Fallbrook High grad celebrates publication of book

At 19-years-old Maggie Montague is celebrating the fact that she is now a published author. Montague held her first book signing event on Saturday, Aug. 25 at the Fallbrook library.

Montague, who said she penned “A Terrible Blessing” during her years as a student at Fallbrook Union High School (FUHS), is currently a literature major at Whitworth University in Washington. She graduated from FUHS in 2011.

The young adult novel, self-published in March, amounts to almost 500 pages and is best described as, “a coming of age story that portrays the harrowing journey of young Julianna Kander.” It is said to contain “complex and intriguing characters” and be a book “people can relate to.” It encompasses adventure, family, anger, loss and love.

Balancing the work on her book in addition to schoolwork and basketball practice, Montague said she began it in her sophomore year of high school and “after serious revision, finished it at the beginning of my senior year.”

“I have always loved to read and in high school, I began to realize my love for writing as well,” she said. In working on the novel over that time, Montague said she realized how much personal growth she had experienced.

“When I was revising and editing it, it became clear that my writing had matured alongside my character,” she said.

The most challenging aspect of producing the book, Montague said was “convincing myself to allow others to read it. It is hard when you pour your heart into something, then hand it over for someone else to read and critique.”

The book is geared toward teen and young adult readers and one early review noted the style is similar to two popular series of books.

“Someone once said that my book was like a mix between the Eragon series and the Hunger Games,” said Montague. “I don’t know how accurate that is, but I felt honored to be compared to those two great series. Each coming-of-age story has certain similarities, but the journey and development of the characters is what sets them apart.”

“But honestly, I wrote it for anyone who loves the adventure of reading,” said Montague.

When asked how she developed the title of the book, “A Terrible Blessing,” Montague coyly responded, “I can’t really say what it means, because it would spoil certain parts of the story, but I can say that the name stuck because it was an oxymoron.”

Although she is pleased the book is now ready, Montague already has other projects in the works.

“One of them is related to ‘A Terrible Blessing,’ but mainly at the moment I am working on a trilogy which is geared toward a teen audience and could be classified as a paranormal adventure,” she said.

“A Terrible Blessing,” by M.E. Montague can be purchased at Amazon.com.