About the author:

Ming Louie Stein grew up in East Vancouver and now lives in Port Moody with her husband and their two beloved pets—a poodle-terrier mix and a British shorthair cat. She has two grandchildren who inspire her every day. Ming began writing after her retirement, and this is her debut book. She is currently working on two additional novels and has a children’s book set for release in summer 2025. Ming is a Tai Chi Devotee and loves nature. She participates in writing groups and attends book fairs and author events throughout the Tri Cities area.

KINTSUGI

A Woman

Worthless to Gold

Auto-fiction / Creative non-fiction / Memoir of a first generation chinese immigrant. It is 1960 and inside a Vancouver home, a spirited four-year-old girl is beaten to submission. She endures repeated episodes of what her mother calls corporal punishment. At school, she blooms under her encouraging teachers and the camaraderie of friends, retreating once she's home. As the years pass, her confidence erodes, leaving her unprepared to face adulthood.
Lacking healthy role models and essential life skills, she searches for love through a series of failed relationships. But it is only through these interactions that she learned to live like she never knew possible.
Written with candour, the story is sad but heartwarming. It's an emotional journey with our heroine toward her path to healing and happiness.
She is Kintsugi. A metaphor for the woman— who was once considered worthless. Once broken, now a beautifully mended vessel*, stronger and more resilient than ever, for each restored piece is a treasure that completes her.
*Throughout history, women are viewed as vessels as they contain, guide, and protect. A woman's womb is a cradle that gives life.

LINKS:

https://minglouiestein.com/

About Victoria:

Hey there, I’m Victoria! As a writer and developmental editor, I specialize in helping busy writers bring their publishing dreams to life without the overwhelm. Your story deserves to shine, let's make magic together.

Here’s how I can help:
📖 FREE 7 day Writing Reset: Daily support in your inbox for 7 days.
Grab it HERE

📝 Developmental Editing: Get expert feedback that elevates your manuscript, strengthens your story, and polishes your characters.
✍️ 1:1 monthly support: Revitalize your creativity, map out your novel, and unleash your authentic voice.

Your story deserves to shine, and I’m here to make it happen. Let’s turn your writing dreams into a reality!

📱 IG: @editsbyvictoria
🌐 LINKS: Victoria Jane Editorial

About the Author:

J.M. is an author, screenwriter, and lapsed academic. With an MA in Communications and Culture, she’s appeared in podcasts, documentaries, and on radio and television to discuss all things geeky through the lens of academia. She also has an addiction to scarves, Doctor Who, and tea, which may or may not all be related. Her life’s ambition is to have stepped foot on every continent (only 3 left!)

J.M.’s also a professionally trained actor who takes absolute delight in weird stories, over the top performances, and quirky characters. She’s played everything from Marmee to the Red Queen, Jane Eyre to Annie, and dozens of strange creatures and earnest heroines as a voice actor.

Her debut novel Triptych was nominated for two Lambda Literary Awards, won the San Francisco Book Festival award for SF/F, was nominated for a 2011 CBC Bookie, was named one of The Advocate’s Best Overlooked Books of 2011, and garnered both a starred review and a place among the Best Books of 2011 from Publishers Weekly.

Book Blurb:

Colin Levesque is at loose ends. He’s finished university, but has no career; he adores romance novels, but he’s crap at relationships; and his prickliness is a detriment at the café where he’s making ends meet. He also has a crush on his regular Dav, a homo draconis who comes in every morning to read his newspaper, sip his double-strong coffee, and stare longingly at Colin in return.

About Victoria:

Hey there, I’m Victoria! As a writer and developmental editor, I specialize in helping busy writers bring their publishing dreams to life without the overwhelm. Your story deserves to shine, let's make magic together.

Here’s how I can help:
📖 FREE 7 day Writing Reset: Daily support in your inbox for 7 days.
Grab it HERE

📝 Developmental Editing: Get expert feedback that elevates your manuscript, strengthens your story, and polishes your characters.
✍️ 1:1 monthly support: Revitalize your creativity, map out your novel, and unleash your authentic voice.

Your story deserves to shine, and I’m here to make it happen. Let’s turn your writing dreams into a reality!

📱 IG: @editsbyvictoria
🌐 LINKS: Victoria Jane Editorial

Feeling the magic of Christmas in today's episode. Suzy Langevin flips the classic Hallmark trope on it's head and we are here for it.

About the book

The Cowboy Christmas Glow Up

Levi Dearborn, handsome heir to a ranching family fortune, knows exactly what's expected of him. Get married, take over the family business, and spend his days working cattle on the cold plains of Montana. It's not the life he wants, but the one he seems destined for. But when everything goes wrong one fateful Thanksgiving, he skips town to start over in New York City.

Zara Mitchell is building an empire. The makeup line she started with her best friend while they were still in college is now worth millions. But that's left her precious little time for anything else, including her long-term relationship that her fed-up boyfriend ends over the phone in the middle of her Black Friday sale. Even though she's not that broken up about losing the guy, she's stressed about attending the biggest fashion industry party in the city, one that could make or break the future of their business, and she already said she was bringing a date.

After a messy chance meeting in a coffee shop, Zara learns that Levi might just hold the key to landing the celebrity brand ambassador her business needs. Determined to close the deal, she invites Levi to the party. As they get to know each other in the run up to the event, sparks fly. But when complications and revelations start to swirl like snowflakes, will their holiday romance make it to the new year?

Purchase Link: https://a.co/d/htSrLxG

Author Bio:

Suzy Langevin loves love, even though she forgot how to say it in Latin when she was a contestant on Jeopardy! She is the winner of the 2024 RWA Golden Heart Award, and is nominated for two 2025 Indieverse Awards. Her short fiction has been featured in several anthologies and magazines. Her career as a clinical social worker, along with her own experience living with autoimmune disease and ADHD, allow her characters to embrace the tough stuff without it becoming a cliché, incorporating themes related to mental health and addiction with authenticity, heart, and humor. Suzy lives and writes in central Massachusetts.

My socials/website/etc:

https://www.instagram.com/suzylangevinwrites/

https://www.tiktok.com/@suzylangevinwrites

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/52433329.Suzy_Langevin

https://www.suzylangevin.com/

About Victoria:

Hey there, I’m Victoria! As a writer and developmental editor, I specialize in helping busy writers bring their publishing dreams to life without the overwhelm. Your story deserves to shine, let's make magic together.

Here’s how I can help:
📖 FREE 7 day Writing Reset: Daily support in your inbox for 7 days.
Grab it HERE

📝 Developmental Editing: Get expert feedback that elevates your manuscript, strengthens your story, and polishes your characters.
✍️ 1:1 monthly support: Revitalize your creativity, map out your novel, and unleash your authentic voice.

Your story deserves to shine, and I’m here to make it happen. Let’s turn your writing dreams into a reality!

📱 IG: @editsbyvictoria
🌐 LINKS: Victoria Jane Editorial