Dean Monti has worked creatively in a variety of mediums including short stories, plays, novels, journalism, and screenwriting. His latest novel, The Monosexual, will be published July 2024. He is also the author of several one-act plays and has had his works premiered in Chicago, and was a finalist in a national playwriting competition. He taught creative writing and novel writing classes at Columbia College in Chicago and College of DuPage. He is currently working on new novels and recently adapted one of his works as a screenplay. Throughout it all, he has held a full-time job as an editor and journalist for more than 20 years. 

Among other things, Dean and Carter discuss balancing writing your story and market considerations, establishing conflict early on, and how publicity and online presence affects sales. At the end of their conversation, they make up a mysterious story using a line from Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-Time to the Soul.