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True Moxie
eBook
True Moxie
Hardcover
True Moxie
Kindle & Hardcover
True Moxie
Sell Sheet
Here, Now
eBook
Here, Now
Hardcover
True Moxie
Phone & Paperback
Here, Now
Sell Sheet
Short Biography
Sylvia Bourgeois was born and raised on northern Vancouver Island, in some of British Columbia’s most beautiful small communities. Sylvia now lives in Fanny Bay, and she considers her family, friends, and time outside to be most important to her. If she isn’t working her day job or on a boat with her husband, you can find her creating fine foods in her kitchen. Here, Now is Sylvia’s second novel.
Long Biography
Sylvia Bourgeois was born in 1975 in Alert Bay, British Columbia, and grew up on northern Vancouver Island. She left home at seventeen and graduated in 1994 with Honours from the British Columbia Institute of Technology with a Diploma in Building Technology. Sylvia has always been a storyteller and her writing projects bring her a ridiculous amount of joy.
Born: 1975 in Alert Bay, BC
Education: British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Diploma in Building Technology with Honors, 1994.
Places of Residence: Port McNeill (1975-1983) – population 2,200; Kokish (1983-1985) population 140; Hyde Creek (1985-1992) population 550; Burnaby (1992-1995) population 220,000; Vancouver (1995-1997) – population 1,866,000; City of North Vancouver (1997-2023) – population 190,000; Fanny Bay – population 921 (2024-present)
Employment: Ski lift attendant and snow groomer, Mount Cain, 1988-1992; Excavator and dump truck operator, Port McNeill, 1990-1992; Excavation site superintendent, Vancouver, 1995-1999; Environmental contracting General Superintendent, Vancouver, 1999-2002; Estimator / Project Manager, Coquitlam, 2008-2013; Shoring & foundations General Manager, North Vancouver, 2013-2017; Rock Stabilization Division Manager, Coquitlam, 2017-present.
Family: Sylvia met her best friend, Pete, at BCIT and they were married in 1997 and their sons were born in 1999 and 2003. While Pete and Sylvia never celebrate Hallmark holidays, they did pour some great whisky by their favourite lake on their recent silver wedding anniversary.
Sylvia is a pragmatic nature lover, a mum of two genuinely hilarious young men, an unapologetic capitalist, a competitive fisherman (as in, “I must catch more fish than my husband!”), a skilled knitter, and maker of a tremendous chocolate pecan tart.
She is a lifelong maker / creator and a devoted hobbyist of knitting, drawing, home renovations, photography and fine foods. She also mixes a mean old-fashioned. She lives in Fanny Bay.
TRUE MOXIE BOOK BLURB
“A page-turner with heart and compelling characters!” – Amazon review
Summer 1991. Sixteen-year-old Maia lives a peaceful life with her loving parents, surrounded by the stunning rural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. But when Maia’s mother is diagnosed with cancer, their family is plunged into turmoil—a period Maia dubs The Summer of Hell.
Twelve months later, Maia and her father still don’t speak of the year’s tragedies. Just weeks before Maia’s high school graduation, they struggle through their days side-by-side in near silence. Things look up when Maia’s father gets back to work. But when she joins the first guiding trip of the season, disaster strikes again. Maia must learn to believe in her own strength before nature destroys all hope of saving her injured father and her newfound friend, Jack.
True Moxie is at once an exquisite ode to British Columbia’s old-growth forests, a compelling coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of family secrets. This fast-paced, riveting, and ultimately uplifting adventure reminds us how, even when life takes us on a detour, stubbornness and love take us where we belong.
True Moxie is a work of fiction, but deals with many real issues including bullying, injury, and death. For more content warnings, please go to https://sylviabourgeois.com/content-warnings/ (But beware of spoilers!)
TRUE MOXIE BOOK INFO
US + Canada
Hardcover: 269 pages
Publisher: Coastwerks (2022)
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-7386876-1-9
Paperback: 267 pages
Publisher: Coastwerks (2022)
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-7386876-0-2
HERE, NOW BOOK BLURB
In the wilderness, she found her true nature
British Columbia, 1924. Eva Roberts dreamed of blazing trails as a forester, not following a man to the edge of civilization. But when an unplanned pregnancy derails her ambitions, she finds herself in a remote logging camp, reluctantly married to her college sweetheart Thomas.
As Eva struggles to carve out her place in the male-dominated world of timber, tragedy strikes. Faced with a heartbreaking loss and her career in tatters, she must decide whether to abandon her new home or stay and fight for the life – and love – she never knew she wanted.
Caught between the smoke-filled saloons of Seattle and the mist-shrouded forests of Vancouver Island, Here, Now is a sweeping tale of resilience, redemption, and self-discovery set against the majestic backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. With rich historical detail and unforgettable characters, this epic saga follows one woman’s journey to reconcile ambition with family, finding purpose in the most unexpected of places.
Here, Now is a work of fiction, but deals with real issues, including stillbirth, injury, and death. For more content warnings, please go to https://sylviabourgeois.com/content-warnings/. But beware of spoilers!
HERE, NOW BOOK INFO
US + Canada