with Melanie Rigney
Melanie's Bios
Bio: The short version
Melanie Rigney loves almost nothing better than talking and writing about faith and grace. Her latest book, Unforgettable Women of the Gospels (Twenty-third Publications, January 2024), focuses on eight unnamed women who encountered Jesus in the Gospels and what we can learn from them. A Twenty-third sister company, Creative Communications, recently published a booklet by Melanie, Praying with St. Bernadette of Lourdes: 15 Reflections on Living a Life of Virtue.
Melanie’s other books include Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century; Woman of Worth: Prayers and Reflections for Women Inspired by the Book of Proverbs; and Menopause Moments: A Journal for Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Spirit in Midlife. She is best known for her page-a-day devotionals, Sisterhood of Saints and Brotherhood of Saints, and as a regular contributor to Living Faith, Women in the New Evangelization (WINE). She lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Bio: the loooong version
What a long, convoluted trip it’s been.
In 2005, Melanie came back to the Catholic Church (some say with a passion; others compare her return to hurricane-force winds) after thirty-three years away from faith. While Melanie has been editing books, magazines, web sites, and other content for longer than she cares to remember, with her return to the Church she became primarily a writer and speaker about women’s spirituality and what the saints have to tell us. She is the author of:
- When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics (co-author; Twenty-Third Publications; order direct from Melanie)
- Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration (Franciscan Media)
- Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration in Our Sisters in Faith (Franciscan Media)
- Woman of Worth: Prayers and Reflections for Women Inspired by the Book of Proverbs (Twenty-Third Publications)
- Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century (Franciscan Media)
- Brotherhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration (Franciscan Media)
- Menopause Moments: A Journal for Nourishing Your Mind, Body and Spirit in Midlife (Twenty-Third Publications).
- Unforgettable Women of the Gospels (Twenty-third Publications).
Melanie also is the author of some short works including:
- Praying with St. Bernadette of Lourdes: 15 Reflections on Living a Life of Virtue (Creative Communications)
- The 7 Joys and 7 Sorrows of Mary: Reflections, Actions and Prayers (Twenty-third Publications)
- Surrendering the Spirit: The Way of the Cross Meditations (Bayard)
She also is a regular contributor to Living Faith, CatholicMom, Your Daily Tripod, and Women in the New Evangelization (WINE).
Melanie is also a founder and the current owner of Future with Hope Women, a not-for-profit endeavor that offers events for Catholic women over 40. She has spoken at dozens of women’s conferences and retreats. As if all that isn’t enough to keep her busy, she still keeps her hand in editing. Her publishing consultancy, Editor for You, has helped hundreds of authors, publishers, and agents since 2003.
Melanie is also a rabid fan of Washington Capitals hockey, Keith Richards, and Waylon Jennings. Her go-to source for cooking is Martha Stewart, and she prides herself on being able to do cool things with seafood in particular. She also loves researching two dozen or so Revolutionary War ancestors (inluding a few Loyalists), her Polish heritage, and her great-great-grandfather who was born into slavery near Memphis, Tennessee, and landed in Iowa through a branch of the Underground Railroad.
Melanie grew up in South Dakota and lived in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio before landing in Arlington, Virginia, in 2004. Because she's a joiner, she is a member of the National Council of Catholic Women, Catholic Writers Guild, Capital Christian Writers Fellowship, American Christian Fiction Writers, and innumerable family history-related organizations, including Daughters of the American Revolution.
