By FRED KRONER
Megan Montgomery doesn’t exist; not in the traditional sense of someone who possesses an identification confirming her name and address.
And yet, the Mahomet resident is very real. The ultimate proof comes in the forms of the readers of her recently-published novel, “WELL…THAT WAS AWKWARD.”
Megan Olavarria opted to use a pen name for some of her work.
“I chose the pen name, Montgomery, to differentiate my audiences,” Olavarria said. “I write in several genres and there often isn’t much crossover between readers.
“Megan Montgomery is my romance name, but I also write historical and literary fiction and horror. If I published a slasher book when my readers expect kissing scenes, they’ll never trust me again.”
She had an important person to convince before writing under a pseudonym: Herself.
“Publishing under a pen name was difficult at first,” Olavarria said. “I viewed it as dishonest, and complete authenticity – almost to a fault – is a quality I value in myself and in others.
“I think that’s the East Coast (background) coming through. But Montgomery is a family name and one that I feel particularly connected with. It honors both my Scottish heritage and some of the quirky characteristics that run in my family, like our deep and abiding love of history, cemeteries, and all things morbid.”
The main character in “AWKWARD” – like Montgomery – doesn’t exist in real life, though a few traits can also be seen in the author.
“Emerson and I have some things in common,” Olavarria said. “We both like heavy metal, antiques, and weightlifting, but she’s definitely not based on me.
“The only character who has any real model is the salty old shipwright, Hank. I think my son was watching the Disney Cars movies a lot when I was writing, and when I saw the character of Hank, I always thought of Doc Hudson. My son also happens to be Hank’s namesake.”
The book title may seem unusual, but it is also appropriate after reading a few sentences.
Montgomery wrote:
“John and Em meet on the boardwalk as the moonlight dances off the Chesapeake Bay.
She thinks he’s gorgeous and comes down with a case of instalove.
He thinks she’s a panhandler and gives her five dollars.”
Added Olavarria: “The title mostly represents how the two main characters meet. When Emerson sees John for the first time, she immediately conjures starry-eyed thoughts of Mr. Darcy (one of the main characters in Pride and Prejudice). When John sees Em for the first time, he immediately thinks she’s homeless and gives her five dollars.
“I mean, how do you come back from that? Especially when you don’t have the greatest self-image to start with. Since the rest of the book chases those thoughts, there are many delightfully awkward moments.”
The Chesapeake Bay reference is intentional.
“I’m from Calvert County, a peninsula of land between the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland,” Olavarria said.
“The book is my love letter to my hometown and I wrote it to spend time back home, even if it was only in my head.”
Olavarria is a full-time writer and freelance content editor, but she doesn’t follow a traditional work schedule.
“Full-time for an author doesn’t tend to look like the usual 8 a.m.-5 p.m. career,” she said. “I might only spend an hour or two every day getting words on the page, but when I’m drafting a new book or researching a story I might want to develop, I’m working even when it looks like I’m not.
“During the day, I homeschool and generally hang out with my (kindergarten-age) son, slipping in some marketing and some business-related tasks in between lessons and chores.”
The homeschooling is not a temporary assignment.
“My husband and I always planned to homeschool; not just through COVID,” Olavarria said. “We wanted the freedom to tailor our curricula on Hank’s interests and abilities.
“We belong to an amazing homeschool co-op, too.”
Olavarria’s writing time starts when she has alone time.
“I write and edit after my family goes to bed,” Olavarria said. “I need complete quiet to focus my attention to turn the amorphous blobs of ideas swirling around my head into meaningful words on the page.”
The first draft for “AWKWARD” was completed in about four months.
“I have an unusual process compared with other authors because I work without a net,” Olavarria said. “I don’t have an outline or plot when I start writing my stories. I have characters that I know so well they are complete to me. I follow them around and write down what they do.
“But because my stories start with the characters, the plot flows easily.”
