Monica Valentinelli is an Italian-American game designer, author, essayist, editor, and game developer. She studied at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, and holds a B.A. in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis. She started working in the hobby games industry in 2005. She is the author of several

roleplaying games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eithe ...

and supplements, as well as short stories and essays, and is an anthologist as well. Since 2016 she has been an industry speaker and Guest of Honor at several game conventions.

Career

Monica Valentinelli contributed to ''

All Flesh Must Be Eaten ''All Flesh Must Be Eaten'' or ''AFMBE'' is an Origins Award nominated survival horror role-playing game (RPG) produced by Eden Studios, Inc. using the ''Unisystem'' game system. ''AFMBE'' is derived from the traditional horror movie depictions o ...

'' and the '' Ninja Burger RPG'', and also served as Marketing Director for

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

. She rose to prominence as a game designer when

Margaret Weis Productions Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. is a games publisher located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States and founded in 2004 after Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, the two founders of Sovereign Press, divorced. Games Margaret Weis Productions is p ...

hired her as lead writer and line manager of the '' Firefly RPG'', which was released in 2014. After leaving MWP, Valentinelli was announced by

Onyx Path Publishing Onyx Path Publishing is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games that produces company-owned and creator-owned games as well as licensed products. History The name "The Onyx Path" and the company's logo appeared on White Wolf products and th ...

as the lead designer for the second edition of '' Hunter: the Vigil''. Aside from her contributions to roleplaying games, Valentinelli co-edited the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

, ''Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling'' with Jaym Gates. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' described this book as "both enjoyable to read and an incisive work of commentary on the genre" of speculative fiction.

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, contemporary magical realism, and mythic fiction. Along with authors like Terri Windling, Emma Bull ...

wrote that he loved the anthology, ''Upside Down.'' Valentinelli has also authored reference works in the Firefly franchise for

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...

, including the ''Firefly Encyclopedia'' and ''Firefly: The Gorramn Shiniest Language Guide and Dictionary in the 'Verse''. Valentinelli was one of the selected Industry Insider speakers for

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...

2016, the first time that the convention had majority of women speakers, and she detailed on her blog how critics falsely described the list of speakers as being composed of

indie gaming An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

people, which she felt indicated it was "meant as a slight as it is inconsequential to the opiners. Much like small press or self-published to some, in fiction." She cancelled her Guest of Honor invitation to OdysseyCon in 2017, citing a previous experience of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

by OdysseyCon volunteer Jim Frenkel, leading to a discussion of sexual harassment at gaming conventions and more generally in the RPG industry. In 2017 she was Guest of Honor at Ropecon in Finland.

Bibliography

Short fiction

2015 *“Furies (Three of a Kind).” ''Gods, Memes, and Monsters'', Stone Skin Press, 2015. 2012 *“Bored to Fu.” ''The Lion and the Aardvark'', Stone Skin Press, 2012. *“Fangs and Formaldehyde,” ''New Hero'' Volume 1, an anthology from Stone Skin Press, 2012. *“Tomorrow’s Precious Lambs.” ''Extreme Zombies'', Prime Books, 2012. (Reprint) 2011 *“Tailfeather”, ''Apexology: Science Fiction and Fantasy'', Apex Publications, 2011. (Out Of Print) 2010 *"The Queen Of Crows." e-book, FR Press, 2010.

Novellas

*''Redwing's Gambit''. for the Bulldogs! RPG, Galileo Games, 2012.

Reference Works

*''Firefly Encyclopedia''. Titan Publishing, 2018. *''Wonderbook (Revised and Expanded): The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction.'' Edited by Jeff VanderMeer, Harry N. Abrams, 2018. (Contributor) *''Firefly: The Gorramn Shiniest Language Guide and Dictionary in the 'Verse''. Titan Publishing, 2016.

Roleplaying Games

*'' Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition'', Chronicles of Darkness, Onyx Path Publishing/Paradox Interactive, 2022. (Developer) *''

Unknown Armies ''Unknown Armies'' is an occult-themed roleplaying game by John Scott Tynes and Greg Stolze, published by Atlas Games. The first edition was published in 1998, with the second and third editions being released in 2002 and 2017 respectively. Th ...

'' 3rd Edition Books 1, 2, & 3, Atlas Games, 2017. *''Robert E. Howard’s

Conan Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke ...

RPG'', Modiphius, 2016. *'' Firefly Role-Playing Game Corebook'',

, 2014. *''Exquisite Replicas'', Abstract Nova Entertainment, August 2008. *''Aletheia'', Abstract Nova Entertainment, 2007. *''Noumenon'', Abstract Nova Entertainment, 2006. *''Ninja Burger'' 2nd Edition, Aethereal Forge, 2006. (Editor)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentinelli, Monica Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Role-playing game designers Atlas Games people White Wolf game designers American women science fiction and fantasy writers American horror writers American women horror writers University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni American writers of Italian descent