Staff at Pixelberry



Get to know the people behind the game, plotting the twists and turns of the stories we love so much. This page lists in alphabetical order by first name the past and current writers, both permanent employees and freelancers confirmed to have contributed to a story. If any staff and/or writers have been missed, feel free to add them into the database.

Appreciation
Thanks to Tumblr user cloudywithachanceofdiscourse for compiling parts of the information used on this page. Also thanks to ajcraycray from Reddit for helping Fearless Diva. Other sources are Pixelberry's Blogs, the writers' Twitter accounts, and pocketgamer.biz.

Alice Lin
Positions: QA DLC Story Team Lead

In the Get to know the QA Team blogpost, Alice says the the funniest thing she caught in Choices was one in HSS Book 1 where your character ended up bald.

LinkedIn: profile


 * Bloodbound
 * High School Story



Andrew Shvarts
Positions: Lead Designer, Senior Writer

According to his homepage, Andrew Shvarts was born in the Soviet Union, and is color-blind as well as tone-deaf. He worked on the apps High School Story and Hollywood U. Andrew also published a book series.

Twitter: @Shvartacus

Homepage: [//www.andrewshvarts.com http://www.andrewshvarts.com]

Instagram: shvartacus

Linked in: profile


 * Bachelorette Party
 * Blades of Light and Shadow
 * Bloodbound (Book Lead)
 * Big Sky Country
 * Endless Summer
 * Most Wanted
 * Red Carpet Diaries
 * Veil of Secrets

Bernice Wong
Positions: Junior UX/UI Designer

Bernice tweeted her reaction to users commenting on the new user interface.

Twitter: @bernicekahay

Linked in: profile

Cosette "Coco" Lachenal Gonzales
Positions: Creative Lead, Story Lead, External Story Lead, Game Writer, Manager, Mentor, Hiring; formerly Junior Game Writer

Coco joined the team of Rules of Engagement in the middle of Book 1. For the writing, Coco drew inspiration from an uncle who had briefly worked as a pianist on a cruise ship. In July 2017, in the blog post about Book 3, Coco mentioned being a millennial and having graduated recently.

Website: https://www.cocolachenal.com/about

Linked in: profile


 * Perfect Match (Book 1 and 2)
 * Platinum
 * Red Carpet Diaries (Book 1 - 3; brainstorm team / editor)
 * Rules of Engagement (Book 1 - 4)
 * Passport to Romance (brainstorm team)
 * Hot Couture
 * A Very Scandalous Proposal (editor)

Danica Pok
Positions: Technical Producer II, formerly Project Manager

LinkedIn: profile


 * Open Heart
 * Passport to Romance

Daniel Chamberlin
Positions: Technical Producer I, previously Junior Producer

LinkedIn: profile


 * Class Act

Daniel Shvarts
Positions: Producer I, previously Junior Producer, previously Intern

As revealed in a blog post on January 28, 2020, Daniel is a huge Dungeons & Dragons fan. He even DMs a campaign at the office.

LinkedIn: profile


 * Baby Bump
 * Blades of Light and Shadow (Technical Producer and Designer)
 * Platinum (Music Director)



Eric Dean
Positions: Senior Writer, Content Lead

As revealed by himself in a blog post on April 12, 2017, Eric was originally a writer, story lead and producer on Pixelberry's second app Hollywood U. In a blog post about Baby Bump, he states that he drew inspiration from his wife's pregnancy: "I wanted to tell a story that captured that feeling of someone doing EVERYTHING while undergoing some serious physical transformations."


 * America's Most Eligible (Acting Consultant)
 * Baby Bump
 * It Lives In The Woods
 * Red Carpet Diaries
 * The Crown & The Flame
 * The Elementalists (Acting Consultant)



Henry Shao
Positions: Quality Assurance / Player Specialist Manager

On September 23, 2015, Henry wrote about his experience as QA Manager at Pixelberry Studios.

