Features

By Natalie Olivo

At first glance, Roy Nolan, 33, seems like your average short-order cook at Bob’s Diner. Although he was promoted to a manager position after 12 years of slinging burgers, Nolan still wears his grease stained apron. He leans against the wall, twirling a toothpick in his teeth, and surveys his employees.

When a trainee waitress accidentally splatters a milkshake everywhere, Nolan calmly reminds her that “this is why we can’t have nice things.” His sleepy voice has a hint of country twang.

Despite Nolan’s unassuming exterior, he is different from his fellow residents of Spoke, Arkansas. While most of them will never leave the smoky foothills of the Ozark Mountains, Nolan is about to become a best-selling author. He just hasn’t written anything yet.

“I reckon it won’t be so hard,” said Nolan. “I already have lots of experience writing.”

A seasoned blogger, Nolan is no stranger to the written word. He launched his blog “Roy’s Car Zone,” in April 2009. The blog, which gets about twenty views a month, features amateur mechanic advice along with pictures of Nolan working on his 1998 Toyota 4Runner. Nolan manages the blog from his home, located in the basement of his parents, Clevon and Tammy Nolan.

“We’re so proud of Roy,” said Mrs. Nolan. “I visit his blog almost every day and he even showed me how to leave little comments.”

Six months ago, Nolan expanded from blogging to screenwriting. He wrote the first 6 pages of a film called Pirates vs. Ninjas, which he described as “a really cool fighting movie with tons of awesome special effects.”

Although Nolan has not yet finished his screenplay, nor has any film producer expressed interest in it, Nolan remains optimistic. If his screenplay isn’t picked up upon completion, Nolan plans to go the rogue route and produce it independently.

“My buddy Carl said I can blow up his old barn if there’s an explosion scene,” Nolan said.

An underground artist of sorts, Nolan believes the natural next step is to write a novel. He plans to title his book Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Zombies and said it will build upon the premise of his uncompleted screenplay.

“It’s finally time for the rest of the world to enjoy what the viewers of ‘Roy’s Car Zone’ have been treated to for years,” said Nolan.
Although Nolan has not started writing, he is already receiving support from friends, family and co-workers.

“I’m so excited for Roy,” said Debbie Beck, 22, a waitress at Bob’s Diner. “I always knew he’d be a writer. He even leaves little daily notes where he reminds us to clean the grill and take out the trash. Now that he’s about to become a famous author, I can say ‘I knew him when he was just my manager.’”

Currently, Nolan has no plans to find an editor or agent. Rather, he intends to distribute his book through Kindle, an “eReader” from Amazon. Nolan said the ease of the publishing process was what convinced him he could become a bestselling author in the first place.

“Writing’s easy,” said Nolan. “Anyone can do it.”

Natalie is an English major and history minor with a creative writing concentration at Denison University. She is the Managing Editor of Writers News Weekly and is following the life of amateur author Roy Nolan in a satirical news series called “TolstRoy.”