Author Biography for Melissa Marscellus
Raised on cheese curds and Tombstone Pizza in rural Wisconsin, Melissa developed a love of books when her third-grade teacher read Beverly Cleary’s Beezus and Ramona aloud in class. As Melissa grew into angsty adolescence, she devoured books by Stephen King and Anne Rice. She began writing her own macabre stories and dreamed of becoming a New York Times best-selling author one day.
While none of Melissa’s childhood stories ever came to fruition, as a parent, she felt a divine calling to write her memoir Pulled from the Wreckage: A Mother’s Crash Course Through Her Daughter’s Mental Illness and Addiction after walking away from a semi wreck on the way to visit her daughter Mina in “kid prison.” Melissa’s memoir, which chronicles her family’s struggles navigating the broken mental health and juvenile justice systems in Colorado, begins as a fruitless search for mental health treatment for Mina but transforms into Melissa’s own quest for personal growth and peace.
“Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.”
– Stephen King
Melissa earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado in Denver in 2010. Following graduation, she began a career in criminal justice. The contrast between her work experience and her often-turbulent home life gave her a unique perspective, allowing her to see both sides of complicated social issues. Her career path and her role as the mother of an out-of-control runaway often put her on conflicting sides of the law. Melissa spent time working as a court clerk at some of the same courthouses where her daughter’s cases were heard. She also worked as an administrative assistant for a police academy shortly before Mina was involved in an excessive use-of-force incident which led to the firing of a Denver police officer.
Melissa and her family have spent countless hours with Mina in court, residential treatment facilities, and detention facilities. They have also spent a great deal of time in family therapy and at various support groups to acknowledge and process what they’ve been through.
On this path, Melissa has met many other dedicated parents with similar heartbreaking stories. By telling her own story, Melissa hopes to turn her pain into something positive while shedding light on the mental health and addiction crisis that is plaguing our youth.
When Melissa isn’t writing or reading books by some of her current favorite authors, including William Kent Krueger and Linwood Barclay, she enjoys playing 80s rock ballads on the piano and cuddling with her two Boston Terriers at home in the mountains of Colorado.