A guest post by New York Times bestselling author, Jessica Park
When people find out that I’m a writer, one of the first
questions they ask (usually after telling me that they TOO have always wanted
to be a writer, then launching into an hour-long explanation of their top forty
book ideas that, you know, perhaps I might want to write for them) is: “What do
you write?”
This is when I freeze. And stammer. I mean, it’s a simple
question, right? Or it should be.
But because I’m me, and complicated, and think that I’m all sorts
of unique and rebellious (this alternates with extreme self-loathing and doubt,
just so you don’t think I’m a total jerk), answering this question is hard.
I could simply say that I write romance. That Left Drowning is a new adult romance, and Flat-Out Love is a young adult romance. But then I desperately want to
qualify those genre labels! My books are
more than just romance, I want to explain. There’s romance, but a strong literary style, plenty of humor, intense
psychological exploration of ... I don’t know how to answer because it’s
impossible to feel that a one-word genre label captures what I hope my stories
are about. That’s the neurotic, strung-out, paranoid author in me. I’ve learned
to live with it. But my neuroses aside, I think I’m on to something....
One of the things that I’ve worked so hard to do in my books
is to incorporate as many layers as I can, to give depth and explore a variety
of subjects and angles beyond a linear love story. Family dynamics, trauma,
mental health, friendship, survival... You name it. And I’m driven to write
about how our pasts catch up with us no matter how hard and how far we run. How
we cope, and fail, and succeed in many aspects of our life because of our
pasts.
And when we start talking about the past—and about hiding the past—we are really talking
about secrets. And secrets inevitably lead to mysteries. And clues. And
stupendous scenes of revelation and understanding. Themes and plot designs that
we typically associate with being only in true mysteries or thrillers are
actually often found in so many other genres.
A really good piece of fiction has to keep readers turning
the pages, right? What’s next? It’s
about how authors dole out information, tease our readers, lure them in, and
make them wonder. Much the way mystery and thriller novels work. In my books Left Drowning and Flat-Out Love, both stories absolutely follow romantic paths, but
big questions are also raised early on. There are gaps of information,
personality quirks that allude to hidden stories, and discoveries made through
conversation and experience. There are the equivalents of crimes, clues,
suspects, investigative action... You name it, romance can have it.
I’ve been mixing up my romance with mystery, literary
fiction, and humor—plus lord knows what else—and having a blast. And it’s why I
encourage readers to stretch beyond what they think they love (only romance, only crime fiction, only
sci fi); elements we love in one category are so often found in another.
The hard lines that we believe separate genres are often much
more fluid than we know, and fluidity can be magic.
Jessica is the author of New York Times bestselling FLAT-OUT LOVE, RELATIVELY FAMOUS, and her latest NA novel, LEFT DROWNING. She lives in New Hampshire where she spends an obscene amount time thinking about rocker boys and their guitars, complex caffeinated beverages, and tropical vacations. On the rare occasions that she is able to focus on other things, she writes.
FInd her at:
https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicapark
FInd her at:
https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicapark
