Lo Monaco
Welcome to my home page. Lo Monaco is my "nom de plume." My real name is Virginia Lo Monaco. I lived in Sicily, Italy for 16 years and have recently returned to California. I was trained as an operatic soprano, and have worked for numerous Opera Companies in America and was director of the Schola Cantorum for the Church of Sant'Anna in the town where I lived with my two dogs (including Tim, the overgrown Fox Terrier that co-stars in the Terry Strong, P.I., series) and three canaries. In order to pay for the years of vocal study, I worked for five years as a Fingerprint Technician for a sheriff's department and five years as a Group Counselor for juvenile offenders.
Just for fun, here's a page of photos of my grandkids and my dog, Tim. Yes, I'm a proud grandmother and in lieu of a wallet full of photos, I offer you this page.
I started writing fiction in November, 1998. I started my first Terry Strong, P.I., novel, "Deadly Relations," in January, 1999. I recently completed my fourth Terry Strong, P.I., novel, "Blind Deceit," which is now in the hands of my agent.
I am a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Private Eye Writers of America, the Short Mystery Fiction Society and Sisters In Crime-Los Angeles Chapter.
The second Luigi Mancuso story, "Hearts and Diamonds," was published in the April/May/June 2004 issue of Futures MYSTERY Anthology Magazine.
The first Luigi Mancuso story, "Oil in a Day's Work," was published in the Oct/Nov/Dec 2002 issue of Futures MYSTERY Anthology Magazine. Read it here: "Oil in a Day's Work." You can read my other short stories, originally published in Futures MYSTERY Anthology Magazine here: "A Man of Honor," Feb/Mar 2001 and, "Saturday Night Reruns," April/May 2001.
In July, 2001, "A Man of Honor" (translated into Italian), won SECOND PLACE in the Akery National Literary Competition in Acerra, Italy (V Edizione Concorso Letterario Nazionale di Narrativa "Akery"). In November, 2001, it was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
My Science Fiction short story, "Intermezzo a Cappella," won an HONORABLE MENTION in the Writer's Digest 2001 Writing Competition. It ranked 22 in a field of more than 1,600 genre short stories.
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