Yona Harvey grew up in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada when she was 20 years old.  Growing up, she hated math and science, but loved her English classes and fell in love with reading after her mom suggested she read Pippi Longstocking. She soon devoured her local library and upon reading The Lord of the Rings series, she was hooked, line and sinker.  She wanted to write, and write she did, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications at the University of the Philippines where she discovered her writing voice, as well as a Certificate in Magazine Journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. 

In 1993 she arrived in Canada (she was forced to part with her typewriter, much to her chagrin), and started writing for a Filipino newspaper.  She promptly got married after meeting her husband while rollerblading at the Toronto City Hall, had three kids in succession, had a miscarriage, and then another baby came along, giving her the perfect two girls-two boys kid combo.  She had a monthly column as a member of the editorial board for both The Kingston Whig-Standard and The Gananoque Reporter, writing stories mostly about motherhood: the joys, pains, the struggles of being a mom, and cheeky, day-in-the-life snapshots of her life, as well as dealing with the crusty Canadian weather.  

She is in the process of writing a coming-of-age story about a girl in the Philippines, with a painful twist caused by a local priest.