Five Women refusing to be silenced,
join together and become the story of Echo Canyon.
For every woman who has spent a lifetime showing up for others,
and now wonders what's next.
Click on the Box below to learn more.
Ficton as a Mirror, Not an Escape
If you’re a woman who’s spent decades showing up for others and now finds yourself at a crossroads. Wondering “what’s next” or even “who am I without all these roles?” These stories are for you.
My fiction doesn’t only offer escape. It offers mirrors. Five women at Echo Canyon navigating the same transitions you might be facing. Betrayal, reinvention, purpose, friendship, after 50, and the courage to want more when life says you should want less.
What readers find here:
- Recognition in characters who refuse to be invisible.
- Permission to name feelings you’ve been afraid to voice.
- Courage to begin again, even when it feels too late.
These aren’t stories about women who have it all figured out. They’re about women who are figuring it out. Just like you.
My #1 goal for all my readers?
To fall in love with these women.
But to do so, you need to meet and come to know them. When you subscribe to Knowing Yourself Through Fiction, I share excerpts from the novels as I write them, micro-stories as a Dose of Fiction, and Life’s Threads, where our lives connect to the women’s stories.
You’ll get your fill of their stories. And you might begin to want more. You might even start to see yourself differently. You might choose to step back into the role of protagonist in your own life.
Watch for all 5 Books of the Woman of the Canyon Series.
Whispers of Echo Canyon
Release date February 2026
In a near-future desert community on the western edge of possibility, five women find each other at the moment life asks them to begin again. Whispers of Echo Canyon is a quietly powerful, deeply inspirational story about friendship, purpose, and the courage to want more.
Mirage of Trust
Release date Mid-2026
Quinn faces betrayal that upends her life in Mirage of Trust, leading her to rebuild amidst the solace of a close-knit southwest town. With Riley's steadfast support, Quinn unravels deceit, rediscovering trust and strength amid unforeseen twists.
About the Author
why I write These Stories
After building an award-winning business, publishing gardening books, and coaching for two decades, I made an unexpected turn at 71, I started writing fiction.
Not because I wanted to entertain women. Because I wanted to give us mirrors.
For women 55+, the world tells us to scale back, stay quiet, and accept “good enough.” My characters refuse. Riley, Quinn, Raven, Val, and Skylar are navigating betrayal, reinvention, friendship, purpose, and the audacity to want more.
If you’ve ever thought “Is this all there is?” or “Who am I without all these roles I’ve played?”—these women will help you name what you’re feeling and find the courage to begin again.
I publish excerpts of the chapters as I write them on Substack because this isn’t about perfection. It’s about showing up authentically and inviting you along for the journey.
My first love was Riley — a character from my gardening book who demanded her own story. That led to an entire community of women at Echo Canyon, each one asking the questions we’re afraid to ask out loud.
This is fiction for women who refuse to disappear.
A couple of years ago, I fell in love. Now, don’t go running to my partner of three decades! Not that kind of love.
After 20+ years of creating and educating others on container gardening in the desert and publishing my first book, Getting Potted in the Desert, I decided to make my second book a story.
Creative nonfiction, I call it. Part education. Part stories. Which means characters of a fictitious nature.
So back to falling in love.
My first, Riley. Hence my second book, Riley’s Garden Oasis. She became my love as she brought new joy to my life. Not just writing, but writing the fictional parts of the story.
When published, Riley’s Garden Oasis was the #1 Release in Desert Climate Gardening. A proud moment!
Soon after, an author friend suggested that if writing fiction brings me joy, that’s what I should do.
And it does.
Start Reading Marylee’s New Women of Canyon Series TODAY!
Start Reading Marylee’s New
Women of Canyon Series TODAY!
Join Me on Substack
What You’ll Get
Weekly micro-fiction featuring five women at life’s crossroads, meeting the challenges of wanting more after 60.
Excerpts of new novel chapters as I write them —raw, real, unpolished
Reflections on friendship, purpose, and reinvention for women 55+
No fluff, no hustle Just truth-telling about navigating later life with courage.
I write the way I live now: doing things my way, at my pace, with no apologies. If that sounds like your kind of space, come join me.
Get Marylee's chapters, as she writes them.
