F.R. Maher

F.R. Maher is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and folklorist whose work blends myth, folklore, and the uncanny with contemporary storytelling.

The Last Changeling was her debut novel. First published in 2013, it quickly became an Amazon bestseller. She later graduated with First Class Honours in Creative Writing from Liverpool John Moores University, further honing the craft that has taken her across novels, theatre, television, and film.

Based in North Wales, Fiona has written and directed several short films, including the two-minute Lego folk-horror comedy The Wicca Man, which was screened on BBC Two. Her writing on folklore has appeared in Fortean Times and for #FolkloreThursday, and she also co-hosted The Fairy Podcast, exploring the strange stories and traditions of Britain and beyond.

In 2022, she earned her first television writing credit with Huw, a monologue performed by Owen Teale as part of the ambitious Welsh multimedia production GALWAD. She made her Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in 2024 with Sherlock Holmes and The Man Who Believed in Fairies, which returned for a tour in 2025. Her latest play, Out of the Blue—a near-future drama about an alien invasion—premiered at the Greater Manchester Fringe in 2026.

Sherlock Holmes and The Man Who Believed in Fairies was published as a novel in 2026, and its sequel Sherlock Holmes and The Lady in Grey is out in late October. Fiona will be speaking at Cheshire Crimewriters in Frodsham, Cheshire in early 2027.

Whether writing about fairies, detectives, or visitors from the stars, F.R. Maher is drawn to stories where the extraordinary slips into everyday life.