Melinda Clayton
Melinda Clayton is the author of two series and one standalone novel, all falling under the umbrella of southern psychological suspense. In addition to novels, she’s written two family genealogies and numerous articles and short stories published in various print and online magazines. In addition to writing, Clayton is a writing tutor, an editor, and an instructor for Southern New Hampshire University’s COCE MFA program.​
​​​Melinda's work is sold in all major bookstores, including the following:
The Cedar Hollow Series
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In 1945, three local boys wit- nessed an incident that called Billy May Platte’s sexuality into question. Determined to teach her a lesson she'd never forget, they orchestrated a brutal attack that changed the village of Cedar Hollow, WV forever.​​​​​​
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As recounted in Appalachian Justice, Jessie is an adult survivor of horrendous child- hood abuse. At the age of thirteen, she was rescued by reclu- sive mountain woman Billy May Platte. Now 47, Jessie is outwardly successful but inwardly struggles to reconcile the broken pieces of her past.
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Born into the infamous moon-shining Pritchett family of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia, Beth Pritchett Sloan has spent the majority of her life trying to escape the memories of a dif-ficult childhood.
Unfortunately, the arrival of an unwelcome letter is about to change everything.
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Struggling to make peace with the death of a husband who’d been lost to mental illness, Emily Holt vows to drive to the end of the road, which, she’s surprised to find, is just outside the tiny mining town of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia.
Cedar Hollow Series Boxed Set
Snippets from Cedar Hollow
A series of short stories about the characters in the Cedar Hollow Series
Nineteen-forty-six was a turning point for young Erma Puckett for three reasons. First, it was the year she became rich. Second, it was the year she fell in love. And third, it was the year she was run out of town.
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Brokenhearted and alone, Erma fled to the tiny village of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia, where she quickly realized she was the town’s first and only Black resident. Summoning her courage and refusing to give in to the doubts that plagued her, Erma fulfilled her goal of purchasing and running the town’s only boarding home, Vines and Roses.
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After a long, fulfilled life, just as Erma begins to consider retirement, unfinished business appears in the form of a very unexpected guest.
While helping to pack up and sell the vacation cabin that has belonged to the Barrett family for generations, ten-year-old Miranda Barrett stumbles across a real-life mystery that ultimately leads the Barrett family to Erma Puckett's Vines and Roses boarding home, the only boarding home within fifty miles of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia.
When retired miner Darryl Lane starts pining for the old days, Kay Langley, owner of the only diner within fifty miles of Cedar Hollow, calls upon residents of the town to lift Darryl out of his “sorrows.”
Character Study: "The Sheriff of Cedar Hollow," written by W. Michael Franklin, is a character study of the sheriff originally published in the charity book Cedar Hollow Anthology which, having met its fundraising goal, was discontinued in the summer of 2013.
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While Sheriff John Moore does an excellent job of keeping the tiny mining town of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia safe, when it comes to asking for personal help, his skills are sorely lacking, and his health is endangered.
The Tennessee Delta Series
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After the heartbreak of losing their newborn son to a previously un- diagnosed genetic condition, Phillip and Anna Lewinsky manage to pick up the pieces of their broken lives and move forward, filling the emptiness with friends, work, and travel.
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When Anna unexpectedly finds herself pregnant again at the age of forty-three, Phillip is thrilled to have a second chance at fatherhood in spite of Anna’s objections. But the scars from their long-buried grief run deep, and as desires clash, misunderstandings abound, and decisions are irrevocably made, the fractured foundation of their marriage begins to crumble until only tragedy remains.
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On a sweltering July morning in rural Tennessee, fifty-year-old Rebecca Reynolds visits the family farm, where she literally stumbles across the dead bodies of her parents and younger sister, a sister who spent life in a wheelchair after a birth fraught with complications.
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Rebecca’s first thought is to call 911. Her second is to find her estranged sister, Lena, who was disowned by the family years before. Her third is to wonder how long it will be before Lena is arrested for the murder of their family.
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Attorney Brian Stone works hard to prove Lena’s innocence, but in a family ripped apart by dysfunction, is anyone truly innocent?
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When fourteen-year-old foster child Johnathan Thomas Woods is suspected of murder, an old letter and a tacky billboard advertisement lead him to the office of attorney Brian Stone. Recognizing the sense of hopelessness lurking under John’s angry façade, Stone is soon convinced of his innocence. When John offers up his lawn-mowing money as payment, Stone realizes this is a case he can’t refuse.
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In the face of overwhelming evidence assembled by the prosecution, Stone and his team find themselves in a race against time to save an angry boy who’s experienced more than his fair share of betrayal, a boy who more often than not doesn’t seem interested in saving himself.
Making Amends
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On a beautiful fall evening, in the middle of a game of hide-and-seek, five-year-old Bobby Clark is kidnapped by his estranged father, a shiftless man with a history of domestic violence and drug abuse. Bobby’s twin brother Ricky watches, terrified, from his hiding place behind the bougainvillea, while mother Tabby, who also struggles with addiction, lies inebriated on the living room floor.
Bobby isn’t seen by his loved ones again until a fateful morning twenty-five years later, when video of his arrest dominates the morning news. He has been charged with the murder of his father, but before the trial can begin, he manages to escape.
As Tabby and Ricky absorb the news of Bobby’s return and subsequent escape, Tabby is convinced he’ll come home to the quiet Florida street from which he was taken so long ago. But when events begin to spiral out of control, she’s left to wonder: is a child born to be evil, or shaped to be evil? And in the end, when it’s time to make amends, does it really matter?
Family Genealogies
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This booklet is a genealogical study of our branch of the Hayner family. We've traced our history from Leonhart Hüner, who died in Weinheim, Germany around 1597, to current day U.S.A. Along the way, we've discovered barber-surgeons, farmers, carpenters, and coal miners, and learned that throughout the generations, Hayners have been tough, stoic, innovative people who, through hard work and determination, helped shape both their descendants and this country to be who and what we are today.
This project was undertaken as a labor of love for my mother and is as researched and accurate as I'm able to make it. All sources are listed in the back. That said, I am not a genealogist, and this is not a scholarly work. My hope is that it may help unravel some of the many tangled branches of the Hayner family. If it does, I'd love to know about it.
As anyone who's researched Clayton history over the years can tell you, there are a lot of tangled branches to sort through. This particular branch begins with the Claytons of Clayton-le-Moors in Lancashire around the year 1066. From there, the line moves to John de Clayton's Clayton Hall in Yorkshire before making its way down to Sussex, stopping to obtain a few advanced degrees from Cambridge along the way.
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Incentives from the British Crown bring these Claytons to the Colonial Province of Virginia in the 1540s, and shortly thereafter, they follow the burgeoning tobacco industry into the Province of Carolina before seeking vast acres of fertile land in Kentucky. When tobacco moves north after the Civil War, they follow the lumber boom into Missouri.