When she's not busy studying parasites and working toward her doctoral degree in applied ecology, Johnica Morrow is preoccupied with another pastime: fiction writing.
"I've always like writing, but attempting a novel was a totally new thing for me," Morrow said. "I wasn't confident that I could do it, but I thought it would be fun to try. It was a really good way for me to bring out my creative side."
In November 2012, Morrow decided to participate in National Novel Writer's Month (NaNoWriMo), which challenges participants to write 50,000 words in 30 days. The objective is to create a work of fiction in a month's time.
"I rediscovered my passion for writing during that month," she said.
Morrow would go on to write 50,000 words in just 16 days.
"It was a proud moment for me when I noticed that I had reached my goal," she said. "But the story was far from finished."
So she kept writing, finished the first draft and submitted it to the NaNoWriMo website.
Eventually, Morrow received a certificate from the organization saying she had "won" NaNoWriMo.
Although she hadn't intended to publish the novel, a retired professor and fellow NaNoWriMo participant encouraged Morrow to pursue publication.
"I went through several edits of the manuscript – around nine or 10 – before I was finally satisfied with it," she said. "I am blessed with a best friend from college, Airicca Roddy, who loves to read novels and she agreed to be my editor."
Another one of Morrow's friends, Joe Hill, drew the sketch on the book cover.
"They both were instrumental in getting the novel to the point where it felt worthy of publication," Morrow said. "I'm sure it'd still be sitting on my desktop as a rough draft without their help."
Morrow began reading about queries, agents and all of the other elements involved in publishing a book – which she learned is far from an easy process.
"It seemed that publishers wouldn't touch a manuscript without it having been read by an agent, so I set out to find myself one," Morrow said. "I wrote close to 20 queries to various agents and agencies pitching my novel, but I only got rejection letters back – or I got no response at all in some cases."
A year and a half later, Morrow opted for another approach.
"I decided it was time to be more contemporary and self-publish," she said.
Although sales have been limited thus far, Morrow said that she's received support for the novel.
"I've gotten some positive feedback from a couple of my friends who liked it," she said.
Morrow's novel, "Rise of the Wobanzi," follows a group of friends and their ability to survive in a world threatened by a newly discovered tribe of people who transform into dangerous, zombie-like "wobanzis."
"Over time, they work to unlock the secrets behind the pandemic in search of a cure," Morrow said. "With enough time and luck, the biologists in the group are hoping to find a cure. The question remains whether time or luck is in their favor as wobanzi numbers continue to grow outside of the confines of the field station."
"Rise of the Wobanzi" is $3.99 and available for purchase at http://go.unl.edu/9uy4.
— Mekita Rivas, Natural Resources