Nikita Costiuc tells suspenseful stories for adults who want to laugh, think, and feel in the same sitting. His work features dark humor, strong narrative voices, and characters you can’t look away from. Nikita’s stories have earned recognition from British, American, and Canadian publications, including a Top 6 finalist placement in Kinsman Quarterly’s Voices of Mixed Heritage Contest, a Top 10 finalist placement in MoonLit Getaway’s 2025 Short Fiction Contest, first place in the Humor category of TulipTree’s Stories That Need to Be Told 2025 contest, and second place in The Anansi Archive Winter 2024–2025 Flash Fiction Competition.

Nikita is an active member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, an organization with a surprisingly accurate name. He also runs Curated by Costiuc, a free monthly newsletter where he shares his favorite mystery, thriller, and suspense stories.

In addition to writing fiction, Nikita runs a successful tutoring and content-writing practice that ranks in the top 10% of the industry by revenue. This allows his wife, Daria, to excuse his habit of buying more books than one could read in a lifetime.

Nikita’s marriage to Daria is compelling evidence of his ability to sustain a narrative. Daria serves as the Chief Motivational Officer for his enterprises, a role she shares with their yellow lab, Arya. Arya also handles Nikita’s security. Even though he lives in Phoenix, AZ, Nikita was born and raised in California’s Sacramento Valley. As a result, he feels at home in 100-degree heat, bleeds In-N-Out Burger Spread, and cheers for the San Francisco 49ers—and for the downfall of the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks.