Bayana has identified with being a nerd since she was 6 years old when she opened her first Harry Potter book. She is in the process of writing her first novel/series, and often finds herself committing to things that are much larger and time-consuming than she originally expects them to be (this novel being one of them). In the past few years, Bayana has become increasingly interested in Black feminism both within a historical and contemporary context. She was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area; she was raised on great international food, the hyphy movement, and the word “hella.”