Melissa Maples is a musicologist and analytical writer from Texas. She began her career as a professional musician at the age of eight, and after many years of performance and private music study she eventually moved across the Atlantic to resume her formal education in the United Kingdom. She earned her B.A. with honors from Paul McCartney’s prestigious “Fame School,” the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, where she specialized in critical aural analysis and music production. Having been particularly recognized during university for her exceptional ability to articulate ideas in writing, she elected to take some time after graduation to see the world and write about her experiences, a decision which soon evolved into a second career as a travel writer.

Melissa’s journeys over the past three decades have taken her across four continents, and she has spent the last ten years living outside the United States, both in Europe and in Asia. Her vast experience over the past decade, both with independent travel and within the tourism industry, has spawned numerous personal and professional writing ventures. Her body of written work ranges from commissioned travel articles and travel advice columns, to personal essays and self-help guides about life as a perpetual traveler. Melissa is currently based on the Turkish Riviera, where she is writing her second novel, working on numerous photography projects, and contemplating her next move.