Mission & Team

Stephanie is pursuing a bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Creativity is her weapon and numbers and words are her passions. She spends her days solving equations and her nights reading and writing stories. She believes books and films have the power to bring people from all different backgrounds together. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she has always had two clear goals: to grow and learn as much as possible and to do something good for the world.

This is A.C.!  She’s an unofficial member of geekdom and loves board games, tabletop games, video games, mind games… just kidding.  Or are we?  A.C. has written a novel and a half and is hoping to be published this year, as the habit of writing is growing harder to shake.  She lives in Interlaken, which is in rural upstate New York.  Her heroes are Captain Kathryn Janeway and her cat, Fiddle.

Meet Aisha. She’s an Aussie who loves to write and listen to music, 'cause words and music make everything better. When she’s not studying for her Communication degree or posting on her blog, you’ll find her reading, drinking good coffee, watching anything horror and consuming great food and wine (in no particular order).
 

Alana is a lover of poetry, peanut butter and punctuation (oh, and alliteration). She joined Narrative Muse because getting to read and watch empowering books and movies is hard work, but someone’s got to do it. She spent most of her childhood traveling in Europe and Asia because her parents were travel-crazed, but now she calls New Zealand home. 

Just south of Raglan, New Zealand, Amy lives in a bus and measures her life’s success by the amount of time she has to read and number of plants she grows from seed. She loves to write, eat, do yoga, read poetry and be in the trees or sea.

Camilla is an educator, comedian, and aspiring screenwriter from the Bronx, New York. A natural born storyteller with a BA in English, her fondness for eccentricities shine through an authentic voice. Apart from performing at open mics around NYC and updating her blog, she can also be found dancing, eating, and spending time with family. 

Carl, father of three (mostly) delightful boys, loves to learn and wrestle with big ideas. He’s a massive nerd and will debate anything from which is the best Star Wars film (Empire obviously) to whether computers could ever be conscious (maaaaybe?). His love of movies, books, music, and technology has led him down a path of film and TV post-production, writing, acting, and now – back to school. The journey continues...

Chelsea is a librarian living in Auckland. She has always loved reading and as a child convinced everyone to call her ‘Ellie’, after her favorite character from Tomorrow, When the War Began. She reads widely but always comes back to the young adult genre, gritty fiction, and depressing nonfiction. Her dream life would be endless travel, owning her own bookstore, and bad dancing to 90s pop music. 

Meet Ciara. She’s a community organizer, social justice advocate, and lover of nonfiction. She’s from Jacksonville, FL but lives in Brooklyn, NY. She’s passionate about working to elevate the voices of communities whose voices are otherwise not heard, watching movies and TV series, reading books that assist in her intercultural development, being outdoors, and having conversations with strangers! She hopes to share her southern charm and quirky personality in her pieces for Narrative Muse. 

Debbie reviews films & books for Narrative Muse as part of her freelance hustle in Brooklyn, New York. She loves film critique, creativity, advocating for kindness, Mexican food, yoga, GIFs, getting rush tickets for Broadway shows, and reading on the Subway.

Ernest is an actor/ stand-up comedian/ writer/ stage manager from Cincinnati, Ohio. He has a BAC from Bowling Green State University. Ernest is passionate about the arts such as film, theatre, music, comedy and literature. He loves sports, especially basketball. Another passion of his is food (as should be everyone’s). So if you can cook, invite him round and he’ll come over. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Hanna writes stories for video games. She’s a fantasy geek, a story consultant and the occasional accidental author of non-fiction – including reviews for Narrative Muse. She likes traveling, baking, writing (a lot), making music, drinking tea, staying in and playing board games.

Meet Ian, a book buyer at Auckland’s Time Out Bookstore who always has his nose in the latest strange and wondrous books. When he’s not floating around the shop handing out recommendations, he can be found playing in his party punk band Dad Jokes. Although originally from Canada, now he spends most of his time in Auckland, New Zealand.

Jack Gabriel is an English teacher and writer currently in an unhealthy relationship with procrastination. He loves good games, bad movies, dad jokes and anything to do with monsters. Jack lives in Auckland with his wife and two cats, dividing his free time between writing, reading and drinking too much coffee.

Jack Holloway is a writer and musician living in Brooklyn, New York. While he spends most of his time engaging heady texts, he likes to read across genres, and he is a movie-lover, with a particular affinity for old, indie, and foreign films. Beyond movies and books, you could talk to Jack about the year’s best music, different kinds of beer, or even baking!

This is Jenna. She manages the  New Zealand Time Out Bookstore (winner of the Bookseller of the Year at NZ Book Industry Awards 2016). She also is a freelance photographer with a BFA from the Dunedin School of Fine Art. Jenna lives in Auckland, NZ but will always call Dunedin home.

