Mercedes Valle

Mercedes Valle is a writer, martial artist, and recovering lawyer, who was born in New York City. As a bisexual Black and Latinx woman, she didn’t always fit in when she was growing up. But she found “her people” when she joined Princeton’s Taekwondo Club. Not only did she make lifelong friends, but she also competed at the collegiate level, eventually placing third at collegiate nationals. After graduating from Princeton, she spent over three years in Seoul, Korea, where she earned both her third-degree black belt in Taekwondo and a master’s in Korean Studies. Then her life took a dark turn when she became a litigation attorney at a big New York law firm. But after being miserable doing what she “should” do, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. Since leaving the law, she has written for both live-action and animation. And most recently, she was a Story Editor on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Also a longtime martial artist, Ms. Valle has been a Taekwondo instructor, coach, competitor, and referee. Pre-pandemic, she trained in the Israeli self-defense system, Krav Maga. Ms. Valle can speak Korean and some basic Japanese.