Hello all! I hope everyone is getting some warm weather like we are here in eastern PA. I’ve been taking walks in the evening and loving every minute of it. Now…I have something shocking to reveal about this Pining For You post. Are you sitting down? Good. For this post, I’ll be chatting about another location from Pining For You and it doesn’t take place in Jim Thorpe. WHAT??? I know. It’s a shocker. To be fair, it’s just down the road from JT.   Last Sunday I went for a hik

Hi all! Spring is in the air and I’m here for it. I think I’m going to take my first train ride of the year this Friday. I’ll go for the classic 3pm ride in the open-air car. I CAN’T WAIT. Now, time for another theme from PfY, and it’s one of my favorite things in the world—breakfast. In PfY, Nicole is an avid fan of the first meal of the day. She’s partial to poached eggs, eggs over easy, and scrambled eggs if they’re cooked soft. Homefries are her jam and creamed chipped be

Another PfY update! Hope everyone is enjoying the end of winter. I have a love-hate relationship with February, or as I like to call it, Loveuary. I know…I watch way too much Hallmark Channel. It’s often too cold for me but it’s also the month for Valentine’s Day, and I’m a romance author. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a Valentine in my personal life, but my fictional ladies all do, and I celebrate vicariously through them! For this post I want to chat about another locati

This winter is COLD! This is me about to go see The Menzingers that played in Allentown two weeks ago. It was a very cold evening but they were amazing! What a great show. If you haven't heard of them, they are from Scranton and have a punk rock vibe. I have some cat rescue friends that I went with that are big fans. Okay, so, PfY is on submission and I’m officially in the waiting game now. Don’t worry, I’m working on another book in the meantime and it’s a hilarious rom-com.

Okay, so let's have a serious chat about libraries. I love them. No, seriously, they have always been a big part of my life, and I feel at home inside them. When I was a kid in elementary school, I would go to the library after the school day ended and read as many books as I could until the librarian was ready to go home. The nerve of her having a life outside of that library. Anyway, she would call my dad to come get me because I didn't want to leave. Yep. All true. My dad

I'm headed to Jim Thorpe to work on my next manuscript. Hi all! It's official. I'm on submission with Pining for You (PfY). What does that mean? It means that editors at publishing houses are considering the manuscript for publication. Cross your fingers, y’all. In honor of going on submission, I’ll share the elevator pitch for the book: PINING FOR YOU is a contemporary romance inspired by real events about a mature romance author who finds love with a rugged woodsman in the

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. New Year's Eve is my birthday, and I spent it with some dear friends who I adore. That's me contemplating what story I plan to write next and me vibing in the Dimmick Memorial LIbarary in Jim Thorpe. I've got that look in my eye...lol Today I’m in Jim Thorpe and it’s snowing! It’s time for a Pining for You update to start 2026. First, for those of you that are new to my blog, I’m Melissa. I write rom-coms, contemporary ro

Time for an update on Pining for You (PfY). It's been a busy few weeks for me with events for my cat rescue and the semester coming to an end, which meant no time for writing blog posts. But there is much happening behind the scenes for PfY and December 22nd is almost here! More on that date later. I have gotten back the manuscript from my editor with minimal edits. The pitch and synopsis have been written, and she loved the addition of the villain! Yay! What does all this me

Time for another theme from Pining for You! Okay, for this post I want to explore one of the very important side characters in Pining for You. I will get back to exploring another place in Jim Thorpe next time. But for now, let me introduce you to… Josh. Josh is fun-loving, honest, and loyal. He’s the best friend type—a man that every woman dreams of having in their life. The guy who watches movies with you with your feet propped in his lap, makes you laugh uncontrollably whe

Time for a Pining for You update. Since handing back my manuscript to my agent, I’ve had time to reflect once again on the setting of the book. I know you are all aware of my love for Jim Thorpe. My agent commented that she was excited to “go back to Jim Thorpe” for her second read of the manuscript with my changes. She’s told me one of my strengths in writing is world building. It’s funny because that was something I was always worried about when I first started writing nov