Born and raised in The Netherlands, Marie Louise knew, during the summer she turned 10, she wanted to become a pilot.

​

Throughout her teenage years, the deep rooted adoration for the Royal Dutch Air Force and especially the Apache Helicopter fueled her unwavering ambition and determination to become a fighter pilot. But when her dreams came crashing down at the final stages of assessment, she abruptly traded the armed forces for a career in civil aviation.

​

After studying at the renowned flight academy; the Nationale Luchtvaart School – ‘NLS’, in The Netherlands, she joined Denim Air as a First Officer on the Fokker 50 fleet, in the beginning of 2008.

​

Amidst the whirlwind of the flight training in Evora, Portugal, and her career as a Fokker 50 First Officer, she turned to writing as a sanctuary – a safe haven where she could process her fast moving thoughts and emotions, finding clarity among the challenges and trails thrown at her.

​

Writing became part of her healing process, when life threw her an unexpected curveball. After months of therapy, she picked up all those columns she’d written over the years and typed the first letters under the title that would change everything: “I Stand In Menland” – her debut memoir.

​

Nowadays, Marie Louise lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, together with her husband, Bryan, two kids, Luca and Miliya, and their dogs, Sasha and Ares.

​

When she is not writing, she can be found in the gym for a heavy workout, in a pool for a good 5K swim, or studying the Italian language while cooking the country’s most famous stables. Beside all that, the busy schedules of her kids, interior design and her deep rooted passion for Afghanistan and Afghan women, fill her sun blasted days.