As an example, she cited the heroine, Emerson, who is an antiques dealer.
“I ask myself, How does she spend her working hours?” Olavarria said. “Well, she probably gets regular shipments in, and since she loves what she does, she must be thrilled when a truly remarkable piece comes in from the auction house. Does she have any family? Her brother was in the war. Couple that with the fact that Em’s region has been dealing with a terrible opioid epidemic so maybe he’s an addict. Etc.”
Though she may not have an outline, she has a clear vision for the progression of her book.
“I overlay those details with elements universal to the story from Ancient Greek drama to Steven King – the inciting incident happens at 10 percent, the midpoint is obviously at 50 percent, the Dark Night of the Soul is at 80 percent, etc., and, for me, the plot creates itself,” she said.
After the first draft was written, Olavarria re-read what was a 90,000-word manuscript. She is not giving it a cursory read.
“I go back in and outline, making sure the plot points line up with reader expectations,” she said. “I didn’t do any major revisions, but I chopped off the first two scenes and added a scene around the 60 percent mark, based on my editor’s suggestion.”
During the writing phase, Olavarria has pre-established goals that are exact and precise. Each day, she pushes forward.
“I strongly advise against waiting for inspiration to strike to write,” Olavarria said. “Inspiration’s like luck. The harder the work, the luckier you are. Well, the harder you work, the more inspired you get.
“I have a daily word count. I try to write 1,000 words per night when I’m drafting. If I’m in the middle of a scene and I’ve hit my word count, I try to stop.
“It’s easier to go back to the manuscript the next day if you know exactly what you’re getting back into. Hemingway referred to this as ‘leaving gas in the tank.’”
Olavarria acknowledges that writing is not an exact science that can be turned on and off at any time. There are times that her passion is also work.
“I don’t ascribe to the theory of writer’s block,” Olavarria said. “Writing is hard. You have to expect it to be hard and the story won’t always be in ‘flow.’
“As long as you keep that date with your computer – or your fancy notebook if you’re a masochist – every day, your words will carry you though.”
Inspiration doesn’t always come as she sits in front of her keyboard.
“There have been so many times I sat down and just stared at the screen for 15 minutes,” Olavarria said. “Then the few sentences I do write are awful and they immediately get deleted.
“But after I’ve been just trudging through the mire of sticky words or even no words, something inevitably clicks and I have an epiphany. But if you give up and walk away from your computer, or if you get distracted and check your social media, or worse, you didn’t show up that day, those epiphanies will never come.”
For would-be writers, she offered a caution.
“Of course, if your writer’s block happens every night and you feel no joy at all in creating your story, you might need to abandon that story idea and pick something else,” she said.
Olavarria has been writing full-time for three years.
“It’s never been something I’ve pursued intentionally, although looking back, I’ve stumbled into opportunities that allowed me to dabble in different formats, including playwriting and short story,” she said. “For example, I was first published at age 20 for an editorial column in the Washington Post.
“Of course, I’ve always been an avid reader. One day, it just got to the point where, after reading so many not-great novels in a row, I thought, ‘I think I can do this better.’ I’m still working on the ‘better’ part.”
Olavarria speaks modestly.
Reviews – and notoriety – have been positive for “AWKWARD.”
The book was awarded the Best Indie Book Award for Romance, and Olavarria was recently informed that it was honored with a B.R.A.G. Medallion.
“It’s easy for people to dismiss indie or self-published novels as poorly written, or books that didn’t make it in real publishing,” she said. “It’s great that there are organizations out there that are trying to change that mindset.
“It is truly an honor that my characters, my story, and my work have been recognized, but I think I value my reader’s texts, messages, and reviews even more.”
Those have been overwhelmingly supportive as well. One criticism, however, was that the female lead character (Emerson) was not cuddly and likeable.
Olavarria said that was by design.
