"I can't tell you how many times I sit down to write, take a deep breath, and go...'how tf does one write a book??'"

Award-winning author Melissa Rivero on "parenting" your WIP, a surefire trick when the words aren't flowing, and her moving novel, Flores and Miss Paula

Check out the collection of past Words With (Author) Friends, wherein I g-chat with an author and you get to read over my shoulder, and order Melissa’s tender family tale, now available in paperback.

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Me: Hello, my friend!

Big congrats on the paperback release of Flores and Miss Paula! How are you feeling?

Melissa: hi love! thank you! I'm feeling happy but also a little sad. It kind of feels like the end of a journey

I know what you mean—like now it's out in its final, forever form.

Exactly, and even though that's not necessarily true, it definitely feels that way

So many more readers will continue to discover it as time goes by! I loved this beautiful book—for the uninitiated, can you share what it's about?

Yes! It's about a mother and daughter who are trying to figure out their life and relationship three years after the death of their beloved husband and father

They live together in an apartment in Brooklyn. Two very strong and independent women. They're lease is not getting renewed - so they need to decide if they're going to continue living together or not.

What made you want to tell a mother-daughter story?

It was originally going to be a story about Flores (the daughter), but the more I wrote, the more I heard Paula's voice.

There were a lot of things she wanted to tell her daughter but didn't know how. I think that's true of a lot of mother/daughter relationships.

I agree, it's such a rich relationship to mine. How'd you go about shaping a plot around the relationship? Or were you following another thread with Flores and this organically became the main plotline?