Welcome: Skinless: Inside the Story- 8 Episodes + Bonus through December 23, 2025
SKINLESS: Inside the Story is my Substack home for the world of Skinless (second ed, revised & expanded, 2025) & the companion album Skinless: Songs from the Book. Explore the novel and the music!
Editor’s Note (January 2025):
After this “Inside the Story of SKINLESS” series ran in Nov–Dec 2025, BookLife reviewed SKINLESS: The Story of a Female Survivor (Second Edition, Expanded, Revised 2025), calling it “a portrait of survival that doesn’t sanitize the mess… uncomfortable, occasionally overwhelming, and undeniably powerful.” You can read the full review and find SKINLESS here:
http://booklife.com/project/skinless-the-story-of-a-female-survivor-103872
Hello, welcome…
“Welcome to SKINLESS: Inside the Story,” I’m Maggie Moor—jazz‑blues singer‑songwriter, author, NYSED‑licensed psychoanalyst, and athlete. I write from an informed, personal place, weaving psychological intrigue, crime, and trauma awareness through the hard‑boiled voice of my narrator, Charmay.
“SKINLESS: Inside the Story” is my Substack home for readers to explore the inner world of Skinless (second edition, revised & expanded, 2025) and the companion album Skinless: Songs from the Book.
I’ve created 8 Free Episodes + Bonus • A new one very Tuesday: Nov 4 – Dec 23, 2025
Skinless is Book 1 in Charmay: New York Noir, a psychological crime noir / literary psychological‑suspense series following Charmay, for readers of The Bell Jar, The Basketball Diaries, Just Kids, and dark, character‑driven literary noir.
“Skinless becomes a strange evocation of the turn of the 21st century in America—the times we live in and the forces we live by—a real-life portrayal of a world gone off its orbit.” — Stacey Donovan, author of Dive and The Red Shoe Diaries series
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If you’re a reader, a listener—or both—and want the full story + sound, you’re in the right place.
Subscriptions to this Substack are free: Sign up to get each episode in your inbox.
SKINLESS: The Story of a Female Survivor
“A humane portrait of often inhuman actions, Skinless is an eloquent crime novel about a woman’s relentless desire to survive.” — Benjamin Welton, Foreword Reviews
A voice‑driven psychological crime noir set in New York City at the turn of the millennium.
Street poetry. Beauty. Danger. Survival.
Fresh from teenage homelessness and sex abuse, Charmay—a street‑smart, trauma‑bruised, velvet‑voiced singer—fights to build a life in the underground clubs and high‑end gentlemen’s bars where she performs as her glittering alter ego, Cindy. She calls her PTSD “skinless,” the raw vulnerability she drinks to numb and sings to soothe. Cindy is the persona she built to protect her.
In a world chasing quick fixes and the American Dream, Charmay moves through a maze of small‑time hustles and crime that devolves into a dangerous game of secrets, lies, and power. Across two turbulent years, as she slips between past and present in New York’s underground, three forces converge: producer Eddie Cruise hears fire in her voice and pushes her raw; Sam Black, the Miami‑raised son of Cuban exiles, earns her trust, but his vendetta against a privileged partner draws danger; and Rex Raven, a Wall Street financier obsessed with Cindy, not Charmay, opens glittering doors—and traps.
Her past blurs with her present as she longs for her estranged father and the girls she once was, while clinging to a hustler‑lover she needs to trust, a Wall Street financier who wants only Cindy, and a producer who cuts her open to get to her honest voice. Family ties pick old wounds. Hustles collide. Masks switch places. Chaos ricochets. Beats. Bullets. Bedsheets. As desires clash and loyalties fracture, the balance of power keeps shifting, and it’s never clear who is really in control—or who is using whom.
By the final chorus, Charmay must decide: cling to the mask that kept her alive—or claim the honest voice that may finally make her whole.
Honest, tense, and compassionate, Skinless is a literary psychological‑suspense / noir novel and a psychological portrait of a young artist fighting to overcome trauma’s scars and learning that healing begins within.
Explore the World of Skinless
ORIGINAL MUSIC
This novel has a companion album, Skinless: Songs from the Book (Charmay & Maggie Moor), featuring songs written and performed by Charmay in the story—lush downtempo, jazz, and chill‑out electronica that extends the world of Charmay: New York Noir. Available on all streaming platforms. (Scroll page, Links below)
SUBSTACK
Substack – “Skinless: Inside the Story” 8 episodes + Bonus Content explore the world of Skinless. (Scroll page, Episode list below)
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Foreword Talks with Maggie Moor:
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
What reviewers are saying about Skinless:
Current rating: 4.6–4.7 stars from 30+ reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.
