Cathleen Allison/Nevada AppealHeidi Ayarbe, 35, sits with a stack of her first novel, "Freeze Frame," in front of the Richmond Street home where she was raised. Her novel is set in Carson City and the main character lives on the same street. Ayarbe, who now lives in Colombia, returned home for the release of her book on Oct. 7.
In the novel "Freeze Frame," the main character, Kyle, leaves his home on Richmond Avenue and rides his bike down Elm Street "down to Crane to get to Fifth" on his way to school.
They're streets author Heidi Ayarbe knows well. It's the same route she took from her home on Richmond to Carson High School.
"They say you should write about what you know," Ayarbe said. "And I know Carson City."
Born and raised here, Ayarbe attended Bordewich-Bray Elementary School, Carson Junior High " which is now Carson Middle School " and graduated from Carson High School in 1991.
After living around the world for the last decade, she's back in her hometown, the setting of her first novel, published by a division of HarperCollins Publishers. The book is being released Oct. 7.
The story begins with Kyle shooting his best friend, Jason, and his life freezes in that frame. Although he wants to erase that scene from his life, he can't. A cinema fanatic, Kyle spends the rest of the novel trying to remember exactly what happened by reliving the moment through the eyes of his favorite directors.
To accurately depict how each would direct the same scene differently, Ayarbe researched the directors and found some interesting quirks.
For instance, she said, Quentin Tarantino always includes a Mexican standoff scene with three people all pointing guns at each other, and Alfred Hitchcock always had a blonde in a stairwell.
"You can't complain when your research is to watch great movies," she said. "I'm not an expert by any means, I just love movies " except horror because I do get bad dreams."
More than anything, she said, she wanted the fictional account to seem real.
"I don't think a book is very helpful if it just gives all the answers," she said. "I don't think anyone has the answers. I wanted to look at how good people would work through something really terrible happening."
Susie King, youth services librarian for the Carson City Library, said it was a difficult book to read at times, but had a message of resolve.
"It radiates hope wrapped around a tragic event," King said. "What (Ayarbe) is able to do is illustrate the gamut of emotions of a young person. He's really conflicted, and she captures that really well."
Although Ayarbe was involved in high school activities, even being nominated for homecoming queen, she said she can relate to her main character. Especially from her college years when, she said, she was less social.
"I could understand how he reacted, being very withdrawn and very guilt-ridden. Not knowing how to apologize," she said. "It's uncomfortable being a teenager."
The library is sponsoring a book release party at Comma Coffee on Oct. 9, and will host an online discussion of the book on its Web site.
Ayarbe, 35, began working on the book nearly four years ago, and said she's been overwhelmed by community support, even though she hasn't lived here in more than 10 years.
"I'm thrilled the community has been so great to me," she said. "Everybody's come together. This is a really special place."
After graduating from Carson High School, Ayarbe went on to the University of Nevada, Reno, where she majored in English education and French.
On a whim, she sent her resume one weekend to several schools overseas, but accepted a substitute teaching job in Oregon.
Six months later, she was offered a job in Colombia. She moved there in 1997.
There, she met her husband, Cesar. From Colombia, they moved to Spain, then Korea. They traveled South America and other parts of the world, then moved back to Colombia three years ago.
"I tell people I fell in love with him then I stalked him around the world until he realized he couldn't shake me."
The two have a 7-month-old daughter, Amelia.
"I gave birth twice this year," Ayarbe joked.
She'll be in Carson City for most of October. She'll autograph books and raffle off advanced copies with her notes inside at the party at Comma Coffee. The next week, she'll talk to students at Carson High School.
In the meantime, she's enjoying being back at the house she spent her entire life in, and spending time with her parents Gil and Twylah Ayarbe and sister Carrie Fields, all of Carson City.
HarperCollins has already bought her second novel, tentatively titled "Sunder," that is expected to be released in 2010.
- Contact reporter Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1272.