Valerie Valdes lives in an elaborate meme palace with her husband and kids, where she writes, edits and moonlights as a muse. When she isn’t co-editing Escape Pod, she enjoys crafting bespoke artisanal curses, playing video games, and admiring the outdoors from the safety of her living room. Her debut novel Chilling Effect was shortlisted for the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award, and her short fiction and poetry have been featured in Uncanny Magazine, Magic: the Gathering and several anthologies. Writing as Lia Amador, her first contemporary fantasy romance novel, Witch You Would, is forthcoming from Avon Books in September 2025.