Indie Support Sunday: Jessica Sydney
- 5 days ago
- 7 min read
Jessica Sydney just released her second book, Come Back to Me, in her debut small town romance series and I’m so glad she gave me a little bit of her time to do this interview! Much like me, Jessica started out as a member of the bookstagram community before switching into writing her own books and we are grateful for it! Her debut, After All This Time, was released soon after and since then, she’s been working on multiple different projects at once.
Including a possible paranormal romance she wrote when she got started with her writing? While she’s published her second book, Jessica’s still juggling two projects in self-edits while also dreaming up many more story ideas. When asked what’s one thing that can be found in all her published and future stories, Jessica talks about the importance of mental health representation and how struggling with it on a daily basis makes it a part of everything she does.
And while you’re here, make sure you check out her five fantastic pieces of advice for fellow authors.
Both of Jessica’s books are out now and in Kindle Unlimited!
BEING AN AUTHOR
Who or what inspired you to write?
I honestly have no idea who or what inspired me to write. There was always this force pulling me to write stories. I started writing when I was really young. I think it was because of my overactive imagination.
What’s the best and worst part about being an indie author?
There are so many great aspects of being an indie author. I love that I’m able to connect with my readers and engage with them online and at in-person events.
I wouldn’t say there’s a bad part about being an indie author, but marketing my books can be mentally draining. As much as I do enjoy creating content, it’s nice to go back to my roots with writing first drafts.
Why did you choose to self-publish instead of going the traditional route?
I discovered the indie author community when I was a part of the book community on Instagram back in 2023, and I never looked back. I loved the fact that I was able to get my books out faster, and I admired what the self-publishing process can entail.
When you’re not writing, what do you do to get the creative juices flowing?
If I’m not writing, I’m usually listening to music, watching movies or TV shows, or creating social media content. These things help get my creative juices flowing.
If you were to recommend books to me (in any genre), what would they be?
The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is one of my go-to book recommendations. I love the way Mazey portrays mental health representation in this book and the love story between Indira and Jude.
What are your top 5 tips or pieces of advice for aspiring authors?
Remember to prioritize your mental health. I didn’t realize going into all this would be so rough on my mental health, so if you feel like you need to take a break, take a break. You’ll thank yourself later for it.
Market your book early. I learned this early on during my self-publishing journey for my debut. It helps spread the word and get your book on readers’ radars.
Don’t compare your journey to other authors’ journeys because we all move at different paces. It’s important to do things that work for you. If you can only publish one book a year, that’s okay. If you didn’t reach 100k page reads in a record amount of time, that’s okay, too. Comparison is the thief of joy. You should be proud of where you are in your author journey.
Hire an editor. Editors are there to help your words leap off the pages in your book. After going through however many rounds of self-edits, it’s incredibly helpful to have a fresh set of eyes on your manuscript.
Create an author website. Your website can be a central place for readers to learn more about you and your books, they can purchase signed copies directly from you (indie bookstores, too!), and they can follow your event schedule to see what in-person and/or virtual events you’ll be attending.
ROMANCE AS A GENRE
Why did you choose romance as the genre to write in? What is your favorite thing about the genre?
I naturally gravitated towards the genre when I first started writing. The very first book I wrote, but never finished, was a paranormal romance (I hope to finish it one day, wink-wink). I love the romance genre so much because of the way it can make us feel so many emotions all at once or separately.
If not romance/subgenres of romance, what genre would you like to write in?
I do have plans to write a romantic mystery/thriller two in the future, but if I could write a good, old-fashioned mystery/thriller, I would be ecstatic. It’s one of my favorite genres besides romance.
What are your most and least favorite tropes?
My favorite tropes are enemies to lovers, small town romance, found family, childhood friends to lovers, and second chance romance.
My least favorite trope is the love triangle.
What are some tropes you want to write in the future?
Fake dating, academic rivals to lovers, and workplace romance.
What are some topics (sensitive and otherwise) that you think should exist more in romance?
