Journey to healing: Santa Fe-based Carlyn Montes De Oca weaves together personal story in 'Junkyard Girl'

Life is full of memorable moments.

Yet, there are times when one moment can change a life dramatically and create a new reality.

Santa Fe-based writer Carlyn Montes De Oca used that moment and parlayed it into the memoir, “Junkyard Girl: A Memoir of Ancestry, Family Secrets, and Second Chances.”

Montes De Oca will be in conversation with Tiffany Gravelle at Books on the Bosque at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16. Ten percent of the book’s proceeds will benefit Animal Protection New Mexico.

In “Junkyard Girl,” Montes De Oca shares her first-generation Mexican American experience, never suspecting that five decades later, after taking a DNA test for fun, she would discover she was adopted and that her sizable extended family knew the truth but never told her.

The memoir focuses on overcoming adversity, embracing multiculturalism, and discovering resilience in the face of a long-held family secret.

“(It) touches upon themes of identity, personal growth and the transformative power of family,” she says.

Montes De Oca moved to Santa Fe five years ago from northern California with her husband, Ken Fischer.

Both have a long career in the film industry – Montes De Oca as a film editor and Fischer as a sound editor.

Montes De Oca worked on the memoir for over a year after she found out about her past.

“It almost felt like I had no choice but to write it,” she says. “It was so sad. My whole world changed. When I heard the words, ‘You’re adopted,’ I didn’t know what I was could do. By the time I found out all the pieces of this story, I felt like I had to write it. In some ways, it felt good to write it. There were moments that were more difficult to write about. But I pushed through because it was my journey to healing.”

Montes De Oca’s foundation was certainly shaken as she got the news.

The writing process allowed her not only to heal, but to rebuild.

She worked with a team of editors who helped her finesse the writing.

“As an editor, it’s not hard for me to cut things,” she says. “If it doesn’t move the story forward, then it’s out. That process really helped me when I was writing.”

Since the book has been released, it has received four esteemed awards.

The book’s achievements include receiving the Bronze Award in the Multicultural category at the Foreword Indies, securing the Multicultural Non-Fiction Winner title at the International Book Awards, earning the accolade for Latinx Non-Fiction at the National Indie Excellence Awards, and triumphing as the Coming-of-Age Memoir winner at the Firebird Book Awards.

Currently, “Junkyard Girl” is a finalist in the New Mexico Book Association’s 2023 Southwest Book Design and Production Awards.

Montes De Oca never imagined the impact the memoir would have with readers.

“With so much division in the world, I feel like the story is a very powerful thing,” she says. “It’s a positive message, and it makes me feel really good. It’s been able to connect with other people who find similarities in it. I wrote it to help me heal, and I’ve found a community of people who are affected in the same way.”