The LuLac Edition #2563, November 26th, 2013

"HIGHLIGHTING" AN AREA AUTHOR

 Hazleton native Jennifer Melnick.

This is the cover of Jennifer Melnick's wonderful children's story set to be featured in Highlights Magazine. 

STORY SET FOR DECEMBER ISSUE OF "HIGHLIGHTS"

Hazleton native Jennifer Lynn Melnick has recently become a published children’s author. Her story, “Amelia Pepperpot Can’t Ah-Choo”appears in the December 2013 issue of Highlights magazine. This was Melnick’s first attempt at submitting a story to the renowned children’s magazine.
Melnick has been writing stories since first grade and had finally decided to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a children’s author.
“I’ve always known what I wanted to do, and I finally reached a point where I thought, ‘Why keep talking about wanting to write for children? I should just do it,’” said Melnick. “The worst that could have happened was that my story wouldn’t have been accepted. And being that it had yet to be published, I had nothing to lose.”
Melnick’s story is about a young girl named Amelia Pepperpot, who has an odd infirmity – she can’t sneeze. No matter what her parents and siblings do to try to coax a sneeze from Amelia, nothing works.
“Amelia felt a bit out of place, so I took her inability to sneeze and turned it into something quite useful,” said Melnick.
Amelia’s grandfather owns the town’s pepper factory, which experiences a machine malfunction that sends thick pepper clouds billowing out of the factory and throughout the town. In the midst of the pepper cloud storm, the Pepperpots realize that their family dog, Baxter, is missing.
No one can go outside without sneezing, except Amelia, so the young girl volunteers to find Baxter and brings him home to the relief of the Pepperpots. While sweeping up the pepper the following day, Amelia’s nose begins to twitch.
“Readers think Amelia is finally going to sneeze, but she’s only pretending,” said Melnick. “Amelia and I are alike in that we share a playful sense of humor, and besides, I enjoy adding little twists to my stories.”
The local children’s author is also a self-taught illustrator and is currently in the process of creating a picture book for a new story.
Melnick has worked as an editor, journalist, technical writer, corporate communications specialist, a Penn State weather forecaster, and a graphic designer. She is a Penn State graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and a minor in Art History, as well as a Master of Arts Degree in Telecommunications. For her Master’s Thesis, Melnick extensively studied the history of children’s books, as well as the children’s book and e-book markets, in order to find how publishers can promote a healthy e-book market for children. In her spare time, Melnick enjoys collecting antique children’s books.
Readers can catch Melnick’s interviews in the upcoming weeks on other area media outlets, including: WYLN-TV 35’s “Late Edition,” WILK 103.1 FM news radio’s “The L.A. Tarone Show” with host L.A. Tarone, and WVIA 89.9 FM’s “ArtScene” with host Erika Funke.
Her story, “Amelia Pepperpot Can’t Ah-Choo” is available in Highlights magazine at local bookstores and online at www.highlights.com.