PHILADELPHIA, PA – Think back to your senior year of college. Remember the stress of finding a job, the deadlines, finishing your academic career, along with saying goodbye to your friends and transitioning to the real world?
Now imagine writing a 50,000-word novel during your senior year of college while balancing a full load of classes, activities, and a senior thesis. Mary Frances Cavallaro, a South Philadelphia native and English major at the College, will soon join the ranks of several student authors who have received publishing deals while still at Chestnut Hill.
In the spring of her junior year, Cavallaro took a creative writing class at the College where she had to write a short story for her final project. “As I wrote, I realized I wanted to continue writing, so instead of submitting it as a short story, I submitted it as the first chapter of a larger work,” she said.
The finished work, “More Than Love,” takes place during the 19th century in the United Kingdom. It is the story of young Frances “Fanny” Dickens, who teaches at a college under the watchful eye of an older, slightly senile professor. She then meets Robert Joy, a young man at the college, who turns her world upside down. He is charming, witty, a good friend and worse, one of her students.
Cavallaro, who works as a freelance writer and editor at Elance.com, saw a listing for a client who was looking for writers to work on a collaborative book through the site. While submitting a proposal for the job, she noticed that the publishing company, Kellan Publishing, was looking for other book ideas. She submitted what she had written so far of “More Than Love,” as well as an outline of the book. She didn’t end up getting the freelancing gig, but she did get a contract for a book deal.
Although she was thrilled to have the opportunity to write a book, Cavallaro admitted that she was a little worried about finding time to actually write it. Writing a 50,000-word novel while balancing classes, student teaching, a senior thesis and a plethora other activities (residence life, student government and the musical) wasn’t going to be easy, but she signed the contract regardless.
And so the writing process began. Luckily, Cavallaro had four chapters written when she received the contract last October. By March 2013, she needed to have 50,000 words written. She originally planned on sticking to a schedule, writing about 800 words a day, but this hindered her creative process. Cavallaro soon realized that writing as a hobby is very different from writing as a job. “It is impossible to force myself to write. It has to happen naturally. There would be days or weeks I would go without writing, but the moment I was inspired I would write as much as twenty pages in one sitting.”
She wrote during every free moment she had: on the train, when she wasn’t student teaching, while she was on duty as a resident assistant, before bed and during meals. At times it was extremely overwhelming, but coincidentallyshe found herself working well under such taxing conditions. “I enjoy keeping myself busy, even if it stresses me out a bit. I seem to perform better that way, by living on a schedule.”
“More Than Love” is currently going through the editing process and has not received a publishing date. Once published, it will be available in both print and electronic editions. For more information and updates, visit Mary Frances’s Facebook page.
