McGiveron said “Student Body” contains the components of each of those genres. The book is a work of fiction which is set on MSU’s campus — specifically old Morrill Hall.
“Student Body” tells the story of Rick O’Donnell, a doctoral student hiding a secret — he had a short affair with a former student named Lauren.
The character Lauren then becomes a teaching assistant with an office down the hall from O’Donnell and now his career and marriage are in danger if the affair comes to the surface.
McGiveron said he spent 6 1/2 years at MSU and he had the the idea for a long time. He thought the idea for the story was very life-like and possible.
As a graduate assistant, McGiveron said he thought someone had to write about the newness and camaraderie which came with being a teaching assistant in addition to the feeling of Morrill Hall.
“It was neat to write about things I had seen and overheard,” McGiveron said.
Humanities, Culture and Writing Professor Rod Phillips said he, Rafeeq, and other graduate students shared an office in the basement of Morrill Hall.
Phillips said in that time, the English department was an interesting place because of the different personalities brought to it.
“Life as a grad student in Morrill Hall during the era offered an ample amount of material for any aspiring novelist,” Phillips said in an email.
McGiveron published his work through CreateSpace, an Amazon company which allows authors to self-publish their work.
The book was previously accepted by a Michigan publishing company, My Green Publisher, LLC, before it went out of business.
Former editor for My Green Publisher, LLC, Fiona Thomas said one thing which stood out to her with “Student Body” was McGiveron does not hold back with his writing.
“Not only is he able to portray people’s feelings and emotions to the point you feel them yourself, but his description of the character’s surroundings give you the sense of what the people in the book are looking at,” Thomas said.
Though McGiveron has done two to three dozen literary criticisms, “Student Body” is his first fiction book and he said he drew a lot of inspiration for characters from people he knows.
“I felt like I was writing something that was true,” McGiveron said.
McGiveron currently works as an advisor at Lansing Community College and said he has been thinking of a few science fiction novel ideas for the future.
“Student Body” is available on CreateSpace but also at Curious Book Shop which sells books published by Michigan authors.
