Melissa Currence is a writer and public relations professional from Cincinnati, Ohio. She has been published in various publications, including Ohio State Alumni Magazine, Cincy Magazine and bustedhalo.com. Her work has placed in the following award competitions: Frontiers in Writing Contest, Poetry Society of Virginia, English Club of Xavier University and Inktank/Cincinnati CityBeat. As a teen, she attended the writing workshop of Ohio Governor's Summer Institute for Gifted and Talented Students as a teen for two years, which helped mold her as a writer. She is active with the League of Women Voters and enjoys reading, journaling, genealogy research, history and politics. Currence received a bachelor's of political science from Xavier University and a master's of Journalism and Communication from The Ohio State University. Tethered is her first collection of poetry.