Melody S. Gee is the author of WE CARRY SMOKE AND PAPER: ESSAYS ON THE GRIEF AND HOPE OF CONVERSION (University of Iowa Press, 2024); THE CONVERT'S HEART IS GOOD TO EAT (Driftwood Press, 2022); THE DEAD IN DAYLIGHT (Cooper Dillon Books, 2016); and EACH CRUMBLING HOUSE (Perugia Press, 2010). She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.