Monica S. Kuebler

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 reading Stephen King, Clive Barker and Dean Koontz. Horror, it seems, had made itself a home in her heart.

It is a passion that continues to shape Monica’s life to this day. She has spent the last ten 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. Since January 2010, she’s served as Managing Editor, continuing to oversee the magazine’s literary coverage, while also debuting her monthly Library Of The Damned book column and working to expand RUE MORGUE’s say on the state of genre gaming. Monica has lent her expertise to numerous articles and cover stories for RUE MORGUE and other publications, as well as several horror documentaries, including onscreen interviews in History Channel’s THE REAL VAMPIRE FILES and PRETTY BLOODY: THE WOMEN OF HORROR.

In addition, Monica is the founder and editor-in-chief of BURNING EFFIGY PRESS, where she is the sole curator of the company’s celebrated genre chapbook line. Burning Effigy has released over a dozen well-received novellas and collections by some of contemporary horror’s top up-and-coming talents and has garnered Bram Stoker Award nominations for Nicholas Kaufmann’s General Slocum’s Gold, Weston Ochse’s Redemption Roadshow, Michael Louis Calvillo’s 7 Brains and Maria Alexander’s At Louche Ends.

She is currently immersed in penning her BLOOD MAGIC Saga young adult horror/urban fantasy series, which can be read online for free at http://www.blood-magic.net, as well as on Wattpad.com, Figment.com, Goodreads.com, Movellas.com, Readwave.com and more. 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. During that time she authored four poetry chapbooks, co-wrote the 2002 collection SOME WORDS SPOKEN (with Cynthia Gould) and toured extensively, performing in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, England, and many other cities. These days, she continues to give back to the poetry community by teaching spoken word workshops to local high school students.

GALLERY:

A sampling of Monica S Kuebler's work

LINKS:

Read Monica's free young adult vampire series at blood-magic.net
                               or on Wattpad Check out Rue-Morgue Magazine
Check out burningeffigy.com
Follow Monica at her Blog deathofcool.org
Follow on Twitter
Like  on Facebook
Like the Blood Magic Saga on Facebook

Listen to Monica's spoken word at Bandcamp
Listen and fan at Reverbnation

   Monica S. Kuebler answers 25 of the Best

Who was the last person you told "I love you"?
Monica:  My husband.


What will you find in your refrigerator if you looked right now?
Monica:  Probably too many condiments and not nearly enough actual food.


What was the last expletive that you used?
Monica:  Oh for fuck's sake!


When was the last time you cried?
Monica:  A couple weeks ago, when I wanted to see if I could still cry on command.


If a turtle loses his shell, is he naked or homeless?
Monica:  A little of column A, a little of column B.


What is the worst tasting thing you have ever eaten?
Monica:  Dirt, when I was a toddler. I remember rationalizing, if food tastes good, maybe other things taste good too. I learned better.


In the film of your life, who plays you and what is the title?
Monica:  Alison Hannigan; Chasing Tomorrow.


What is the last furry thing that you touched?
Monica:  Gunn, our husky malamute.


We can grant you 1 super power, what will you choose?
Monica:  Eternal life. Wait, does that count as a superpower?


Do you remember the last time you saw a random act of kindness, what was it?
Monica:  Don't remember the last one I saw, but a few weeks back I helped reunite a woman with the iPhone she left in a highway rest-stop bathroom.


If your iPod could only hold 3 songs, what would they be?
Monica:  "Breathless" - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "3rd Planet" - Modest Mouse, “Innocence” -The Airborne Toxic Event.


What are you currently reading?
Monica:  I'm re-reading The Awkward Love Song of Abigail Archer (by Monica Sanz), which was originally posted on Wattpad.com, but has since become an actual book. and The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living, by Wendy Jehanara Tremayne.


Have you ever broken someone’s heart?
Monica:  Yup. From what I heard it involved extreme drunkenness and a public sidewalk.


If personalities had an odor, what would you smell like?
Monica:  Grave dirt, old libraries and fresh rain.


Is the monster in your bedroom, under your bed or in your closet?
Monica:  There are multiple monsters in my bedroom, and those are just two of the places you might find them.


Describe your happy place?
Monica:  My home office. It's my writing cave. It has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves full of all my favourite things.


What is your theme song?
Monica:  "Shake It Out" - Florence + the Machine


What is your favorite children's book?
Monica:  That list would be longer than all these questions combined.


What do you do when you feel sad or depressed?
Monica:  Play video games, read books, watch TV, essentially lose myself in someone else's stories.


If you were being attacked by the tickle monster, who would you want it to be?
Monica:  No one. I absolutely hate being tickled.


If you could be a child again for the next 24 hours, what would you want to do?
Monica:  Jump around in one of those big bouncy castles, because for some reason I never got to do that when I was an actual kid.


Describe the perfect kiss using no more than 5 words?
Monica:  Soft, deep, exploratory.


What is your greatest fear?
Monica:  Death. Cancer. Prison. Want me to go on?


What is the best dish you can cook?
Monica:  Crepes.


Do you truly feel loved?
Monica:  Of course!


Thank you, Monica!