Maci Smithers

Maci is a six-time self-published author. At the age of eight, she told her parents she wanted to write and illustrate a book. Her parents explained that if she learned to do every part of the process, including storyboarding, writing, illustrating, page layout, and choosing fonts, alongside her dad, they would help her self-publish it. Within just a few months, she completed her first picture book, Maci and Addie’s Fairy Adventure, followed by her second, The Portal.

During the challenging year that was 2020, when most kids were faced with adversity, ten-year-old Maci harnessed her creative spirit and a bit of boredom to complete her first novella, Ally Lancaster & The Enchanted Fortress, marking her third literary endeavor. Two years later, at age twelve, she finished its sequel, Ally Lancaster & The Gemstone Sirens. While wrapping up that project, she began exploring an idea for a middle-grade time travel mystery that became her third novella, The Stone of the Past.

Her sixth and newest book, The Rainloft Academy, marks her debut young adult novel, a thrilling story about a girl discovering the hidden truth behind a school for gifted students and the mysterious disappearance of her brother.