Linked in: profile



Jennifer Young
Positions: Studio Manager; Studio Director, Senior Writer

A blog post about the release of The Royal Romance revealed that Kara and Jennifer have been best friends since high school. In another blog post about Rules of Engagement, Book 3, Jennifer mentions that she grew up with a sister and several cousins. She also talks about her family being Chinese and having grown up in the Philippines. Jennifer started writing at age 6, but originally planned to become a doctor. She used some of her own dating experience for writing Rules of Engagement. Jennifer is also the writer who came up with the name of Hartfeld University, as revealed in a blog post about the finale of The Senior. She originally wrote for the High School Story app. Jennifer Young and her colleague Megan Schwarz were interviewed about it in an article by techcrunch.com, a few years before Choices was released.

Twitter: @SimplyMissYoung

Linked in: profile


 * Rules of Engagement
 * The Freshman
 * The Royal Romance



Jessica Yang
Positions: Community Manager, Game Writer

Jessica is Asian American and attended a Chinese school as a child, as revealed in a blog post. She is an Earth-att. In 2015, she was interviewed for an article on her position as Intern Manager.

Twitter: @aprication

Linked in: profile


 * Bloodbound
 * The Elementalists
 * The Senior

Jessie Phillips
Positions: Junior Tech Producer, formerly QA DLC Tester

As revealed in a blog post on January 28, 2020, Jessie's favorite fantasy book is Uprooted by Naomi Novik and favorite game is The Dragon Age series.

LinkedIn: profile


 * Blades of Light and Shadow (QA DLC Tester)

Jilly Gagnon
Positions: Senior Game Writer, Book Lead

LinkedIn: profile


 * Open Heart
 * Red Carpet Diaries (Book Lead)
 * Bachelorette Party (Book Lead)

Jonathan A.
Positions: QA DLC Function Tester

As revealed in a blog post on January 28, 2020, Jon's favorite fantasy game is Divinity: Original Sin 2.

LinkedIn: profile


 * Blades of Light and Shadow

Josephine Sun
Positions: QA Story Tester

LinkedIn: profile


 * High School Story (Book 3)
 * Class Act



Kara Loo
Positions: Senior Writer, Chief Operating Officer

A blog post about the release of The Royal Romance revealed that Kara and Jennifer have been best friends since high school. Kara's favorite fairy tale is Sleeping Beauty. In another blog post, she revealed that she is half Chinese and grew up in a big family (she is the youngest of four, with an older brother and two older sisters). She mentioned that she drew inspiration for the Rules of Engagement series from her own family experience.

Instagram: karawrites

Twitter: @ninjaribbon

Linked in: profile


 * Rules of Engagement
 * The Crown & The Flame
 * The Royal Romance

Kristina Lum
Positions: Story QA Tester

In the Meet the QA team blogpost, Kristina mentions her favorite memory was baking several dozen shortbread cookies (my great grandma’s recipe) and by the end of the day all the cookies were eaten or boxed up to take home and several people were asking for the recipe.

LinkedIn: profile

Luke Georgette
Positions: Creative Product Manager, Choices China for 1001 by Tencent, Lead Writer, Editor

In 2015, Pixelberry and Pocketgamer.biz partnered to publish a series of articles. Luke, in the position as Story Lead, wrote about how he got into the job and gave insight into working at Pixelberry, as can be read here. According to his twitter account info, Luke had also previously worked on the apps High School Story Prime, Hollywood U, and Cause of Death.

Twitter: @lukegtt (deleted)

Linked in: profile


 * Endless Summer (Book 1 and 2)
 * Most Wanted
 * Open Heart
 * Platinum
 * Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance

Meagan Malone
Positions: Remote Game Writer


 * Desire & Decorum
 * The Royal Romance



Oliver Miao
Positions: CEO and Co-founder

Oliver shares his insights and inspirations behind the older Pixelberry game, High School Story, on pocketgamer.biz:
 * How Bullying Came to HSS
 * How Pixelberry Started
 * Marketing and User Acquisition

LinkedIn: profile



Rachel Zilberg
Positions: Junior Game Writer

Rachel Zilberg, alias Rachel Z., describes theatre as her home in high school. She went to a small all-girls' Dominican school. The nuns had to approve of all productions and okayed their production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as revealed in a blog post about High School Story: Class Act.

