Meet the Team
Renee April
Creative Director
With over a decade of experience in all corners of publishing, Renee founded SkyNation Publishing to seek and uplift stories that need to be told. With a passion for intriguing characters, tense story arcs, and imaginative worlds, Renee oversees the creation of each book, from submission to post-publication.
She works full-time in the video game industry, and has a yearning for whimsy that only books and games can fulfill.
Also find Renee on Twitch.
Ash
Finance Officer
Ash is a chartered accountant with a love of books. While the authors of SkyNation deal with letters, he handles our numbers and manages the boring stuff. Growing up, Ash loved all medieval and Roman history books, growing into fantasy with Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and expanding from there into science fiction.
Nowadays, he loves seeing settings that show how their worlds work without needing to obviously point out the "rules" by weaving it into the story.
Sean Gurr
Business Development Officer
Sean is an ex-business banker specialising in small businesses and start ups, but try not to hold that against him.
Since leaving the finance industry in 2022 he has spent his time running his own business as a full-time content creator on Twitch, Youtube and Tiktok. A multiple panelist at events like TwitchCon he also provides freelance support to fellow creatives and small businesses in the space. Sharing his insights and experience he aims to help them grow and better manage what is for many, their first experience running a business.
In his own time he can be found painting or drawing, getting into empassioned debates about food or simply spending far too much money on Magic the Gathering cards
Alhena
Junior Editor/Intern
Eagerly awaiting graduation day for her Bachelor of Creative Writing (with an eyebrow raising Minor in Mathematics), Alhena has continued with SkyNation Publishing after completing her university placement. Raised by fairy tales, epic fantasies, and perilous science fiction, she has an insatiable craving for new worlds, captivating characters, and daring adventures. She thrives in the spaces between creation, in the questions and tangents of bringing a narrative to life. Driven by curiosity and compassion, she strives to nourish every page trusted before her.
When Alhena doesn’t have her nose in a book, a game, or a half-finished project, you’ll find her living out her knightly and princess dreams being completely chivalrous in a buhurt lyst.
Anneliese Milne
Scientific Consultant - Psychology & Neuroscience
An avid reader with a vivid imagination, Anneliese takes delight in bringing stories to life. She is finishing a Master of Teaching in English and French with a degree in linguistics. Her professional world is steeped in words and everything outside of school is art. Her parents will testify that she has been painting and drawing since she could hold a brush in her hand. When pressed she’ll claim A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles as her favourite novel but she loves fantasy and classics and will read just about anything.
Now that she is finishing her studies she has joined SNP to turn the images authors nurture in their minds into something readers can see and cherish.
Jarrod
Scientific Consultant - Astrophysics & Technology
With a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in astrophysics, Jarrod has spent years exploring the mysteries of the universe, including the discovery of his first exoplanet in 2022. His research in material sciences for air and spacecraft, combined with his work using space-bound satellites to study distant worlds, gives him a well-rounded background in both technology and astronomy.
He joined SNP in early 2025 and quickly found his place helping authors bring scientific depth and realism to their stories. A lifelong sci-fi and fantasy enthusiast, Jarrod loves dissecting the science behind space operas and epic worlds alike.
When he’s not reading or consulting, you’ll find him chatting with friends about new discoveries or getting lost in Tolkien’s legends.
Kurtis
Data Scientist / Scientific Consultant - Biology & Ecology
Kurtis is a lifelong learner with a fascination for science and technology, holding both a Master of Data Science in Machine Learning, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours), First Class.
Kurtis has experience in a wide variety of scientific fields, such as machine learning, environmental science, and biology.
In addition to his love for science, Kurtis is also an avid book-reader and joined SNP in 2024 as a scientific consultant to work with authors on the biology and ecology in their stories; this includes helping authors design ecosystems that complement their worldbuilding. In 2025, he stepped into a data scientist role at SNP, where he now designs and oversees the collection of bibliographic, readership, book sales, and market-behaviour datasets. These data are used in statistical and machine learning methods to generate insights and help the team to decide which direction to take SNP.
Outside of work, Kurtis enjoys reading novels such as Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
See Kurtis' data science portfolio on GitHub.
Lydia Watkins
Junior Editor
As Junior Editor, I love having my sneaky little hands in just about everything. Whether I'm boosting Ren's ego by raving about her writing, helping with content creation, or assisting with manuscript submissions, I love being part of it all.
By day I'm a Reception teacher, and by night you'll usually find me curled up by the fire with my labradors, lost in a romantasy novel. Despite always having a book on the go, my TBR never seems to get any shorter.
Dr Nicholas Mumford
Scientific Consultant - Psychology & Neuroscience
Dr Nick Mumford is a psychologist from Melbourne. He has worked in neuro-injury research, and private practice for the last 14 years.
Nick joined the team in 2026 with the aim of helping SNP continue to portray psychology, neuroscience and mental health accurately, thoughtfully, and respectfully.
Nick is also an avid reader, leaning towards fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, and horror genres. Basically, anything that’s set in another world, or bending ours to the point of breaking, will get his attention…
Nicholas
Administrative assistant
Nicolas is an administrative assistant at SkyNation Publishing, who works closely with the other staff in nearly all aspects of the business, from contacting content creators, handling manuscript submissions, and organising the logistical side of print runs.
After a career in the military, Nick is also our resident military subject matter expert, with a particular interest in guns, tanks, and military tactics.
Patrick Dorning
Codemonkey
With a life-long love of books and a new-found love of coding, Patrick helps keep track of the small stuffs around the website, primarily for the love of the game (well books.)
Paris Thompson
Senior Editor
As a devoted lover of escaping reality Paris always has a book in hand, reading aloud on her phone, or taking shape on her laptop. She is guided by her passion to fine-tune words into works of art by creating a nurturing editing space for authors to prosper and shine. Paris enjoys anything fictional but has a soft spot for romantasy and found family tropes.
When she isn't reading or working on a manuscript, she is learning Italian, playing video games or crocheting.
Also find Paris on pepyourwriting.com.