Who We Are
Megan Negrych obtained her B.A. in Japanese language with a minor in History in 2012, paired with a BA in Theatre Arts. She continued on and was awarded her MA in History in 2014 from the University of Regina. Her research interests include: Shakespeare and adaptation; memory, trauma, and the legacy of the war in Japan; myth and folklore; and the social and cultural history of horror in Japanese pop culture.
When she is not nose deep in a book about one of these topics, she can be found buried under a stack of comic books, fantasy novels, and horror media. She is passionate about creative writing and poetry, with a focus on horror and short fiction. Between stories she can be found slaying monsters in video games, and causing chaos playing tabletop roleplaying games like Shadowrun and Dungeons & Dragons. She has a knack for trivia and memorizing facts and information, which is the ace up her sleeve to keep conversations from becoming too boring or predictable.
With Deja-Visite, Megan hopes to share her passion and knowledge about history, including cultural history, horror history, legends, and myths in a thoughtful, engaging, and informative way. She also plans to explore various facets of creative writing, including forays into serial fiction, poetry, horror, and stream-of-consciousness reflection..
She has been published in The Japanese Encyclopedia of Horror Films (Rowman & Littlefield 2016), and sporadically maintains an online presence through her blog, containing both creative writing and more academically tilted articles (mllemacabre.wordpress.com).
Ariadne Bissett hails from sunny Regina, Saskatchewan. During her misspent youth she lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Trier, Germany, but can’t say that she is still fluent in the language of either. She is currently a stay-at-home mom, is formerly a civil servant, but has mostly been a student. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a Minor in History at the University of Regina. Ariadne’s blinding passions include her longtime membership in Regina’s Halcyon Chamber Choir. She has been involved with Halcyon off and on since her high school days, (which makes her an OT VII level member at least). She also loves musical theatre to an embarrassing degree. If one were to hum the opening lines to any number from Wicked in her presence, there would be a full musical situation within minutes. She likes writing science fiction, and binging science fiction pop culture. Recently Ariadne has gotten into making and researching her own probiotic foods, and is interested in writing about the history of fermentation. Her kitchen-speriments may make an appearance in future issues, if she survives...
Jessica Mitten-Moore adores travelling and exploring the world but when she is not travelling she works and plays in Regina, Saskatchewan. Jessica is passionate about supporting local arts and businesses and loves theatre and music of all kinds. She feels truly in her element while listening to live music. Jessica also enjoys all types of food and whilst travelling tries to discover as many new cuisines as possible. When Jessica has free time at home she likes to spend it in the company of her family and friends or playing board and video games.
Through the University of Regina, Jessica completed an International Studies Degree, a History Degree and a Spanish Certificate in 2012. It was during her time in university that she became more interested in creative writing. However, it was not until recently that she has become more focused on creating articles based on her passions of global travel and local events. Jessica is also attracted to the use of social media and posts updates of her travels under @travelmooreoftheworld on Instagram and Twitter.
Jocelyn Anderson has always been interested in the arts. Whether it was visual arts, theatre, or music, if there was an opportunity to do something creative Jocelyn was there trying it out. After finishing her Bachelor of Music, with a concentration in Trumpet at McGill University, Jocelyn moved back home to Saskatchewan to figure out exactly what a job in the arts might look like. After some searching, she settled on Arts and Culture non-profit administration so she could help bring arts programing to as many people as possible. She currently works as the Development Manager for Globe Theatre.
While working hard to make sure everyone can enjoy the arts, Jocelyn has been known to enjoy making some art herself. On occasion she paints, draws, gets up on stage to sing for theatrical productions, and does all sorts of other crafty things. She is a member of The CTK Players and helps them with their set design and construction. She is also a huge bookworm and tabletop gamer. She plays games like Dungeons and Dragons, Edge of Empire (a Star Wars RPG) and has stacks of games she has kickstarted.
Jocelyn also finds herself learning quite a bit about hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and other outdoorsy endeavours from her husband and his friends, who call themselves Team Junk. At times she feels like a geeky ambassador to the land of the outdoorsman and is interested in writing about both her artsy and geeky pursuits and about the adventures of Team Junk.
