Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Featured in: Favicon

medium.com Favicon

therumpus.net Favicon

reba.global Favicon

redfez.net Favicon

thesunlightpress.com Favicon

thenewsstation.com

Articles

History’s Most Villainous Villains

2 months ago | medium.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Melissa Brownlee·Follow9 min read·--Part IV — George Plantagenet, Duke of ClarenceIntroductionHistory loves to remember its heroes; Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt, William Wallace and the Scottish resistance, Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years War. But I have always found the stories of villains to be the most fascinating — and contemporary media is a testament to this sentiment.
History’s Most Villainous Villains

Jan 23, 2025 | medium.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Melissa Brownlee·Follow9 min read·--Part III — The Kingmaker: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of WarwickRight, I’m now back in a timeline I am more familiar with (that’s right Wikipedia, you’re off the hook for a while). Next up on the agenda is the infamous ‘Kingmaker’ — Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick.
History’s Most Villainous Villains

Jan 16, 2025 | medium.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Melissa Brownlee·Follow5 min read·--Part II— Alice PerrersWe’ve spoken a lot about Edward II’s favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger, so now let’s look at how his son, Edward III, fared. As you’ve probably guessed by his very inclusion in this series, he did not fare well. When the King was around 55, he met the now-infamous and 18-year-old Alice Perrers. Young Alice is still a bit of an enigma. She was born sometime around 1348, but no record of her birth survives.
Pulelehua - The Sunlight Press

Jan 13, 2025 | thesunlightpress.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

by Melissa Llanes Brownlee I hide in my sisters’ closet and drape myself in long mu’umu’u, in flowy peasant blouses, in tight Jordache jeans and dream of walking the hallways at school, my hair brushing my back, my nails and lips, a puckery red, catcalls and envy, trailing behind me as I listen to my father screaming at my mother and I hope they don’t find me I hide myself in muscle, in warrior football jerseys, and bouncy cheerleader girlfriends, in stormy surfing and outrigger paddling, my...
History’s Most Villainous Villains

Jan 6, 2025 | medium.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Hugh Despenser the YoungerWhen Googling Hugh Despenser the Younger, Wikipedia will tell you that he is known for “being a favourite of Edward II”, but really, Hughy boy is so much more than that. I didn’t even know of his existence (early medieval is a bit too far back for my tastes, but they are developing) until recently. I was innocently (obsessively) perusing the r/UKMonarchs subreddit and someone posted asking who the worst mistress and/or royal favourite in English history was.
The Guy in the Redwood Water Tank

Jun 13, 2024 | fracturedlit.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

I once fucked a guy in a redwood water tank. The kind that once held water caught from rain, maybe filled by the county every couple of months. The kind that now looks like a dorm room, a single bed pushed against rounded walls, a small fridge next to a tiny table and chair, the toilet, in a separate little building, the shower, outdoors, in a tiled oasis of monstera and palms.
Submit to Literary Namjooning and More Wine & Words Coming Up — Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Jun 6, 2024 | melissallanesbrownlee.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

As you may have seen on the socials, Literary Namjooning is open for submission!! Send us your flash fiction and cnf - 500 words and under!! Check our submission guidelines for more about what we are looking for! I’m really excited to be joining Hema Nataraju and Lakshmi Iyer on this chill and vibey journey. Looking forward to reading your submissions and helping to curate the best first issue! Thank you in advance for your support. We really appreciate it.
bitches be crazy, ain’t no thing as a free lunch, the man is out to get you — Ghost Parachute

May 1, 2024 | ghostparachute.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

you spout, riding that pinball machine, stick sticking, balls balling, beeps beeping, clangs clanging, hair sprayed a poofed helmet, a mirror of the metal band on the altar before us, and we line up along its flanks, lights dazzling our eyes, tiny acolytes, drinking in your wisdom, too young to see the line you tread, torn jeans, graffitied chucks, ripped t-shirt, peeking out beneath anarchist stained jean jacket, armor for a battle you know you can’t win, but we don’t know that, not yet,...
5 ways employers can support domestic abuse survivors

Apr 24, 2024 | reba.global | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

While progress has been made in employee wellbeing in many areas, there’s one that still seems shrouded in stigma: domestic abuse The way mental and physical health is spoken about and supported in the workplace has been transformed.
It's Been Kind of Quiet — Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Mar 28, 2024 | melissallanesbrownlee.com | Melissa Llanes Brownlee

Only because I just finished SmokeLong’s March Micro Marathon which got me 21 new pieces for my new chapbook, but phew, I am tired from all of that sustained writing and workshopping. It’s always worth it because I produce so much but it takes a lot of energy to keep that kind of pace. I’m glad I did it but I am also glad it’s over. The school year has ended here so it’s transition time in Japan. Luckily, I will be staying at the school I work at but I am losing a really good co-worker.