I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to talk about myself…

I’ll start with the essentials: female, Chinese-Filipino, born 1994. I’m now biologically 20 years old, but I tend to act like a 5 or 40-year-old (it varies daily). The name in my passport is Samantha Mae Tanyu Coyiuto, but I prefer to go by Mae. I still answer to Sam, Sammy, Mimi (my Chinese name that roughly translates to Meow Meow), but my heart unfortunately only belongs to Mae. I proudly attended ICA for 13 years and am now a student in Pomona College.

I wrote my first story when I was six years old through a Powerpoint presentation. I vaguely remember it being about a donkey named Zak who for some reason breaks into a bank (still not sure whether the donkey was the good or the bad guy). In 2004, the glorious people of Anvil Publishing released my series of children’s books: Fantastically Funny Tales, Friendly and Magical Tales, and Hilarious Animal Tales. I really really liked the word ‘tales’.

In 2010, I released my book of young-adult short stories – Flight to the Stars. This was a turning point for me because I found out: 1. I love writing 2. I love writing for teens 3. I love writing stories that I think resonate with teens

This year, I am both nervous and extremely excited (I’m nervited) to announce that I’m releasing my first young-adult novella The Year We Became Invincible. 

I’m continuously overwhelmed with the technology savvy world we live in, but for any inquiries, you can follow me on twitter @maecoyiuto