Shmonster the Monster

Derek Moreland grew up loving two things: dinosaurs and monsters. The first stories he remembers reading are THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK and WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, two books that continue to inspire him even today. He ate Count Chocula for breakfast and watched GREMLINS on repeat as a child. When he was in junior high, he studied Bigfoot, the Mothman, and Nessie, convinced he could grow up to be a cryptozoologist. Now, as an adult, he regularly rewatches Godzilla, Frankenstein, and Creature From the Black Lagoon movies - when he's not busy making up his own monsters!Derek has always had a soft spot for the creepy, kooky, and spooky. He loves creatures of all kinds - the bigger and weirder, the better. And he's thrilled that he is getting the chance to share that love with a new generation of kids who have that same curiosity for the strange, the unusual, and the not-so-scary-after-all. (Also, his favorite dinosaur is the Triceratops.)Derek lives in Texas with one wife, three cats, four dogs, and a little over 7,000 comic books. In addition to children's books, he writes novels, comic books, and short stories that have been published in the literary journals Bone and Ink Press, Cease, Cows, and A Fifth of Boo! Horror anthology. His love of comics led him to get essays published in The Ascendance of Harley Quinn, from MacFarlane Press, and on the website Shelfdust.com.