Reach Your Apex: Our Instructors


Photo credit Christina Ramirez.



Monica Valentinelli is an author, narrative designer, and artist who writes about magic, mystery, and mayhem–sometimes all three! Her ever-expanding portfolio includes short stories, novellas, games, comics, essays, and pop culture reference books for media/tie-in settings and her original works. Settings include: Robert E. Howard's Conan, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk RED, Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, World of Darkness, Unknown Armies, The Yellow King, and many more! Find out more at www.booksofm.com.

Jason Sizemore is the owner and editor-in-chief of Apex Book Company and Apex Magazine. Fiction he has edited has won or been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, PKD, Bram Stoker, WSFA, Shirley Jackson, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards. Jason has been an instructor at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, KY, for over a decade. He has co-edited four anthologies (the latest being Apex Magazine 2021) with his editing partner Lesley Conner.

Lesley Conner is the co-editor-in-chief of Apex Magazine and managing editor at Apex Book Company, as well as a writer and a Girl Scout leader. Her first novel, The Weight of Chains, was published by Sinister Grin Press in September 2015. She has co-edited four anthologies with her editing partner Jason Sizemore, including Do Not Go Quietly and Apex Magazine 2021. She lives in Maryland with her husband, daughters, and dog Oz and is working on a new novel. To find out all her secrets, you can follow her on Twitter at @LesleyConner and on Instagram at @lesley_conner.
Rebecca S. Treasure grew up reading in the Rockies. After living many places, including the Gulf Coast & Tokyo, she began writing fiction. Rebecca's short fiction has been published by or is forthcoming from Flame Tree, WordFire Press, Galaxy's Edge, and others. She is an editor at Apex Magazine and a writing mentor. She juggles children, corgis, and writing. She only drops the children occasionally.
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer and an immigrant from Fujian. She is a member of HWA, SFWA, and Codex. Her work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, Uncanny, among others. She is the recipient of Odyssey Workshop's 2022 Fresh Voices Scholarship and the author of Linghun. Find her on Twitter (@AiJiang_) and online (http://aijiang.ca).