Today we’d like to introduce you to L. M. Montes
Hi L. M., thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I discovered my longing and fascination with writing when, as a preteen, I read a short story written by my older sister. The problem rested in that I didn’t know how to go about doing that. Then in high school I learned how to write stories in one of my literature classes. It was in that class I wrote my first short story. Now, because I enjoyed reading as well, I also longed to write books. As we all know, that process is more in depth, so writing a novel had to wait. However, the yearning for it planted itself inside me, and it never left. In my undergrad years in college I took a fiction writing course and expanded my skills. As a result, I wrote more short stories. Aha! The dancing carrot called writing a novel still dangled itself in front of me, so I set out to learn novel length fiction writing on my own. At the same time I created a story premise for a book and worked on writing it over the span of twenty years. Yes, you read that right. In that time I balanced raising a family, a career, and writing. I also put the writing of my novel away for a while off and on. At one point part of that manuscript had inadvertently been deleted, and I ended up putting the whole project down thinking I would never work on it again. But, through the support of a colleague, who wouldn’t allow me to quit, I picked up my manuscript once more and started over. I finished my first novel in August 2019 and haven’t looked back since.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been smooth. As with anything worth having in life, nothing comes easy. The struggles I encountered took my focus off my writing to a large degree. I went through a nasty divorce. I lost my career and grappled with finding something else altogether. Bad choices I’d made throughout my life came back to bite me later. Through all of those tumultuous occurrences did come the smooth road called learning through the help of the Holy Spirit of our Heavenly Father, Yahweh.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an author, so I write books. I also enjoy making beaded jewelry. I am best known for the books I have written and published, and I continue to write books. I am most proud of having written novel length books and the fact that I never quit. It’s a long a process, and there were times impatience wanted to take over and cause me stop, but I didn’t. Instead, I took a deep breath, went for a walk, then sat back down to write.
What sets me apart from others is how analytical I am, my imagination, and how I use both of those two aspects to weave a tale. Read my books, and you’ll see what I mean.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
One of the most fulfilling sides to being an author is meeting new people. I participated in my first book signing at a craft festival in November of 2023 and had so much fun just talking and getting to know everybody who stopped at my table.
I am also a veteran having served in the United States Navy Reserves. During that time in service I learned to embrace the challenges life presents because, through it all, along with my faith in Jesus Christ, I was able to grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lmmontes.allauthor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lmmontes777/
- Twitter: https://x.com/L_Montes223
- Other: https://www.lmmontes777.com
Image Credits
Lisa Montes
Cheryl Greenlee
www.Canva.com
www.allauthor.com
Robert Fortier