Guy Fasciana is no stranger to taking college courses. He has a pair of master’s degrees and a doctorate already under his belt. But it was a fiction writing class that led Fasciana to one of his most impressive accomplishments to date.

A Pittston native, Fasciana, 72, will release his first fiction book, “On Becoming Us,” on March 1. The book is set in Pittston and follows four friends as they come of age and establish themselves in their new lives.

The idea behind the book stems from the time Fasciana took to attend a beginning photography class at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. His eye caught the fictional writing class and the rest is history. Fasciana has written books before, but never fiction.

“It’s very exciting,” Fasciana said. “All my friends and everyone I know around here can’t want to read it and to buy it. They are really going nuts about it.”

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Fasciana just began writing, he said. After nine months he had finished his 77,000-word, 293-page novel.

“I didn’t intend to write the book that way,” he said. “I wanted to write a story for the fiction class. I got started and it just went from there. I didn’t intend to write about friendship. Basically, you just let the story go where it goes.”

Fasciana graduated from Pittston High School and now lives in Greenville with his wife Jane Giwnn. Jane is a native of Greenville.

Originally, Fasciana wrote the book as an autobiography, but the editor didn’t like that once it was close to the finish line. Fasciana decided he had to pick one or the other — ficton or non-fiction.

“There wasn’t enough story that was true so I picked fiction,” he said. “A lot of it is based on my life with two good friends from Cub Scouts.”

The two friends who Fasciana grew up with and inspired the book’s characters are fellow Pittston natives Tim Marmo and Mike Curatilo.

The main character’s name is Jeffrey Rosenbloom. In the book, Rosenbloom meets Salvatore “Sal” Greco, Mike Costanzo, and Ted Mosconi in Cub Scouts at St. Rocco’s Catholic Church in Pittston.

As for Rosenbloom, his character was made up of many different people Fasciana has met throughout his life.

“He has a whole bunch of stuff from people that I knew and met growing up,” Fasciana said. “He’s a combination of characters that I’ve known all my life.”

In the late 1980s, Fasciana received his master’s degree from the University of Arizona in exercise and sport science/sport psychology. He also received his master’s in health education from the University of Arizona.

Prior to attending the University of Arizona, Fasciana graduated from King’s College with a degree in biology in 1965. He then received his Doctor of Dental Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh.

Over the past three decades, Fasciana has written numerous books on several different topics. He’s written six non-fiction pieces and another five graduate school publications. The books’ topics range from golf to dental fillings.

“On Becoming Us” is being published by Fasciana’s company, Tenor Publishing. Fasciana’s book is available for pre-order on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. For more information about “On Becoming Us” or to pre-order a signed copy, visit www.guysfasciana.com.

The book titled ‘On Becoming Us’ by Pittston native Guy Fasciana takes place in Pittston and is based on people he knew in the area.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Front-cover-e1452550182416.jpg.optimal.jpgThe book titled ‘On Becoming Us’ by Pittston native Guy Fasciana takes place in Pittston and is based on people he knew in the area. Submitted artwork

By Nick Wagner

nwagner@timesleader.com

Reach Nick Wagner at 570-991-6406 or on Twitter @Dispatch_Nick