“I have certain elements and themes that I want to explore with every story,” she said. “With ‘WELL…THAT WAS AWKWARD,” I wanted to treat setting like a character and play around with the notion of the ‘unlikeable female character,’ which isn’t often employed outside of literary fiction and thriller – never in romantic comedy, to my knowledge.
“I gave Emerson qualities that are often attributed to male characters and I gave my hero, the U.S. Navy test pilot, Lieutenant Commander John Bergen, the softness we usually think of as a feminine trait. But (most) readers are falling in love with both characters. In the end, it proves that the idea of gendered traits is ludicrous.”
She describes her book as a ‘rom-com,” but believes it will appeal to readers beyond those infatuated by romantic comedy.
“I wrote it for rom-com readers, but I’ve since discovered that you don’t have to be a fan of the genre to enjoy it,” Olavarria said. “In fact, it’s one of my husband’s favorite books.
“It was also the Mahomet Public Library’s February pick for their Tuesday Night Book Club and the members were very enthusiastic. It’s a story about a self-proclaimed misfit woman finding love and, more importantly, about love finding her. It’s a laugh out loud, fish-out-of-water-in-your-own-hometown tale with a seriously heartwarming ending.”
At the outset, Olavarria didn’t plan to self-publish the novel.
“Initially, it was very important to me to publish traditionally,” she said, “meaning representation by a literary agent, who shops your book to the big five and other publishers in New York.
“I began sending this book to agents. Some of my dream agents that represent my favorite authors in my genre were interested. But as I started researching the changing tides within the publishing industry, my perspective on the major publishing houses started to sour.
“I pulled ‘AWKWARD’ and decided to self-publish. It was the only way I could maintain creative control over my own story. There’s a lot more upfront cost, since I’m footing the bill for my graphic design, several editors, formatters, etc., and I don’t have a whole PR team to sell my book for me, but I’m pleased with my decision.”
Her self-publishing enterprise may lead her into a new arena.
“It was so difficult, I started my own publishing company,” Olavarria said. “Every tiny thing felt like scaling a mountain of a learning curve. From learning which printers to use, to how to work with different editors who are all freelancing, there hasn’t been a single upload or button clicked that came intuitively.
“I hope to grow to publish other authors in the future. Until then, the company exists to publish my books and for me to edit and guide other novelists.”
Olavarria – or more precisely, Montgomery – is already writing a follow-up to her first fiction novel.
“I’m working on a romantic comedy series featuring women friends who work in deathcare,” she said, adding, “I know, it’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, but that’s kind of my brand.
“I thought it would be a way to combine my love of love stories with some gallows humor, while exploring this little-known world ‘behind the formaldehyde curtain’ as Jessica Mitford called it.”
She has a title, and is targeting a June, 2021, release date.
“The first book in the series is called ‘Morgue to Love,’” Olavarria said. “It’s about a medical examiner, Dr. Soula Smythe, and her less-than-honest tactics to procure dates by lying about her profession. Because who wants to date the autopsy doctor? Except maybe the detective working on the case. (wink)
“The second book is about rival morticians and the third centers on the state forensic anthropologist. It’s pure romance for weirdos, like me.”
Olivarria grew up on the East Coast, less than an hour away from Washington, D.C., Annapolis and Baltimore, but was living in the South when she met the person she would marry.
“I met my husband in St. Petersburg, Fla., and it’s no secret that I hated living there,” she said. “I told him I’d like to move out of Florida within five years after our wedding and, in the nick of time, we threw the proverbial dart and landed on Champaign, IL.
“We moved on a whim, and for him, a job. We decided on Mahomet because our particular house works well for our multi-generational family, but in hindsight, it’s been a solid choice.”
She has called Mahomet home for the last four years. It’s her first experience living in the Midwest.
“I had no idea what to expect from a region so steeped in a different type of agrarian culture; with giant grain silos for neighbors and getting stuck in traffic behind a combine harvester,” Olavarria said. “Almost immediately, my family was welcomed into our community.
