The Sarnia Journal has partnered with local photographer Art Connolly to feature his captivating “Humans of Sarnia” series as he delves into the lives and experiences of everyday people in Sarnia/Lambton.
Just outside Forest Ontario, in the rural pocket known as Hillcrest Heights, Melina Douglas grew up surrounded by fields, wide skies, lake views and the steady calm of country life. The landscape of her childhood was shaped by a tight-knit community where neighbours still waved from their driveways. She attended Aberarder Central for her elementary years and later North Lambton Secondary School before going on to St. Clair College in Windsor, where she earned diplomas in Border Services and Police Foundations.
But Melina’s story isn’t defined only by academics or geography. It’s shaped by imagination—vast, colourful, and entirely her own.
Her parents NOW live on a small four-acre hobby farm, home to three horses and the kind of daily routines that root you in a place. Though she rides, Melina is quick to say she’s nowhere near as involved as her mother, who travels as far as Kentucky to horseback ride and immerse herself in the equestrian world. “She’s definitely more into it than I am,” Melina says, smiling. “I love riding—but she lives it.”
Melina’s own passions lean toward the outdoors. She loves fishing and keeps a steady rhythm at the gym. But if there’s one passion that runs deeper than the rest, it’s reading. “Sometimes I get sucked into reading a little too much,” she admits. “I love young and old stories, especially fantasy. I rarely read reality. I like getting away from this world a bit. It’s nice to disappear into the pages.”
Her reading life stretches back to childhood, but one turning point came during a trip to Canada’s east coast. While touring Prince Edward Island, she picked up a copy of Anne of Green Gables—a book she wouldn’t read until after she left P.E.I. “I regret not reading it before the trip,” she says. “None of the scenes I saw were familiar yet. It’s such a good book, and I love the innocence of it. I love period pieces. Now that I’ve read it, I’ll have to go back and really appreciate all the places from the story.”
Her favourites range widely: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, Peter Pan and The Little White Bird by J.M. Barrie, Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus trilogy, Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and anything by Sarah J. Maas. These stories, filled with adventure, magic, and timeless characters, helped kindle something in her—a desire to build her own fictional worlds.
That spark lit early. “I started writing when I was 13,” Melina says. “I had a dream that I couldn’t shake. I remembered three things: a puddle, a shimmer of gold across the water, and a mermaid’s tail. For days I kept thinking about those images. Eventually I just started writing—and it became my first book.
The book has since been rewritten, polished, and shaped into something she’s proud of. “It was a huge sense of accomplishment,” she says. “Books take so long to finish.” Finishing the writing, however, is just one part of the journey.
Melina is a self-published author, which means the responsibilities that traditional publishing would distribute across a team land squarely in her hands. She writes, edits, assembles beta readers, chooses cover art, handles formatting, tracks finances, and navigates the maze of distribution. “I couldn’t afford an editor,” she says, “so I had a lot of people help me edit and beta read.”
Her support system means everything. “My family and friends are amazing,” she says. “My parents are huge. My dad finds designers for my book covers, and he’s always looking for events I can attend. He posts on social media for me since I’m not on it that much.”
Self-publishing demands patience, resilience, and a willingness to learn on the fly. It tests you financially and mentally, and it asks you to trust your own voice even on the days you doubt it most. But it also offers something irreplaceable: complete creative freedom. Her editor Pauline Cormier once told Melina that finishing the book is only the beginning. “She meant everything that comes after—getting it out there, selling it. It’s such a hurdle.” But when Melina talks about it, there’s no frustration in her voice. There’s determination. There’s pride. There’s even joy. The hurdle isn’t a barrier—it’s something she’s learned to climb, one book at a time.
You can often find her as a vendor at local events around Sarnia-Lambton, chatting with readers, and introducing newcomers to her stories. She especially loves when someone approaches her booth already familiar with her work. “It’s the best feeling,” she says. “I love hearing what people thought or which characters they connected with.”
As of now, Melina has five books available, all of which can be found on Amazon. Her website, www.melinadouglas.com, offers more about her writing journey, her process, and the worlds she continues to build.
What stands out most about Melina isn’t just her creativity, or her persistence, or even the discipline it takes to craft entire universes from scratch. It’s the way she speaks about storytelling—with warmth, humour, and a quiet sense of wonder. Her imagination has been a companion since childhood, shaped by dreams, books, and the peaceful rhythm of the countryside she grew up in.
And somewhere from her youth in Hillcrest Heights, her teenage years on the hobby farm, and her life now in Forest, between the beaches, barns, horses and the open land where she still spends much of her time, Melina continues to create. Page by page, story by story, she builds places for readers to escape to—places full of colour, magic, and the shimmer of gold across water. Exactly the kind of worlds she once dreamed of.
Humans of Sarnia founder Art Connolly is a man fuelled by curiosity and a passion for connecting with people in Sarnia. Inspired by the renowned “Humans of New York” series, with a camera in hand, he captures the very essence of the individuals he encounters, preserving their stories through his lens. Follow his series on Instagram and Facebook.
