AJ Jordan

Principal Author, Founder

AJ Jordan, a former collegiate athlete, successfully transitioned from his status as a high-achieving real estate professional to the literary world. During his real estate career, he represented 1,436 transaction sides totaling $397.4 million in sales. His exceptional performance earned him a ranking in the top 200 by Real Trends and recognition in the Wall Street Journal.

However, AJ's heart always belonged to literature. With a double major in Anthropology and Psychology, he gained insight into human nature, myth, and culture, elements that can be found in his storytelling. Leveraging his real estate achievements, he retired early to follow his dream of writing a fantasy novel series. Founding Brightstone Books, AJ is now committed to bringing his unique vision to the dark fantasy genre to redefine how storytelling is done.

Charlotte Askew

The Second Voice

Charlotte is an Australian writer, minimalist, and former counsellor. She holds a BSc First Class Honours in Psychology from the University of Southern Queensland and graduated with the University Medal. In 2024, Charlotte was awarded the W. Morgan and Loue Claire Rose Fellowship to attend the MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) program at Texas State University. Charlotte’s short story, Somewhere Above the Artesian, placed second in the Furphy Literary Award in 2025 and was subsequently published in the Furphy Anthology 2025. Her writing has also been recognised in the Queensland State Library Young Writers Award, Lorna McDonald Essay prize and earned her a Varuna Residential Fellowship. Charlotte adores immersive fiction and complex characters, and applies her unquenchable interest in human behaviour to the characters of the Mystic Series.

Lauren Barnes

The Architect

Born in Midland, Texas, Lauren found her early escape in fantasy, a doorway into worlds far beyond the dust and mesquite trees of her home. Driven to understand the actual world, she majored in International Studies at Baylor University. Her journey took her overseas to Taiwan, where she served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant for two years. She returned to the U.S. to complete her Master's degree at Stanford University, supported by a prestigious federal language and area studies fellowship. At Stanford, she deepened her appreciation for Taiwan, researching the Japanese colonial period and the conflict between identity formation and nationalism.

Lauren brings fluency in Mandarin, academic rigor, and a fascination with fantasy to the world of Atha.

Katrina Pelayo

The Grand Chamberlain

Katrina Pelayo is an arts and entertainment specialist based in Manila, Philippines, with over a decade of experience in project management, strategic marketing, and publishing. A graduate of the University of the Philippines Los Baños with a major in writing under the Communication Arts program, she has worked directly with major global entities including Cirque du Soleil, Fuerza Bruta, Broadway Asia, and Music Theatre International. As Media Manager at Silverlens Galleries (Manila/New York), she led the creative team and managed the production of over 70 print and digital publications.

Katrina’s love for books began at age five with Grimm's Fairy Tales. Today, she demands complex narratives—if there are no convoluted magic systems or smart-mouthed spaceships, she likely won't get past chapter one.

Hans Slechta

The Loremaster

As the resident Loremaster, Hans brings an extensive academic background to the cultural and linguistic worldbuilding of the Mystic universe. He graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Linguistics from Cornell University, where he also studied physics, archeology, and music. He continued his studies at the University of Georgia, earning an MA in Historical Linguistics and mastering languages such as Sanskrit, Gothic, and Old Church Slavonic.

Additionally, Hans holds an MS in Software Development from Boston University. While he has studied over a dozen real-world languages, he draws inspiration from constructed languages like Tolkien's Sindarin and Star Trek's Klingon. An avid fan of Garth Nix and Brandon Sanderson, Hans is dedicated to applying his expertise to the lore of Brightstone Books.

Gabriella Katschke

The High Scholar

Gabriella Katschke serves as High Scholar, bringing a strong background in creative media and community building to the team. She graduated Cum Laude from Utah State University with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Communications and a minor in Psychology. During her time there, she focused on writing and design, with several of her projects displayed across campus and used for university social media.

For the past two years, she has managed social media and community engagement for a small business. A lifelong fan of The Legend of Zelda, Gabriella is dedicated to fostering a safe, growing community for fantasy lovers at Brightstone Books, helping readers find a world worth exploring in Mystic.

Eliza Tool

The Sage

Hailing from River Falls, Wisconsin, Eliza brings a refined literary perspective to the team as a Sage. She holds a BA in English: Creative Writing & Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For Eliza, the fantasy genre is essential; she believes that while imaginary, fantasy stories parallel our world and help us process real experiences through narrative bonding.

Her primary goal at Brightstone Books is total audience immersion. She is dedicated to ensuring that every aspect of the Mystic series is vivid and precise, allowing readers to feel fully connected to the story. Through interactive elements and detail, she hopes each reader feels represented and immersed in the Mystic universe.

Emma Macdonnell

The Master of Revels

Emma MacDonnell is a passionate storyteller serving as Master of Revels and Sage. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and a Minor in Environmental Policy from the University of South Florida. With a deep appreciation for the power of language and a curiosity to push the boundaries of narrative, Emma brings a thoughtful, empathetic approach to every project.

Whether she is writing, editing, hosting literary events, or testing new ways to tell a story, she applies care and imagination to her work. When she is not immersed in reading or writing, you will likely find Emma at the barn spending time with her horse.

Sofija Bulog

The Luminary

Sofija Bulog is a visual artist working in the field of painting and visual storytelling. Based in Serbia, she studied Applied Painting at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, where she completed both her undergraduate and master’s studies.

Her practice centers on visual storytelling and the emotional potential of the image. Through traditional and digital painting, she explores how a single figure, gesture, or color can carry a narrative, inviting the viewer to sense what lies beneath the surface rather than what is explicitly shown. Alongside figures and portraiture, she explores metaphysical landscapes and is drawn to liminal spaces—the places between waking reality and dream. It is within these spaces that her affinity for the fantasy genre naturally emerges, not as escape, but as a way to give form to inner experience.

Jane Sonnichsen

The Harbinger

Jane is a marketing strategist, social media manager, and publishing professional who completed her Bachelor of Arts in English with a Minor in Professional Writing from UCLA in 2025, graduating Cum Laude with a 3.9 GPA. She is a 2025 Publishing Workshop Fellow with the Los Angeles Review of Books, where she completed intensive training within today’s publishing landscape. Jane has grown brands from the ground up, increasing audience followings by thousands of percent. As a Feature Writer for HerCampus at UCLA, she authored articles for a broad collegiate audience.

Based in Los Angeles, Jane brings this background to expanding the world of Atha, believing fantasy at its best does not ask readers to escape reality but to understand it more fully. She channels that conviction into building a Mystic community where every reader feels they belong.

Hannah Ashton

The Herald

Hannah is a creative storyteller with a passion for history and literature. Her study of Communications at Arizona State University reinforced her interest in how media formats affect the impact stories have on audiences. Raised near the mountains and lakes of the Pacific Northwest, she has a special appreciation for nature. Her experience working in various genres and media such as poetry, creative nonfiction, and journalism led her to a digital multimedia startup in the fast-paced corporate environment of NYC. Her passion for communication and linguistics led her to teach her dog how to speak 60 words in English using a AAC communication device and contribute to the world’s largest canine cognition study.

Hannah’s interest in medieval and renaissance history is echoed in her love for George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. She believes that fantasy and fiction are the ideal spaces for exploring the human experience and reflecting on our own perceptions of reality.