Madame Maybe
(Nina Maybe)
A New Orleans resident who traverses the line between haunted doll and friendly neighborhood cryptid, Nina Maybe is a storyteller, cartomancer, and worldmaker who thrives in liminal spaces, crossroads, and the edges of portals, and blurs the line between the magical and the everyday. Raised on riddles and starlight, Nina is drawn to the strange and uncanny, channeling those influences into her writing and illustrations. A collector and creator of villains, underbellies, and strays, Nina believes that nothing is ever only one thing at a time- a theme that traverses across all of her fiction, social commentary, and prose.
Her inspired (and often unsettling) worlds come to life in works like The Chronicles of the Night Carnival and the Floating City, Found Things, & Post Regina (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press) and The Mystery of the Lost Whale, a fairytale companion created for Lost Whale Milwaukee’s 2019 summer cocktail menu.
A former Assistant Editor and Writer in Residence at Literati Magazine, Nina’s work spans multiple mediums. Her poetry, published under Nina Szarka, appears in anthologies such as Return to the Gathering of the Waters and Undine of the Waves and Fractured West.
Her latest project in a collaboration with Michelle Heselton, Madame Maybe & Dame Delirium’s Compendium of Curiosities, invites readers into an extraordinary world where mischief and wonder reign supreme. Nina’s work is a celebration of curiosity, magic, and the beauty of the liminal.
When Nina is not opening portals into the Beyond (which is what she is most often up to), she tells fortunes and reads cards at Crescent City Conjure in the French Quarter. (If you are so inclined, you may book a reading with her for yourself.)
Collaborators
Dame Delirium
(Michelle Heselton)
Michelle Heselton is a writer who revels in the fantastical, weaving tales that blend elements of fantasy and horror to explore the depths of human emotion and the complexities of identity.
Born and raised among the misty swamplands of Florida and Louisiana, she grew up surrounded by an eerie beauty that continues to inspire her work. Michelle’s stories often delve into introspection, social constructs, and the limits of the human (or inhuman) experience. Michelle writes for and about Faefolk like herself.
When she’s not writing, Michelle can be found embracing her Miss Frizzle-inspired philosophy of life, where curiosity is key and every day is an adventure. She’s a lover of all things green, an enthusiast of werewolves, and a devoted fan of roleplaying games in any medium.
Michelle is typically nocturnal, which suits her love of reading speculative fiction—fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and romance—with themes of found family and self-discovery.
Michelle’s writing invites readers to venture into dark, mysterious worlds that challenge perspectives, provoke introspection, and push emotional boundaries. Whether it’s a tale of inner conflict or a reimagining of social norms, her work is an adventure into the unknown.
Her latest project, Madame Maybe & Dame Delirium’s Compendium of Curiosities, explores the haunting call of the uncharted, and delivers cautionary tales to those who would wander in unprepared. After all, who better to warn of the mischiefs of the otherworldly, than one of the Fae, herself?