Victoria Koops is an emerging writer living in Southeast Saskatchewan, Canada. She primarily writes Young Adult fiction, dealing with all things nerdy and geeky. Her latest work-in-progress, In Real Life, is a coming of age story about two teenagers finding their place in the world through Role Playing Games (RPGs), but beneath themes of gaming, identity, and self-discovery, the reader is also led to explore major societal issues like homophobia, sexuality, and family.
When Victoria isn't writing about nerd life, she's out there living it. She loves all things Bioware, Star Wars, Tolkien, and Harry Potter. She's also a fan of gardening, honeybees, and of course, a good book.
Victoria is excited to be striking out with the Deja-Visite team and hopes to expand her writing to include magazine articles and meaningful prairie short stories. For more information, please check out Victoria’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. She can also be reached at victoria.koops@gmail.com.
Kerri Desgagné has been in the food industry for seven years, and is currently working on obtaining her Red Seal in the culinary arts. On top of that, she is also a mom of two wonderful boys, and is making sure that their bellies are filled with delicious food to fuel them.
She is always thinking of some new recipe to try and tinker with food, using her family as guinea pigs. They have not complained about trying her unique creations yet, but still provide plenty of honest feedback. When she finds time, she likes to relax with baking, and tries to get the kids involved as much as possible.
Kerri has also earned a certification in fashion design, which gives her an eye for colour and helps to provide inspiration when decorating desserts.
Kerri is excited about contributing tasty recipes to Deja-Viste and working with the team. She is looking forward to bringing what she has learned to the magazine and its readers.
Jonathan Seidle holds two bachelor’s degrees: in Psychology and Computer Science, as well as a minor in French. For the past six years, he has been employed as a software developer, currently at ISM Canada in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Between degrees, Jonathan spent seven months working as an English Language Assistant at a high school in France. He used his off hours to tour the country and learn as much French as possible, and still strives to practice the language when an opportunity presents itself.
Jonathan lends a hand to the Deja-Visite team by proofreading the final drafts before they are published. Having a fresh set of eyes look at the articles can be useful to achieve a polished product.
Much like his spouse Ariadne, Jonathan also sings with the Halcyon Chamber Choir and loves musical theatre, even playing drums for productions in Regina when the opportunity arises. He also likes to hit the gym, or just relax with some Netflix or casual gaming.
Randene Shiplett is your classic hopeless romantic gal born in Saskatchewan, now living out in Nova Scotia, who enjoys stargazing and long walks on the beach. She is passionate about recycling, water conservation, and protecting the environment, so those long walks are accompanied by a kit of her own making of garbage bags, protective gloves, and a long pole for getting to hard to reach trash that has gone astray. Her days are a mix of road trips looking for interesting people, places, and things to photograph, painting those photos or making up colourful abstracts, reading and writing by the ocean, and trying to remember to eat or drink something occasionally. Her nights are divided between open mic nights performing piano and comedy, generally being the only hearing person throwing darts with a Deaf Darts league, and working for a not-for-profit that transitions people from mental institutions to independent living. Randene enjoys meeting people and getting to know them in English, French, and American Sign Language (with a bit of a Maritime Sign Language accent). She is currently trying to learn Portuguese and Spanish with dreams of learning 7 others.
Rachel Popa has worked as a software developer in Regina, Saskatchewan for five years. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Regina in 2013. Currently, she is employed by Farm Credit Canada where she works on their lending applications. Rachel’s professional interests include mobile app development, AR in real-world applications, and home automation.
In writing for Deja-Visite she hopes to promote software development in Saskatchewan by showcasing products that are made within the province. Additionally, Rachel’s work will focus on self-guided learning and professional growth. She also maintains the website.
When she is away from her laptop Rachel enjoys spending time with her fiancé and two little dogs. She loves playing board games with her friends, as well as camping, hiking, and fishing in the summer. Rachel also enjoys attending local fine arts events and kicking back with a good sci-fi novel.