Meet the Team

The Team Behind the Mission

CSM(R) - Daniel R. Auxier, SR.

CSM(R) - Daniel R. Auxier, SR.

Creative Director

Spent twenty‑eight years in the United States Army, finishing his career as a Command Sergeant Major. His service touched missions at home and overseas, and beyond the ribbons and rank, Daniel is a teacher and a storyteller; he writes about duty, leadership, and the quiet moments that define a soldier’s life.

Papa

Papa

Chief Morale Officer (CMO)

Papa began life as a grumpy goose but, after a miraculous recovery, discovered the power of kindness. He now dedicates himself to honking encouragement, keeping spirits high, and reminding us that every project deserves patience and a little joy. Papa is living proof that second chances make the best leaders.

Marcos Monteiro

Marcos Monteiro

Business Director

An entrepreneur, builder, and unabashed sci‑fi fan. With a background in making complex operations feel effortless, he loves listening to others' stories and turning what he learns into better experiences. As a Brazilian, a husband, and a dad, he brings that heart to everything we publish.

Andrea Dourado

Andrea Dourado

Book Cover Designer

A graphic designer with almost two decades of experience in print and digital media. Originally from Brazil, she blends a vibrant, multicultural perspective with a deep passion for brand storytelling. She lives in Orlando with her husband, two sons, and a little Maltese called Aba.

Rasson Elliott

Rasson Elliott

Digital Marketing Director

A U.S. Army veteran and technology specialist with nine years of service. He leverages 15 years in sales and seven in advertising to drive measurable results and put our work in front of the right readers.

Lisa-Marie Schreeb

Lisa-Marie Schreeb

Illustrator

Born and raised in Wiesbaden, Germany, a Media/Graphic Designer with a passion for turning fantasy into reality. Married and currently in the process of relocating to the United States with the aspiration to build a creative career abroad in the near future.

Courtney Griffith

Courtney Griffith

Book Editor

An avid reader and lifelong lover of the written word, Courtney earned her B.A. in English Literature from Salisbury University in Maryland and spent more than 20 years as a licensed optician. Working as a freelance editor she has partnered with NY Times bestselling authors and indie writers alike. When she's not turning prattle into polished prose, Courtney spends her time raising three equally bookish children.

Melissa Lavallee

Melissa Lavallee

Book Editor

Born and raised in Maine, she now calls Georgia home. She is married with two children, and got an English degree from the University of Maine so she could edit other people's work.

Marie Ballerini-Hougnon

Marie Ballerini-Hougnon

Narrator

After 18 years as a paralegal, Marie enlisted in the U.S. Army at 38, becoming a cyber threat analyst for the Department of State. A gifted musician, she has performed the national anthem for countless military events and alongside renowned artists like Roger Waters, Sheryl Crow, and Tom Morello.

Our Mission

Auxier & Monteiro Media is a bold independent publishing company dedicated to crafting original science fiction stories that challenge the status quo.

From grand-scale military space operas to intimate character studies set against the backdrop of interstellar conflict, we believe in stories that ask hard questions — and don't flinch from the answers.

Our team of veterans, creatives, and dreamers is united by a single purpose: to build worlds worth fighting for.

Command Sergeant Major Insignia CSM(R) Daniel R. Auxier, SR.

A veteran of both combat and garrison operations, Auxier's career included strategic assignments with the National Guard Bureau, U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Army Europe & Africa Command. He has been recognized with over two dozen military commendations, including the Bronze de Fleury Medal for significant contributions to the Engineer Regiment and the Legion of Merit for a career marked by outstanding leadership and service at the highest levels of the Army.

An avid musician and singer, Auxier is also a passionate gamer, tabletop strategist, and finds clarity in a good long run. Auxier lives in Wantage, New Jersey, with his wife Michele and their three children.

The Gardener is his debut novel—a tragedy rooted in political realism and personal conviction. Drawing from decades of military service, Auxier crafts a narrative as much about silence as war; about memory, consequence, and the moral cost of obedience. The novel does not glorify warfare—it interrogates it.

Through the lens of two sisters caught in a failing system, it asks what endures when justice fails and what it means to resist with only a voice. It reminds us that civil disobedience is not just a right, but a civic duty—essential for anyone who values justice over comfort, or liberty over compliance.

He wrote this not to resolve history, but to confront it—to ask what gets buried when stories are sanitized, and what truths still breathe beneath the official version. The Gardener is a reckoning: defiant, deeply personal, and an act of memory in a world built to forget. Enlisted voices—especially senior enlisted—are rarely portrayed with nuance in fiction.

Voss and Reeve were created to challenge that. Both represent different facets of Auxier's life: one shaped professionally by tactics and tradition, the other personally by questioning what those systems demand. Science fiction offered the perfect medium—not as escape, but as a mirror. A space to explore power, failure, and resistance beyond all institutional boundaries.