Meet Melody Godfred | Poet & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melody Godfred and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melody, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
As a poet, author and avid reader, there are many quotes and affirmations that carry me through different seasons of my life. Right now, there are two quotes that reverberate in my head daily. The first is from my new book, Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation. It reads, “The moon in me is rising. She reminds me to be brave.” The reason I love this quote is because it honors the moon and my shared, cyclical nature. The moon is my constant reminder to approach life with wonder, with trust, and with an appreciation for all its phases — whether it be the moon phases, or my own. No matter her phase, the moon always rises. So do I.

The other quote that I always return to is by Samuel Beckett from his 1983 story Westward Ho. It reads, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” I have this printed on a postcard over my desk. It reminds me that as long as I’m failing, I’m growing. Failure is proof of life. For me, failure isn’t things not working out as I had hoped. Failure is stagnation, being immobilized by fear, and never moving beyond my comfort zone.

These two affirmations hold the same truth: no matter what happens in my life, I will be brave enough to keep growing. Because that is the fertile ground from which our greatest manifestations are born.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
At my core, I am, and have always been, a poet. Poetry is the language I’ve used to make sense of myself and the world around me since I was a child. It took me a long time, though, to actually honor that part of myself. For many years, I thought I needed to choose something more practical, which led me first to litigation law and then to entrepreneurship. It wasn’t until I finally gave myself permission to pause, after a whirlwind decade of getting married, having three kids (including twins), and launching two businesses, that I found my way back to poetry. Since that moment, I’ve published three books with Andrews McMeel Publishing, with my fourth coming soon. I always say it’s never too late to return to yourself. I’m proof of that.

What makes my books different is that they’re not just something to read and put back on the shelf. They’re meant to be used as a practice, as a mirror, as a way of staying connected to yourself. My books, Self Love Poetry for Thinkers & Feelers, The ABCs of Self Love, The Shift: Poetry for a New Perspective, and my upcoming collection Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation (October 2025), are each a companion for transformation. Beyond that, they are an invitation to see yourself more clearly and a reminder that magic exists all around you and within you.

My path here hasn’t been linear. I left a stable career as a lawyer to follow my intuition as a writer, and there were plenty of years filled with rejection and self-doubt. I sometimes joke that I’m an overnight success ten years in the making, since it took a decade (and three self-published books) for me to finally get the publishing deal I dreamed about back in 2010.

What kept me going was the realization that these poems weren’t just for me. They were for everyone who needed them. That’s why I often call my books oracles. They tend to find you right when you need them most. I’ve heard this from countless readers, that my poems find them right on time. Each time it feels like a little miracle; the universe at work in the best way.

In researching Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation, I also learned that in nature it is spirals that dominate, not straight lines. Galaxies spiral open. Shells, flowers, and leaves do too. I now think about my life as a joyful journey, spiraling deeper and deeper within, rather than a race to accomplish more and more while meeting predetermined timelines and milestones. In Moon Garden, I write, “The finish line is a fallacy. The joy of being alive is never done.” I am the closest to my authentic self I have ever been, and also feel the most expansive. I know these two things are connected.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that we all have an inner voice and knowing that deserves to be heard. The more we trust it, the more aligned and expansive our lives become. That is really the heart of Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation. It is a book that felt less written than channeled. As it moves readers through the cycles of the moon and the seasons of the year, it opens the door to manifestation in partnership with the universe. What is your bravest dream? Moon Garden: Poetry Manifestation will gently help you claim it.

What I want people to know about me and my work is simple: “poetry is not a luxury” (as poet and activist Audre Lorde so powerfully said). My poetry is intentionally accessible and deeply resonant. I want you to read it and feel known, witnessed, empowered and celebrated. Because you are.

My hope is that Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation shows people that poetry can be a daily practice and ritual, something you return to again and again to reconnect with yourself, with nature, and with the love that carries and connects us all. My greatest joy is hearing how readers connect with the work. If Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation finds you, I’d love for you to connect with me @melodygodfred on social media and share where it meets you in your journey.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
What I love about living in Los Angeles is that it has so much to offer. Every pocket of the city has its own culture, its own food, stores, and natural ambiance. If I had a friend coming to town for a week, I’d try to expose them to a different subculture every day.

