DAVID A. GEORGE
aUthor / publisher
The majority of my working life has been dedicated to becoming a lumberjack. There were three years where I trained and competed as an MMA fighter. I transitioned from fighter to promoter overnight, which led to six years as a cage-fighting promoter and MMA matchmaker in a world of organized fighting in New England, USA. In 2012 I spun out of control after being diagnosed with cancer. I decided to turn a fourth bedroom in our old farmhouse into a writing, filmmaking, and publishing studio to create and complete a video enhanced story The Year It All Made Sense.
Today I spend most of my time with my three girls. My wife Danielle andour two daughter’s in Southern New Hampshire.
JEFF MCGURREN
VIDEO EDITOR / POST-PRODUCER
Jeffrey McGurren has worked in the Television post production world since 2007. After a 4 year stint working in Los Angeles as a part of Emmy winning and Emmy nominated edit teams for BRAVO's Top Chef and Project Runway, Jeff moved back to his home town in Massachusetts. While working for a reality TV production company out of Boston, he started his own graphic design and custom t-shirt business on the side - Articulate Creation and Wicked Sick Tees. As the businesses grew so did his desire to work full-time for himself. He now owns and operates a custom clothing and graphic design shop out of southern New Hampshire and produces video projects under the name Articulate Video.
DEREK WAKEEN
MUSIC ProducEr / DESIGNER
Derek Wakeen is a professional music producer from the greater Boston area with a parallel career in design. He owns and operates Brix Sound Lab, a production studio that makes original music for films and creative projects like The Year It All Made Sense. His music can be streamed on Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora under the moniker Olli Brix - a personal project that fuses art and music under one name.
His design career is anchored in branding for outdoor companies and has professionally worked on projects for MINI, Converse, Adidas and IBM in the past, in addition to agency experience with BEAM Interactive, 36creative, Sapient Nitro, Isobar, and GPJ.
KEVIN CALLAHAN
DEVELOPER / DESIGNER
Kevin Callahan is the owner of BNGO Books, a New York City print and digital design and production studio. His experience with new and evolving technology—as big expectations meet real-world possibilities—gives him great perspective in creating reflowable, fixed-layout, and multitouch e-books. He trains staffs at large publishing houses and small presses, as well as self-published authors, in print to digital workflow, emphasizing the value of early editorial, design, and production planning. Kevin is a faculty member of Pace University’s Masters in Publishing program, teaching desktop and digital publishing. He is editor-in-chief of epubsecrets.com, and is part of the vibrant #eprdctn community.
STACEY D. ATKINSON
COPY EDITOR
Stacey is an award-winning author and freelance editor. She began Mirror Image Publishing in 2012 when she decided to independently publish her debut novel Stuck. She learned so much along the way, especially when it came to editing, publishing, and marketing a book, that she began offering her services to other authors, bloggers, and the business community. Stacey is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and serves on the national executive council of Editors Canada.
PATRICIA MACDONALD
PROOFREADER
Patricia MacDonald has been a freelance editor since 2000, focusing on copyediting and proofreading sports books and memoirs, guides for athletes and coaches, and textbooks for physical education and kinesiology students. She is a member of Editors Canada and serves on the association's national executive council.
Melissa George
ASSISTANT Editor
Melissa started her journey as a graduate of Merrimack College. She then dedicated her life and career to the arts: performance, dance, circus, and creative writing. Melissa's favorite quote is "If you are going through hell, keep going." She tends to live by this philosophy on a fast pace and refuses to give up being surprised by what life has to offer her. Her greatest teacher has been her wild and vibrant toddler.