Noblesville Woman Shares Story Of Childhood Abuse, Writes Book On Her Journey

Jessica Pearson shares her story of abuse that she experienced as a child and the raw recounting of the effects of that abuse, as well as her journey to healing, in her first book, “Imagining the Darkness,” released today.

“The book is a love letter to myself and anyone who has suffered at the hands of someone who was supposed to protect you,” the Old Town Noblesville woman said.

Growing up, she experienced everything from simple joy to violence, neglect and despair.

Born in Florida and raised in Georgia, she lived in a small Appalachian community where people did not air their dirty laundry, and “when you suspected something bad was happening, people would rather look the other way than help,” she said. “This applied to everyone from teachers to police officers. If I wanted to be saved, I had to do it myself.”

The road she has traveled has been a challenging one, and she knew that she couldn’t be the only person who has experienced such things.

“I decided to share my story to help others feel empowered to speak their truth and find their own version of healing,” said Pearson, who journaled as a kid and has written short stories and poetry for fun.

She began writing in blog format on a website she created, hecallsmebird.com. “I am a dirty bird Atlanta Falcons fan,” the Brandon, Fla., native, who grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia, wrote in her first blog and also shared that her family had a dirty joke for everything, again calling herself a “dirty bird.”

Pearson, who finds solace in writing, began recounting stories that stuck out in her childhood and quickly realized that she had so much to say. One after another, stories poured out of her, especially after she lost her mom to an eight-year battle with cancer in 2020. She wrote as a therapeutic release valve and shared with close friends. Very soon, she realized that her writings could become a human experience story in a book that she would write.

“There were many chapters that left me sitting at my computer in tears, unable to continue,” said Pearson, who found writing to be liberating.

“I don’t have to hold onto my pain. I can let it go,” Pearson said.

She searched for a creative-writing coach and an editor, having a few brainstorming sessions with the coach, then creating an outline with her editor. They worked together through several comprehensive edits before “digitally high-fiving each other on a completed manuscript.” Being that she wanted to be in the driver’s seat of the creative process of designing her book cover and other details, she landed with BookBaby Publishing, a company that helped with formatting, design and distribution in a matter of months.

“I am so proud,” Pearson said of her book, which will be available beginning today at all major retailers, including Barnes and Noble and Amazon. She plans to attend the Los Angeles Times’ author fair in 2024 and any local author fairs here. Plus, she would love to see her book in the local libraries.

She said readers’ responses from the ebook, which was released ahead of the release date, has been overwhelmingly positive. While she knows that her story has the potential to impact others, she said, “there is always that initial fear of what people will think when they read the ugly bits.”

Pearson has made it her life’s mission to be a continuous work in progress. She began working at age 14 as a server in her hometown. She moved to Noblesville in 2010 and was one of the first people hired to open Rosie’s Cafe on the Square, where she worked for four years and made many dear friends.

Today, she is married to former elementary-school teacher turned Realtor Jason Pearson, and they have three children, Grace, Alexi and Trevor, and two dogs, June and Betty. She has a job she loves as a full-time project coordinator for TMG Construction Management, teaches pop-up yoga classes at The Lacy Arts Building in downtown Noblesville, is president of Noblesville High School’s show choir parent organization (daughter Alexi is in New Dimension show choir) and, being a music fanatic, helps her husband put on a front porch music festival on Logan Street in Old Town Noblesville. (This year’s music fest is planned for Aug. 26.)

Her goal isn’t to become the next best-selling author, but if that happens, she wouldn’t be upset.

She said, “We have to understand the only way to heal is to bring the monsters hiding in the dark out into the light.”

Pearson takes advantage of every single day. “Writing gives me the ability to live up to my fullest potential because it frees me from the pain of my past and has helped me see that the future is absolutely mine.”

She said, “Watching all of the goodness that I see here makes me smile. Knowing that I have survived and am now thriving makes me smile. I am very fortunate.”

-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. The Times Editor Betsy Reason can be reached at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.