University of Alabama alumni Dana Melton and Jessica Alexander have teamed up to co-author a new young adult novel trilogy series under the pen name Kirby Howell.
The duo’s debut trilogy, the Autumn series, includes books “Autumn and the City of Angels” and “Autumn in the Dark Meadows.” The third installment, “Autumn and the City of Lights,” is set for a later release.
The authors developed the idea for the series after one of them dreamed about it.
“Jessica actually had a very interesting dream, which became the seed for the Autumn series,” Melton said.
Alexander said the story was too big to be a screenplay, so they decided to write a novel.
The trilogy follows the adventures of a young girl named Autumn Winters, the teenage daughter of a famous actress who survived an apocalyptic plague known as “Crimson Fever.”
Melton and Alexander met in 2000 in Glenda Williams’ TCF 202 script writing class when they were paired together to write a feature-length screenplay.
“We went to school for screenwriting,” Melton said, “but it’s always been a distant dream of ours to write novels. Both of us agree that reading is so very important in a young person’s development – not just in imagination, but in character, values and inner strength.”
When they are not writing novels as Kirby Howell – the pen name is a combination of their maiden names – Melton and Alexander are hard-working Los Angeles women.
The two also started their film careers before they graduated from the University.
“I worked for the Center for Public Television all four years and with the Jumbotron during all that time as well,” Melton said.
Alexander worked alongside Melton at the CPT.
“I also worked at the Center for Public Television my senior year as a music columnist for ‘Planet Weekly’ and a filmographer for QUEST Distance Ed for a year somewhere in there as well,” she said.
After graduating from the University, Melton and Alexander moved to Los Angeles to begin their professional screenwriting careers.
“Dana started out as a writer’s assistant and researcher for shows like ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘CSI:NY,’” Alexander said. “She was in the writer’s room every day for multiple sessions on these top-ranking shows, listening to the writers and producers discuss story, character and everything else under the sun that had to do with storytelling. What she learned there, she passed on to me.”
Melton has since written for several video games and documentaries and is now an associate story producer for Discovery ID.
Alexander worked for a few different companies but mostly with Shine America, who produces “The Biggest Loser” and “MasterChef.”
The two began reading a lot of young adult fiction and made the decision to write the Autumn series about four years ago.
“The series is post- apocalyptic fiction, with elements of action, sci-fi lite and paranormal romance that can be compared to ‘The Hunger Games,’ ” Melton said.
When it comes to their writing process, Melton said they “are definitely 50/50 all the way.”
“We write stories together and decide what the story is going to be and how it will be told,” she said. “We break down an outline and decide who will write which parts, and then we pass stories back and forth for each of us to read one another’s work and make any changes necessary.”
In addition to their writing, Melton and Alexander still work closely with The University of Alabama to help place film students in entry-level work in Los Angeles after graduation.
The first two novels in the Autumn series are available for purchase on Amazon or in hard copy at Barnes and Noble. Fans can keep up with them through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and their website at www.kirbyhowell.com.
