Biography – Monica Goertzen Hertlein, author of romantasy, science fiction, women’s fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction

My Story

Introvert, cat lover, accountant, writer.

I always loved reading. I wanted to be an author as far back as I remember, but never thought writing was a real job. So I dabbled with pen and paper and on my Apple IIc (do your research, ye who have never worked with floppy disks) but took it no further.

In 2014, I began writing again. I shared several works online before finally committing to words the stories I had enjoyed in my head for decades (quite literally, I found an early chapter of one novel circa 1993).

I was thrilled to receive Honourable Mention from the Writers and Illustrators of the Future for a short story in 2022Q1 and even more excited to receive a Silver Honourable Mention for a short story in 2023Q1. I am proud to say I have twice been invited to speak at the farewell event for a Saskatoon library Writer-in-Residence, which program is a wonderful gift to the local writing community. My short story entries in the Saskatoon Writers’ Club contests won 2nd place in fall, 2022, and 1st place in spring, 2023. More recently, I sold four short stories (on my way to my goal of 100 rejections). My next goal is to find a publisher for one of my completed manuscripts.

Thanks for being interested enough to read this! I use she/her pronouns if you want to drop me a line.

~Monica

Wife. Mother. Runner. Lutheran. Fangirl. Reader. Sociologist.