Before I was an author, I was a storyteller in every other form.
My name is Ovelinda Garcia, and my debut historical romance novelette, Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between, is a cinematic fiction story set in Ellis Island in 1919 New York. It follows Kaiveyah, a seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican immigrant chasing a dream in a country that was not built for her, and David, a Sardinian piano technician carrying a past full of shadows.
It is an immigrant love story about identity, ambition, and the impossible choices that come with loving someone in the wrong time and the wrong place.
This is how it came to life.
The Inspiration Behind Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between
Every book begins somewhere before the first word is written.
For me, it began with my mother.
Dr. Argentina Clarke is a woman of extraordinary cultural knowledge and historical depth. Growing up, she passed down stories the way some families pass down jewelry. With intention, with weight, and with the understanding that what you carry from those who came before you is not a burden but a blueprint.
Her stories about heritage, identity, and what it truly meant to arrive somewhere new and rebuild yourself from nothing planted the seed of Kavi’s world inside me long before I ever sat down to write it. What solidified this for me is when I had a dream, an actual dream, in which I encountered my paternal grandmother, Ovelinda, my namesake.
Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away the same year I was born. Intrigued by this connection and curious about my roots and heritage, I began tracing my family history and eventually uncovered my grandmother’s signature in an Ellis Island ledger.
From there, I knew the story could only be set in one place and one time.
Ellis Island. 1919. The gate where America decided who was worthy and who was not.
The World That Raised a Storyteller
I was born in New Jersey and raised between two coasts: New York City and Los Angeles.
That restlessness, and that sense of existing between worlds, turned out to be exactly the right preparation for writing about a young woman navigating the impossible distance between where she came from and where she was trying to go.
I never felt entirely like I belonged in one place. I believe my grandmother felt the same in the 1900s and so does Kavi.
That is not a coincidence. The best characters carry something real inside them. Kavi carries the questions I have been asking my whole life: about belonging, ambition, and what it costs to want more in a world that keeps telling you to want less.
To learn more about the journey behind this book, visit the About Me page.
From Theatre and Film to Cinematic Fiction
My entire professional life has been visual.
Theatre. Independent film. Technology. Media production. I spent decades at the intersection of art and narrative, learning what it means to hold an audience, to build tension, to land an emotional beat at exactly the right moment.
So when this story finally demanded to be written, it arrived the only way my mind knew how to process it: cinematically.
Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between is not a traditional novelette in the conventional sense. It reads the way a film feels.
Chapters open like scenes. There are long shots and close-ups, dream sequences and music cues, moments that fade to light and others that cut to silence. Writing it felt less like drafting prose and more like directing something that had already been playing inside my head for years.
That cinematic fiction writing style is not a gimmick. It is simply the truest form I know.
Meet Kavi: A Puerto Rican Immigrant at Ellis Island in 1919
Kaiveyah. Kavi.
She arrived almost fully formed.
Seventeen years old. Quick-witted and anxious. Fashionable and fiercely ambitious. Stepping off a ship at Ellis Island in 1919 with nothing but a handmade wardrobe, a dream of becoming a dress designer, and her late mother’s lucky brass mirror tucked into her purse.
She is a Puerto Rican immigrant in a city that does not know what to do with her. She speaks too boldly. She wants too much. She refuses to shrink.
She was not a character I invented so much as one I recognized.
Her voice is bright, cinematic, and full of internal monologue that swings between humor and heartbreak. It is the engine of this novelette. Once she started talking, I could not stop her.
This novelette is for you if you love historical romance with emotional depth, immigrant stories that feel urgent and real, or cinematic fiction that pulls you in from the very first page.
Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between is available now in Kindle and hardcover.
or explore the full story on the Book Page.
Meet David: A Sardinian Piano Technician with a Hidden Past
David came next.
Sardinian. Older than Kavi. Guarded where she is open. Experienced where she is still discovering.
A self-taught piano technician whose father was a musician in Palermo. A man who left and never came back, taking something of David with him. He has a brother in New York, a cousin named Charlie, and connections to an underground organization he is not entirely sure he trusts.
