Journey Across the Seas
The photograph included in this book was taken of my mother in Ireland in 1995. The same year she traveled there and found the inspiration for this novel. In the summer of 2025, thirty years later, I made my first journey to Ireland. With the generous help of online communities, I was able to locate the very pole at Moll’s Gap where she once stood. Re-creating that photograph felt like stepping softly into her memory, into the windswept landscape that stirred her imagination, and into the enduring spirit of this story. Publishing Across the Sea of Desire is my way of honoring her voice, a promise kept, and the story she carried with her across decades. Wherever this book finds you, I hope you feel the love and longing she poured into its pages.
~ Amanda
About the Author:
Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1962, Melody lived a life defined by resilience, curiosity, and an enduring love of storytelling. She never knew her father and grew up in a nontraditional household; her mother was a professional wrestler in the 1950s, and she was raised alongside her sister Patty. She had a baby sister, Crystal, who was placed for adoption in 1965, and she never stopped searching for her, keeping a bond alive through hope and determination. After her divorce in 1995, she traveled alone to Ireland, Scotland, and England, a journey that reignited her sense of self and inspired her to write her romance novel, Across the Sea of Desire. She returned home with a newfound love of Celtic culture, music, and history, and a determination to share stories that celebrated passion, roots, and connection. She also instilled a love of travel in her two daughters, showing them that the world was full of wonder and adventure.
Professionally, she dedicated herself to the care of others, working in the NICU at University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, supporting premature babies and their families with compassion and skill.
She passed away in 2012 from cancer, leaving behind her beloved novel. Her oldest daughter, Amanda, fulfilled her mother’s final wish by publishing Across the Sea of Desire, preserving her mother’s voice and her story for readers to enjoy. Her life was one of searching, loving, and creating qualities that shine through every page of her novel.
