Melissa Williams is the author to the Iggy the Iguana series and the Turtle Town series for kids, the owner of LongTale Publishing, and co-founded the Literacy Foundation--READ3Zero. Melissa has been writing stories since the age of eight years old. Many of her stories were inspired by real-life experiences with childhood pets she owned while growing up in Houston, Texas. During graduate school, Melissa began substitute teaching for third and fourth grade classes, which inspired her to get the students involved in the creative writing process of her books. Melissa's first series came out in 2008 after completing her Master’s degree in professional counseling. Melissa continues to connect to her young readers by visiting schools and speaking to students about her journey while giving hands on insight into the writing and publishing process. Melissa also hosts writing workshops, summer camps, and book clubs for her readers through out the year.
Interviewed on Channel 2 News and Fox 26 News, Houston, Texas
CNN 650 Radio
KPVU 91.3 FM Public Radio
Keynote Speaker
- 2010 & 2011 Texas PTA Leadership Conference, Austin, TX
- 2011 Early Child Development Conference, Houston, TX
- PBS Channel 8 "Kids Go" Writing Awards Ceremony, Houston, TX
- Independent Book Publishers Associations Conference, New York
- Denton Literacy Conference, Texas
- Barnes and Noble's Educator's Appreciation Brunch in Houston, Texas
- Houston R.E.A.D. Festival, Texas
Featured Guest
- Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas
- Conroe Junior League Literacy Event, Texas
- Guest author at the Kemah Kids Festival, Texas
- Guest author at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference
- Guest author at the John Cooper Event, Woodlands, Texas
