Teena Apeles is a writer and editor who divides her time between Los Angeles and Montreal. She has contributed to several publications, including Audrey, BUST, Giant Robot, Helio, LA Weekly, make/shift, Pasadena Weekly and SOMA. She enjoys covering subcultures and unsung heroes, but she has also written extensively on art, film, design, lifestyles, history and travel. Apeles has interviewed more than 200 people over her career, from renowned chef Joachim Splichal and video game designer Cliffy B to pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and former White House doctor Connie Mariano.

She is the author of the teen book Women Warriors: Adventures from History’s Greatest Female Fighters (Seal Press, 2004), which features women warriors of ancient mythology as well as modern women who grace today’s playing fields, screens, comic books and political arenas. Her work has also appeared in the anthologies Father Poems (Anvil, 2004), Bare Your Soul: The Thinking Girl’s Guide to Enlightenment (Seal Press, 2002) and Geography of Rage: Remembering the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 (Really Great Books, 2002).

As an editor, Apeles has worked for public-television station KCET, book publisher TASCHEN, literary organization PEN Center USA, arts-and-culture magazine SOMA, clothing brand Freshjive and the City of Lakewood. She is especially proud of publishing the unique collection The Deck of Chance (Spin the Wheel Press, 1999), which she edited with writer Andrea Richards. Praised by Art on Paper magazine as “urban impressionism,” the deck of playing cards explores accident, fortune, luck and the haphazard in daily life through poetry, short stories, commentary and artwork by 34 emerging writers and artists.

Apeles is currently working on a graphic novel set in Los Angeles’ gritty McArthur Park and a children’s book set in a wondrous place where hair — or the lack thereof — brings people together. She is also looking forward to publishing another edition of The Deck of Chance in 2009 to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.