Melissa Corliss DeLorenzo

About Me

I'm a writer, reader, yogini, mom, part-time Office Manager, a homemaker and the writer of The Writer’s Life blog on Her Circle Ezine. I love to cook and take long walks with my kids and I'm a woman who wants to meaningfully exchange and intersect with other writers. I holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Currently, I work at a web development company (because part-time Office Manager buys more groceries than Struggling Writer). I am at work on a novel and a short story collection. I live in North Central Massachusetts with my husband, son, twin daughters and a noisy pug.

Why do you write?

I write because when I'm not being creative, I feel lousy and I'll bet my husband would say "cranky" (or he might use some other words). I guess a better way to say it is that writing makes me feel like everything is brighter and louder and more colorful and food tastes better. I often use nature as a starting point, even if the work does not always reflect it directly. Being outside and paying attention to the small things is a meditation that opens my creative mind.

Any favorite authors? Books?

Alice Munro, William Faulkner, Wendell Berry, Richard Russo, Louise Erdrich, Milan Kundera, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anne Tyler, Annie Dillard, Ann-Marie MacDonald, to name a few...

The Shipping News is hands down my favorite novel. The Beans of Egypt Maine, The Good Earth, The Hours, The History of Love, Heart You Bully You Punk, The Interpreter of Maladies, Life of Pi, to name a few…