Jersey girl Casey Brienza currently splits her time between the worlds of academia and otakudom. Regarded as one of the top manga experts in the United States, she has frequently lectured and published on the American manga publishing industry in academic contexts. Her other professional writings can be found with Anime Insider, Protoculture Addicts, Otaku USA, and AnimeNewsNetwork.com. Casey plans on getting her Ph.D. and hopes one day to beat the odds and become a university professor. She is hopelessly addicted to books and websurfing and therefore feels right at home anyplace she has access to a high-speed Internet connection and ample printed matter.