I didn’t know any children until I was in my late 40s. I was only around kids when I officiated amateur sports, but as soon as those games ended, I went home. What children did off the fields where I blew whistles and called balls and strikes was completely out of my purview.

When you consider that I also never had any biological children and came from a small family devoid of any regular kid contact, you can see why I never gave much thought to children. I don’t know if I blocked young people out of my mind once I realized I would never produce any of my own, but I might have. And yet, today, as an author, the plight of children often takes center stage in my novels.

I walked into my first classroom as a teacher in 1999. A mid-life career change following my years as a sports reporter propelled me into a Title I high school in Phoenix, where the vast majority of students lived in poverty and were often afflicted with the privations inherent in a world where there is not enough food, where drugs and alcohol run rampant, and where children are sometimes left adrift without caring adults to guide them.

I did not notice right away that children kept appearing in my books. It could have happened after a 14-year-old boy called me from a group foster-care facility and told me he was hungry. Or the day I chastised a student for being repeatedly late to class, only to discover he was homeless. Or when I faced a group of students in a support group, where discussing incarcerated parents, bullying, and parental neglect would become the norm.

Whatever the catalyst, young people and their ability to adapt and thrive in severe situations have become integral to the stories I write. My first novel, A Light in the Desert, recounts in part the life of a lonely pregnant teenager, one with a facial deformity that has made her the subject of ridicule. And yet Kelly shows grace and grit when faced with challenges and possesses an understanding of human nature that sometimes surpasses the adults around her. In The Scent of Rain a 16-year-old-girl struggles under the strictures of an abusive religious cult, while a young boy, born with mental and physical limitations, proves he has valuable skills in my historical fiction novel Wolf Catcher.

I would spend twenty years teaching, a time when a couple of thousand students came through my classroom doors. And, by a quirky twist, that classroom made me a parent. The 14-year-old boy who was hungry came to live with me. Today, he and three other young people, though they are now grown, still look at me as Mom. I even have an eight-year-old grandson. So, writing about children seems natural now, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards: Bronze Medal Winner for Fiction: West-Mountain Region 

Contemporary Fiction/Young Adult Fiction

Amphorae Publishing Group

Rose Madsen dreams of becoming a science teacher and will do anything to keep from being married off to one of the men in her Fundamentalist Mormon (FLDS) community, including enduring her mother’s brutal beatings. Adan Reyes dreams of better days with his mother when he escapes the foster care system in Phoenix. When their fates become intertwined, Rose and Adan escape into the mountains, only to be hunted like animals. After they are discovered, they must decide if everyone they meet is determined to keep them locked in lives of abuse, or if some adults are worthy of their trust?

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Praise for The Scent of Rain

“A deftly crafted and compelling read from cover to cover.” – Midwest Book Review

“Essential reading for both young adults and adults alike. There is literally nothing else I can say, except buy this book.” – Childishly Passionate Reviews

“A heartrending, heart-wrenching fictional narrative … Even in the midst of tribulations, The Scent of Rain celebrates the resilience and persistence of the human spirit.” – The Haunted Reading Room

“The characters in ‘The Scent of Rain’ added to an already amazing storyline.” – YABOOKSCENTRAL

“I loved ‘The Scent of Rain’.  It is very apparent that Montgomery did extensive amounts of research … I absolutely think everyone should read it.” – The Book Return

“Whew. What a whirlwind. The story had been building and building and it all came to a tumbling end.”- Hasty Book List