About the Author

Melissa F. Kaelin is a writer, painter, and photographer who moved to Michigan in 2018. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She is native to rural Ohio, and she spent her formative years with nonfiction and creative writing in Minnesota, where she lived for 11 years.

An avid adventurer, she is a nature enthusiast, a dog lover, and a chaser of the Northern Lights. She also has more than a decade of experience in writing, editing, design and social media management. Currently, she works on the staff of a university, with a role in writing, press relations, communications and marketing.

In 2021, Melissa founded the Michigan Aurora Chasers, which features news and events on the Facebook Page. In 2017, she became one of the founders of the Aurora Summit, an international conference celebrating the Aurora Borealis. Her adventures have been featured in the press.

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Writing

Melissa’s writing has been published in many literary journals, including the Aurorean, Still Point Arts Quarterly and The Wild Word, as well as the REO Town Reading Series Anthology and the Social Gap Experiment Anthology. She has written for a wide variety of publications, including City Pages and a cover story for Minnesota Monthly magazine. She writes both fiction and nonfiction, including short stories, poetry, and entries of creative nonfiction on her blog.

She has published several books, including “Below the 45th Parallel: The Beginner’s Guide to Chasing the Aurora in the Great Lakes Region,” and a poetry collection entitled Hope in the Hoarfrost, which was released in 2016. She finished writing her first novel in 2015, and the manuscript is currently under consideration within the publishing industry. In the last few years, Melissa started working on two new novel concepts, which are works in progress.

Art

Melissa’s paintings have been featured in many exhibits, as well as books and literary journals. Her painting “Mauve Memories” was published on the cover of the chapbook We Had To Go On Living in 2013, and several of her paintings were printed in the literary journal Still Point Arts Quarterly in 2018.

Her photography has also garnered attention, after being published in Minnesota Monthly and receiving an award from Capture Minnesota.

After a life-altering event in 2011, Melissa found it difficult to write for a year. Instead, she turned to art for peace and healing, painting a series of silhouettes on 24 x 12 canvases. She continues to share her paintings through exhibits and publication opportunities.

Forever in Our Hearts

Much of Melissa’s work deals with themes of loss and recovery, after her mother, stepfather, and her 13-year-old twin brothers died in a car accident in London, Ohio. Her father also passed away in 2009. She publishes under her given name to honor her past and the artistic streak in her family.

For more details about her late family members, visit RememberingThomasAndLawrence.Wordpress.com.

Special Thanks to Photographers!

I owe my gratitude to many generous photographers who have given permission to publish their work on this website. When possible, I like to use my own photographs, but highly technical photography is not my forté. It takes a profound level of talent and skill to create such stunning images.

Due to design limitations, photo credits are not immediately visible on some pages of my website. So, I thought I’d list them here. Please take a moment to check out these amazing talents! The featured photographers are:

Thank you to all of the photographers who have educated, assisted, and encouraged me over the years, especially those whose photographic masterpieces are published on these digital pages! You are an inspiration!!

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If you have feedback about my work, please let me know. I would be delighted to answer questions, discuss new opportunities, or hear about your own experiences.