Melinda Salisbury Books In Order

Publication Order of The Sin Eater’s Daughter Books

Publication Order of Sorrow Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Melinda Salisbury is a young adult fiction author from the West Midlands that has made a name for herself with “The Sin Eater’s Daughter” series of novels. Growing up, Melinda always dreamt of becoming a veterinary practitioner as she always loved animals. She even had a fantasy of being arrested for breaking into a test facility to illegally release the animals kept there. Nonetheless, she was also an elaborate world builder in her childhood and would fiddle with decorative glass stones organizing them into green for villains, blue for armies, yellow for servants, and red for royals. She would also act out love affairs between queens and jesters, and princes and witches. She would spend days or even weeks tweaking and building a plot and world for her characters much like she now does with her young adult series. It all came easy to her given that she has never been one to find entertainment in reality preferring the fantasy genre to any other. As such, she does not like any reality TV or soap opera preferring more rustic TV in the mold of “The Musketeers” or the “Vikings” which offer a fantasy life much different from hers. As for her preference for young adult fiction, Melinda is drawn to the stories of people figuring out who they are and their place in society which is what she argues everyone tries to do.

She never thought she would ever become an author growing up, given that she did not have an upper or middle class background and did not have the money to go to a top college to study writing. Nonetheless, she has always enjoyed telling stories, reading and writing though she never thought she would ever make anything of it. However, the more she read the more she was certain that she wanted to become a published author. Nevertheless, it was not until she took a vacation in the US that she knew she wanted to fulfill her lifelong dream. Having read of the torturous journey to publishing that many writers have to go through, it came as a surprise to her when she found an agent who agreed to represent her almost immediately she submitted her manuscript. She had written a draft of her novel and submitted the novel to her agent and while she was looking at it, she thought she would kill time by writing “The Sin Eater’s Daughter”. It turned out that her first novel was not that great but the agent was willing to look at the manuscript for “The Sin Eater’s Daughter”. The agent loved it and after a few rewrites submitted it to publishers who published the novel in 2015.

Melinda’s characters are not learning to be brave but rather have a strong moral compass and souls of steel from the get go. Twylla and Errin the lead characters of the series are the Neville Longbottom of the young adult world. While Twylla starts out as gullible, naive, and obedient child, she is a brave girl who is not afraid to think for herself and ask all the tough questions. She can be really ignorant, selfish, and a brat and makes bad choices and mistakes but as she learns about the world, she comes to discover that some things are bigger than her wants or needs. Like her creator, Twylla is very much a typical seventeen year old with all the insecurities and strict parents that would never let her have the freedom she craved. Still, Twylla refuses to be broken and bends and flexes with all the pressure and weight. She never loses hope and in spite of all the loneliness and terror manages top remain openhearted and retain hope. Errin the other character in the series is a determined girl forever marching on toward her goals. Just like Twylla she will endure snow, fire, lack of progress and everything thrown at her but keep going.

“The Sin Eater’s Daughter” is the debut novel by Melinda Salisbury introducing the lead character Twylla. Twylla is a sixteen year old girl modeled on the Rapunzel imprisoned in a castle narrative. She is engaged to be married to the prince but finds herself very lonely, since no one would speak to her as she is not the daughter of a noble. She has a special set of skills in that she can kill with just a touch of her hands. As such, every week, she is taken from her castle and led to the prison to kill persons accused of treason. She thinks no one could ever love a girl that could kill with a touch, even if her fiance the prince is immune to the touch, being of royal blood. But a new guard with deadly sword skills and a beguiling smile arrives and starts romancing Twylla. It is a treasonous romance that could spell doom for both of them, but the royal family could be less concerned given their plan to destroy their enemies. However, the plan calls for a huge sacrifice that leaves Twylla in a dilemma: should she abandon her duty for the sake of love or do what it takes to protect her homeland?

“The Sleeping Prince” returns to the beautiful but dark world of Melinda’s “The Sin Eater’s Daughter” where Errin is dire straits following the disappearance of her brother Lief. She needs to not only care for her ailing mother abut also fend for their daily needs through collecting and selling of illegal herb cures. But none of that is as terrifying as having to face the “Sleeping Prince” who just came out of his enchanted sleep and is looking for revenge. Errin finds herself homeless and desperate when her village is one of those evacuated in a scorched earth policy against the “Sleeping Prince”. The only hope that Errin has is a mysterious man known as Silas who has been buying her herbs for reasons he has never disclosed. When Silas goes missing after making a promise to help her, Errin is left with the arduous task of saving herself and her mother from certain death from an imminent attack by the Sleeping Prince. The only choice left is a heartbreaking decision that may just destroy the kingdom and all its inhabitants.