By Melissa Crockett Meske

A Little More About Me...

As a writer, author, and editor, I have crafted hundreds of stories and thousands of words. I have been successfully published in a wide variety of genres and markets for well over 30 years now. And I have captured and published more images than I can honestly remember.

I have a poetry anthology titled The Dirt Still Looks the Same and have also edited several books that you can find on Amazon, along with the professionally recorded and produced song of which I wrote the lyrics entitled At the End of the Wind and the Rain.

My byline has appeared in publications throughout the United States including in the Illinois Business Journal, as a part of Virginia Business and its various publications, in previous Great Rivers & Routes of Southwest Illinois tourism guides as well as in various RiverBend Growth Association publications including its annual Currents magazine.

You'll also find my byline on news stories previously published in The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.), AdVantage News (now a part of BigZ Media in Alton, Ill.); in past issues of the Jersey County Journal, Greene Prairie Press, Calhoun News-Herald (now known as separate county editions under River County News), and the former Carrollton Gazette-Patriot, as well in a series of monthly newsletters distributed internationally by Wiley Inc./Stevenson Publishing.

I have a Master of Arts degree in organizational management and a Bachelor of Science in organizational leadership. I also have an Undergraduate Certificate in paralegal studies and in accounting.  And, in Summer 2024, I completed my interior design certification through the New York Institute of Art and Design.