Isaac Hamlet, Iowa City Press-Citizen Published 3:55 p.m. CT April 27, 2020

Author Marin Montgomery(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

Marin Montgomery had not planned to publish "What We Forgot to Bury"in the wake of a global pandemic. In fact, five years ago, Montgomery probably wouldhave told you she had noplan to publish a book at all.

"I never meant to start writing," Montgomery explained. "I liked writing and writing short stories, but it was always a passion and a hobby."

Montgomery, who grew up in Newton, Iowa,now lives in Arizona working in higher education. She hadn't really considered writing books until a childhood friend who'd started self-publishing prompted Montogomery to do so.

Intrigued, Montgomery followed her suggestion. In 2017,she beganself-publishing and over the past few years, has put out roughly half a dozen books, most of which are thrillers or contain aspects of mystery.

"I love human psychology and human behavior," said Montgomery of her attraction to the genre. "I tend to have an overactive imagination, so writing has been a creative outlet for me."

It was in late 2018 when publishing company Thomas & Mercer reached out to her. By sheer happenstance, it happened to bethe same publisher her childhood friendwasworking with. Noting this instance of serendipity, Montgomerypitched Thomas & Mercersome new book ideasout of which"What We Forgot to Bury" floated to the top.

The book follows two women. One is Charlotte Coburn,a college professor acting as a witness in a trial and the other is Elizabeth Loughlin, the17-year-old daughter of the accused, who is trying to prove that Charlotte lied when testifying against her father.

With the release of the book, not only is Montgomery getting a new experience in the publishing world, she's also in the unique position of launching a book immediately after some states are begin to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I'm waiting to see how it does when it releases on May 1," said Montgomery. "I know a lot of people are at home reading trying to keep their sanity and their health. It'll be interesting to see if people are still at home reading in May."

In spite of this though, her own productivity has remainedon course. Not only is "What We Forgot to Bury" on the cusp of physical publication after being made available digitally on Amazon, she's also just completed the first draftof her next stand-alone book.

"I just turned that in," she said, "but I will say that I struggled with everything going on in the world and I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect me."

She's used to both traveling for her full-time job and bouncing between coffee shops to get writing done. Working from home has been somewhat straining butshe's made stil made progress. In addition to the first draft of her next book she's also put together a rough draft of a screenplay, something she felt empowered to do as a result of her publishing deal.

"Getting published has given me confidence," Montgomery said. "You always have in the back of your mind 'Why me? Why would I get picked.' When I got a publishing deal I thought 'Why not me?'"

Isaac Hamletcovers arts, entertainment and culture at the Press-Citizen. Reach him at ihamlet@press-citizen.com or (319)-688-4247, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet

Read or Share this story: https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/2020/04/27/marin-montgomery-newton-iowa-publishes-what-we-forgot-bury/3012965001/

Read the original here:
Marin Montgomery's first book with publisher releases this Friday - Iowa City Press-Citizen