About Us

FIERCE EDITORS

Ernessa T. Carter – Editor in Chief

Other than founding Fierce and Nerdy, Ernessa is the author of 32 CANDLES, a novel about a fierce nerd from the south. She considers representing for fierce nerds everywhere as her highest calling and thanks you for reading this blog. You can find out more about her at her author site, 32Candles.com

Ryan Dixon – FIERCE ANTICIPATION Editor

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon, Ryan Dixon is the co-author of the graphic novel Hell House: The Awakening and also works as a script doctor and ghostwriter. As a FaN “blogumnist” he mainly writes about his obsessions including (but not limited to) themed furniture stores, the “Eddie Murphy Code” and beef stick. Follow Ryan on Twitter

T.E. Hibbard – Editor in Fun

When not writing our “Procrastinate on This” and “One More Thing Before We Go” features, T.E. likes writing kick-ass sci-fi, reading kick-ass sci-fi, and watching kick-ass sci-fi. Other than that T.E. is obviously Team Spock. If you’re Team Kirk, don’t even bother to speak to T.E. You two can’t be friends.

Amy Robinson – Blogumnist Editor

Amy Robinson, your Tall Drink o’ Nerd, grew up in a Colorado town of 900 people then moved to Chicago to be an actress. There she sang at a couple of jazz joints, did social work for the elderly and produced plays. Amy has worked at Writing Pad LA as a teacher, copywriter and contributes an occasional blog forTheWellfedMuse. Amy’s other ventures include the blogs; Moons over Monuments, where she shows her rear to historical monuments, Things I Learned From Ling Ling, the philosophical musings of a bi-polar calico cat and Stinky Junior, where she rambles on about every other thing. Additionally, Amy is a published poet, wrote a book about monkeys and is thisclose to being finished with her first novel. Amy currently lives with her husband in a beach town in Southern California, where she writes, watches too much TV, volunteers with homeless cats and dogs and works as a Project Manager for The Man.

FIERCE CONTRIBUTORS

Kelli Bielema

Kelli Bielema is a blogger, volunteer, event planner, dog trainer, vegetarian, karaokist and all-around urban girl. After 10 years in Los Angeles, this gal from the Land of Lincoln has planted roots in Seattle. Through trials, tribulations and finding the right pair of life-changing Hunter boots, the Northwest is where it’s at for this fierce nerd.

Amy Brown

Growing up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Amy Brown was lucky enough to live down the street from the Abbot Public Library, where her mother took her every day to pick out the books her father read to her at night. After studying economics at Wellesley College and the University of California, Los Angeles, she is currently pursuing a career in financial services. Amy is very grateful to Fierce and Nerdy for giving her a forum in which to natter on about her love of books.

Zack Bunker

Zack is a designer, writer and artist. He is currently living and struggling in Los Angeles, and having a fabulous time doing so. He wades through pop culture and his personal history to bring you funny and insightful looks at the strange, strange world around us.

Patrick Connolly

Patrick is a writer, bagpiper, panel moderator and media guy who defected to the East and thinks the East Coast is the new West Coast. He wrote a blog for three years about his journey and even got published in The New York Times. He still struggles with wanting to have dinner parties and reading more books. In his free time he thinks about working out. He can be found on Twitter at pjconnolly.

Gudrun Cram-Drach

After perhaps too many years of art school, Gudrun does what any over-educated animator/illustrator/designer would do, she writes novels. Her films have been in festivals worldwide, and her books are works in progress. In 2009 she married a français, and she now lives outside of Paris.

Charles Cron

Born in the backwoods of Pennsyltucky, Thought Chuck realized at an early age that he was different. After writing, producing, directing, designing and starring in his first play (put on by his brother & himself for his aunt in her living room at the tender age of 5) there was no way he was going to “stay down on the farm after he’d seen Pa-ree.” Over-educated at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama, Thought Chuck fulfilled his manifest destiny by moving westward to the vast urban sprawl of Lost Angeles to pursue his dreams. While there he has had the “privilege”of working for the Mouse House, AFI (creators of the “100 Years, 100 Best Key Grips” lists) and the company formerly known as DreamWorks SKG. An inveterate pie-baker and collector of random factoids, Thought Chuck is currently employed by the corporate descendants of Adolph Zukor and Cecil B. DeMille, where he is quickly learning that while you can’t necessarily make a dream work you can make a para mount.

CH

CH is Fierce and Nerdy’s resident IT department, art director, photographer, husband

Sarah Fazeli

Sarah Fazeli is a writer, actor, and teacher. Buckeye-born, she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and has an Interdisciplinary MFA in Theatre, Film, & Creative Writing from CalArts. She grew up on a steady diet of Muppets, Little Debbies, and Tab – none of which prepared her to swim with the sharks here in Los Angeles. She finds herself Bewitched, Bothered, & Bewildered by both herself and American culture at least several times a day, and is currently at work on a memoir.

Debra Goykhman

Debra Goykhman is from Pittsburgh, PA and has studied writing at both Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Currently she resides in Carlsbad, CA and is working on her novel writing. After getting married she began her Newly Nested column about a year ago.

Miro Gudelsky

As a Doctorate of Human Sexuality, Sex Therapist and Professor of Human Sexuality, Dr. Miro Gudelsky is an expert in sex. Based in Manhattan with offices in both New York City and Los Angeles, she maintains a sex-positive perspective in all her endeavors.

