Selina, Cat, & Peter

Last week at Sharpened Word, I met Selina Siak Chin Yoke, an Ipoh-born writer. Her debut novel, The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds, has just been published by Amazon. Yes, THE Amazon. Handpicked by its editor to be in Kindle First (an invitation-only programme for authors). Besides Amazon, the book is also available at Waterstones (UK), Barnes & Noble (US), Booktopia (Australia), Kinokuniya (Malaysia & Singapore). AND, in three formats; in print, as a Kindle e-book, and as an audiobook.

She's 40/50-something (sorry I forgot!), just had her manuscript published, finally, for the very first time after rejections, and now it's already rated as 4.4/5 on Goodreads.

She had been a theoretical physicist and an investment banker-trader most of her life.

She was diagnosed with cancer and was going through chemotherapy when she decided to not let her dream of writing, die.

Thank you, Selina, for showing me that it's never too late to realize my dreams. God I need your badass strength and confidence!

And to Cat Brogan (the only Irish poet I've ever known personally and the sewel-est Irish girl I've ever met tbh), you must come back to Malaysia next year. No excuses!

(And Pak Peter? I need to know where you bought that pandan cake. I need that cake.)