Twitter: @razilberg

Linked in: profile


 * #LoveHacks
 * High School Story
 * Class Act

Rose Behar
Positions: QA Tester

LinkedIn: profile


 * Blades of Light and Shadow



Royal McGraw
Positions: Executive Producer

In a blog post dating back to August 31, 2017, Royal mentioned that he received "The Smithsonian Guide to Comic Book Comics" as a birthday present from his grandfather when he was little. Royal has been a comic fan ever since and reads them voraciously. Royal mentions having a wife as well as a superpower - Royal demagnetizes credit cards and constantly shocks himself as well as other people. He also worked on Pixelberry's other apps, Hollywood U and High School Story, as revealed on his website.

Twitter: @royalmcgraw

Website: [//www.royalmcgraw.com/ http://www.royalmcgraw.com/]

Linked in: profile


 * Hero

Amanda Yau
Positions: Junior Art Producer

LinkedIn: profile


 * Baby Bump

Danielle Oyales
Positions: Art Lead, Senior Artist

As revealed in a blog post on January 28, 2020, Danielle's favorite fantasy book and game are Final Fantasy IX and Tactics!

LinkedIn: profile


 * Across the Void
 * Wishful Thinking
 * Blades of Light and Shadow
 * The Nanny Affair

Elyssa Evans
Positions: Art Lead

LinkedIn: profile


 * Bloodbound
 * Class Act

Heather Capelli
Positions: Art Lead

LinkedIn: profile


 * Bloodbound

Julie Kim
Positions: Senior 2D Artist

LinkedIn: profile


 * A Courtesan of Rome (Art Lead)
 * Open Heart

Stella Lee
Positions: Art Producer

LinkedIn: profile


 * High School Story
 * Open Heart
 * Platinum
 * Blades of Light and Shadow
 * The Nanny Affair

Ali

 * Desire & Decorum

Ariel Giacobbe
Ariel's favorite genre is Science Fiction. She is a massive fan of Star Wars. In a blog post about Across the Void, she lists some of her favorite Science Fiction works.

Twitter: @ArielGiacobbe


 * Across the Void
 * Rules of Engagement
 * Witness: A Bodyguard Romance

Brandon Carbaugh
Brandon is a former writer for Pixelberry.

Twitter: @BMCarbaugh

Website: https://brandoncarbaugh.com/

Linked in: profile


 * It Lives (16 chapters between the two books; Writer/Designer)
 * Mother of the Year (8 chapters; Writer)
 * The Crown & The Flame (Book 3, 6 chapters; Junior Writer)

Bre'Anna

 * America's Most Eligible

Brianna Lei
In a blog post, Brianna revealed that her favorite acting experience was playing Othello.

Twitter: @Brii_U

Linked in: profile


 * High School Story
 * Class Act

Bree
Bree is a freelance writer for Pixelberry.

Twitter: @mostlybree


 * Bloodbound: Dark Solstice
 * Distant Shores

Cat
Cat mentioned in a blog post that she grew up in a small town and moved to the big city to attend college. For her, holidays are about family and holiday movie marathons.

Twitter: @catherinevalman


 * America's Most Eligible
 * Home for the Holidays
 * Mother of the Year



Chelsa Lauderdale
Chelsa started working at Pixelberry in 2016, as revealed in a blog post about The Elementalists. She is an Air-Att and a Libra. She loves writing characters that are difficult to get along with and gives Beckett as an example. In a blog post about the finale of The Senior, she mentioned that she worked on Hollywood U before moving on to Choices.

Twitter: @slagerinn

Linked in: profile


 * Bloodbound
 * It Lives
 * The Elementalists
 * The Freshman
 * The Sophomore
 * Queen B
 * Sunkissed

Coral Nardandrea
A blog post revealed that Coral is a Mass Effect fan and grew up watching plenty of science fiction.

