Her current complete manuscript, tentatively titled “FEATHERS BENEATH THE SKIN”, follows a sky maiden on a quest to reclaim her wings from a tyrant king. Inspired by the Philippine sky maiden myth, this romantic adventure features a digsgraced kingsguard with a beautiful singing voice, a pirate city, a masked ball, and a religious conspiracy that could crumble a budding empire.

She studied English Literature at McGill University with specializations in History, Political Science and Media Communications. Her research delved into fairy tale trope representation in 19th century literature and helped shape her interest in retellings. She has recently earned her Brand Marketing Certificate from the University of Toronto and works as a Senior Content Manager. She's built a #booktok community under @deannajvaldezwrites of over 18,000 followers and counting.

Deanna's mother immigrated to Toronto from the Philippines at a young age with her grandmother and three aunts. Ever since she can remember, Deanna's been surrounded by incredibly powerful women and balanced her Canadian culture with her Filipino roots. She's passionate about representing her biracial perspective and writing on how the two sides of her culture affect the way she moves through the world. 

Other great loves of her life include: dim sum on sunday mornings, cats named after food, and belting 2000's pop hits at karaoke.

Deanna J. Valdez