Melissa is a third generation writer. Her paternal grandfather, Saburo Yonehiro, was a reporter for a Tokyo newspaper. On assignment in Hawaii to cover WWI, he became enamored with the States, and decided to move to California. He settled with his wife, Kazuko, and young son, Horace, in the Gold Hill area of South Placer County, along with other Japanese immigrants who farmed there prior to their forced relocation during WWII. 

Saburo and Kazuko’s second child, George, was Melissa’s dad. He was born in Gold Hill and became an attorney and judge. He seemed to always have a book in his hands, when he wasn’t trout fishing or working on cars. 

Melissa had a mild form of “lazy eye” as a young child. The cure included exercises in which she covered one eye and followed a moving target with the other. George seized upon the idea of writing words on flash cards and he and Melissa’s mother, Miyoko (“Koko”), taught Melissa to read the cards while performing the exercises. By the time she entered kindergarten, Melissa had already begun to appreciate the beauty and power of words. 

George and Koko also gave Melissa the legacy of a Christian faith. Both had been raised as Buddhists, yet each had become a Christian before they met in Chicago in 1953. 

Melissa has written newsletter articles, short fiction, legal analyzes, legislative summaries, and thousands of emails solving problems and soothing nerves. She hopes to inspire women through humorous, sassy creative nonfiction to become their very best, by joyously accepting their identity in Jesus Christ. 

Melissa’s favorite Christian authors include Henri Nouwen, Ann Lamott and Dallas Willard.