Twitter: @thresholdxgirl

Linked in: profile


 * Across the Void
 * Rules of Engagement

Elizabeth

 * America's Most Eligible
 * The Sophomore
 * The Junior
 * The Senior

Emi Moore
Twitter: @MooreScribes

Linked in: profile


 * Baby Bump (Lead writer)
 * Blades of Light and Shadow (Brainstorming)
 * Bloodbound
 * The Elementalists

Emily Kelley
When asked about theater experience in a blog post about High School Story: Class Act, Emily revealed that she suffered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder. She met her husband in one of her classes.

Twitter: @thatemilykelley

Linked in: profile


 * Class Act
 * Witness: A Bodyguard Romance

Eshani Surya
Twitter: @__eshani

Website: https://www.eshani-surya.com/


 * Passport to Romance

Iris

 * The Heist: Monaco

Jake Dardzinski
Linked in: profile


 * A Courtesan of Rome

Jaylee

 * Perfect Match
 * Class Act

Jeffrey Herdman
According to his co-writers, Jeffrey has a wacky sense of humor and is responsible for jokes about horses, hats, and poodles in The Royal Romance. He has been writing for Madeleine ever since her introduction in Rules of Engagement, Book 2, as revealed in a blog post about the release of The Royal Romance, Book 2.

Twitter: @Jeffers_saannnn

Linked in: profile


 * The Royal Romance

Jen Allaway
Twitter: @AllawayJ


 * Endless Summer
 * The Heist: Monaco

Jennifer Hepler
Jennifer B. Hepler, alias JBH, attended Latin club in high school and has been interested in Rome ever since, as revealed in a blog post about A Courtesan of Rome. On June 4, 2019, she tweeted that she had accepted a position at Storyscape and left Pixelberry after finishing A Courtesan of Rome. After Storyscape's closure, she returned to Pixelberry.

Twitter: @JBHepler

Linked in: profile


 * A Courtesan of Rome
 * Desire & Decorum
 * Save the Date

Jilly Gagnon
Twitter: @jillygagnon

Linked in: profile


 * Bachelorette Party
 * Red Carpet Diaries
 * Veil of Secrets

John

 * The Elementalists
 * Wishful Thinking

Kathleen Conahan
Kathleen mentioned in a blog post that she loves the fantasy genre. Her favorite book is Sabriel by Garth Nix. She says she was "raised on a diet of Grimm fairy tales and Greek legends". She loves writing "super long, flowery dialogues", but Eric was always there to "keep her in check".

Linked in: profile


 * Big Sky Country
 * It Lives
 * Mother of the Year
 * Nightbound
 * The Crown & The Flame
 * The Haunting of Braidwood Manor
 * Wishful Thinking

Kelsie Mhoon
Twitter: @kdlunas

Linked in: profile


 * America's Most Eligible



Keyan Mohsenin
According to his LinkdIn page, Keyan is a former writer for Pixelberry. He started working with Pixelberry in 2013 and left the company in June 2018.

Twitter: @restynkeyan


 * Hero

Lana Popovic Harper
Lana is an external scriptwriter.

Twitter: @LanaPopovicLit

Linked in: profile


 * Nightbound

Lisa Brunette
According to her website, Lisa Brunette wrote the script for Veil of Secrets in 2017 with Andrew being her editor. She is not directly employed by Pixelberry.


 * Veil of Secrets



Max Doty
Max is one of Pixelberry's Head Writers, currently Head of Content. The day after the book release of High School Story, Book 1, Pixelberry released a blog post, confirming that Max was originally a writer for Surviving High School. He also worked as a writer for HSS Prime, which is Pixelberry's name for the original High School Story app. Max started working on the team back when he was at college. He is the namesake of High School Story character Max, but they are opposite in temperament. Aspiring writers should contact him through Linked in.

Twitter: @max_doty

Linked in: profile


 * The Freshman
 * High School Story
 * Class Act
 * Passport to Romance
 * Veil of Secrets

Maya Poulson
LinkedIn: profile


 * Queen B
 * The Elementalists
 * The Freshman
 * The Sophomore
 * Blades of Light and Shadow

Megan Schwarz
In a blog post about Home for the Holidays, Megan mentioned that she grew up in Southern California and that she has an extended family, including several siblings, cousins, and nieces. Together with Jennifer Young, she was working on the High School Story app and was interviewed in an article by techcrunch.com. She also worked on the Hollywood U app.

