Author Chat with Patricia Park

On this episode of Lit Happens with Cyd, now I am joined by a fabulous author, Patricia Park. Patricia, how are you? Hi Cyd, thanks so much for having me. Of course, thank you for coming on. So for anyone who doesn't know who you are, they must be living under a rock, but tell us a little bit about your background and how you fell in love with, you know, with the literary world. Yeah, I write humorous and heartfelt adult and YA novels. And they're all part of the same, I call it the Queens multiverse. They're all, they all take place in Queens, New York, and everyone has like a cameo in the other, in the other books. And I take young women coming of age and just trying to figure out who they are. And I, you know, tell their stories across like aspiring chefs, stand-up comedians, you know, finance majors, and so forth. So I just try to have the reader spend a little time with these characters. So what was your aha moment when you were like, you know what, I think I'm gonna take my ideas and actually put them down on paper and become an author? Yeah, I think it was when I, you know, I'm from New York, and I used to commute four hours a day to high school. I'm from Queens, and I went to high school in the Bronx. So you spend four hours a day on New York City Public Transit, you have seen the world. Like I overheard a million different Englishes, and I should have been doing, you know, my like math homework and, you know, my high school homework. But instead, I was just this nosy, this nosy teenager who was just overhearing and scribbling all these conversations I'd overhear on the train. And people said, people are like super TMI on New York City Public Transit. And it was just such great training grounds for me as an aspiring writer to, yeah, to like, be encountering all these different characters and these different dialogues and different ways of speaking English. And it was just kind of cool. Like four hours, I'll be like, no, at this point, I don't even want to go to school. Like, I can only imagine like the time you had to take to get up and then the train right back and forth. Oh, my God, I would like lose it. But now look at you. So it paid off. So I love one of your books, which like the first few words got me imposter syndrome, because I feel like I had that a lot in college, because I would just wait till like the last minute to do whatever assignments I had to do. Because I kind of liked, you know, that feeling of being like under pressure, last minute deadline type of thing. So tell us a little bit about this book. Well, Sid, I feel uniquely positioned to talk about imposter syndrome, having literally written the book on it. And I think it just came from, you know, all those times, and I feel like this speaks maybe to the younger you too, that we were put in these spaces. And it's like, you keep glancing over your shoulder, right? Like, oh, my God, am I going to get bounced from this party? Like, I don't belong here. I'm not good enough. I'm not smart enough. And doggone it, people don't like me. And so with Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim, she's a teenage girl. She's like at a super competitive high school prep school called Quaker Oats Prep. And it's a little satire for you. And she just keeps thinking about all the ways that she doesn't fit in and eventually takes a novel to, you know, determine like, hey, this actually you do belong, and these are the ways. And that's part of, I think, this empowering message I'd like to tell young people, young readers, like, hey, you might feel like you're always, you know, glancing over your shoulder, like, oh, my God, I don't belong here. I have imposter syndrome. But actually, here are all the ways that you belong. Yeah, and I think it's a very significant message nowadays, because you see, unfortunately, with the younger generation, you know, like so many suicides, because they're getting bullied, or, you know, things are going on at home. So I think that this would be a great read, you know, like, to your point where you were talking about, you know, you do belong, no matter what makes you different. Everybody's different in some ways, some fashion, but that's what makes you unique. And that's what makes you you. And so I commend you for bringing, you know, serious topic like that, but then also finding humor and a little bit of fun. And it as well. And so thank you, as a fellow reader, for creating that story. And then I know one of your new ones is Ambrosia drops the mic. And in my brain, when I first saw it, I was like, oh, well, maybe she's a singer, because I sing. I get that from my mom. So tell us what was your motivation behind this one? Yeah, Ambrosia Lee drops the mic is about an aspiring stand up comedian. She was a failed child actor. And she kind of channels her humiliation and frustration to finding her voice on stage. And the fun fact is that I went method, and I performed stand up comedy to research the novel. I am a typical writer, I spent years in a bat cave being like, don't talk to me. I'm the one sitting on the train, like, scrambling your conversation. But I'm, I'm not a performer. So that was so weird for me said to be like, to in order to write Ambrosia Lee's kind of comedy journey, and her like, failed jokes, and her like, Hey, is this thing on? I went out and did some stand up, I did a bunch of shows in in in New York, and I ate it. Oh my god, I ate it. So I bombed. And I'm like, I'm suffering for the art. It's all gonna go into the character. So therein lies the product, hopefully humorous product of, of, of my trials and tribulations trying to do stand up comedy. Yeah, people want to read it even more. Because like, I went through this brutal time and experience with putting myself on this day in New York can be brutal. And so I was like, I did this for you guys. So like, go. Sing it, girl. Now with these books, I know you said like, each one has a cameo and like each of the books, would you like to see this is like maybe a miniseries on TV potentially, because I think it'd be pretty cool to see like, maybe if they were all friends and kind of shine light into their their different lives. Yeah, oh my god. I mean, that that would be a dream, right? Can we manifest that into reality? I did have some flirtations with Hollywood. And it's, it's so weird, because everyone is like, hey, yeah, you know, you get your five seconds. And, and they, they consider you like a little hot. Oh, they're like, oh, that's so cool. Like, with my first adult novel, Re-Jane, it was a, a Korean American retelling of Bronte's Jane Eyre. I know the Brontes are having a moment with Wuthering Heights and, you know, all of that. Then I'm a Bronte file. So that that was fun, like to kind of reimagine Jane Eyre, as a as a Korean American girl from Queens. That would be cool. But you know, I mean, I'm told like, don't, don't eat the movie popcorn until you're sitting there at the premiere. In other words, don't get your hopes up. Exactly. Hollywood can be very weird. But I feel like within the book community, it's just I feel like the book community is better than like the whole Hollywood, Hollywood aspect, because everybody's reading, everybody's recommending the book community is wonderful. Like I've learned that, you know, with starting my show. So I think you're I think you're in a good place, good place with the books. So what's next for you? Like, are there more books that's going to be within this universe? Yeah, so each book kind of has an Easter egg for who the next character will be. Re-Jane with my first book that seeded all the other care, you know, little character cameos. So I guess I'm gonna be that person to say, like, hey, you got to go to the book, find those Easter eggs and figure out who the next kind of choose your own adventure will be. Well, Patricia, before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to say, especially to fellow book lovers out there? Yeah, I'd say, you know, I turned to books because I was a really lonely kid. You know, if my books could just speak to one person out there who's feeling alienated, lonely, a little left out, but can do so on a humorous journey where it's not all just doom and gloom all the time. That'd be awesome. I feel like I would have done my job. And you've done that. And especially because reading itself, you know, is like such a great getaway from everything that's kind of going on in the real world and like in people's personal lives. And so I think your books would be a great addition to that, especially if you have like, you know, a very serious job or very serious, you know, situations or events taking place. And you just kind of want to sit back, relax, laugh, but also tackle some much needed conversations. I would say pick up Patricia's book. You won't be disappointed. Thank you, Syd. Thank you for the work you're doing and making this friendly and inviting community space. It can be a hard world out there. So I appreciate it. Get your chocolate covered broccoli with my books. Exactly. So, Patricia, thank you so much for coming on and chatting with me and fellow book lovers out there. We greatly appreciate it. Oh, Syd, thanks so much. It was such a pleasure.