Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli is an Italian science fiction and thriller author.She has lived in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) since 1993, earning a degree in biology and working as a writer, scientific and literary translator, and freelance web copywriter. In the past she also worked as researcher, tutor and professor’s assistant in the field of ecology at “Dipartimento di Biologia Animale ed Ecologia” of the University of Cagliari.She’s written fiction since 2009.In 2012-2013 she wrote a science fiction series set on Mars including 4 books & titled “Deserto rosso”.The series was also published as omnibus (2013) and hit No. 1 on the Italian Kindle Store in 2014.“Deserto rosso” was published in English, with the title “Red Desert”, in 2014-2015.It includes: “Red Desert - Point of No Return”, “Red Desert - People of Mars”, “Red Desert - Invisible Enemy”, & “Red Desert - Back Home”.She also authored three crime thrillers in the Detective Eric Shaw trilogy - “Il mentore” (2014), “Sindrome” (2016), and “Oltre il limite” (2017) -, an action thriller titled “Affinità d’intenti” (2015), five more science fiction novels - “L’isola di Gaia” (2014), “Per caso” (2015), “Ophir. Codice vivente” (2016), “Sirius. In caduta libera” (2018) and “Nave stellare Aurora” (2020) - and a non-fiction book titled “Self-publishing lab. Il mestiere dell’autoeditore” (2020).“Il mentore” was originally published in English by AmazonCrossing: “The Mentor” (2015). A new edition was published in 2022. The other two books in the trilogy (“Syndrome” and “Beyond the Limit”) followed in 2023.“Affinità d’intenti” was published in English as “Kindred Intentions” in April 2016.She’s a podcaster at FantascientifiCast, an Italian Representative of Mars Initiative, & a member of the International Thriller Writers organization.She’s often a guest during book fairs, including Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino (Turin Book Fair), Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair) & Più Libri Più Liberi (Rome Book Fair), publishing events, university conventions as well as classes (University of Insubria), where she gives speeches or conducts workshops about self-publishing & genre fiction.I ❤️🎾