Photo by Brandi Spray Photography
Hmmm… What to say about myself? I’m not a terribly exciting person. I was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin, USA at the tail end of the baby boom.
We moved around a bit while I was growing up and I was painfully shy, so I didn’t have a lot of friends. The only reason I survived childhood was because I had entire worlds to escape into through the school library. That is where my love of reading began. I never did very well in school, not because I was stupid, but because I was usually off in my own world, one populated by space pirates and warrior princesses. I fooled a couple years away in college before joining the National Guard. After 8 years in the Guard and working crappy part time jobs, I went back to college. I graduated from Moorhead State University with a BA in history. That’s probably why I work in the financial department at Medicare.
I am a member of the SCA, a non-profit educational organization that studies and re-creates the renaissance and middle ages. See? I have to do something with that History degree! In the SCA I am known as Maria Maddalena da Monreale. No, actually, I’m known as “Maddy” since Maria Maddalena is quite a mouthful. When I decided I needed a pen name, Maddy Barone was an easy choice. I already answer to Maddy, and Barone is a play on my rank of baroness in the SCA and my Italian heritage. My real name is very Italian, with an equal number of vowels and consonants, and no one can pronounce it without coaching. So, ta-DA! Maddy Barone.
I’ve always written. I still have the spiral bound notebooks with my hand scribbled stories that I started back in Junior High. At the end of 2009, I began writing a story for friends. It was sort of a gag gift to help us get through the overtime we were putting in at work. I would write a few pages and email it to them every night. Every morning they were read it before they punched in. It was just for fun, but they said it was good and that I should send it in to a publisher. They said it repeatedly. I thought it was fun, sure, but not publishable. Finally, mostly to make them shut up, I cleaned it up and sent the first three chapters in to Liquid Silver Books, expecting a polite rejection. Imagine my shock when LSB requested the full manuscript, and a few weeks later offered a contract. Sleeping With the Wolf was published at the end of 2010. Dreams do come true!
One of the very best things about being a writer is hearing from readers. Please feel free to drop me an email anytime.
Email: maddy@maddybarone.com
Snail mail address: Maddy Barone PO Box 9995 Fargo ND 58106-9995
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A few random facts about Maddy Barone:
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I hate hot weather, so it’s a good thing I live in North Dakota.
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I don’t have a sense of smell.
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In college I was a member of the MSU Heritage Dancers. I learned and performed dances from Scandinavia, Germany, Mexico, Israel, Hungary, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Turkey and more.
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I am allergic to cats, which is probably why I’m a dedicated cat lover and currently am owned by three.
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A portion of my royalties go to CATS Cradle Shelter in Fargo ND.
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I love to spin wool and silk, which is why I learned to knit. I had to do something with all that yarn I made.
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I have been a member of the Society For Creative Anachronism for about 18 years. The SCA is an educational non-profit organization that studies and recreates the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
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I am known *insert self-important throat-clearing* as Her Excellency, Baroness Maria Maddalena da Monreale in the Kingdom of Northshield. Which basically means that I pay the same amount as anyone else for a cup of coffee.
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When I got out of the military I said I’d never have short hair again. My hair was butt-length until the spring of 2016. I miss it only occasionally.
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I was forty-eight years old before I decided I needed to be serious about my writing and actually worked up the courage to submit something to a Real Publisher.
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I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I can’t resist fantasy. Lord of the Rings. The Avengers. Harry Potter. The Princess Bride. Willow.
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I’ve been a Minnesota Twins fan in good years and bad.