Linked in: profile


 * America's Most Eligible
 * Home for the Holidays
 * LoveHacks
 * The Nanny Affair

Natasha
Natasha described herself as a Disney geek in a blog post about the release of Perfect Match, and as an Indonesian rebel in a blog post about the Perfect Match finale.


 * Perfect Match

Nicky Silber
Twitter: @vesilber1389


 * It Lives

Olivia Pourzia
Twitter: @opourzia

Linked in: profile


 * America's Most Eligible
 * The Royal Romance



Owen Javellana
Owen is one of Pixelberry's Senior Writers. He states on his Twitter account that he is Filipino American and that his mother constantly switched between speaking Tagalog and Cebuano.

Twitter: @aceofsquares

Linked in: profile


 * Bachelorette Party
 * Big Sky Country
 * Bloodbound
 * Endless Summer
 * Hero
 * LoveHacks
 * Most Wanted
 * Perfect Match
 * Rules of Engagement
 * The Heist: Monaco
 * The Royal Heir



Peyton Thomas
Peyton is a freelance writer for Pixelberry. As explained on his Tumblr, he is a freelance contractor who sold his scripts to Pixelberry for them to alter and modify. This means that his scripts and what was released may differ from each other.

Twitter: @peytonology


 * Bachelorette Party
 * Platinum

Rachel Steinkamp
Twitter @RachelTheTall

Linked in: profile


 * Desire & Decorum
 * High School Story
 * Class Act

Sara
In college, Sara angsted about what she wanted, as revealed in a blog post about The Senior finale. She spent some years with moving from one city to another and had several barista gigs before she joined Pixelberry. On some occasions, she dressed similarly to The Freshman Main Character and dyed her hair in the same rainbow colors.

Twitter: @_sara_tripp


 * The Sophomore
 * The Junior
 * The Senior

Sarah "Saran" Walker
Saran is a "wildlife enthusiast" and loves Australia and therefore found it inevitable to include many animals, including emus, in Wishful Thinking, as revealed in a blog post about the book release.


 * Linked in: profile


 * The Freshman
 * The Sophomore
 * The Junior
 * The Senior
 * Wishful Thinking

Shayn Nicely
Shayn is a freelance writer. In her profile, she calls herself a "junior writer" for Pixelberry and states how much she contributed in each story or series. Her contributions are noted below in parenthesis.

Linked in: profile


 * The Junior (team effort)
 * The Senior (team effort)
 * America's Most Eligible (Book 1 premium scene contributor)
 * Red Carpet Diaries (Book 2 premium scene contributor)
 * Sunkissed (scene contributor)
 * Wishful Thinking (major writer)
 * The Elementalists (Book 2 premium scene contributor)
 * The Royal Heir (contributor)
 * The Nanny Affair (primary writer)

Taage Storey
Taage is a former writer for Pixelberry. Taage is a fan of the works of Philip K. Dick and grew up regularly watching Bladerunner (which is based on one of his stories), as revealed in a blog post about Across the Void.

Twitter: @storeytell


 * Across the Void
 * Endless Summer

Taylor Cyr
Linked in: profile


 * Perfect Match

Wendy Briggs
In their blog post dating back to December 8, 2016, Pixelberry introduced Wendy as a new writer. She was originally a fan of Pixelberry's app High School Story and moved from Washington, D.C. to the San Francisco Bay Area. She started working as a writer on The Freshman. In another blog post, Wendy mentioned that she has always been a theatre kid and that this influences her writing. As of January 2020, she is currently a freelance writer.

Twitter: @WendybirdTweets

Linked in: profile


 * The Freshman
 * High School Story
 * Class Act
 * Save the Date

Outsourced Art Studios

 * iLogos Game Studios
 * Volmi Games