He arrived at Ellis Island on the same ship as Kavi. He found her mirror before she noticed she had dropped it.
That one moment set everything else in motion.
David’s voice is quieter than Kavi’s. More guarded, more conflicted, more aware of what the world costs. But beneath all of that is a man who falls completely and helplessly for a girl who sees right through every wall he has ever built.
Together, they are the heart of this debut historical romance novelette.
Why 1919 New York Still Matters Today
People ask me why I chose 1919.
The honest answer is that I did not entirely choose it. It chose me.
Puerto Rican identity, migration, and belonging were deeply complicated in the years after U.S. citizenship was extended to Puerto Ricans in 1917. WWI had just ended, and immigrants were being processed through Ellis Island by the thousands, judged on arrival by the size of their ambition and the cleanliness of their eyes. Garment district labor strikes were shutting down the city. Underground racketeering organizations were filling the power vacuum in Brooklyn.
It was a world on the edge of something. And no one knew which way it would fall.
We live in a time when the question of who belongs, who gets to stay, and what America owes the people who built it has never felt more urgent. Writing a story set in 1919 New York was not an escape from the present. It was a way of looking directly at it through the clarity that only distance can provide.
History does not repeat itself. But it rhymes.
And sometimes a debut Latina author writing about a Puerto Rican immigrant girl at Ellis Island more than a hundred years ago is really writing about right now.
OveylandInc.: Building a Literary and Media Universe
Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between is the first published work under OveylandInc., the creative brand I founded to house not just this story but everything that grows from it.
A sequel is already being written. A screen adaptation is in development. The world of Kavi and David is expanding in ways I am genuinely excited to share.
The cover of Book One was designed by my daughter, Savannah Leone Brown. A reflection of the family spirit that lives at the heart of everything OveylandInc. creates.
This is not a corporation. It is a creative ecosystem built on the belief that historically grounded, emotionally resonant storytelling belongs in every format, on every screen, and in the hands of every reader who has ever felt like they were living between worlds.
To stay connected and find out where I am reading and appearing next, visit the Upcoming Events page.
Where to Buy Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between
This novelette was written for readers who feel things deeply.
If you have ever rooted for a character who wanted too much in a world that offered too little, this is for you. If you are drawn to the romantic tension found in stories like Bridgerton, the rich period atmosphere of Downton Abbey, or the emotional weight of immigrant narratives like The Nightingale, you may feel right at home here.
If you simply want a story that stays with you long after the last page, this is for you.
Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between is available now on Amazon in both Kindle ebook and hardcover editions.
Order your copy on Amazon and step into Kavi’s world: Ellis Island, 1919 New York, and a love story that was never supposed to happen and could not be stopped.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What is Truth, Dreams, and The Everythings In-Between about?
It is a historical fiction novelette set at Ellis Island in 1919 New York. It follows Kavi, a seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican immigrant, and David, a Sardinian piano technician, in a cinematic immigrant love story about identity, ambition, and impossible choices.
Q2: Who is Ovelinda Garcia?
Ovelinda Garcia is a debut Latina author and creative producer based in Los Angeles. Her background spans theatre, independent film, technology, and media production. Her debut novelette draws from personal heritage and the cultural history of her mother, Dr. Argentina Clarke.
Q3: What makes this novelette different from other historical romance books?
It is written in a cinematic fiction writing style. Chapters read like film scenes with dream sequences, music cues, and dual POV narration alternating between Kavi and David. It reads like a prestige television pilot in book form.
Q4: Who is this novelette best for?
This novelette is best for readers who love historical romance, emotionally layered immigrant stories, cinematic fiction with dual perspectives, and narratives set in early twentieth century New York. Readers who enjoy stories with the feel of Bridgerton, Downton Abbey, or emotionally driven immigrant narratives may find it a natural fit.
Q5: Is this novelette part of a series?
Yes. It is Book One of an expanding series under OveylandInc. A sequel is currently being written and a screen adaptation is in development.
Q6: Where can I buy the novelette?
The novelette is available on Amazon in Kindle and hardcover editions. You can find the direct purchase link on the Book Page of the official website.