Interview with Ursula Villarreal-Moura
My favorite novels tend to be character-driven, yet have something (voice, tension, etc.) that make them propulsive and hard to put down. I also love dual timelines and novels that ask questions without easy answers— Ursula Villarreal-Moura’s debut novel, Like Happiness (now in paperback!), checks all those boxes. It deals with a woman living with her partner in Chile who is contacted by a reporter looking for answers about her relationship with a famous male author. Through a long letter to this author, the woman recounts their past history, one that she’s tried to forget. Like Happiness is an intimate and compelling story dealing with issues of consent, power, fame, and art. If you’re looking for a beautiful, smart book that explores gray areas (also my jam), look no further.
Ursula is also the author of the flash fiction collection, Math for the Self-Crippling, which was the Gold Line Press fiction contest winner, selected by Zinzi Clemmons. Her work has appeared in places like Tin House, Gulf Coast, Bennington Review, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for prizes like Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, a Pushcart Prize, and more. In addition to being a fantastic writer, she’s also a very nice person.
I’m so happy Ursula agreed to this interview!
I noticed in the acknowledgements this novel was mostly drafted early in the morning at a coffee shop in a medical center. That's some major dedication amid what sounds like potentially challenging circumstances. Can you share a bit about your writing and editing process for this novel?
The drafting process for this novel was long and not particularly glamorous. I started this project as a novella when I was in graduate school at Sarah Lawrence College. But it just kept growing. I had a full-time job and a part-time job, so the only time I had to write was from about 5:30 am - 7:20 am. I started waking up at 5 and walking to a coffee shop to write. I worked one of my jobs on the weekends, too, but I had more time then, so I wrote whenever I wasn't on the clock. I didn't have a daily word count goal. I usually kept things bite size, such as writing a restaurant scene or writing dialogue between the mom and protagonist.
Big picture revising and editing happened when I took vacation or during 4th of July weekends, where I sometimes got two or three days off in a row. I worked two jobs for years, so sometimes I would request a paid day off before my regular day off, so that I could spend two entire days inside my novel. It was impossible to keep the entire book in my head unless I had two or three days off in a row. It was challenging to juggle my jobs and my writing. You could say I earned a PhD in time management during those years.
Your first book came out with a small press and this novel with a Big 5. Could you share some of the highs and lows of these different publication experiences?
My expectations were so different with each book. I expected like 50 people to buy or read my first book. It did way better than selling 50 copies, but it wasn't sold at many brick and mortar stores, so its scope was rather limited. It was (surprisingly) taught at several universities, though, so I did at least 3 or 4 Zoom visits, which were a lot of fun. I enjoyed interacting with students who had so many craft questions. That was definitely a high following that publication.I also felt exceptionally lucky to have such a knockout cover for Math for the Self-Crippling. I don't think the cover could have been better even with a million dollar budget. I love small press books, and I buy and read tons of them, so publishing with one was particularly meaningful to me.
Publishing with a Big 5 has been quite different, but I also had very high expectations, some of which have been met and others that haven't panned out. Obviously Like Happiness is carried in more bookstores than Math for the Self-Crippling, which allows people to discover the book if it's on display. Before it was published, I assumed every bookstore would have a copy, but I've had friends throughout the US in multiple states struggle to find it. When I sold the book, I didn't realize how large a role publicity and marketing plays in book sales. A brilliant book that no one has heard of isn't going to sell without a robust publicity campaign. I'm by no means implying I wrote a brilliant book; I'm merely stating that a number of Big 5 books can remain obscure and not find their full audiences. That was a wild realization for me.
One high of having a big publisher is that I've been able to sell some foreign rights, which has been a dream come true. I've had friends in other countries, such as England and Australia, write to me to say they saw my book at a store or at a library.
Seeing how other countries create cover art has been fascinating as well. I love my UK covers a lot and feel they are attracting my ideal audience in a way that perhaps my US covers haven't yet. The books are identical inside yet the average UK reader reviews are higher, which makes me wonder how heavily cover art influences a reader's affinity to a story.
Can you share some reading recommendations?
This is always my favorite part of any interview. Three books I've read in 2025 that I've greatly enjoyed are Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Leun Yang, You Get What You Pay For: Essays by Morgan Parker, and Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya. Lunar New Year Love Story is a YA graphic novel, but it's for anyone who needs hope. Morgan Parker's book is brilliant and has not received the attention it deserves. Bibliophobia spoke to something deep in me. It's about mental health and the role that books and reading have on Chihaya's life. I can't recommend it highly enough. Lastly, there was a great piece by Hallel Yadin fairly recently that I loved at Vol. 1 Brooklyn about the essayist Janet Malcolm. Janet Malcolm was one of my favorite writers for many decades. I know nothing about Yadin other than the piece I enjoyed, which you can read here.
Is there a song (or songs) that ties into this book in some way?
Lots of songs are mentioned in this novel. In the first chapter in Chile, the protagonist is listening to bossa nova. In chapter 21, she's listening to Cat Power's song "The Moon" on repeat. That song definitely encapsulates much of the novel and when I hear it even now, my stomach still drops like someone is dumping me and I'm going to weep for at least a week. My next book is going to incorporate so much music. So much!
Thank you, Ursula!