “most likely to end up in jail”, she went to college for a degree and then postgraduate research. There curiosity (and tuition bills) led her to the dual jobs of teaching and slinging drinks at a biker bar. During the daylight hours, she indulged in long literary chats; at night, she lingered with intriguing people with one word names.

Eventually, she went on to bartend at a number of other weird little bars, teach literature both live and online, and discover the joy of being under the tattoo gun. All three have been great rushes. The latter borders on addiction, but is held in check by the desire to attend the opera without flashing too many tats.

After marrying someone who shares her love of ink – on the page and on the skin – Melissa began moving around the country. In the process, she discovered how vast the Mojave really is, how many incredible museums are out there, and how hard it can be to think about settling in one place. She’s continued teaching along the way, but traded beer-slinging for book writing.