About
Mary Alice Stephens is an award-winning storyteller. In her instant best-seller, Uncorked: A Memoir of Letting Go and Starting Over, she shares her raw, funny, and ultimately inspiring journey from alcohol-fueled chaos to clarity, connection, and self-acceptance. Uncorked was an Amazon #1 new release in alcoholism recovery, an Amazon best-seller in midlife self-help, and a 2026 PenCraft Best Book Award winner in Inspirational Nonfiction. Mary is a former television writer-producer for HGTV, Food Network, and other media outlets. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Dominican University of California and lives in Marin County, California.
Featured Work
Uncorked: A Memoir of Letting Go and Starting Over
Getting sober is one thing, staying sober another…
With a glorious bang, alcohol freed Mary Stephens from her lonely, self-critical teenage shell and fueled Fun Mary. For three decades, booze had been her best friend, the reliable spark igniting good times and (she thought) good friendships. But Fun Mary had a dark side: debilitating hangovers, blackouts, and perilous behavior. Not even a three-story fall that left her in a body cast could stop her from drinking. But finally, after putting her young son in danger and her marriage in jeopardy, Fun Mary had to go.
Now sober at age 45, everything Mary once cherished becomes a trigger—date nights with her husband, friendships centered around wine, and a father who expresses his love through alcohol. This new Sober Mary is lonely and vulnerable—feelings she drank to escape. Now what?
Told with heart and humor, Uncorked: A Memoir of Letting Go and Starting Over is the inspiring and relatable story of a woman's pursuit of a better life through sobriety.
