I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember, whether it was dictating something for my mother to write in my scrapbook, or exaggerating an incident I wanted my sister blamed for. My “serious” writing started when I was in high school with some Star Trek fan fiction. In college I started working on my Ves’endlera stories.
In 2012 I graduated with a B.A. in English and minors in creative writing and studio art. Among my favorite classes were Writing Creative Fiction and Non-Fiction. It gave me a chance to hone my writing style and learn to critique other writers’ work.
The majority of my writings come under the category of speculative fiction. It is a place where you can ask “What if…” and write an answer without being bound by reality. People have always told stories to explain abstract concepts and to teach. From the myriad creation myths of world cultures, to tales of elves and fairies, people have been intrigued by the unknown and unknowable. In some small way, I hope to continue that tradition in my own writing.
Inspired by the great J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as the little-known F.W. Faller, I’ve taken the main world for my speculative writings and given it a history and life of its own. Ves’endlera is the location for my short story collections Women of Kern: Book One and Women of Kern: Book Two. My novel The Heather and the Falcon is also set in this world, as well as several upcoming stories.
The Blog
As a writer, one of my favorite things to do is encourage other people to write. I hope the weekly writing prompts will inspire you in your own writing. I also post sporadic book reviews and writing tips.
I value your readership and feedback. If you want to get in touch, you can contact me by clicking here
Favorite writing quotes:
“If you’re a storyteller, your own life streams through you, onto the page, mixed up with the life the story itself brings; you cannot, in any useful or genuine way, separate the two.” —Robin McKinley
“Writing is a socially accepted form of schizophrenia.” —E.L. Doctorow
“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” —Samuel Johnson
“I almost always urge people to write in the first person. … Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.” —William Zinsser
“You must stay drunk of writing so reality cannot destroy you.” —Ray Bradbury
Maris McKay 
Hello, Maris,
My name is Maris Peach. I’m 62 and live on the Left Coast. In all my travels and adventures I’ve met a few people with the name Maris. Have you? I’d be interested in your experience of others with “our” name. If you would like tohear my stories I’d be interested in sharing. I don’t know if there could be a story in it, but it could be fun. For instance, in my generation most girls were named Linda, Debbie, Kathy… Where did my mother get the name? I’ve heard two versions, one after an old friend she admired, Maris Chillingsworth; the other from a newspaper article of a ballerina who fell off a stage during a rehearsal and broke her neck on a folding chair…..no matter how many times I asked my mother she never really confirmed or denied either story!
Anyways, get back to me if you are interested
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Hi Maris,
I’m afraid my given name is Marissa and I chose to write fiction as “Maris,” so I’m not exactly someone who shares your name. Even so, I love name stories and meanings, and I’d like to hear more about your’s. It’s so interesting you couldn’t get your mom to confirm which story goes with your name. I wonder why? My parents named me after overhearing someone else call their daughter Marissa. My mom says she thought it meant “asked-for child” when they gave me the name, but most name meaning books and websites I’ve seen since either say it means “of the sea” or “bitterness.” Not sure where she found the other meaning.
Anyways, good to hear from you!
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