Writer, Educator, Filmmaker

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

—Ferris Bueller

QUERYING SOON… My debut comedic, upmarket novel, JOLENE McQUEEN SAILS AWAY.

Jolene McQueen truly believes in herself, but maybe she shouldn’t. When a former cult member nearing forty enters a standup contest on a cruise as an excuse to confront the charismatic leader who derailed her life, she risks losing her daughter, her family, and the fragile identity she’s spent years repairing.

JOLENE McQUEEN SAILS AWAY features the coarse humor of Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One with the messiness of motherhood in Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and the reckless creative ambition of HBO’s Hacks.

Melissa Remark 5/15/26 Melissa Remark 5/15/26

O Brother, Where Art We?

Essay “O Brother, Where Art We?” published in The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Vol. 13. Out on June 9, 2026

As Lavinia Spalding writes in her introduction, “In times of turmoil and despair, it becomes more vital to pay attention to how much there is live for, and travel for, and stand up for, and the stories in this volume shine light on this.”

Melissa Remark 5/15/26 Melissa Remark 5/15/26

Jolene McQueen Sails Away

QUERYING SOON… Upmarket fiction, JOLENE McQUEEN SAILS AWAY (87,000 words).

Cult survivor Jolene McQueen’s twisted plan for redemption and success is a comedy contest on a Caribbean cruise ship, but it might cost her everything she has left to lose, including her five-year old daughter. Full of dark humor and tenderness, JOLENE McQUEEN SAILS AWAY will appeal to fans of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Queenie, and HBO’s Hacks.

Melissa Remark 5/15/26 Melissa Remark 5/15/26

SLACKER: Answering the True Call

Coming in 2028…

Melissa Remark 8/23/25 Melissa Remark 8/23/25

When I say “flow,” you say…

Stringing a bunch of words together to make meaning in what we call a sentence can happen in a number of ways. A writer can use rhythm, pace, style, diction, syntax, sound and many other tools to spin words into sentences, to link them in paragraphs. A writer could say she pays attention to all the above separately, but I might call that girl a liar, or at least an overachiever.