Melissa Williams

Melissa M. Williams is the author of the Iggy the Iguana chapter book series, the Turtle Town chapter book series and the Little Miss Molly picture book for kids, the owner of LongTale Publishing and founder of the Literacy Non-Profit OrganizationREAD3Zero. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Melissa has been writing stories since she was a little girl and still uses that childhood love for imagination to relate to her young readers today. During graduate school, Melissa began substitute teaching for elementary grades in order to learn from her students. She received a Master's degree in professional counseling and implements psychological skills when presenting to her young audiences. Melissa spends the year speaking at schools and giving hands on insight into the writing and publishing process during her creative writing presentations. Her programs focus heavily on character development as she teaches the psychology behind getting in the character's shoes and on the reader's level. After speaking to thousands of students and teachers at over two hundred schools across Texas and California, she expanded her instruction in order to share specific creative techniques with educators. Melissa can regularly be seen on FOX and ABC news speaking on the need to keep reading, writing and creativity inside the home and classroom while balancing electronic usage. Her literacy organization hosts the I Write Short Stories by Kids for Kids Publishing Contest, offering opportunities for children to become published authors, illustrators and speakers.