Eija Jimenez

As most writers will say, I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, and ever since the impending days of University graduation approached, I knew I wanted to make a career out of writing. So here I am, slowly but surely navigating my way through the publishing industry with my trusty pen (thank you iPhone notepad) and my mind.

This is me. Eija Jimenez with a Snapchat filter on (I promise, I really do look like #NoFilter). I’m sure most of you looked at my name and NOPED right out of that one, but it’s actually easier said than done….erm…I guess it’s not so easily said or else I wouldn’t be beating around the bush with how to pronounce it.

It’s Eija, like E-ha.

It sounds like a cowboy and a donkey braying, yes. I’ve heard all the jokes. It also means “daughter” in Spanish and “little girl” in Tagalog. The girl who likes to colour in colouring books, hurls axes, and needs an adult whenever she makes a doctor’s appointment is very much that “little girl.”

Yet, here she is as a writer.

I’ve been a writer since my elementary days where cardboard rocketships could fly to the moon. Though my genre has shifted over time and with skill, I avidly write LGBT fiction hoping to add to this ever-growing community.

I graduated from the University of Toronto in 2014 where I studied English and Psychology. I received my Honours Bachelor of Arts and try desperately to put four intensive years of schooling to good use through writing.

For the longest time, I was the youngest of three girls until my little brother came along. With my big Filipino family, I vowed I was going to have at least five kids. Now that I’m older and was the family babysitter nearly all my life, that number dropped down to two. I will, however, have as many cats, dogs, bunnies, and mini pigs as I can.

When I’m not crafting stories in my head, I can be found hurling axes (at bulleyes!), out for a hike, or jamming out in a good car-eoke session. I love 80’s music and could spend my whole life eating potatoes and cheese if I could. I love experimenting in the kitchen, whether the recipe works or not. It helps me not eat myself into a potato and cheese coma.

An avid writer, I’m also a reader of books, comics, and everything in between. My To-Read list is longer than my Currently Reading list which continues to grow everyday. My go-to book is always and forever will be the Harry Potter series (Go Hufflepuffs!) though my favourite will always be To Kill a Mockingbird.

I live in Canada with my beautiful fiancée and our princess of a dog, Honey. More often than not, we’re singing along to country music or watching true crime docs. There’s usually a few games of Scrabble thrown into there, plus lots of wine.

My novel, Dear Taylor, was published in December 2016 with its sequel Sincerely Daniella being released later on this year. My short story Tempête de Neige was released in December 2015 with Reines de Couer.