Melissa Miles McCarter

Melissa Miles McCarter lives in a small rural community of Arcadia Valley in Southeast Missouri, with her husband, Dr. William Matthew McCarter, step-son Britin, and menagerie of pets in a Civil War era home.

In addition to being an editor, memoirist and novelist, McCarter has written numerous articles and columns about mental illness and popular culture, infertility, and postfeminism.

Melissa's writing has always been inspired by the challenges she has faced in life.

After receiving a B.A. in philosophy from Scripps College in 1996, Melissa was hospitalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In her memoir, "Insanity: A Love Story," she chronicles her struggle to navigate the fine line between sanity and insanity.

While working on her Ph.D. In Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Texas at Arlington, Melissa and her husband lost their 5 week old daughter to SIDS. This experience inspired her to publish and edit the anthology on motherhood and loss, "Joy, Interrupted." She also explores her struggles with infertility in her writings.

While teaching at five different colleges, she encountered student resistance to feminist theory and pedagogy. She suggests an alternative postfeminist approach in her dissertation, Envisioning a Postfeminist Composition Studies."

In addition to being an author, Melissa is the publisher of a small press, Fat Daddy's Farm and Book Manager at Booktrope. As an editor, manager, and publisher, Melissa's goal is to help uncommon voices grow and flourish.