“It started out as me sitting in a boring literature class and became a rant of me sitting in class not wanting to be there,” said Jonathan Avella, author of “First Light” and former FDU student.

The fast-paced, easy-to-read novel follows the life of Banty Witter, a college student who is trying to stay sober long enough to graduate. The novel takes place on a small New Jersey college campus.

Avella admitted that part of the novel comes from real-life experiences, but is loosely based on his experiences at FDU. “Banty had a much better time [in college] than I did,” Avella joked, in reference to his character’s partying. The most nonfictional part of the novel is the setting itself. In the book, Banty lives in “the Commons,” which was based off of the dorms located in the Village at the College at Florham.

Avella attended FDU from 2000 to about 2004 and, much like Banty, he had some problems going to class and actually passing. Originally from Maryland, Avella found himself at FDU after getting his GED and attending community college to get his grades up. His father, an FDU graduate, was teaching at the school at the time, and Avella decided upon FDU since “it was the only college I could get into,” he joked. “I was not the model student.”

“For me, FDU was the first time living on my own,” he said. “I did abuse the freedom, but it definitely shaped my independent lifestyle and without being on my own and fending for myself I wouldn’t have been able to build a new life for myself out in California.”

After his time at FDU, Avella graduated from Empire State College, an online-based college out of New York City, with a degree in creative writing. “I needed to get a full time job and wasn’t able to do both [go to school and work].”

Avella wrote “First Light” between 2001 and 2003. It was ready to go to print about a year and a half ago. “It was a struggle to edit it,” Avella said. “Professor [Rene] Steinke put a lot of time and effort to help and edit the book before I went on my own.”

Another challenge Avella faced was simply coming up with the money to get it published. The novel is self-published, in an effort for Avella to eventually build an audience and then take other work to a publisher. “It is a better way to get my foot in the door,” Avella said. “A lot of publishers won’t talk to you unless you have an agent and a lot of agents won’t talk to you unless you have been published.”
Since publishing “First Light,” Avella has adapted the novel into a screenplay. He has gotten a couple of local bookstores in his current residence near San Diego, Calif. to carry the novel and hopes to soon move away from online publishing.

Avella has also written two other novels since “First Light” and has recently adapted the novel into a screenplay. Besides continuous writing, Avella currently manages and bartends at an English pub. “The ultimate goal is to become a writer and not have to bartend,” Avella said.

Check out a passage from “First Light” on page 11.

KAYLA HASTRUP
News Editor