PHOTO: Jessica Park, author of deeply moving novels like The Left Drowning Series and the bestselling Flat-Out Series.
A Journey Through Love, Loss, and Emotional Healing
Jessica Park discusses her creative process, blending humour with depth, and the delicate craft of writing emotionally charged and character-driven stories that resonate deeply with readers of all backgrounds.
Jessica Park is a rare kind of storyteller—one who doesn’t merely craft narratives, but who weaves entire emotional landscapes for her readers to inhabit. Her novels possess a profound, unflinching humanity, exploring the nuances of love, loss, healing, and self-discovery. From the poignant depths of The Left Drowning Series to the sparkling humour and aching vulnerability of the Flat-Out books, Jessica’s voice is singular: she writes with heartbreaking sincerity and an ineffable lightness that reframes even the heaviest of subjects. Her stories remind us how art—in all its forms—can be a mirror, a bandage, and sometimes even a lifeline.
In her works, it’s often the tactile, visceral details that bring transformation to life. Be it Callie in The Colour of Us finding solace in cooking and a crumbling house, or the electric moment of strangers connecting in seconds in 180 Seconds, Jessica’s characters find catharsis in the ordinary and the extraordinary alike. Her work thoughtfully illustrates how deeply sensory experiences—colours, flavours, and fleeting moments—become metaphors for emotions we can’t quite articulate. It’s as though every character she creates is an artist in their own right, painting or sculpting their way through grief, love, and identity.
It’s no wonder, then, that Jessica Park has captivated readers across genres, venturing even into the speculative, as she did with Clear, where supernatural contours merge seamlessly with human urgency. What truly sets her apart is her ability to balance emotional gravitas with moments of levity and delight. Whether through sharply witty dialogue or quirky, lovable characters, she ensures that the journey is never without its lighter touches—a reminder that joy and pain often coexist in life’s richest chapters.
As her stories stand testament, Jessica writes not just with her mind, but with her heart wide open. For her, storytelling is an act of vulnerability, an invitation to connect on the deepest of levels. It’s this profound generosity of spirit that has cemented her place in contemporary literature, not merely as an author, but as a chronicler of the human condition.
Jessica Park is a masterful storyteller, blending raw emotion and humour to craft novels that leave an indelible mark.
In The Colour of Us, how did you approach weaving together themes of art, identity, and emotional healing?
Healing from grief (and trauma of any kind really) isn’t just about sitting in a therapist’s office (even a skilled one). Recovery can be found in so many multi-sensory ways. For Callie in THE COLOR OF US, she intuitively finds that cooking and renovating an old house help; the tactile experiences help her work through so much pain. Her new/old friend, Danny, brings in the idea of equating colours with feelings, moods, thoughts, giving a visual to our life experiences, and I think it’s so beautiful.
What inspired the central premise of 180 Seconds, and how did you develop the emotional intensity within such a brief timeframe?
Somehow I stumbled across a now-famous video of artist Marina Abramovic who was doing a performance piece in which she sat in silence across from strangers, but in a surprise moment her “former lover” (as they called him) showed up. The range of emotions they shared in that unspoken time blew me away, and I could not stop picturing and thinking about what this type of experience would be between people who didn’t know each other, but who were wresting with their own issues and how those might come out in a social experiment like this. It was so fun to boil down what might go through one’s head with every second that passed. What you put of yourself onto another.
“Healing can often be found in tactile, everyday experiences—things that ground us when words fail.” – Jessica Park
The Flat-Out Love series blends humour and depth; how did you balance quirky elements with serious emotional arcs?
I think one of the best ways to hit home with deeply intense storylines is to not always drive it home too forcefully. Pacing pain with moments of levity and laughs actually makes the important stuff hit even harder.
In Left Drowning, you explore trauma and recovery; what research or personal experiences informed this portrayal?
I’m fortunate enough not to have been through the kind of trauma in Left Drowning, but I’ve always been very invested in learning about deep pain and healing. My father was a very skilled therapist, and I grew up with not only his wisdom, but those of his many therapist friends, and then studied psychology in college. So much has been written and talked about how “broken” trauma survivors are, and it was important to me to also focus on healing and that trauma experiences weren’t full indicators that fulfilling and healthy relationships were not possible for the heroes who survived. Having characters’ experiences and journeys make sound psychological sense is tremendously important in all of my books.
The greatest compliment I’ve ever had is that after my dad read Left Drowning and said, “This is the most psychologically astute novel I’ve ever read.” I hold that close every day.
Clear introduces a speculative twist to your storytelling; what drew you to incorporate supernatural elements into your work?
Supernatural is not actually a genre that I’ve read much, and it still surprises me that I wrote this book! I’d been driving and listening to music and a song came on (I wish I could remember what song!), and I suddenly had a flash of the concept I immediately dubbed “death tripping,” and a book basically came at me in a heartbeat. “Death tripping” is essentially the equivalent of any kind of addiction, this one fuelled by death feeling sort of beautiful with a rush of pleasurable Id forces (desires for food, sex, and aggression) upon coming back to life. It was such a weird and wild concept, and I knew I just had to write about it!
“Pain hits harder when we balance it with moments of levity; that contrast is what makes stories resonate.” – Jessica Park
Living in New Hampshire, how does your environment influence the settings and moods of your novels?
Not so much New Hampshire specifically, but I have spent most of my life in New England, and I love writing about places I know well. FLAT-OUT LOVE is set in Boston, my hometown, and I have a deep love for that beautiful city, so it helped to be able to picture my characters so clearly in various neighbourhoods. The LEFT DROWNING series takes place in part in the Midwest, where I went to college, so it was fun to revisit that time in my life on a campus that would be so cold in the winter that we’d hole up for days at a time! Tapping into familiar surrounds sort of naturally leads you to bring elements into a novel that I’m not always aware of as I’m doing it.
What key advice would you offer aspiring authors striving to craft emotionally resonant and character-driven stories?
FLAT-OUT LOVE was sort of a “scary” book for me to write, because it was the first time I really abandoned pretending to keep any kind of a wall up between myself and the story; I poured my heart into it, my feelings, what I might do in situations… And it was terrifying. But, however, it paid off. Reader response to that book taught me that it’s key to give of yourself as freely as you possibly can. That’s how you connect in meaningful ways with an audience.
