Jessica Guerrierini Interview

 

September is a time when we come together to shine a light on hope, healing, and the importance of making support and resources accessible to those who need them most. In honor of this, I’m sharing a meaningful interview with Jessica Guerrieri. She is an inspiring voice in addiction recovery advocacy.

Jessica’s journey is one of courage, resilience, and transformation. She’s the author of the award-winning debut novel Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, a compelling work of book club fiction that speaks to the complexities of struggle and the strength it takes to rise above it.

Jessica, what sparked your interest in writing?

Writing was always my escape hatch. I have easily a dozen journals filled front to back

from the time I was six years old through college. It was how I processed the world and

made sense of my feelings—before I ever had the language for them. I stopped writing

when drinking took hold of me, but the desire to be a novelist never left. That was

always the goal. Even when I lost my way, that part of me was still in there, waiting.

How do you come up with ideas for your books?

Usually, it starts with a question I don’t have the answer to—something that won’t leave

me alone. I’ll overhear a conversation in a coffee shop or revisit a moment from my

past, and instead of moving on, I’ll spiral. I think that’s the sweet spot for fiction—when

you can’t stop turning something over in your mind, so you write your way into the

answer.

I also tend to follow a certain pattern: a particular topic or theme comes to mind, and

then it starts showing up everywhere—in conversations with my mom friends, in a

scene from a show I’m binging on Hulu or HBO, even in something my daughter says in

passing. Once I notice a pattern, I can’t unsee it. That’s when I know I’m onto something

worth writing about.

How do your personal experiences shape your writing?

Every book I write is laced with what I once thought were the scariest parts of myself. I write

from my lived experience—sobriety, motherhood, grief, shame, resilience. I try to put language

to the stuff we don’t say out loud, especially the moments that feel too raw or contradictory to

post on social media. Fiction gives me a safe space to tell the truth.

Some scenes are painted directly from memory or rooted in places I love—like Half Moon Bay

or Lake Tahoe. There’s something grounding about writing into landscapes that have held me.

They help me access emotional truths I might not otherwise touch.

I’m not afraid to “go there” because I’ve found it remarkably healing. In my second book, Both

Can Be True (April 2026, Harper Muse), I decided to explore the complexity of healing and

sexual assault. As a survivor, I knew giving that experience a voice would only empower me—just as it

 did when I wrote about alcoholism in Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Telling the truth, even

 through fiction, has been the most liberating part of my creative life.

What are some of the challenges you face while writing?

My greatest challenge is time. I’m a mom of three girls (11, 9, and 6), and I want to show up

fully for them while also continuing to do what I love at the pace of my creativity. The problem

is, I’m allotted specific windows—usually when they’re at school—where I’m supposed to “turn

it on,” and that’s not always how creativity works. Some days I’m deep in it, and others I’m just

staring at the screen, willing the words to come before school pickup.

Then there’s the part that comes after the writing: knowing when to stop editing. I’m forever

trying to make a sentence more precise, more honest, more alive. That, and letting characters

evolve as they are—not as I am currently. Especially when they’re mothers. It’s hard not to want

to redeem them. But I’m learning that sometimes the most powerful thing I can do is let them be

flawed and still worthy of love.

What inspired you to write this particular book?

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was born from a question I couldn't stop

asking myself: what does it really look like when a woman slowly loses herself—and

how would it feel to be the one watching it happen? As someone in long-term recovery,

I’ve seen firsthand how high-functioning alcoholism can hide in plain sight, especially in

motherhood, where overwhelm and wine are often sold as a packaged deal. I wanted to

explore the slippery slope of using alcohol to cope, and what happens when the thing

that helps you survive becomes the thing that unravels you. I also wanted to tell the

truth about grief and womanhood—the kind that lingers quietly in the background, even

when life appears shiny and put together.

What message or takeaway do you hope readers will gain from your book?

That you can look like you have it all together and still be drowning. That addiction doesn’t

always look like rock bottom—it often looks like motherhood. And that telling the truth, even

when it’s messy, is the first step toward coming home to yourself.

What are some of your favorite books and authors, and how have they influenced

your writing? 

I admire writers who are unafraid to explore complicated women and fractured

families—Liane Moriarty, Claire Lombardo, Celeste Ng, and Wally Lamb are a few I

always return to. Their work reminds me that honesty is the most powerful tool in fiction,

and that characters don’t need to be likable to be unforgettable.

 Is there anything else you want readers to know?

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is fiction, but the emotional truth behind it is

real. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, unseen, or unsure of how to ask for help you’re not alone. This

 book is for you.