(September 19, 2012) –“If you put a part of yourself in your characters, they come out exactly the way you want them to,” said senior Allene Keshishian. For just over two years, Keshishian put a part of herself into her first novel, Avarice . It wasn’t until just two months ago that she mustered up her courage and published what she refers to as the culmination of a lifelong passion for and devotion to writing. Keshishian, inspired by the people in her life and the dynamics she observed among them, began writing Avarice at age 14 with a burst of energy and passion. Motivated by such personal and at times even subconscious factors, writing her book was as challenging as it was gratifying. The novel itself, however, is more a tangible manifestation of all Keshishian’s hard work than anything else. “This helped me in the sense that – okay, you published a book, now it’s time to get going,” said Keshishian. She sees it as inspiration to continue her endeavors in writing for the rest of her life. Avarice is a novel centered around greed and vengeance and the effects that they in conjunction have on a person – the word avarice itself is defined as “greed.” The novel displays the power they have to wear away the facade of even the most seemingly perfect family to reveal much darker underlying inclinations. The ending, according to Keshishian, may vary in interpretation from reader to reader. It is possible that without the motivation from her mother, Keshishian would never have followed through and published Avarice . “She was there with the whip behind it – publish it, publish it!” Her mother also found a family friend who edited Keshishian’s book, without whom Keshishian says the publishing process would have been too difficult to handle. The front cover of Keshishian’s book looks like the gates of the old manor house which the novel revolves around. “I wanted it to be bold, I wanted it to stand out, and I thought the best way to do that was black and white,” Keshishian said. “Then I saw this picture and I thought – that could mean a lot of things.” An artist as well as a writer, Keshishian is considering drawing the cover of a reprint of her novel in the near future. She may even include her own illustrations in the text. “No matter what anybody else tells you, even if you think your writing is the greatest thing in the world,” said Keshishian, “there is nothing that compares to the feeling of holding [your book] in your hands – I can’t describe the feeling.” Keshishian believes that anyone who has written a book they are proud of should publish it without hesitation. “I will always find time in my life for writing; I plan on publishing lots of books. I love writing and I plan on always doing it.”