by Sophia Romero
(with additional reporting and photos by Wendel Sloan)

Dr. Donald Elder III, professor history, has assisted Portales resident David Montoya write his memoir.

Mr. Montoya, 67, says he would like to title the memoir “One of a Kind” because he has made over 1,000 one-of-a-kind handcrafted items—including barbed-wire crosses, personalized wooden plaques and hundreds of clocks.

Mr. Montoya said, “The book includes my life experiences ranging from spending time in prison for drugs and other things, to taking a gun to school in Floyd in junior high to show to some bullies. No one but them saw it, and they stopped bullying me.”

Mr. Montoya, a seventh-grade dropout, was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico. He has been “happily married” for 48 years, and has four daughters and 19 grandchildren.

“Writing books can be challenging and the editing process can be lengthy and timely, Dr. Elder said. “For me, the biggest challenge was that I found David’s stories so interesting that I would simply stop taking notes and just listen to him. After our first two meetings, I started to tape-record our sessions. I would then listen to the recording later, and put the stories down on paper.”

According to Dr. Elder, getting a book published is a daunting task. “Usually, you send a publisher a query letter in which you describe the book and explain why it would be a good project for that particular company. You also usually submit the first three chapters.”

Floricanto Press was different in that they wanted Mr. Montoya’s entire manuscript.

“We were very fortunate, as Floricanto was the first press that I suggested. I knew they had a reputation as the top-tier publisher of works dealing with Hispanic culture and I thought that it would be a tremendous coup if we could get them to publish David’s story,” Dr. Elder said. “Fortunately, they loved it, and three weeks after we submitted it they agreed to publish it.”

Aside from helping Mr. Montoya publish his memoir, Dr. Elder has “been fortunate enough to have had writings of mine put into print, ranging from 500-word book reviews to a number of books. This endeavor was much different than anything else that I had ever done, however. With this book, I listened to David’s stories, and then tried to put them into a narrative form that remained true to his spoken words. Rather than create a written work, in this case I was simply trying to help shape it into a publishable form.”

Dr. Elder said he wrote the book as time permitted. “With my positions at Eastern New Mexico University and Rooney-Moon Broadcasting, I don’t have a period of time that I know will be open for writing; I just sat down at the computer and hoped the creative muse was with me at that particular moment.”

For aspiring writers, Dr. Elder said, “Don’t be afraid. If you have a story, put it down on paper. If your work gets published, great. If not, realize that it is not a reflection on you personally. Your story just didn’t have a market at that time. With my third book on the Civil War, I sent the manuscript to 18 publishers before I found one that put it into print.”

Dr. Elder has been teaching at ENMU since 1995, has published six books, and is the Rooney-Moon sportscaster for ENMU and high school sports.

For more information, contact Dr. Elder at 575.562.2601 or email donald.elder@enmu.edu.