My name is Truphie Njiru, an author, editor and publishing consultant with over 16 years in the publishing space.
My journey in writing started subtly, and I was not aware of it then, but God was, and He was intentional about it. I was a voracious reader from a young age. As a child, I was always the one who read all story books in the shortest time, and consistently asked to be furnished with the next new one. My father noticed the trend and even pointed out this to my mother. That she needed to be aware my main request after I greeted her at the door when she came home from work, would be for another book, since I’d finished reading the previous ones. Sure enough, that’s what I did on most days. I felt like my world lit up whenever I walked into a bookshop, when I got the opportunity to accompany my mom to buy the books.
Consequently, my writing skills improved and my compositions stood out, because of my interaction with many books. I had, and still do to date, have an insatiable appetite for learning and exploring knowledge. I wasn’t sure what career path to follow after school, but once again, God had that sorted. I was called for a brief engagement in a publishing house after graduating from the university, and as most say, the rest is history. It felt like landing in a gold mine, where all I did daily, was to read and write (editorial work includes lots of rwading and writing) – precisely what I thoroughly enjoyed doing. It felt like getting paid to have fun and do what I love.
Within the roughly six years of employment, I edited Curriculum books and helped individuals realise their dreams of becoming authors. Upon leaving employment, this has continued to be my main assignment, guiding authors in achieving their dreams as a midwife in the publishing process. There are hardly any words that can describe the joy that comes with seeing the end product, it’s always such a delight for me, along with the authors, seeing their dreams fulfilled.
And so I’ve had the great privilege and joy of guiding numerous authors in editing their manuscripts. I’m also very passionate about documentating people’s lives for posterity, so I’ve had the joy of guiding authors in writing their memoirs and autobiographies, which in essence has helped them preserve their legacies for generations to come.
My passion for children’s books also runs deep. God has enabled us to guide children authors to publish their own books, with the youngest being 9 and the oldest being 15, at the point they published their books. I always say these children are living my dream. When I grow up, I too, want to publish my first book when I’m 9 years old 😅
I am an author of three books, with two of them having been co-authored alongside Wangechi Githaiga. My first book is Echoes of Life, and the second one, a children’s book, is called Where did the World Come From
These two books were nominated at ACABA previously.
The third book, The Fun Animal Puzzle Book, is a fascinating title for both children and parents.
I strongly believe that learning should be fun, and it can be made fun for young ones. Many who went through academic systems that required cramming of knowledge often ended up feeling frustrated after school, because learning was associated with only passing of exams. Yet, learn is, and actually should be, a life-long endeavour, but the mind has to love the learning process if this is to be achieved.
So we created this book to help young learners interact with fascinating aspects of the animal kingdom, which has sparked their curiosity and inspired a learning journey that is both fun and explorative.
Many parents have confessed to us that they are enjoying interacting with the book so much, probably more than their children sometimes – and I believe it’s because the book is also awakening their inner child to come out and play. The book is a literal playground for the mind/brain 🧠
To ensure the fun and learning continued after all the puzzles, crosswords, jumbled words etc in The Fun Animal Puzzle Book were filled, we created a Trivia Game alongside it, a pack of 108 cards that explore the same fascinating ideas.
We are delighted, from the feedback we’ve received about the book and trivia game, that they have really bonded families and enabled them to spend quality time together. They have particularly been loved because they provide screen-free and wholesome engagement for the whole family, which is one of the things we had prayed to God for, as we prayed and asked for ideas. 🙌
