How do you live when you're running out of time?

Melanie Ezell is a writer, surf journalist, and storyteller based on the North Shore of O‘ahu, where she lives and writes at the intersection of ocean, motherhood, and mortality. For more than a decade, her work has explored the culture of big-wave surfing and the inner landscapes shaped by risk, resilience, and belonging.

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At thirty-seven, Melanie was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer — a turning point that transformed both her life and her writing. Rather than stepping away from the ocean, she continued to travel, surf, and raise her young son while confronting the uncertainty of an incurable illness. Her debut memoir, INHERITED: A Life Without a Cure, emerges from that experience: a deeply personal exploration of inheritance, identity, and what it means to live fully when the future cannot be promised.

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Known for her lyrical honesty and unflinching emotional insight, Melanie’s work moves between adventure writing and intimate memoir, asking readers to reconsider healing, success, and the ordinary moments that quietly shape a life.

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She lives in Hawai‘i with her son, Velzy, where the ocean remains both refuge and teacher.