Welcome to The Lima!
It all started with Mary Poppins and Perri the Squirrel — when I discovered out that I could keep the books I bought from the Scholastic sale. Shortly thereafter, I picked up a pencil and haven’t stopped writing. (The pencil eventually morphed into an iBook, then to an iMac and MacBook and finally to the MacBook air and Mac Mini, etc., etc. – yes, I’m an Apple nerd. FWIW, I currently use a MacBook Pro.)
When I was young, I always read way above my grade level, quickly graduating to so-called adult reading… no, not that — get your mind out of the gutter! (okay, that came later). Fairy tales and myths were soon joined by Nancy Drew (the ones with the yellow and blue covers), Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan of the Apes (the Ballantine paperback editions) and Doc Savage–mostly enabled by my father, who was my mentor & who himself harbored a secret desire to write. In the 80s, urban fantasy became my dream – starting with reading books by Tanya Huff and many others.
My first published fiction appeared in 2004 (The Butler Didn’t Do It; Chesapeake Crimes I.)
The following year, my first full-length novel, Matters of the Blood, was published by a tiny press and unfortunately, too soon fell out of print (not to mention the small press vanishing, like so many do.) The good news, the book was picked up by Juno Books, an imprint of Wildside Press and debuted (again!) March 2007.
In 2009, the series re-birthed yet again, as Juno became an imprint of Pocket Books. The series is complete at 5 books and the audiobooks are now available via Audible.com.
I’ve also written short stories and non-fiction essays for various collections. Find out about all my work at the links above.
The Official BioSometime before the Revolution, Maria Lima was born in Matanzas, Cuba, to a family of voracious readers and would-be writers. After her family emigrated to the United States, Maria discovered the magic of books. She started writing her own stories and has been at it ever since. Her writing turned corporate as she used her journalism degree and cranked out marketing copy, feature stories and book reviews. The fiction muse kept calling and in the spring of 2005, was finally fed as Maria’s first published short story, “The Butler Didn’t Do It” was published in Chesapeake Crimes I and garnered an Agatha Award nomination for Best Short Story. Shortly thereafter, her Blood Lines series released in mass market paperback, ebooks and audiobook formats. In 2021, Maria retired and now spends her time reading, watching C-dramas and engaging in silliness.
