Cidney Mayes is a fantasy and romantasy author whose work weaves dark, lush, and atmospheric worlds with fierce heroines, and forbidden knowledge. Based in Portland, Maine, she is a teacher librarian, Yale Writers’ Workshop alumna, and MFA in Creative Writing candidate at Southern New Hampshire University. Before writing fiction, she spent over a decade reviewing books until she decided to write the ones she longed to find.

Growing up in a strict religious environment, she learned early how secrecy, power, and fear shape identity, which influences her fiction. Her novels brim with hidden knowledge, secret societies, and characters forced to choose between obedience and selfhood. Cidney writes women who break rules, claim their desires, and refuse to be defined by those who wield authority over them. Her stories reflect her belief that magic is a metaphor for agency and that love can conquer all.

Cidney is committed to nurturing creativity and community through stories. She has spent years helping writers strengthen their craft through manuscript feedback, query coaching, and editorial guidance. She is passionate about accessible education, uplifting diverse voices, and creating spaces online and in-person where writers and readers feel seen, supported, and inspired. She is an adjunct faculty at the University of New England where she teaches SAS Writing Lab, working with students to strengthen their academic writing and reading skills.

When she is not writing or teaching, Cidney can be found wandering Maine’s wooded paths, playing board games, or watching reality TV with her husband and cats. She continues to build her author platform through craft-focused essays, BookTok and Bookstagram content, and community engagement, hoping to connect readers to stories that explore the intersection of power, identity, and love.

Her mission as an author is to tell stories where darkness and desire meet, where knowledge is as liberating as it is dangerous, and where every character must grapple with the truths that shape them. Through her writing and her work with other members of the bookish community, Cidney strives to cultivate a literary landscape that values curiosity, compassion, and the courage to become one’s truest self.