originally from just outside buffalo, new york, maria studied theatre and creative writing at binghamton university. there, she studied adler and meisner technique in the classroom, and performed and directed regularly on campus.

after moving to new york city in late summer 2004, maria founded her own company and produced ten productions throughout manhattan. she studied at the american theatre of actors.

maria received second place in the fastest talking new yorker contest sponsored by fox 5.

she currently lives in chicago where she is finishing her first novel.