jess singh, novelist, indian romance novels, helen siwak, portfolioyvr, vancouver, bc, yvr

Jess Singh: A Novelist Exploring Ambition, Identity, and Self-Belief

Jess Singh is an emerging voice in contemporary Canadian literature, recognized for her emotionally resonant storytelling and her nuanced exploration of identity, love, and reinvention. Her work reflects the experience of an Indian heart navigating a Western world, weaving cultural duality, vulnerability, and resilience into narratives that feel both intimate and universal. She is the author of three evocative novels — I Never Loved You, All That She Wanted Was, and There Is No You and I — each rooted in raw honesty and shaped by characters learning to confront their truths in unfamiliar, often challenging environments. Her most recent release, There Is No You and I, is currently available in top bookstores across India and has introduced her voice to a growing international readership.

jess singh, novelist, indian romance novels, helen siwak, portfolioyvr, vancouver, bc, yvr

Jess’s path into professional writing began with journalism, including a formative role at UrbanAsian. During her tenure, she completed several high-profile interviews, speaking with leading Bollywood actor Jason Shah, internationally renowned and award-winning Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, internet-breaking comedian Zarna Garg, and the Crown Prince of Bhangra, Jazzy B. One of the defining moments of her early career was a five-day assignment in Bombay, India, where she conducted an interview that remains a creative milestone. The city’s energy, artistic vibrancy, and emotional complexity continue to shape her storytelling.

Through her role at UrbanAsian, Jess remains closely connected to the South Asian creative, cultural, and business communities across Canada. Her assignments regularly bring her into dynamic environments — from intimate business launches and community celebrations to high-profile galas and red-carpet events — where she engages with entrepreneurs, artists, performers, and influential leaders. These experiences provide far more than journalistic insight. They offer real-world observation, emotional texture, and authentic human stories that inevitably find their way into her fiction. Each interaction becomes an opportunity to understand people more deeply, study personalities in motion, and capture the subtleties of ambition, vulnerability, and identity. This continual immersion in the community enriches her character development and provides a living archive of moments, voices, and experiences that inform and inspire her upcoming novels.

jess singh, novelist, indian romance novels, helen siwak, portfolioyvr, vancouver, bc, yvr

Her novels reflect the emotional landscapes she has navigated: Tara’s reinvention and escape in I Never Loved You, her youthful longing and cinematic dreams in All That She Wanted Was, and Kavya’s chaotic, captivating journey into modern love in There Is No You and I. Together, these works form a body of literature shaped by courage, cultural clarity, and a commitment to portraying the intricacies of human connection with sincerity and depth.

When she is not writing, Jess finds inspiration in quiet, intentional living. She enjoys painting, reading, and observing the world with the reflective attentiveness of a storyteller. Her days often include peaceful visits to the beach, long walks with her dog, Panda, and meaningful time with her fifteen-year-old, whose presence brings grounding and joy.

Jess Singh continues to build a literary presence that amplifies underrepresented voices and speaks directly to readers seeking stories that honour emotion without hesitation. With plans to collaborate with an established publisher, expand distribution across Canada’s key Indian communities, and engage as an invited speaker at literary festivals and women’s conferences, she is shaping a career defined by authenticity, connection, and the enduring belief that stories have the power to heal.

IN HER WORDS.

“I believe my writer spirit began long before I understood what it meant to be a writer. As a child, I scribbled in old notebooks without any real purpose. There was no dramatic revelation, only a quiet whisper inside that urged me to hold onto ideas before they disappeared. When I was about seven or eight, I loved writing but had no idea what to create. I mostly filled pages with random markings. One day, my aunt told me that if I wrote “Thank you, God” a thousand times and then asked for a magic, I would receive it.

I took her instruction seriously. I filled every single line until my hand ached. When I finally reached the thousandth repetition, I closed my eyes, stretched out my hand, and wished for a magic stick. When nothing appeared, I felt disappointed. Now, looking back, I understand that the magic was already present. The magic stick was never meant to fall into my hand. The real magic was the desire to create, to imagine, and to bring something into existence through effort and intention. Writing those thousand lines became my first true act of discipline. I did not receive a magic stick that day, but I did discover the magic of wanting to make something with words.

Even when adults insisted that writing was not practical, the impulse to create never faded. I realized, slowly and quietly, that I was not trying to build a business. I was building a world of words, one small sentence at a time.

jess singh, novelist, indian romance novels, helen siwak, portfolioyvr, vancouver, bc, yvr

EARLY BEGINNINGS

My earliest intention was to capture life in a way that would outlast the emotions themselves. I wrote about joy, loss, longing, and the small moments that shape memory. I never ran official ventures as a teenager, but I treated writing as though it were one. I experimented, revised, and returned to the page even when no one was paying attention. The greatest lesson from those years was simple: consistency and heart matter more than applause. When you show up for your work, it slowly becomes something real.

CHILDHOOD MAGIC

That early moment of wishing for magic taught me something deeper than I understood at the time. I did not need anything to fall into my hands. The discipline to sit, write, imagine, and hope was the magic. That childhood effort became the blueprint for the writer I would eventually become, one who believed in dedication, clarity, and the quiet power of persistence.

GROWING COURAGE

My journey eventually moved from private scribbles to full-length novels. Self-doubt was the biggest obstacle. I heard constant messages that writing would not pay, that it was not practical, that it was not a real art. Still, I wrote. Every rejection became a test of my devotion to this craft. I allowed heartbreak, joy, loneliness, and hope to enter the work, and these experiences shaped my voice more honestly than any workshop or rulebook ever could.