Say salut to Jenn. Dubbed Ms. MacGyver by her friends for her love of technology, problem solving, and travel. Jenn is a professional storyteller and sometimes kitten herder on a mission to unite science, social justice, and occasional purr fests. In her spare time she enjoys pretending to speak french and filming satirical youtube videos. During the rare times when she is not living out of a suitcase, Jenn considers the US her home. She currently lives in New York.

Meet Jess, a content curator for Narrative Muse. An analytical chemist and actress by trade, Jess likes to do things accurately and artistically. She is insatiably curious and is always trying something new, be it a crochet pattern, a new career or going on a solo adventure. Originally from Colorado, Jess now calls Wellington, New Zealand home.

Jules recently moved to Toronto from New Zealand to see how the other side of the world lives – apparently it is not that different. She is the social media guru and a film reviewer for Narrative Muse and gets beyond excited about anything muse-worthy. She can also connect any actress or actor to Meryl Streep in 6 degrees of separation – that’s a lot harder than you think.

Meet Kayla: A real Jane of all trades and master of none; She has gone from photography school, to the military, to conservation work and now she resides in Auckland, New Zealand working in I.T. and teaching herself several programming languages. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, she is perplexed by the popularity of cacti in fashion and home decor. She recently started her own film club for women in Auckland before being introduced to Narrative Muse and joining the team. She loves being around other creative people and drinking copious amounts of cold brew coffee. 

Meet Lakin, a book fiend from way back who reads anything and everything. She has an unhealthy obsession with classical literature and is forever pestering those around her to love it as much as she does. A graduate of Law, History and Classics, she is the Practice Coordinator of a Medical Centre by day, and by night she dreams of working in publishing. In her spare time she loves to shop, discover new music, drink too much tea, and of course read. She lives in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Laura is a Promiscuous Reader and Book Club Slut who spends her time biking around looking for sidewalk cats and browsing bookstalls. She is obsessed with Donna Tartt and drinks her coffee black. Originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, she lives in Cambridge UK.

Meet Madison, a reviewer for Narrative Muse, originally from Auckland, but currently in exile on Australia’s Gold Coast. She mostly spends her time wandering around out in the sun and wondering what to do with her BFA (apart from singing lounge covers of Robbie Williams and Nancy Sinatra). She has a passion for all things lyrical and lonely, like films directed by Sophia Coppola and Jane Campion, and books by Patti Smith, Ali Smith and Mary Gaitskill.

This is Maiko. She’s liked books since forever, which is how she ended up working in publishing. Her favorite author is now, and forever will be, Tamora Pierce (and not only because Prince Jonathan was her first book crush). She’ll read anything (unless it’s Austen) and especially loves folklore and myth. Her current addictions are radio-drama podcasts, movies starring Domhnall Gleeson and going for extravagantly long walks. She’s based in London and currently works for Hachette.

Meet Melissa. She’s a recent Los Angeles transplant from New York City. She’ll charm you with sloppy musings about random ideas when she’s had enough alcohol; otherwise, she’ll force you into friendship with fierce intimidation and/or whining. She makes a living through the magical medium of video. She’s a hard core geek who spends more time inside fiction than reality. Ask about her Star Wars wedding and we’ll throw in more pictures than you can stomach!

Meet Micah.  She loves tea, travel, and history. When she’s not telling you about her favorite films and books, she’s acting, writing, and working on community projects in the hopes of empowering the voiceless and challenging them to change the world for the better. Originally from Virginia, Micah now lives in London, England.

Monika loves books, history podcasts, scary movies, and every dog she meets. She's always ready to talk about what she's been reading or what adventure she's planning next.  You'll usually find her working at a bookstore, exploring museums, or drinking a little too much coffee. Monika is based in the Toronto area, where she is studying Publishing at Ryerson University.

Meet Sam, he writes about wine by day and drinks it with the perfect movie pairing by night. He spent time freelancing on sets and made some short films – they were all about inanimate objects eating people. Hailing originally from the United States, he has spent most of his life in New Zealand, though has never shaken a blandly foreign accent. His life choices were all validated the night he saw Werner Herzog describe Nicolas Cage as the greatest human being alive.

Tabitha Rhys is the author of the novel Love, Music, Madness. When she isn’t writing or exploring with her toddler son, Tabitha is digging into the next book on her very long list. Gritty contemporaries and no-holds-barred memoirs have her heart, but every so often she craves a Dickensian epic. She is currently living her California dream in Riverside, CA.

Whitney’s a passionate high school English teacher and one of the few extroverts in existence who would rather be at home reading right now. She spent her childhood in Bangladesh but now she lives in a big ol’ house in Auckland filled with flatmates, cups of tea, and mismatched couches

Yvette has a penchant for pandas, pizza, and Doctor Who. She finds happiness in the pages of fantasy and picture-books and refuses to grow up. Her guilty pleasures are memoirs and true crime stories – because people really are fascinating. She can be found in Christchurch, NZ fighting a paper-war by day. Her nights are spent annoying her husband with talk of wanting to ride luck dragons dressed as a ninja while foisting books upon him.