Who Is Rob Costello?
Hi-res headshot available for download here.
Photo acknowledgement: Rob Costello. Permission granted to reproduce for promotional purposes.
My name is Rob Costello (he/him). Before I discovered writing, I cleaned toilets and flipped burgers for a living. I dealt cards in a casino. I processed trade documents for an international bank. I dispatched police and emergency services, and answered 911 calls. I’ve been a receptionist, a secretary, and a chief of staff. I was a social media manager for a while and even a speechwriter.
In 2012, I earned my MFA degree in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. I’m proud of that. But it doesn’t mean I know how to write any better than anybody else. It just means I tried really hard and did my best.
I'm also an alumnus of the Millay Colony for the Arts, a beautiful and secluded retreat for artists and writers located on the former estate of the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. It's an amazing place. I highly recommend it!
In addition to writing short stories and novels, I also teach.
In June of 2023, I launched R(ev)ise and Shine! (with co-founders Lesa Cline-Ransome, Jo Knowles, and Jennifer Richard Jacobson), an online writing community where passionate writers come together to learn, grow, & thrive.
My husband and I live on top of a wide and windy hill in the countryside of upstate New York, where we dutifully take orders from our four-legged overlords who graciously allow us to live with them. And feed them. And walk them twice daily. And pick up their poo.
Want to know anything else? Just ask. I answer most questions, and I generally don’t bite!
I am an active member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
I am represented by Marie Lamba at the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
Click here for my Amazon Author page.
Short Bio:
Rob Costello (he/him) writes contemporary and dark fiction with a queer bent for and about young people. He’s the contributing editor of WE MOSTLY COME OUT AT NIGHT: 15 QUEER TALES OF MONSTERS, ANGELS & OTHER CREATURES (Running Press Teens, 2024), named a Notable/Best Book of 2024 by the New York Public Library, Ginger Nuts of Horror, PseudoPod, and Reactor Magazine. He’s also author of the short story collection THE DANCING BEARS: QUEER FABLES FOR THE END TIMES (Lethe Press, 2024). His debut novel, AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS, is forthcoming from Lethe Press in April of 2025. His stories have appeared in The Dark, The NoSleep Podcast, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, PseudoPod, Hunger Mountain, Stone Canoe, Narrative, and RURAL VOICES: 15 AUTHORS CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT SMALL-TOWN AMERICA (Candlewick, 2020). An alumnus of the Millay Colony of the Arts, he holds an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and has served on the faculty of the Highlights Foundation since 2014. He is co-founder (with Lesa Cline-Ransome, Jo Knowles, and Jennifer Richard Jacobson) of the R(ev)ise and Shine! writing community, and he lives in upstate NY with his husband and their four-legged overlords. Learn more at: www.cloudbusterpress.com & www.revise-and-shine.com.
