Welcome to The Maagazine

What's in a name? Well, in this case, my name directly speaks to at least one thing I love: magazines. I've loved thumbing through the beautifully designed pages of a magazine since I was a child. As far as genres go, if you name it, then I probably read it: lifestyle, gossip, nature, pop culture, food, general news, and the list goes on. The two genres that interested me most however were those involving science and personal narratives. It was even better when the two were combined. For me, there was something that exciting about getting insight to the world from a research or hard-science standpoint that always drew me in. Science Digest, National Geographic, and the Smithsonian Magazine were among my favorites. These publications were just one of a few that made me realize I have strong curiosity for learning more about the world around me.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, it's not much but this snippet of just who I am and what has led up to my love for storytelling, writing and infinite love of science.

A photo of me and my family at the Statue of Liberty during our three day trip to New York City. Photo by Madelyne Maag (2013)

So who am I? My name is Madelyne Maag and I am writer, editor and a lady who is crazy about corgis. (I'd say I love them as much as Queen Elizabeth, but we all know that no one else could love corgis as much as her.)

I've spent the last six years of my life chasing, writing and producing stories for a number of traditional, government, non-profit and corporate publications across the U.S. and Barcelona, Spain. I have also become one with the AP Style cult, but please do not judge me on my lack of grammar here. (After all...I've always been better at editing the work of other writers than my own work.) To the right is a photo of me and my family when we visited New York City a few years ago. That trip was life changing for me and made me realize as a Midwestern gal, that I want to make a difference in the world by making my voice known in a city as impactful as this one. Does that mean my ultimate goal is New York City? Yes and no.

Yes because my dream is to move to a large city on one of the U.S. coasts. But ultimately, no, because I want to work for an organization that prioritizes storytelling and science. Wherever that takes me, I shall go. Seems vague, I know, but science impacts every living thing on this planet and my belief is that we can find ways to make just a few more people interested in a bat that keeps our ecosystem together, why the ice at our planet's poles is so important or how therapy to the immune system impacts people affected by cancer, if we find a creative way to tell these stories. I am a writer but I also consider myself to be a science communicator. I want to help people understand, absorb and learn from science, regardless of their career or educational background.

If I wasn't a young writer who had to worry about putting food on the table and trying to survive my 20s, then I would probably live my own version of the Queen of England's life. By that, I simply mean owning my own lovable pack of corgis (rescue corgis specifically), since they are one of my favorite animals on the planet. That's just a little insight into my life. Welcome to the Maagazine! I hope you'll stay tuned for future updates.