“Skinless is an eloquent crime novel about a woman’s relentless desire to survive… eloquently, Charmay vacillates between beauty and despair… her street poetry highlights the city’s colors and sensations in lush, sensual language.” — Benjamin Welton, Foreword Reviews
“A humane, unsparing portrait—wringing hope from the drug‑drenched, sex‑soaked streets of 1990s New York City.” — Danielle Ballantyne, Foreword Reviews (Interview)
“Lyrical and unflinchingly honest, Skinless is a psychological portrait of trauma, trust, and the courage it takes to face your own truth. Perfect for readers who love the raw brilliance of The Bell Jar and the restless energy of Kerouac.” — Goodreads, 5★
“Raw, poetic, and fearless. Voice cuts to the bone. An unflinching act of emotional courage; both visceral and lyrical. Will stay with me.” — Goodreads, 5★
What Readers Are Saying
“Skinless immerses you in a voice. Duality between Charmay and Cindy… fighting for space inside one woman. Like living in a story rather than just reading one.” — Goodreads, 5★
“A fast‑paced page‑turner. A woman fighting her traumatic past. Did not disappoint.” — NetGalley / Goodreads, 4★
“Told in Charmay’s raw first‑person voice, Skinless is razor‑taut literary psychological suspense—a portrait of a woman fighting to heal… Goes into such deep description of characters and events that you can almost taste it.” — NetGalley, Advanced Reviewer, 4★
The Series: What to Expect Here
Skinless: Inside the Story is a free, 8‑week Substack series (plus a bonus episode) running November 4 – December 23, 2025.
Each Tuesday, you’ll receive:
• A focused episode spotlighting a key part of the book—characters, relationships, and themes
• A companion piece from the “Skinless: New York Noir” World: a track, video, or images drawn from Skinless (Book 1 of Charmay: New York Noir) and the album “Skinless: Songs from the Book.”
• Vivid chapter excerpts that show where each song or scene lives in Charmay’s life: on stage, in fights, on street benches at dawn, in boundary‑breaking nights, and in the quiet aftershocks of trauma and desire
• Original passages of Charmay writing, singing, or living the lyric in real time
• Context on the larger story, including how “Skinless: The Story of a Female Survivor” (Book 1) connects to the wider “Charmay: New York Noir” cycle
Episodes
Episode 1 – Spotlight: Chapter One: Enter the Lower East Side in 1999 and meet Charmay’s hard‑boiled, jazz‑pulse voice as Skinless opens.
Episode 2 – Spotlight: Prologue & Why?: Step into the prologue and my “Why Skinless,” framing the novel as an x‑ray of survival, trauma, and artistry.
Episode 3 – Spotlight: Meet Charmay: Meet Charmay—a singer‑songwriter haunted by PTSD—finding her voice, her alter ego, and her way in New York.
Episode 4 – Spotlight: Charmay & Cindy: Double Life. Alter‑ego: Explore Charmay’s creation of Cindy, the seductive armor that protects her, tempts her, and threatens to take over.
Episode 5 – Spotlight: Intimacy; Bullet line or Bedsheets?: Look at intimacy under pressure as Charmay navigates love, sex, danger, and the fine line between safety and betrayal.
Episode 6 – Spotlight: Meet the Players, Skinless World, Official Trailer: Meet the powerful men in Charmay’s orbit—Sam, Eddie, Rex, Jesse—and glimpse the Lynchian undercurrent of 1999 NYC.
Episode 7 – Spotlight: Nonlinear World: See how fractured time, memory, and trauma shape Skinless’s nonlinear structure and staccato, jazz‑infused voice.
Episode 8 – Spotlight: Themes from the Book: Dive into race, class, abandonment, and the American Dream—with the “skin torn off”—and the inner split of “Trash Girl” / Chanel Suit.
Episode 9 – Bonus Episode: Music in SKINLESS: Behind‑the‑music notes on how each track was first written and recorded (as Maggie Moor), then reborn inside the fictional world as Charmay. A look ahead to what’s next in the series, with future‑leaning pieces like “Awake” and “Spiderwebb.”
The Music: Skinless – Songs from the Book
“Skinless: Songs from the Book”—an album drawn directly from the scenes, memories, and relationships in the novels. It is comprised of earlier Maggie Moor recordings and newer Charmay releases. Each song links directly to scenes and scars in Charmay’s world—and connects Book 1 to the larger “Charmay: New York Noir” cycle.
Buy the Book
SKINLESS: The Story of a Female Survivor, Sec. Edition, Expanded & Revised (2025)
Book: Skinless (Book 1 of Charmay: New York Noir)
Buy the book:
Goodreads page:
Album: Skinless: Songs from the Book (December 29, 2025)
Official Website for ARC | Skinless World and More on Maggie Moor;
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Maggie Moor | Singer | Author @maggiemoor @skinlessthebook @charmaymusic
Maggie Moor offer this Spotlights Series free. By signing up you will get a weekly email leading you to Skinless: Inside the Story : Episode #1 Next: Click and enjoy.