Professional life
Writer
Author and editor Maureen Charles is passionate about the power of a well-crafted story to open hearts, broaden minds, and reshape the world views of people young and old.
Maureen's recent YA nonfiction biography, MUSIC MAVENS: 15 WOMEN OF NOTE IN THE INDUSTRY, co-authored with Ashley Walker, is Book #9 of Chicago Review Press's Women of Power series--a timely, inclusive, international, modern biography series that profiles 15 diverse, modern women who are changing the world in their field while empowering others to follow their dreams. It is available in English from booksellers worldwide.
Maureen also co-wrote and developed School Bullying: Tools for Avoiding Harm and Liability (Corwin Press, 2007) with school law attorney Mary Jo McGrath.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where her studies included the VCFA Picture Book Intensive and a summer residency in Bath, England.
A strong proponent of lifelong learning, she is active with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is a member of the Authors Guild. She has also participated in many personal and professional development courses, writing workshops, and conferences.
Her favorite nonfiction subjects to write about are music & musicians. Why music? Maureen, who joined her first choir at age four, sings and plays guitar and ukulele. However, every word she writes about music is infused with her love for the REAL musician in the family, her late husband Jon Charles, an Emmy-winning arranger, composer, and orchestrator for television and films.
She also loves writing stories at the intersection of social justice, kindness, and inclusion. Other works in progress include a middle-grade novel and several fiction and nonfiction picture books.
She lives in Pasadena, California, where she shares an office with three highly opinionated felines.
Editor
I provide substantive editing, copyediting, and proofreading services for writers of both fiction and narrative nonfiction for adults, young adults, middle grade readers, and young children (picture books).
Writing Coach
Stuck with your book project?
I can help get you back on track with personalized one-on-one coaching, editorial feedback, and mentorship.
Community Engagement
Nonprofit Board Chairperson
Nonprofit Board Chairperson
Nonprofit Board Chairperson
Maureen serves as Board Chair for AidStillRequired, an international NGO that shines the spotlight on forgotten areas hard hit by natural disasters and funds innovative, custom-tailored field programs that engender dignity and self-sufficiency in some of the poorest communities in Haiti.
Social Entrepreneur
Nonprofit Board Chairperson
Nonprofit Board Chairperson
Maureen is a social entrepreneur and cofounder of LoveOfAging.com, whose mission is to engage communities in creating a new narrative for aging. She co-designs and leads Love of Aging workshops and serves as Editor-in-Chief of its website.
Volunteer
Volunteer
Volunteer
Maureen is a volunteer mentor with WriteGirl, a creative writing and mentoring organization that promotes creativity, critical thinking and leadership skills to empower teen girls and gender-expansive youth.
She has also volunteered as a writer and content developer for young audiences at the Foundation for Climate Restoration and the Unit
Maureen is a volunteer mentor with WriteGirl, a creative writing and mentoring organization that promotes creativity, critical thinking and leadership skills to empower teen girls and gender-expansive youth.
She has also volunteered as a writer and content developer for young audiences at the Foundation for Climate Restoration and the United Nations Foundation GIRL UP Academy.
"When Girls Rise, we all Rise."
- Girl Up
Leader
Volunteer
Volunteer
Maureen has trained over two thousand people to create community projects large and small - from neighborhood events to international NGOs - and to be unstoppable in service of their vision. She brings extensive experience in community leadership, consensus building, and project implementation to everything she undertakes.
Maureen also se
Maureen has trained over two thousand people to create community projects large and small - from neighborhood events to international NGOs - and to be unstoppable in service of their vision. She brings extensive experience in community leadership, consensus building, and project implementation to everything she undertakes.
Maureen also served as a VIP Judge for the 2025 Project Echo National Teen Entrepreneurs Competition.
Cynsations Author Interview by Gail Vanelli
Sue Ganz-Schmitt & Maureen Charles on Infusing Emotion into Nonfiction Books for Kids
"Cynsations welcomes two outstanding children’s book authors, Sue Ganz-Schmitt and Maureen Charles, whose newest books are nonfiction biographies. Sue’s nonfiction picture book, Skybound!: Starring Mary Myers as Carlotta, Daredevil Aeronaut and Scientist, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno(Calkin Creek, 2024) is about a courageous and determined female aeronaut/scientist/inventor who designed and built gas balloons, and flew them solo. Maureen’s nonfiction middle grade book, Music Mavens: 15 Women of Note in the Industry, co-written with Ashley Walker (Chicago Review Press, 2022), recently came out in paperback and features extraordinary women who have worked across many music genres and turned their passion into platforms that helped uplift others.
"Writing nonfiction biographies for children is a unique and challenging task. It entails keeping readers engaged with factual material so they learn more about the world and the real people in it. It also, importantly, involves presenting a kid-friendly narrative that will connect to young readers on a personal level, so they retain more.
"Children’s book author Heidi E.Y. Stemple said, 'Nonfiction is more than just facts….[I]t’s filled with emotion.' Sue’s and Maureen’s books are replete with emotion, and they now graciously share how they accomplished that."
