Monica Valentinelli

Monica Valentinelli is an Italian-American author, narrative designer, instructor, and outdoors enthusiast. As a full-time writer, Monica has been a Writing the Other staff member and FlamesRising.com contributor. Over the past twenty years Monica's works have spanned across horror, fantasy, science fiction and related genres in her original worlds and iconic settings such as: World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, TORG: Eternity, Cyberpunk RED, Robert E. Howard's Conan, Pacific Rim, Shadowrun, Firefly, Lovecraft, and others.

Earning her Bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Monica's career first blossomed in the gaming industry where she's developed, designed, wrote, and edited dozens of tabletop role-playing games. Her fiction and nonfiction has been published in apps, anthologies, books, and magazines from publishers including Prime Books, Apex Book Company, Uncanny Magazine, Titan Book Company, and Stone Skin Press. Notably, Monica has not only championed a gameline for the Firefly TV show, but also wrote a dictionary and encyclopedia for that same cinematic universe as well.

Throughout her career, Monica has been nominated for several awards and has won accolades for both games and fiction and has garnered a reputation for her well-researched prose. Accolades include the Grand Prize in the GalleyCat Varney the Vampire Remix Fiction contest, an ENnies Awards Judge's Spotlight for the Firefly RPG supplement Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics, and an Honorable Mention for her short story "Prey" in FutureFire.net's MirrorMask Competition. As an advocate for sharing knowledge, Monica has also presented several workshops and lectures at the GAMA Trade Show, the Origins University, and through the Gen Con Writer's Symposium as well as online classes through venues like the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers and Clarion West. She has also appeared as a special guest and presenter for multiple conventions including: Origins, Gen Con: Indianapolis, Capricon, GameHole Con, and RadCon in the United States as well as RopeCon and GamesFest UK in Europe.

An Active Member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers (IAMTW), Monica has served her communities in both elected positions and volunteer roles. Her spare time is currently spent contributing to (and learning about) conservation efforts for animals and the environment, and logging studio hours for her artistic pursuits.

Represented by: Gabrielle Harbowy and Marisa Corvisiero