Athena lives in beautiful Gisborne, New Zealand with her husband Marly and their daughter. 

Immigrating from Russia to New Zealand in 2001, Athena grew up in a household full of bigotry, racism, and hateful ideology. Given the chance to move out on her own at 18 she leapt for it, putting an ad out on deviantart.com seeking a flatmate to share a house with in Auckland. Her future husband reached out to her on just as much of a whim, and they moved in together a month later.

They began dating the moment they moved in together in 2007, and continued to date even as Marly came to terms with being transgender and began to transition from female to male. Athena supported him every step of the way and they wed in 2014 and welcomed their daughter to the family in 2015. 

Despite several attempts to connect across the years Athena has chosen to remove herself from her biological roots and has embraced a found family of misfits and weirdos, and has been embraced as 'one of us' by Marly's mum and siblings.

In her free time, when she isn't writing, Athena is a talented artist with a unique style that is in high demand. She proudly illustrated every image in The Sons Of Echidna, and her art has been featured in several published works.

Today she celebrates a sense of belonging in a diverse and happy group that love her passion and creativity.

Athena is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, is of Ainu descent, and supports a free Ukraine.