Featured Interview With Mel West
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Number three of four girls, I was raised in a suburb of Ft. Worth, Texas. I decided everyone either gets out of Texas right away or never leaves so I fled to Colorado for college. I stuck around there for twelve years, and then fell in love with New York City. I would still live in Brooklyn but a different kind of love took me to Switzerland. I am desperate for a Chiweenie but since I travel so much, I hang out with my friends and family’s pets as much as possible. I consider myself an amateur animal communicator and I love all things disco.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don’t know how old I was, I just have always known that fascination. My parents will talk about how quickly I took to reading and they had my first book, Where’s the Dog?, bound for me when I was in the first grade. I’ve been writing since I could and storytelling well before that!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I gravitate towards women authors who are brave with their vulnerability—Elizabeth Gilbert, Koren Zailckas, Dolly Alderton, Elizabeth Wurtzel and so many more. I love women’s fiction. I find I’m most inspired by people dealing with contradictions and love to use story telling to try and help them make sense.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, Now is Not a Good Time for a Breakdown, is about a millennial woman, Jess, living in NYC in 2019 who is facing the similar crisis of identity and purpose that many other millennials have—do I want to get married, do I want to have kids, why am I working so hard and barely paying my rent, what’s the meaning of it all? As lives burdens pile on and Jess’ relationship become more complex, the pandemic hits and she’s unable to avoid the haunting of these questions in her life. It is a story that I hope will make others feel seen and understood.
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