Melissa Dorval, author of When You Lose Control, has published in The Offering, The Lowell Connector, The Shirley Volunteer, The Creative Zine, and the inaugural issue of The Sixpence Society Literary Journal. She is also one of the founding members of The New Dawn Writers Group.
Dorval graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts – Lowell, where best-selling author, Andre Dubus III, served as her mentor.
Dorval has wanted to be a writer since an early age and believes an exceptional story is one with an immersive world, a powerful message, and realistic dialogue. She drafts most of her work in Gmail, with each chapter being an email. Dorval feels this method allows her to let the story flow, and then she can use the individual emails to “piece the story together like a quilt.” She credits much of her success to the support of her godmother, Donna, and her best friend, Abby. Dorval hopes her readers will learn to listen to diverse voice and take civil rights seriously.
Dorval lives in central Massachusetts with her husband, Chris, and five cats, two dogs and a rabbit. She is a New England Patriots fan and likes to collect vintage clothing from the sixties and seventies. When she’s not writing, Dorval enjoys sewing, drawing, painting and being a nanny for two children.