“I’m pleased to have met so many authentically kind people and I have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to local friends, which is saying a lot for an introvert like myself.”
The back story on the family becoming Mahomet residents isn’t likely to surface as a theme in an upcoming book. Olavarria said it’s not all that interesting.
“When we decided to leave Florida, my husband (Johnathon Olavarria) consulted a private school headhunter, who recommended his current position (PE teacher and co-athletic director at Next Generation School),” Megan Olavarria said. “Never having heard of Champaign, Illinois – sorry – we watched the You’re Welcome for Champaign-Urbana video on YouTube and intuitively knew it was for us.”
The family had no preconceived notions about where they would like to put down roots.
“My mom and I were responsible for finding a place for us all to live,” Megan Olavarria said. “We drove up from Florida, looked at two houses, and bought the second one because it suited our needs as a multi-gen family.
“It was just luck that Mahomet turned out to be such a great community, although I loved it for the trees. We had looked online at other homes, and it sounds boring, but the resale opportunities in the other towns weren’t as strong. So, we’re pretty much the only family who chose Mahomet NOT for its schools, but the school rankings don’t hurt us, either.”
When not writing or homeschooling, Olavarria likes to read.
“I don’t think any writer can possibly be worth their salt unless they are constantly reading as much as they can,” she said. “I love romance; both historical and contemporary. My favorite authors include Sally Thorne, Christina Lauren, Helen Hoang, and Beverly Jenkins.
“I also love horror, especially Jack Ketchum, Shirley Jackson, and Joe Hill. I read a lot of upmarket (book club or women’s fiction) which is basically literary light and often historical – think Kristan Hannah or Where the Crawdad’s Sing, thriller (I recommend Layne Fargo), and literary fiction. I’ll read anything Colson Whitehead writes.”
Despite her interest in reading and her own creative abilities, Olavarria didn’t set out to become an author.
“My whole life, until mid-high school, I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon,” she said. “I’ve always loved anatomy, especially the skeletal system, medicine, and everything related to the blood and guts of humans.
“But I had a total block when it came to math and I let that define my academic career. When I was cast in my first play, theatre became a good fit. I wanted to make movies and I directed and acted in plays in high school and college, until I switched majors about 10 more times.”
She ultimately earned her bachelor’s degree in History, which was fortuitous because it, “taught me how to write and research,” she said.
Olavarria still wasn’t on a fast track to being a full-time writer.
“I went back to school (in Florida) to be a home-birth midwife,” she said. “The midwifery wasn’t for me, but my anatomy and physiology classes re-awakened my desire for the hard sciences and a medical career.
“When my family moved here, I planned to start taking prerequisites to attend med school, but at the same time, I started writing my first book (about an 18th-century midwife’s apprentice). In writing, I finally discovered my niche.”
The winding path she followed has been beneficial, she believes.
“It’s been a circuitous route, but all those stops and starts, switched majors, and setbacks made me a well-rounded writer,” Olavarria said. “I take a lot of my approaches to character and storytelling from acting and directing.
“The History degree often helps when I edit other people’s novels, and of course, my next book features a doctor and many scenes take place in a clinical setting. As a writer, I get to experience every career.”
Her debut novel, “WELL…THAT WAS AWKWARD” can be purchased locally from Winderson’s Creations in Sangamon on Main. The paperback price is $14.99.
There are copies available at the Mahomet Library. It can also be ordered through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Ripped Bodice, a romance bookstore based in Los Angeles. It’s available as an ebook exclusively through Amazon ($3.99).
Olavarria donates a percentage of her royalties to The Wingman Foundation, a non-profit that assists the families of fallen Navy air warriors.
For more information:
Goodreads:
Amazon:
Website:
The book was reviewed by Debra Domal from Smile Politely. The link: https://www.smilepolitely.com/arts/megan_montgomerys_well…_that_was_awkward_is_a_rom_com_for_weirdos/
