Blast from the Past - Melissa Jane and the Bestest July 4th
Added 2018-07-04 13:00:59 +0000 UTCMelissa Jane is a long way from home. She’s traveled to Minnesota to spend July 4th weekend with her father and half-sister.
She’s glad to get a break from her work in Kentucky. But is she the only one who’s made the trip north?
How could I resist looking back at this tale on Independence Day?
Written in 2016, commissioned and imagined by Sarah, Melissa Jane and the Bestest July 4th is the third to feature Melissa Jane, lynchpin of the Berry Swirl universe, in a starring role.
To bring it to life, I drew on details from one my own favourite July 4th celebrations, ‘Historic Forestville’ that every year reenacts their 1899 version of Independence Day.
With baseball, watermelon-eating contests and a little Disney thrown in, it’s certainly an American tale. That said, I did my best to ensure that the twin themes of 1) distant father-daughter relationship and 2) business sabotage could be felt across cultural lines.
Melissa Jane is certainly one of my favourite characters - I love her mix of pragmatic strength and vulnerability - but she skates over dangerously thin ice in this tale. In 2017 we got to enjoy a Christmas-themed sequel of sorts in Sarah’s Naughty List.
I hope you’ll take the opportunity to dip into this story, for a little July 4th fun. If this is one of your favorites, give me a tap!
