Melissa Koch
Melissa Koch is a writer and inventor of digital learning environments for children, educators, and adults. She specializes in materials that encourage women and youth from diverse backgrounds to pursue their dreams in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Her STEM curricula activities have received recognition from the National Science Foundation, Whitehouse Science Fair, PBS, and others. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, son, and Labrador retriever. She dreams of creating a 3D printer that can print both wood and metal to fix her favorite antique furniture and bicycle.
Interview
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness
What’s your favorite line from a book?
From Tisha: “I told you when you first came through here,” she said sharply, “that you couldn’t judge these people by white standards.”
Who are your top three favorite authors or illustrators?
Margaret Atwood
Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder
Shel SilversteinWhy did you want to become an author or illustrator?
I learn the most when I write. I love the process of researching a topic, talking to experts, and then seeing a pattern, something that others have missed. Writing allows me to reveal that pattern, that new learning so that others might think about a topic a little differently and have their own new insight.
Do you have any advice for future authors or illustrators?
Make time to write and create every day. If you don’t already love revising, keep writing and sharing your work at every stage of the process until you do.
