Today we’d like to introduce you to Marshall Saleman.
Hi Marshall, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley and eventually made my way to Austin, Texas, following the Northridge earthquake. My path to becoming an author was not a traditional one. I served in the U.S. Army with the 498th Medical Company (Air Ambulance), a Black Hawk medevac unit based at Fort Benning, Georgia.
After leaving the military, I built a career in real estate and later pivoted into healthcare following the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am also the proud father of two sons, the uncle of four nephews, and the parent of a childhood cancer survivor. When one of my sons was three years old, he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma and lost his right eye. Watching him face something so difficult at such a young age profoundly shaped my understanding of courage, resilience, and what it means to remain hopeful. Those experiences naturally influence the lessons I want children to find in my stories.
MaiZAL Press began with my real-life black cat, MaiZAL. She has bright golden eyes, a confident personality, and carries herself like a tiny panther ruling the house. I started imagining the secret adventures she might be having when no one was watching, and those ideas gradually grew into an entire children’s-book universe. When my orange kitten, Guava, joined our family, that world expanded again and inspired new stories about family, acceptance, courage, and making room for someone new.
I decided to build the books independently under MaiZAL Press, which meant learning every part of the process—from writing and revising to directing the illustrations, designing the books, building a website, navigating distribution, and marketing the finished work. It has been far more involved than simply creating a story, but that attention to detail is also what has made the journey so meaningful.
Today, I have created two distinct series within the World of MaiZAL. MaiZAL the Kitten™, Little Panther Adventures introduces younger readers to warm, relatable stories and includes MaiZAL Stays Home. For older children, MaiZAL the House Panther™ Mysteries offers larger imaginative adventures, beginning with Cheesetopia Adventures: The Land of Cheese Monsters.
I am continuing to grow both series with stories inspired by my cats, my family, and the belief that imagination is one of the greatest parts of the human experience. My goal is to create books that make children laugh while also encouraging kindness, courage, teamwork, resilience, and belief in one another.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a completely smooth road. One of the greatest challenges has been building MaiZAL Press while continuing to work full time in healthcare and remaining present for my family. Most of the writing, revising, design work, and business planning happens during the hours that would normally be considered personal time. It requires discipline, patience, and a willingness to keep going even when progress feels slower than I would like.
Independent publishing also has a significant learning curve. I had to learn how to transform an idea into a professionally finished book while navigating illustration direction, page design, print specifications, ISBNs, distribution platforms, website development, and marketing. Each platform has its own requirements, and sometimes a book that looks perfect in one format must be adjusted for another. There have been rejected files, formatting problems, delayed proofs, and plenty of moments when solving one issue seemed to create two more.
Maintaining consistency throughout an illustrated world has been another major challenge. The characters are based on real animals and family members, and the details matter to me. Their colors, personalities, relationships, and even small visual elements must remain consistent from page to page and book to book. A single change can affect several other parts of the story, so the process involves far more revision and quality control than many people might expect.
Some of the most difficult experiences in my life—particularly watching my son battle childhood cancer—also taught me the resilience needed to continue. I learned that progress does not always happen according to the timeline we choose, but setbacks do not mean the journey is over. That perspective has carried me through every obstacle involved in building MaiZAL Press. Each challenge has made the books stronger and has reminded me why creating something meaningful for children is worth the effort.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am the creator of the World of MaiZAL and the founder of MaiZAL Press, where I write under the name M.W. Saleman. I specialize in character-driven children’s stories that combine humor, imagination, adventure, and meaningful lessons without losing the sense of fun children expect from a book.
The World of MaiZAL includes two connected series created for children at different stages of reading. MaiZAL the Kitten™, Little Panther Adventures gives younger readers warm, relatable stories about experiences such as staying brave at home, welcoming a new family member, and learning to share. MaiZAL the House Panther™ Mysteries gives older readers larger adventures filled with mysteries, unusual characters, hidden worlds, and continuing storylines. This structure allows children to enter the World of MaiZAL when they are young and continue growing with the characters.
What makes the work especially personal is that it begins with my real cats, MaiZAL and Guava, while many of the other characters are inspired by members of my family. The stories may take place in imaginative worlds such as Cheesetopia, but their emotional foundation comes from real relationships and recognizable experiences. Beneath the comedy and adventure are themes of courage, kindness, teamwork, inclusion, resilience, and second chances.
I am most proud that I did not simply create two individual books—I built the foundation of an interconnected story universe. Every character has a distinct personality, history, and purpose, and details introduced in one story can become important later. I pay close attention to visual continuity, recurring jokes, relationships, and the internal rules of the world so young readers can become genuinely invested in it.
That combination of personal inspiration, layered worldbuilding, and stories designed for multiple age groups is what sets MaiZAL Press apart. My goal is for children to laugh at the characters first, connect with them over time, and carry the deeper lessons with them after the book is closed.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something most people may not know is that comic books have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father has collected them since he was a child, so I grew up surrounded by illustrated stories, recurring characters, and interconnected worlds.
After retiring from his law practice, my father turned that lifelong passion into a comic-book business. He purchases collections and sells comics at conventions, and my youngest son now participates in the business alongside him. I still assist from time to time, but one of the most rewarding parts for me is watching my father and son attend conventions, discover collections, and share something that now connects three generations of our family.
Looking back, it makes sense that I eventually created the World of MaiZAL. Its detailed characters, continuing mysteries, hidden references, and storylines that build upon one another reflect the kind of storytelling I have loved since childhood. Creating these books feels like both a new chapter and a continuation of something that has always been part of my family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.MaiZALTheHousePanther.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2266281333898417/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshall-saleman-b30774a/
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/M.W.-Saleman/author/B0HDH3N1RR
