Hey there, bookworms! It’s time to cozy up with another edition of Jen’s Jewels, where we dish all the juicy details straight from the authors themselves. This week, we’re chatting with the delightful Suzanne Park about her latest gem, ONE LAST WORD. Get ready for a heart-to-heart as Suzanne spills the beans on her inspiration, character quirks, and the perfect blend of laughter and life lessons in her writing. So grab your favorite reading nook and dive in as we uncover the magic behind Suzanne’s storytelling prowess. Let’s get started!   Jennifer Vido: What inspired the concept of ONE LAST WORD, an app that allows users to send messages after they pass away, and how did you develop the idea into a full-fledged story? Suzanne Park: The idea came to me after binge watching SHARK TANK and TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE during the pandemic. Looking back, it seems weird that those two shows could converge in my mind and spark an idea for an adult book. I’d also always wanted to write about the Venture Capital industry (I’ve written about the gaming and investment banking industries in the past), so this was a good way to…venture into…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Suzanne Park!   Writes: I write contemporary romantic comedies with Korean American main characters who are not particularly suave or sexy, and are in fact pretty much the opposite, but you’ll root for them to get a happy ending. Have you ever had a dream where you need to take an exam for a class you never attended? Well…in my forthcoming comedic novel THE DO-OVER, Korean American career guide author Lily Lee finds out during an employee background check that she didn’t complete her college degree and has to return to college and relive her senior year ten years later. There, she finds out that one of her TAs is her old college boyfriend Jake Cho. What else could go wrong?   About: I’m a Korean Tennessean who lives in Los Angeles. I left LA after graduating from business school, then moved to Seattle. After eight years I decided I couldn’t handle the rain, and moved back to LA. I like being outdoors but…

1–What’s the name of your latest release? LOATHE AT FIRST SIGHT, coming out August 18! 2–What is it about? LOATHE AT FIRST SIGHT is an #OwnVoices workplace rom-com set in the video game industry. In this novel, Korean-American producer named Melody Joo is tasked with launching a controversial video game while being antagonized by everyone around her, especially Nolan MacKenzie, the company’s new MBA intern. 3–What word best describes your heroine? Fierce. 4–What makes your hero irresistible? He’s a charming, smart, quirky, plaid-shirt-and-tortoise-shell-glasses-wearing kind of guy. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help? Her best friends Candace and Jane, as well as her mentor/friend at work, Kat. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book? The backdrop is Seattle, where I lived for a long time. I love the sense of place it invokes, especially with the weather and the food and cafe scene. The work setting is also something I loved including in this book: I hearkened back to my days in tech where we had cubicles/workspaces and hard-to-book conference rooms and it was a lot of fun to describe. 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantser (write…