My Story

Maya Golden Bethany (who writes and reports under the pen name Maya Golden) is an award-winning television and print journalist, novelist and speaker.

Maya earned her degree from Texas A&M University and during her early journalism career covered sports for the university newspaper The Battalion. Maya began her television career as a production assistant at WFAA in Dallas and also served as an editor, newscast writer, and field producer.

She worked as a general assignment reporter for KLTV in Tyler, Texas before becoming the first female weekend sports anchor/sports reporter in the station’s history. Maya further made history as the first female sports director in East Texas television history, serving as the main sports anchor during the evening newscasts. She is the winner of several Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Awards as well as a two-time Lone Star Emmy nominee and the winner of the Excellence in My Market Award from the Lone Star Emmy Chapter of the National Academy of  Television Arts and Sciences.

Maya currently is a freelance journalist and is a frequent contributor for Fox Sports Southwest and a sideline reporter for Legacy Sports Network. She has been featured on Fox Sports College as well as ESPN 2 & 3. Her work has also appeared on BlackGirlNerds.com, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, IN Magazine, The Tyler Loop and the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Maya is the founder and executive director of the 1 in 3 Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps adult women recover from PTSD, addiction and the lingering mental effects of sexual abuse or sexual assault. Maya is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and an advocate for mental health awareness, support and recovery. She shares her story and message of hope publicly to inspire, educate and empower those living with shame and the stigmatizing silence.

Her debut novel, a memoir, “The Return Trip,” is set for release on November 14, 2023 through Rising Action Publishing Collective. Her first fiction book, a thriller titled “The Senator” will release in spring 2025 also through RAPC.

Maya is a member of the Writers’ League of Texas, the Women’s Fiction Writers Assocation, #WriteHive and is a frequent attendee of events hosted by Writing Workshops Dallas.

She and her husband have a son, two dogs, Fred and Bandit, and two goldfish, Eddie and Arsenio, and two hermit crabs, Shellby and Mr. Krabs.