Monica first fell in love with monsters at age five. A few years later when most young girls were hooked on Judy Blume novels and the Sweet Valley High series, she was devouring the works of Stephen King, Clive Barker and Dean Koontz. Horror, it seems, had made itself a home in her heart.
It’s a passion that has gone on to shape her entire life. She has spent the last sixteen years as an integral part of the talented team behind RUE MORGUE Magazine, the world’s leading horror magazine, where she single-handedly revolutionized the Ninth Circle books section. From 2010 to 2017, she served as the magazine’s Managing Editor, overseeing the monthly literary coverage, while also debuting her Library of the Damned book column and working to expand Rue Morgue’s say on the state of genre gaming. In February of 2017, Monica stepped back to a Contributing Editor role at the publication, and began to pursue freelance editing opportunities. (Want to hire me for your project? Here are the services I offer.)
She is currently immersed in penning her BLOOD MAGIC Saga young adult horror/urban fantasy series, which can be read online for free on Wattpad.com. She’s also working on her second poetry collection (THE SICK AND THE BEAUTIFUL), which was born from her ten-year stint as a spoken word artist and has become something of an endless labour of love during the ensuing years. During her time as a performance poet, she authored four poetry chapbooks, co-wrote the 2002 collection SOME WORDS SPOKEN (with Cynthia Gould), and toured extensively, performing in places like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and London, England. These days, she continues to give back to the poetry community by teaching spoken word workshops to local high school students.
In recent years, Monica has also broken into the world of podcasting, as the co-producer and sometimes host of the GREAT LAKES HORROR COMPANY. She is looking forward to debuting a second show in 2019.
And if you think you might recognize her, that’s because she’s appeared in several horror documentaries, including the History Channel’s THE REAL VAMPIRE FILES, WHY HORROR? and PRETTY BLOODY: THE WOMEN OF HORROR. (And even an episode of Canadian proto-reality show The Lofters, but perhaps the less that’s said about that the better.)