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About Maria Baias
I'm Maria Baias (or Neta, to my friends), I'm a scientist, a Sci-Fi / Fantasy writer, and an avid reader.
I love Ireland, Irish dancing, Irish music (you can probably see a trend here). I also love food (especially hummus), dogs, and traveling.
My favorite book series: The Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni and Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
My favorite writer: Stephen King
My favorite TV show: The 100 (by far!)
I'm crazy about stationary (in love with pretty washi tape and stickers) and I think alpacas and the Highland cattle are the cutest beings on Earth!
Ever since I learned how to read, books have been a gateway to new worlds, worlds that I've always been eager to explore. Exploring new worlds is not something I do only through reading a book or watching a movie, but the easiest access to new worlds is with me all the time. It's all in my head! It took me a long time until I realised I don't need to keep these stories in my head. I can share them with the world so that others can explore the worlds of my imagination and meet the characters I create. Now, after leaving my job in Academia, I'm dedicating my time to writing Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels and spending my days having fun by transcribing my imagination into written words.
What inspired me to write my first novel was a trip I took to Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Rapa Nui has fascinated me since I was a child, from the very first moment I read about the moai. My biggest dream was to one day see the moai of Rapa Nui for myself. After fulfilling this dream, I can now say for sure this is my favorite place on Earth, at least from the places I've seen so far. But there are many other amazing places on Earth that I plan to explore, and use as inspiration for the otherworldly locations in my novels. I'm going to use my YouTube channel and my blog "Wonders of Heritage" to share with you some interesting facts I discover about fascinating places in our world.
My life before transitioning into full-time writing was spent in Academia. I was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at New York University Abu Dhabi where I was doing research in Heritage Science and NMR Crystallography. If you're interested in learning more about my past research, go to my Scientific Research page. In brief, my academic career started in Romania (my home country), where I studied Medical Physics for my undergrad studies and got a master in Biophysics and Medical Physics. I did my PhD in Science in Germany, at RWTH-Aachen University, followed by three postdocs: one at UCL London (UK), one at ENS Lyon (France), and one at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot (Israel).