STORY VENTURES

My novels became my ventures, each one shaped by an Indian heart navigating the Western world. Each story reflected the emotional season I was living through, and each book carried its own identity, its own pulse, and its own truth.

My first novel, “I Never Loved You,” followed Tara, a divorced woman burdened by a label that felt heavier than her heartbreak. In her attempt to start over, she transformed herself into Sasha and arrived in Vancouver determined to outrun her past. Yet, the new life she imagined with her roommates Ira and Nikki became more complicated than she anticipated. Their small apartment—filled with secrets, personal battles, and unspoken wounds—became both her refuge and her trap. Even with a new name and a new appearance, she could not escape what still chased her. Through Tara’s journey, I explored the tension between escape and self-acceptance, and the realization that reinvention carries its own emotional cost.

My second novel, “All That She Wanted Was,” returned to Tara’s earlier years as a spirited Indian girl longing for the kind of romantic fantasy she grew up watching in Bollywood films. She imagined herself running through fields, chasing her beloved around a tree, and building a life filled with warmth, laughter, and fairy-tale charm. Yet, as she grew older, she discovered that life is not a Bollywood script. The so-called “trophy” of marriage often represents societal expectation rather than fulfilment. Tara found herself carried by a current she did not choose, racing toward a future she did not fully understand. In this novel, I explored the collision between cinematic dreams and real-life complexity.

My third novel, “There is No You and I,” currently available throughout top bookstores in India, moved into a more playful and contemporary space. It followed Kavya, a woman who had glam, cash, and cocktails within reach until she fell for a chef whose charm arrived with equal measures of chaos. Their dynamic became a dance of maturity and immaturity, deep feeling and impulsive confusion. Through their story, I explored the whimsical nature of love, where emotional growth and emotional unraveling exist side by side. It reminded me that love can be messy, childish, profound, and transformative all at once.

None of these books ended because I ran out of interest. They ended because each narrative reached its natural emotional conclusion. Writing them taught me about heartbreak, reinvention, cultural identity, and the courage required to confront one’s truth. These novels were never business ventures in the traditional sense. They were emotional passages that pushed me forward as a writer shaped by two cultures, many memories, and the quiet strength of stories that insist on being told.

NEXT LEVEL

Now that I have gained confidence in my voice, I approach my writing with a deeper sense of discipline and intention. I dedicate focused hours each day to the craft, revising more rigorously and shaping each narrative with purpose. I continue to reach out to readers and connect with fellow writers, because community sharpens my creativity. I have learned that raw emotion is only the beginning, and that craft, structure, and clarity give those emotions meaning. Writing has become not only an expression of my inner world, but also a bridge toward others who have felt the same storms.

jess singh, novelist, indian romance novels, helen siwak, portfolioyvr, vancouver, bc, yvr

NECESSARY SACRIFICES

I sacrificed comfort, predictability, and the easy approval that comes from following conventional expectations. I spent many quiet nights writing instead of joining social gatherings. At times, I felt alone, but those sacrifices taught me devotion. They taught me to value truth in my work more than external validation. Balancing life and art required constant recalibration, but I always tried to return to the people who mattered.

DEFINING SUCCESS

There was no glamorous turning point. My clarity arrived when I realized that writing filled a space inside me that nothing else could touch. If I abandoned it, that space would sit empty. Success became less about sales and more about connection. When someone reads my words and feels understood, that is when I know that I have succeeded.

REAL SUPPORT

Support has shaped this journey more than anything else. People like Simone Grewal, Sirish Rao, and Nira Arora helped me believe that my work mattered. Their kindness, encouragement, and grounded wisdom strengthened my resolve. Watching Sirish navigate life as both author and mentor showed me that writing does not require grandeur to be meaningful. It requires sincerity.

EVOLVING VISION

With each book, I learned to write with intention. I became mindful of readers, their emotions, and the responsibility that stories carry. There were moments when I was tempted to chase trends, but each time I reminded myself to stay aligned with authenticity. If a story did not feel true, I stepped back. My purpose has remained constant: to honour the lives and emotions that shape us.

GUIDANCE FOR OTHERS

For anyone beginning this path, I would say this: write because you must. Work even when no one is watching. Consistency outweighs inspiration, and kindness toward yourself will carry you through every setback. I wish I had known earlier that success is not defined by money or recognition. Success arrives quietly when someone feels seen through your work.

LOOKING AHEAD

Looking toward the years ahead, I am focused on elevating my work to a broader and more influential platform. I intend to collaborate with an established publisher who understands the cultural nuances within my stories and can position my work for meaningful national reach. My goal is to achieve Canada-wide distribution that speaks directly to key Indian communities across the country, ensuring that readers who see themselves in these narratives can access them easily and proudly.

I also hope to build a presence beyond the page. I envision becoming an invited speaker at literary festivals, book events, and women’s conferences, where I can share both my unconventional journey and the emotional truths that shaped it. By offering insight into reinvention, resilience, and cultural duality, I hope to inspire others to pursue their own creative paths with courage and honesty. My long-term vision is to create a body of work and a public platform that empower readers, uplift voices, and contribute to conversations about identity, love, and the human experience.”

Follow Jess Singh on IG: @jess1singh

Author Profile

Helen Siwak, Collaborator: This story is created in collaboration between Helen Siwak and the featured subject. As the founder and publisher of Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine, Helen works closely with entrepreneurs to share their paths of innovation, resilience, and growth. Each story in this series is co-developed through interviews and first-person insights, blending authentic voices with Helen’s editorial expertise to highlight the remarkable individuals shaping British Columbia’s business landscape.