I’m a huge advocate for mental health, specifically anxiety and panic attacks. These are topics I intertwine with other plot points in my books for the most part.
I’d love to see more romance books with mental health representation.
If you write open door romance, why did you choose that and what inspires your sex scenes?
My first book, After All This Time, is fully open door. It’s the first book in Sunset Cove, a series of interconnected standalones.
I chose for it to be open door solely because of the tension and banter between the main characters. They’re childhood rivals, so it made sense for me to have them get it out of their systems that way.
If you write closed door romance, why did you choose that and what are your favorite ways to build tension between the characters?
My second book, Come Back to Me, has the door cracked open. It’s the second book in my Sunset Cove series. It’s not as steamy as After All This Time. I chose for it to be that way because it made sense for the story. I wanted it to be more emotional and sweet than a little bit spicy. I would classify it as fade to black and not closed door.
YOUR BOOKS
What inspired your published stories? How and when did you come up with these stories and plots?
I get my inspiration from music, TV shows, movies, and books. This is how I come up with most of my stories/plots. The idea for my debut came from Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score because that book made me fall in love with the small town romance trope.
Can you briefly tell me about your books?
My debut contemporary romance is called After All This Time and the first book in the Sunset Cove series. After five years of not speaking to each other, childhood rivals Noah and Dani are reunited due to an unexpected tragedy.
My sophomore contemporary romance is called Come Back to Me. After six years of radio-silence, childhood friends turned lovers Grayson and Violet are reunited and re-discover their intense feelings for one another may not have been as buried deep as they thought they were.
Do you already have a favorite character from the stories you’ve written?
Oh, this is such a difficult question to answer because I love all my characters. Besides Come Back to Me, I have two other projects in the self-editing stage and quite a few in the drafting stage, so I would include the characters in those books, too.
I wouldn’t say I have a favorite, but I have ones I love.
If you were to cast your book for a movie/television show, who would you cast in the lead roles?
Oh, this is the best question ever. It’s funny because I don’t think about this as much as I probably should be, haha.
I’ll start with After All This Time. I’d love to see Christopher Briney as Noah and Maude Apatow as Dani.
Moving onto Come Back to Me, I’d love to see Milo Manheim as Grayson and Lilia Buckingham as Violet.
These castings could change over time, so this may not be 100% accurate down the road.
How much of yourself do you put into these characters?
It depends on the character. I put a lot of myself into Dani from After All This Time. It was an accident, it wasn’t on purpose. There are small glimmers of myself in Violet from Come Back to Me though.
What is a story/stories that you really want to tell?
There’s a project I’m currently working on, and it’s a story I’ve been wanting to tell for a little over a year now. I have a lot of story ideas in my Notes app on my phone, and I hope most of them will see the light of day some day in the future.
Is there one common element that readers can find in all your stories?
I think there will be some form of mental health representation in most of my books because I struggle with it on a daily basis, and I want to create characters that readers see themselves in and characters that feel like real people.
What’s next on the bookshelf for you? Anything you can tell us about a future project?
The second book in the Sunset Cove series, Come Back to Me, recently released. I’m working on self-editing Project Paradox, which is a contemporary romance standalone. I have a draft of a story I’m super excited about because it’s nothing like anything I’ve written so far.
When you write these stories, what are you hoping your readers will feel?
I want them to feel everything: happiness, anger, sadness, love, dislike, etc. This is why I write most of my books the way I do because I want my readers to feel all the emotions.
AUTHOR’S CHOICE
Paperbacks, hardbacks, ebooks or audiobooks
Contemporary, fantasy, historical or romantic suspense
Single or Dual POV
Standalones, series or standalones in a series
Open door, ajar door or closed door romances (and fade to black?)
Music or silence when writing
Plotter, pantser or plantser
Water, tea, coffee or….wine?
Cold or warm weather
Write better in the morning, afternoon or night?
Illustrated or photo cover?
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