Melissa Pilgrim

Melissa Pilgrim started her writing career at five-years-old by entertaining her classmates in kindergarten with her original, imaginative puppet shows during playtime. After growing up in the beautiful White Mountains in New Hampshire and then graduating from UNH along the seacoast, she went on to work as a writer in all mediums (theater, film, TV, and book publishing) in cities such as Orlando, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Melissa was also the Artistic Director of The Sheil Park Players, a community theatre in the Wrigleyville area of Chicago, for 5 years where she produced and directed 22 original shows and worked with adults and children of all ages. Eight of these plays were from her successful new playwright’s Budding Authors Workshops, with several of these shows going on to be produced at larger theaters in Chicago as well as cities like New York and London.

Melissa’s published books include Animal Motions, a children's picture book (with Indigo River Publishing), and Sergeant Stubby in the Great War, a historical fiction novella for ages 9 and up (with Birch Owl Press). She’s had 16 plays produced from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale and 4 screenplays and 1 TV series optioned in Los Angeles. She has edited 12 books in a variety of genres in both fiction and nonfiction with authors from L.A. to N.Y.C.