Hello there! Thanks for stopping by!
I’m Mae Respicio (Here’s how to pronounce it! 😊 Res-pee-cee-yo!) and I write middle grade books full of heart and hope. My novels have received such recognition as the Asian Pacific American Libraries Association Honor Award, NPR Best Book of the Year, and have received starred reviews and been included on numerous state reading and “Best Books” lists.
This pic is of me in my Northern California bowl-cut days. (I’ve tortured my kids with this same hairdo, btw.) As with most things in my life, this site is a work-in-progress. For non-spammy news and the occasional typo, sign up here for my very infrequent newsletter.
Raise your hand if you ever had this haircut!
Short but Snazzy Bio
Mae Respicio writes award-winning middle grade novels filled with hope and heart, including The House That Lou Built, an APALA Honor book and NPR Best Book of the Year. Her books have received starred reviews, landed on multiple state reading lists, and How to Win a Slime War was selected as Rhode Island’s "One Book" for kids. Her latest novel, Isabel in Bloom, was praised by The New York Times as “a sweet and heartfelt novel that explores how bumpy beginnings can offer a new chance for growth.” Mae also writes nonfiction for young readers and lives in the suburban wilds of Northern California with her family, their dog, and two pet rats.
Raise your hand if you love to read!
Perhaps More of a Rambling Bio
Mae is author of the middle grade novels The House That Lou Built, Any Day With You, and How to Win a Slime War (out September 2021). She is the past recipient of a PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship and has been a writer-in-residence at Hedgebrook and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Her writing & photography has been featured in many publications including Pregnancy Magazine, Working Mother Magazine, Patagonia, Pottery Barn Kids, Red Tricycle and The Bigger the Better the Tighter the Sweater: 21 Funny Women on Beauty, Body Image, and Other Hazards of Being Female (Seal Press), and she worked with the Filipino-American community of Los Angeles to edit the nonfiction book Images of America: Filipinos in Los Angeles (Arcadia Publishing). For many years Mae also worked at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, developing, implementing, and overseeing top notch literary events, creative and screenwriting courses, and helping to build a thriving literary community. Mae lives with her family in the suburban wild of Northern California.
Ginzu Steak Knives Bio
In addition to middle grade novelist Mae's had lots of fun jobs including: Assistant to 2 Academy-Award Nominated Directors; Worst Waitress Ever; Ginzu Steak Knives Seller; Magazine Telemarketer; Film Studio Video Tape Cataloguer (remember video tapes?); Fancy Hollywood Screenwriter’s Assistant; Studio Coverage Writer; Corporate Communications Facebook Updater Gal Slash Newsletter Writer; On-Air Promotions Writer; Web Content Editor, After-School Writing Teacher; Writer of Parenting Lists; and UCLAx Creative Writing Program Administrator. However, her favorite "job" is as a mom to 2 awesome boys, 1 rascally pup named Riggs, and 2 furry potatoes (aka pet rats!) named Bubbie and Mochi.
Mae lives in the suburban wilds of Northern California with her spouse, two sons, their silly Blue Heeler Riggs, and sweet pet rats Popcorn and Crash.
Visiting the first tiny house built in the U.S. while researching The House That Lou Built. This tiny house was sitting in a backyard in Sonoma, California, and has since moved to Colorado.