Kat Avila has an MA in Communication from the University of California, San Diego. She is a freelance writer who covers Latino and Asian American arts and entertainment. Recently, she spent a year in Tokyo, Japan, to research Japan's animation and comic book industries and the all-female Takarazuka Revue Company (closest equivalent is the all-male Kabuki theatre). Born in Japan, she grew up in the Pacific Rim as a dependent of a US serviceman. Her father wrote and illustrated the book Mexican Ghost Tales of the Southwest. She calls Southern California home, though she hasn't quite settled down yet.