Melanie Maxwell: Writer/Author/Essayist/ Magazine Publisher

For more than 25 years, I have written about celebrities, smooth jazz artists, travel destinations, jazz festivals, authors, nonprofit organizations, pets and human interests for Smooth Jazz News. And, in recent years, I’ve also been writing personal essays about my other passions, including cats. I was thrilled when one of my essays was published in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Clever, Curious, Caring Cat” book!

Melanie Maxwell receiving the San Diego Press Club’s 2025 Excellence in Journalism Awards First Place for Magazines/Entertainment Reporting 

As the publisher of Smooth Jazz News, my coverage of the many artists I’ve interviewed and events I’ve covered earned me First Place in the “Magazines: Entertainment Reporting” category from the San Diego Press Club’s 2025 Excellence in Journalism Awards for my Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival feature. And, in 2010, I received the “Journalist of the Year” honor at the American Smooth Jazz Awards.

In addition to managing Smooth Jazz News––a nationally distributed lifestyle and travel magazine I launched in 1999––I also write personal essays for other outlets.

I began my writing career as a staff writer at The Espresso Coffeehouse & Cafe Newspaper, and freelanced for The Entertainer, while transitioning out of the corporate world as a top-producing mortgage loan officer. Prior to that, I was a bank vice president and certified senior escrow officer/department manager for La Jolla Bank & Trust.

In my spare time, I enjoy attending author events, book festivals and writing workshops, as well as cooking for friends and neighbors. I’m also working on a memoir about a near-death experience I survived due to a doctor’s mistake.

When I’m not out gathering inspiration for my writing, I’m at home in San Diego

Here are a few photos of my travels and awards …

Wink Martindale, Melanie Maxwell, GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist Dave Koz and Chris Gardner (“The Pursuit of Happyness” author) at the 2011 AARP Life@50+ convention in Los Angeles, California (photo by David Hopley)

Barbara Knox (Smooth Jazz News copyeditor) and Melanie Maxwell (Smooth Jazz News publisher) at Yosemite National Park during the 2011 Yosemite International Jazz Festival in Central California (Photo by David Hopley)

Journalist of the Year Award

Melanie Maxwell, Christopher Gardner (“The Pursuit of Happyness” author) and GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist Dave Koz at Koz’s 2007 At the Movies CD-Release Party in Beverly Hills, California

Melanie Maxwell and Ray Parker Jr. (“Ghostbusters” songwriter, Raydio band leader) at the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills, California, for the 2007 Playboy Jazz Festival Press Conference (Photo by David Hopley)