Hello, my name is Maya O. Calica, a freelance writer/editor/storyteller based in Auckland, New Zealand. Given my job description, my “office” changes daily: from the pink rose-fringed studio next to our garage, the local library, to just about every coffee shop that has free Wi-Fi and serves a fantastic flat white. Just a few things about me… • I love magazines I’ve worked on five magazines across two cities (my hometown of Manila and Singapore), and have been privileged to have refined my skills with the best in the industry. During my stint with Cosmopolitan Philippines, I learned about the biz from my talented editor, Myrza Sison—an education that prepared me for a career in editing teen titles Candy and Seventeen Philippines, working as a lifestyle and beauty ed for the fashion magazine Female (Singapore) under editor Susanah Cheok, and being at the helm of Smile, Cebu Pacific’s exciting inflight magazine. • I’m also a published author. I still get a bit shy telling this to new friends. But it is the truth. My first book, The Breakup Diaries (Summit Books), is a chick lit novel published in 2003 (it has since been made into a five-episode TV special for ABC 5′s Love Books) and republished last year. My second book, Undercover Taitai (Marshall Cavendish) came out in late 2008, and is about a reluctant book editor-turned-undercover agent (with a Chihuahua as a sidekick). My latest book, Good Night, Lala (Adarna House) is written by my late mother, Corazon O. Calica, and edited and illustrated with sewn illustrations by me. • Being my own boss has its perks. I have the time and freedom to try new things now that I am a freelancer. Since I moved to Auckland, I’ve fallen in love with sewing, crafting and illustrating, tried my hand at gardening, pursued cooking (I enjoy trying new recipes for my husband and stepdaughters), and even teach Sunday school to kids at my church. I sail with my husband, and have also taken up driving. And of course, there is the joy of traveling—whether to a nearby winery or jetting off to cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and the many provinces of my country, the Philippines.