Roya Hamadani

Roya Hamadani is a writer, crafter, foodie and bead addict living in Pittsburgh with her dog and two cats. She loves all forms of Asian cuisine, puppetry, and miniatures. She abhors picnics, aspartame, and tongue (as a food, because it feels like it’s licking you back).

Joshua Irish

Joshua Irish is an avid gamer and a blogger/occasional podcaster of all things geek with his fiance, Nicole and their cockatiel, Eleanor at Geekspodcast.com. When not busy perusing and commenting on the latest in geek culture and technology trends, he works as a coordinator at a small software company. He also has an insatiable love for Chipotle burritos and word on the street is that within his possession exists an illustrious collection of Beanie Babies…

Jersey Joe

If it’s about making life more fun – Jersey Joe is on it! From pop culture to new products and technology; he brings his every man approach to FaN. Jersey Joe grew up in small town Pennsylvania and is now an award-winning television producer in New York.

Michael Kass

Michael Kass has been training for his role as the Single White Nerd for over 33.8 years. He’s been single in Washington, D.C., Houston, Chicago, Florence, and, currently, Los Angeles. When not doing research on singledom, he’s been known to perpetrate acting (you may recognize him from. . .nah, you probably wouldn’t ), tell some stories into microphones, and gobble massive quantities of baked goods. When not doing those things, he works with My Friend’s Place, a service center for homeless youth. Looking for a cool nonprofit? Check them out here.

Monique King-Viehland

Monique is an urban redeveloper, wife and mother living in Trenton, NJ. She has a Master of Science in Public Policy from the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College where she graduated with honors. Her background is in community and economic development and she has spent the last ten years working on urban redevelopment, neighborhood revitalization and public policy issues in the nonprofit and public sectors. Her career has included stints as a gubernatorial aide and a White House Intern and most recently head of a redevelopment agency. Monique is a wannabe policy wonk and pundit who loves blogging about various political issues.

Missy Kulik

Hello, my name is Missy. I am a graphic and product designer by day, by night I am an artist, crafter, and zine queen. I love drawing, sewing, knitting, baking, and studying trapeze and silks aerials. I live in Athens, Georgia in a very cute house with Raoul, Nilla, and Oreo.

Kelly Lett

Kelly Lett is a writer/actor living in LA. Before December 2009 she was also one of the original LA Derby Dolls. After six years and three broken thumbs, two snapped clavicles, a couple broken toes, countless bruises and pulled muscles she retired in order to focus on life off skates. Returning to her first love of acting Kelly is making the difficult transition from a solid theatre background, having gotten her degree at American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC back in 2002, to the world of professional LA TV/Film actor. She is trying to better understand this world with the help of the Lesly Kahn Institute. Being rather good at putting words in an interesting order when forming sentences she has a bi-weekly blog here at FaN as well as two blogs a week at Savoo.co.uk. Kelly is also working on many projects, any one of which might one day place her in the “real” writer category. She divides her free writing time up between two pilots, one play, one screenplay and a novel. Hey it’s a start.

Jennifer May Nickel

Jennifer May Nickel is yet another FaN contributor that is originally from Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from Carnegie Mellon with an MFA in Costume Design. (We’re EVERYWHERE!) Jennifer currently lives in beautiful downtown Burbank with her writer husband. She works as a Costume Designer for film, TV, interwebs, and theatre (and occasionally acts for SMBC Theater on the web). And she made the cape mini-Vader wears in the VW commercial. When she isn’t designing, she’s travelling and drinking wine.

Josh Pullin

Josh Pullin is hungry. If he wasn’t a stay at home dad he would pedal his bicycle to Kansas City right now in order to try their burnt ends. When he’s not eating, taking care of his son, or playing softball he fancies himself a writer.

R.B. Ripley

R.B. Ripley is playwright and screenwriter whose projects have been seen across the U.S. And Europe. His development and production company Liminal Entertainment is dedicated to the art of independent storytelling. To read more of his Hyperbolic Tendencies, you can visit his blog and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rbripley

Jeff Rogers

Jeff Rogers grew up in Michigan college towns. He’s an only child with four professor parents, three brothers and twin sisters. He dropped out of school and drove across the country to LA in 1983. He has lived, written and adventured here since, now joined by his wife Elise.

Joe Rusin

Joe Rusin lives in Los Angeles and works in “The Industry.” He enjoys the outdoors, good food, good film, good arguments, and the Pittsburgh sports teams of Misters Rooney and Lemieux. He is sometimes a producer, sometimes a writer, but always a contrarian.

Eric Sims

Eric Sims hails from New York where he directed numerous Off-Off Broadway productions and performed stand up comedy at variety of shady locales. He served for five years as Managing Director of the Powerhouse Theatre, leading over 70 productions and special events to the stage and is currently the Operations Manager of the Kirk Douglas Theatre. He is happily married with a mopey dog, small condo and a Scion XA which only his wife can drive.

Matt Udvari

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon and Wake Forest, Matt Udvari is a video game designer and playwright. In addition to a fun day job, Matt designs independent video games at Part Time Evil. In his spare time, he rants about the greatness of the movie Labyrinth and continues his quest to find the perfect Pho. Here at FaN, Matt writes about the craft and industry of making video games.

Frankie V

When she’s not dashing around on her horse, whipping knight’s butts and saving dudes in distress, Frankie V. goes to the farmer’s market, scoffs at the high prices, but stays because it’s a good place for people watching. She also writes about things – things in the film and TV world, things in her own world, which often seems like a film or TV show.