Born and raised in sunny Miami, Florida, it was a wake-up call for Melissa when she moved to Ames, Iowa, in 1996 to attend Iowa State University: buy warm clothes (and get a diploma)! She graduated in 2000 with a B.A. in English with emphasis in rhetoric and professional communication. Somehow now used to snow, armored in Cuddl Duds, and in the company of now-husband Joe "I'm from there!" Shelton, Mel decided not to go back to Florida after she graduated. Instead she found a too-good-to-be-true job at CaptionMax in Minneapolis and decided to test her patience with Minnesota winters...No comment. The summers are great, though.
When not thoroughly enjoying her job at CaptionMax (cracking the grammar whip as day shift supervisor), Mel's interests include, but are not limited to, crossword puzzles, listening to music, reading (horror, fantasy), playing on the computer, and yelling--uh, speaking nicely to her well-behaved (not!) cats.