Hi, I’m Maia!

I write books for a living.

Unkempt is where I test-drive new thoughts, share orphaned prose, and chat with readers and other authors about everything from modern day spirituality… to personal clashes with the current culture… to how to write a happy ending (in life, as well as in books).

If you love language, don’t mind a mixed metaphor or a bit of snark, and are willing to be serenaded by serendipity, Unkempt might just be for you…

Unkempt is like tapas: small, tasty bites.

Sometimes you’ll get something usual, followed by a flavor that’s fresh and new. You might think I never expected those two tastes to go together! That, my friend, is where the magic lies.

To that end, I’ll be posting on what I call an “unkempt schedule.”

What, you might wonder, is an “unkempt schedule?”

An Unkempt Schedule

When I first wandered onto the Substack site and considered creating in this space, I made some promises to myself:

• amidst book deadlines and speaking engagements (where I have to be in a certain place at a particular time wearing the right shade of lipstick— currently MAC’s Verve), Unkempt would be less structured.

• I would create to nourish my soul and yours, instead of feeding a schedule or an algorithm. I would show up here only when it felt exciting… which might be 3 times in one week and then once the next month.

• I promise to put my perfectionism aside and allow this space to be a tad messy, a lot magical, and a whole bit unkempt.

Unkempt is meant to be messy and magical and real… for all of us.

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I’m an award winning + best selling mind, body, spirit author. My first memoir will be published in June ‘23, followed by a book for middle-grade readers in ‘24. Making a living through writing is glorious and grueling and nothing like what I imagined when, at the age of twelve, I first dreamed of becoming an author.

When not crafting sentences, I’m working my way through a huge TBR pile, hanging with my horse, or huffing and puffing up and down the mountainous trails near my home.

All the on-brand stuff, including my books, can be explored on my website!