Maria Keogh Semple (born May 21, 1964) is an American novelist and screenwriter. She is the author of ''This One Is Mine'' (2008), '' Where'd You Go, Bernadette'' (2012), and '' Today Will Be Different'' (2016). Her television credits include ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'', ''

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City as they navigate life together. In later seasons, the couple has a daughter. It initially aired on NBC from September 2 ...

'', ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', ''

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

'', ''

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, a ...

'', and ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth (given name), Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena, and Helen (given name), Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Elle ...

''. She is a 2013 recipient of the

Alex Awards The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the ...

Early life

Semple was born in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Her family moved to Spain soon after she was born. There her father, the screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr., wrote the pilot for the television series ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

''. The family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and then to

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

. Semple attended boarding school at

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall ( ) is a Independent school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present na ...

, then received a BA in English from

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

in 1986.Maria Semple biography at official website

Career

Semple's first screenwriting job was in 1992, for the television show ''

''. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy, Outstanding Television Series, in 1997 for ''

''. In 2006 and 2007, she was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award, for ''

''. ''This One is Mine'' was a finalist for the 2010 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. She appeared in the 2004

David O. Russell David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has earned numerous accolades including two British Academy Film Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for five Academy Aw ...

film '' I Heart Huckabees''. She is active in the Seattle literary community, and is a founding member of Seattle 7 Writers. Her writing has appeared in the magazine ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

.'' She has also taught fiction writing at the Richard Hugo House.

Novels

Semple's novels are ''This One is Mine'' (2008), '' Where'd You Go, Bernadette'' (2012), and '' Today Will Be Different'' (October 2016), all published by Little, Brown and Company. ''This One is Mine'' is about a woman who has it all, a loving family and wealth; however, her unhappiness leads her to make dangerous decisions in the pursuit of "more." ''Where'd You Go, Bernadette'' is about an agoraphobic architect, mother, and wife who is struggling to adjust to life in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and goes missing just before a family trip to Antarctica. ''Where'd You Go, Bernadette'' spent a year on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list, won the American Library Association's

Alex Award The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of th ...

, and was shortlisted for the

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

. In 2013,

Annapurna Pictures Annapurna Pictures is an American independent media company founded by Megan Ellison on April 2, 2011, and based in Los Angeles, California. It is active in film, television theatrical production and video game publishing. History Annapurna P ...

and

Color Force Color Force is an American independent film and television production company founded in 2007 by producer and film executive Nina Jacobson after her 2006 termination as president of Disney's Walt Disney Studios (division), Buena Vista Motion P ...

acquired the rights.

Cate Blanchett Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...

starred in the

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

, directed by

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

, which was released on August 16, 2019. ''Today Will Be Different'' takes place over the course of a single day and tells the story of a woman who starts the day determined to be her best self.

Personal life

Semple is in a relationship with producer and writer

George Meyer George Meyer (born 1956) is an United States, American producer and writer. Meyer is best known for his work on ''The Simpsons'', where he served as a scriptwriter and gag writer (for which he is credited as a producer) and led the show's commu ...

and has one daughter with him, Poppy. They reside in

. In 2007, a newly discovered species of moss frogs from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

was named '' Philautus poppiae'' after their daughter, a tribute to Meyer's and Semple's dedication to the Global Amphibian Assessment.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Maria 1964 births 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Television producers from California American women television producers Television writers from California Barnard College alumni Living people People from Aspen, Colorado Writers from Santa Monica, California American women television writers 21st-century American women writers American women screenwriters Choate Rosemary Hall alumni Screenwriters from Colorado 21st-century American screenwriters