Host of That Pretentious Book Club and The Scripturient Society

Ash “Wheezy” Leigh O'Rourke grew up in North Texas believing books were as good as magic and losing herself in fictional worlds every chance she got, both by reading and writing obsessively. This love for the fictional was only enhanced by one effervescent and charming cousin-by-friendship, Kendall Shaw. After growing up (at least physically) and moving around the country a bit, Ash received a B.A. in English Literature from Grand Canyon University, where she met the socially enigmatic and magnificent writer, Karissa Harlow. In her free time, Ash adores annoying her rogue of a husband and is resigned to chastising her two insane felines—don’t worry, they deserve it. When not reading, writing, or editing and promoting for Story Sirens Production Studio, she can be found mermaiding, freediving, and running social media for That Pretentious Book Club—although she accepted that she will never be hip with the kids. She is deeply devoted to the em dash.

Host of That Pretentious Book Club

Reader, writer, Keanu-stan, and would-be girlfriend of Billy the Kid, Kendall “Spoons” Shaw wears many hats (and, boy, does she wear them well). A devotee of storytelling, her tastes range widely from young adult fantasy to classic literature and back again, with a particular soft spot for Charles Dickens (no matter how long-winded Ash accuses him of being). Despite being more than qualified to host a variety of intellectual discourses on the value of the written word thanks to a B.A. in Creative Writing from St. Edward’s University, she prefers to fan-girl over the best that modern fiction has to offer, from objectively adorable love interests to the newest movie adaptations and more. In her free time, Kendall can be found adventuring with friends, singing to Broadway soundtracks, unofficially reviewing Keanu Reeves movies, and writing great works. Her favorite punctuation mark is the semicolon, as it is far superior to other punctuation marks.

Host of The Scripturient Society

Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Karissa “Lewis/Katherine” Harlow is a desert rat who fully embodies the recently granted moniker 'the cactus of social interaction,' leaving plenty of time to nurture her passion for young adult literature. Fantasy and the elements of world building are her first love and, with that in mind, she majored in English Literature at Grand Canyon University, where she was twice published in their literary review. A third short story of hers also received an honorable mention in the L Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest in 2018. She loves the semicolon, CS Lewis, her 9-book fantasy WIP, and the Oxford comma; outside the bookish world, she doesn't love much besides candles, cinematic music, and nostalgic knick-knacks. Oh, and owls. As co-host of The Scripturient Society, she handles (most of) the social media for the podcast.

Host of That Pretentious Book Club

Myrissa “Gino” Yokie was the kind of kid who always had her nose in a book and her heart somewhere deep under the sea. An unapologetic bibliophile with a flair for the theatrical, she earned her B.A. in Musical Theater. When she's not busy dazzling as a professional mermaid or orchestrating unforgettable events on land, she's co-hosting the delightfully un-serious literary podcast That Pretentious Book Club with Ash O’Rourke, whom she met in the most magical of ways—at a mermaid freedive retreat, naturally—and the two have been making waves ever since, both on air and in the water. Equal parts charm and chaos, Myrissa brings sparkle, sarcasm, and a deep love for fantasy (both fictional and real) to everything she touches.