Maree MacLean can pinpoint the exact moment that led to her developing a problem with booze.
“In 2014, my younger brother Stu died in my arms,” says Maree, a recovering alcoholic who’s been sober for almost five years.
“Stu was also an alcoholic and he died of an esophageal bleed caused by drinking.
He left behind a five-year-old son, which was devastating.”
The death of her adored brother was the latest in a string of tragedies to hit Maree.
“In two years, I lost my father and my brother, my marriage ended and I miscarried,” says the author of two books about sobriety. Including recently released The No Bullshit Guide To Staying Sober. “Losing Stu was the final straw.”
Up to that point, the writer’s journey with alcohol wasn’t unusual and despite a history of alcoholism in her family, Maree’s younger years weren’t marked by excessive drinking.
“At university and later in my working life, I had the same work-hard, play-hard ethos as everyone else,” she says.
But after Stu’s death, her drinking spiralled out of control.
“I’d been living with my Danish husband in Copenhagen, but he left me for someone else,” she shares.
“Layered on top of that was the grief of losing my father and brother. I’ve never felt so alone in my life and I started drinking heavily to cope. I thought about ending it all.”
Maree, 49, now lives on Auckland’s Waiheke Island. She admits to being a functioning alcoholic, able to hold down a job as a publicist.
“But after a year, it just all came crashing down,” she tells.
“My whole body shut down and I couldn’t get out of bed.”
Maree managed to drag herself to the local health centre where she was prescribed Antabuse. The medication that acts as a deterrent to alcohol consumption.
“I knew I needed help, but at the time, my divorce was going through and I couldn’t afford rehab,” she says. “A friend invited me to a meeting with other alcoholics. Although I was sceptical and believed it would be a bit like a religious cult, something stuck. I’m so glad I gave it a chance because that was the turning point.”
After giving up the booze, Maree’s anxiety and depression lifted. The practising Buddhist, who’d studied the Eastern religion while living in China for five years, rediscovered her passion for helping others.
“I wanted to be of service to others, to live the Buddhist values of putting others first, so I became a sponsor for many other addicts.”
It also spurred the trained journalist to write her first book, The No Bullshit Guide To Getting Sober.
“I knew my message from one addict to another had value. My aim is to help others with whatever addiction issues they have. By sharing my lived experience, I hope to always help people stop making the excuses for their behaviour and commit to being sober every single day.”
Having worked in journalism and marketing in Auckland, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Maree found the writing process easy. “The words flowed out of me in a month.”
That book was turned into an audio book, which shot straight to the top of Audible’s best-seller list and was nominated for the 2024 NZ Audiobook of the Year awards.
“Then emails started rolling in from strangers saying, ‘You helped me get sober, but how exactly do I stay sober?’”
That prompted Maree’s follow-up self-help book, which was recently published to coincide with Sober October, a global movement aimed at giving up drink and/or drugs for 31 days.
“Giving up booze is hard, but staying sober is harder,” she tells. “You’ve got to get over yourself and keep recommitting to the journey.”
So successful have Maree’s guides proved that she’s about to start work on her third book, this time about addiction and relationships. “The plan is to write a series of 10 books.”
The well-seasoned traveller is also hoping to find time for doing more offshore sailing, a hobby she took up after moving to Waiheke.
“I recently sailed from Fiji to NZ, which was so much fun,” she says. “Next on my list is Cuba and the Galapagos. A friend who’s circumnavigating the globe asked me to join in 2026, but I might just do the Caribbean-to-New Zealand bit. The good thing is, I can write while I’m at sea!”
Although she never intended to become a go-to person for addiction, Maree is thrilled so many have reached out to her.
“If you want to get sober and stay sober, then you need to have a 13-step programme. Whether that’s for alcohol, meth, coke, marijuana, sex addiction or gambling. You have to work at it every day.”
If you’re struggling with alcohol or drugs, please call 0800 787 797, text 8681 or visit alcoholdrughelp.org.nz.
For the Suicide Crisis Helpline, visit 0508 TAUTOKO. In an emergency, dial 111.
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