Maria Elena Alexander is an American writer of horror and dark fantasy stories and poetry, best known for her award-winning novels Mr. Wicker and Snowed.
Background and Early Career
Alexander was born in Hayward, California. She first started writing at the age of eight: she contracted chicken pox and was forced to stay home with nothing to occupy her, so she began to create stories. She attended Ponderosa High School, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from California State University, Sacramento. Alexander's career as a professional storyteller began in 1988, when she co-founded Dead Earth Productions, a horror Live Action Role-Playing company in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was Dead Earth's Lead Writer from 1989–1996. Alexander entered the world of online game writing in 1994, when she became World Designer and In-World Storyteller for Fujitsu America's WorldsAway project, one of the first graphical virtual worlds. Working under Randy Farmer, she created the history, mythology, and cohesive storyline for the Dreamscape. In 1997, Alexander began a film mentorship under Clive Barker and moved to Los Angeles. Her screenplays were subsequently quarterfinalists for the Austin Film Festival in 1998 and 1999, and the Nicholl Fellowship in 1999.
Film and Fiction
In 2000, Alexander turned to short stories and poetry. Her work has appeared in Paradox Magazine, Chiaroscuro Magazine, Gothic.net, and assorted anthologies, and has been nominated for multiple awards. She has also published numerous nonfiction articles, including essays on Douglas Adams and George R.R. Martin. In 2014, Alexander's debut novel, Mr. Wicker, won the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel,. Her next book, a young adult novel entitled Snowed, won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel and was nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Children's/YA Novel. Snowbound, the sequel to Snowed and the second book in a planned trilogy, was published in September 2018.
Personal life
Alexander lives in Los Angeles, California, where, in addition to writing, she pursues her passion of sword fighting. She has studied Shinkendo, tameshigiri, stage combat, and the European small sword, and appeared in a special issue of entitled "Women of the Sword Arts." She has also written articles criticizing unrealistic portrayals of sword handling in art, fiction, and film, which has led to some controversy. Alexander's hands have become temporarily disabled at times, but she has been able to continue to write using speech recognition technology.
Nominations and awards
Novels
Snowbound
Snowed
Mr. Wicker
Collections and Anthologies
12 Tales Lie: 1 Tells True
By the Pricking: 5 Dark Tales of Passion and Perversion
At Louche Ends: Poetry for the Decadent, the Damned & the Absinthe-Minded
