Hi! I’m so happy you’re here! Autobiography sections always make me feel awkward, so let’s skip the formalities and pretend we’re friends. (Unless it’s not pretend. Are we friends? You can be my friend!)

I’m Mariah! If you were to ask my friends they would tell you I’m smart, honest, funny, and genuine. I used to be dedicated and a hard worker, too, but those mostly come in spurts since the depression and anxiety have become cripplingly bad. I’ve wanted to be an author pretty much my whole life and it finally happened in October of 2019 when I published my first book, THAT PRINCE GUY. After publishing the third book I took a class on Social Media Marketing and realized I want to be an influencer, too. Through a series of promptings during this class I also learned to give myself permission to really be myself as an influencer, because for a long time I thought I had to be all solemn and formal as an author and I was really struggling to stick with it and produce authentic content. That’s been a serious game changer. What’s funny is that I was being my authentic self through the books I had already published, but somehow I didn’t think of it in those terms, nor was I completely consistent between the way I wrote my books and the way I was trying to be perceived on social media. No more! I’m a goof and I’m proud to show it. I’ll try to tone down the sarcasm, though.

If you want some hard facts on who I am, here’s a few in no particular order: I was born in the Sacramento, California area. I graduated high school in Utah in 2015 with an associate’s degree. I got married in 2016 and have two small children. I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I also have a cooking blog, kind of, and about a bajillion hobbies other than baking and writing. I’ve been outside of the United States once and I currently live in Tennessee. I’m learning six different languages. My favorite book is The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. Playing GaiaOnline and zOMG! was my childhood from ages 10-18ish. I have a lot of favorite shows and Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of them. I used to love My Little Pony, too, but I feel like it got really weird after that one pirate movie or whatever. I really like anime! And Studio Ghibli’s movies are gorgeous. I own more nonfiction books than fiction but I’ve definitely read more fiction. I aspire to perform a parody of my favorite Hamilton song on stage for a live audience. I have never once had a completely clean home since getting married. Not once. Have I rambled long enough now?

One really really important thing I want you to know is this: I care. I mean, I don’t have time to sit down and care about and do things for every single person on the planet, but I wish I did. I care about you. I want you to find happiness. I want to connect with you. I want to help you, if I can. Writing books and blogs and doing livestreams on YouTube and Facebook are some of the main ways I try to do that. Despite the fact that I’m white or ‘mormon’ or female or a millennial (barely) or anything else people might have a problem with today, I don’t discriminate against anyone unless you purposefully hurt other people and don’t even want to want to change or seek any form of forgiveness. That is not a typo. Wanting to want to change is its own difficult category and it counts for something and I’ve been there.

So, that’s why I write. To connect. To show I care. To provide a safe place. To make you laugh. To make you feel. To help you feel like you have a friend, no matter how alone you feel in the world. I hope you know that you’re not alone, and if you don’t, I hope you learn to recognize it. Sometimes it can seem impossible, and it can take a lot of time, but as long as you’re patient with yourself I promise you you’ll get there.

You are loved.

You are worth it.

Happiness is a possibility.

What you do matters.

Each new breath you take makes all the difference.