SJ Romm had a humble beginning as the child of a Civil Engineer and School Secretary.  But it wasn't before long that she was dressing up as a dragon and terrorizing her preschool.  In the yearbook, at the tender age of three, she declared that she would conquer the world as a football player.

SJ's childhood was peppered by having a very active imagination.  While most kids were attending elementary school, SJ was busy exploring new lands, captaining the bridge of the starship Enterprise and hunting monsters in the badlands of North York, Ontario.  By the end of grade five, her dream of being an all-star football player had been set aside for the much more prestigious job of becoming the planet Mars.  She also started writing about mermaids.

When she was ready to take on middle school, SJ had already given up stirrup pants for jeans, mastered the fine art of Commander Keen, and successfully completed a back walkover (but only once).  She quickly discovered her favourite subjects were English and Science, although she also enjoyed showing up the other trumpet players in music class.  When she realized that her lifelong pursuit of becoming a celestial body was probably better left to aspiring comets and hydrogen atoms, she selflessly put aside her dreams.  Next, she was determined to be a lawyer and so she started writing murder mysteries in space.

High School found her in the Advanced Math and Science program, allowing her to safely pocket the 'Lifelong Nerd' achievement.  She joined jazz band and the drama club, spent summers at both math camp and band camp (I did say 'lifelong', after all) and was captain of the girls' softball team.  In grade 12 she read 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card and it blew. her. mind.  Soon after, she was proudly attending science-fiction conventions with her parents.  SJ graduated on the Dean's list with a Triple School Letter in academics, sports and extra-curricular.  Her legal dreams transformed as she applied for business programs at Universities across Ontario.  She took a break from writing her own stories to get lost in the fantastic worlds of Gaiman, Nix and Huff.  

As she got older, SJ spent her summers working at a local amusement park, working all the way up to Senior Manager.  Her favourite part of the park is still the waterpark, but she will always crave funnel cakes.  At Ryerson University she majored in Management and minored in Law.  SJ's favourite class, an English credit on Science Fiction taught by Sarah Sweet, introduced her to Watchmen, Doctor Who and V for Vendetta.  She was forever changed for the better.  She graduated cum laude in four years and started working in clerical positions with Engineering firms.

Now employed in the educational sector, SJ spends her days with spreadsheets while dreaming about the worlds she wants to create.  She also attends night classes at the University of Toronto leaning about creative writing.  She has been taught by award-winning fantasy author Caitlin Sweet (yes, the sister of her professor), mystery novelist Howard Shrier and online by Gemma Files and Richard Kadrey.  SJ regularly attends local science-fiction conventions, readings and events.  She still wishes she could live in the attic of Bakka-Phoenix Books (Toronto's best genre bookstore), but realizes it is a little impractical (since they've had problems with their roof).  She loves her writing group dearly.

Trivia

  • SJ has three cats named Milo, Cecil & Arrow.  They are all white & ginger and were adopted from Toronto Cat Rescue. She also has two cockatiels - Fritz and Coco. It’s a full house.

  • She is an avid gamer.  She currently owns the following gaming systems:  PC, iOS, PS3, PS4, PS5, XBOX360, XBOX One, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Playstation, Super NES, Sega GameGear.  If you have a gamertag, send her a message!

  • SJ had nine stitches in her pinky finger due to a tragic accident during her fourth birthday party.  She still blames her older brother to this day (even though she knows it wasn't his fault).  That's what older brothers are for, after all.

  • SJ won the Raymond Kau Entrepreneurship Award from Ryerson University.  Neat!

  • In Grade 4, SJ had to dress up as the Planet Mars for a science project.  Okay, so she didn't have to.  She just wanted to.

  • Every year, she attends Toronto's Fan Expo with her illustrator-roommate Kristi McConnell, who is an exhibitor, under their studio - Aether & Bones.  She's had the chance to meet Katee Sackoff, Tom Felton, Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery and James Marsters.  /geek out!

  • Besides writing, SJ also enjoys photography!