Even though it’s a bit of a sleepy town, I’d start in my hometown of Brentwood, where I’ve lived since I was a teenager. I love that even though the neighborhood has changed, it still has elements that are the same, like the Brentwood Country Mart. I’d take them to my favorite local bookstore, Diesel, to visit my book babies Self Love Poetry: for Thinkers & Feelers, The ABCs of Self Love, The Shift: Poetry for a New Perspective, and Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation. We would shop at local stores like Goop, then stop by one of the many (and ever-growing) coffee shops, like Cafe Luxxe or Malou, for an afternoon flat white or cream top. Dinner would be Toscana (if we’re in the mood for Italian) or Great White if we want more of a scene. We’d close out Monday with karaoke at the world-famous GasLite. Karaoke is my favorite thing to do in the world after writing poetry, and I’d make sure to invite my best friends from high school, since we get together monthly for karaoke. It keeps us sane.

On Tuesday, we’d drive up the coast to Malibu, spend the day on the beach, and have lunch at Broad Street Oyster Co. Dinner would be at Nobu as we watched the sunset. We wouldn’t miss Malibu Village Books, a local bookstore that feels like a hidden gem.

Wednesday would be dedicated to art: half the day at the Getty Villa and the other half at the Getty Center, soaking up world-class collections and some of the best landscaping in Los Angeles. If I’m lucky, KCRW will be hosting one of its summer concerts while my friend is in town, and if I’m extra lucky, my friend and KCRW DJ Nassir Nassirzadeh will be spinning.

Thursday we’d venture to Downtown Los Angeles, starting with The Broad for contemporary art, followed by shopping at Row DTLA. We’d also pop into Suay, my favorite place for sustainable shopping (introduced to me by my incredible friend Rebecca Rigal). We’d end the night with a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, my favorite venue for live music.

Friday would be reserved for exploring Main Street, Abbott Kinney and the rest of Venice. We’d of course take a class at The Class, my favorite movement studio, led by either of my favorite teachers, Jaycee Gossett or Amanda Martinez. Afterward, we’d stop by the Proper Hotel in Santa Monica, where I’m a member, for a rooftop drink and ocean view.

One week is hardly enough to take in all the richness of Los Angeles, so I’d make sure my friend books their next trip before they leave.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My latest book, Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation, wouldn’t be possible without the magical city of Ojai, California and the incredible people and businesses that inhabit it. Ojai is considered by many to be an energy vortex, a place where creativity, healing, and synchronicity naturally converge. It was in Ojai that this book revealed itself to me, a story I share in Moon Garden’s prologue.

“This story begins and ends with the scent of jasmine. For many years now, if I pause on the step leading into my living room after the sun goes down, I’m greeted by the unmistakable scent of night-blooming jasmine. I’ve long called jasmine my olfactory ghost because it finds me even when none is planted nearby and no windows are open.

In June of 2023, in the magical city of Ojai, California, my ghost was finally ready to explain her presence. From the moment I arrived in Ojai, jasmine found me everywhere I went: on the walls of the Capri Hotel where I booked a last-minute room; in the first chapter of the used book I picked up at Bart’s Books, the largest outdoor bookstore in the world (“The glorious scent of jasmine permeates the air”). The book, synchronistically, was written by my high school classmate’s father about his wife, who visited him from the spirit world after passing.

Jasmine tea found me again at Magic Hour, a local tea shop, where it was served to me by a lovely shop assistant. Her name? Also Jasmine. When I posted on social media about jasmine being my ghost, a stranger named Daisy shared the words that are now the foundation of the book you are holding in your hands: moon garden.

I now understand jasmine to be my intuition. This is the book my intuition wanted me to write.”

I also want to especially recognize my dear friend and Ojai resident Brady Hahn, who not only is the reason I visited Ojai in the summer of 2023, but who has continuously shared its magic with me ever since and supported me throughout my journey writing Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation. Most amazingly, she was also the one who revealed to me that “Ojai” in Chumash, the language of the Indigenous people of that land, means moon… something I didn’t know until long after I finished writing this book.

This book has felt less like something I wrote alone and more like something I was chosen to channel, and I’m deeply grateful to have been entrusted to share it with the support of so many along the way.

Website: www.melodygodfred.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/melodygodfred

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/melodygodfred

Facebook: www.facebook.com/melodygodfred

Other: threads: https://www.threads.com/@melodygodfred tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@melodygodfred substack: melodygodfred.substack.com SELF LOVE POETRY: https://amzn.to/326MfJB THE ABCs OF SELF LOVE: https://amzn.to/3GN5wik THE SHIFT: https://amzn.to/3UsUiHr MOON GARDEN: https://amzn.to/3EeWyOW