Ava Frechette '27 publishes third book while studying full-time at Salve

Most college students spend their free moments catching up with friends, reading between classes or squeezing in a walk along the Cliff Walk. For Ava Frechette '27, those moments are often where her novels begin.

Frechette, a junior literature major at Salve Regina University, recently published “Diseased,” the third book in her dystopian young adult series “Divided,” a project she began drafting as a high school freshman and has nurtured through major life changes and full-time coursework.

“I’ve always loved reading and writing,” she said. “In elementary school my teachers used to let me stay in from recess to write little stories. It was always a hobby, but I didn’t really have the opportunity or time to dive in again until high school.”

That moment came unexpectedly during the COVID-19 pandemic. With school shifted online and long months spent at home, Frechette found herself suddenly with “serious time” on her hands. One offhand conversation with her younger sister sparked a light-bulb moment. “She reminded me to text someone for their birthday and said, ‘She’s such a Gemini queen,’” shared Frechette. Within minutes, she had opened a notes app on her phone and began sketching the early blueprint of a dystopian world organized by zodiac signs.

From that moment, the idea snowballed, and four years to the day after she wrote the first words, Frechette published the debut novel of the series on June 10, 2024 – just shy of her 19th birthday.  

Born from big questions and a big imagination

Readers often compare “Divided” to series like “The Hunger Games” or “Maze Runner” for its revolutionary themes and found-family dynamics, but Frechette’s world blends dystopian storytelling with fantasy elements. Set in a post-apocalyptic America, the last country still standing, society is reorganized into 12 zodiac-based sectors to “keep the peace,” a system that splits families, reshapes identity and forces young people to confront a system in which they seem to have little control.

“I love stories where people are trying so hard to be together, and something bigger than them is keeping them apart,” Frechette said. “And I thought, what’s bigger than the day you’re born?”

The zodiac system also created a useful framework for character development. “Building complicated characters is so hard,” she said. “But I did so much research on traits for each sign. It gave me building blocks. Every word is intentional. If you think I said something for a reason – I did.”

Pairing craft and creativity

Although Frechette began the series long before she came to Salve, her literature and composition courses have profoundly shaped the writer – and thinker – she’s becoming.

“In high school, I loved my literature classes, but I loved my composition courses the most,” she said. “I love looking behind the curtain, seeing the scaffolding of how a book is created. And my professors here at Salve encourage that so much.”  

Courses in advanced composition and literary analysis helped her move from instinctive storytelling to intentional, structured craft.

“Now I don’t think just about what I’m putting on the page,” she said. “I think about the analytics of it, the building of it, the effect of it. Salve has given me the skills to utilize all of that.”

Faculty mentorship has been key. Frechette cites Erin Harte, affiliate assistant professor in the English department, whom she had as a first-year student and again for the course ENG281: Advanced Composition, as especially influential.

“She’s amazing,” Frechette said. “She connects with all her students so well and makes sure you don’t take yourself too seriously. That helps me produce better work.”

She added, “I’ve loved every English class I’ve taken. It’s so vast – people think STEM is the complicated field, but English is just as rich.”

Salve’s environment has shaped her writing life in other ways, too. Long walks through Newport have become a grounding ritual, a way to worldbuild in her head or imagine new scenes.

“Newport is just so cool. There’s so much history,” she said. “I’ll go on the Cliff Walk or into town with just my AirPods, and it helps me brainstorm. Sometimes I play this game where I’m walking to class and think, ‘How would I describe what I’m seeing if I put it on paper?’”

Support from friends across majors and passions – performers, psychology majors, filmmakers – has meant just as much. “They’re not writers, but they’re so supportive,” Frechette said. “And I think it’s because they also have the same respect for the arts that I do. That’s definitely something Salve has instilled in them.”

Writing between classes, deadlines and dorm life

Frechette describes her writing process as “organized chaos.”

“I’m the most organized person until it comes to writing,” she joked. “Then I’m flying by the seat of my pants. It’s whenever I get the time – between classes, meetings, anything. Today I grabbed my computer, hopped on the treadmill and wrote.”

She keeps ideas on sticky notes, jots scenes in spare moments and revisits drafts with “fresh eyes” a day or two later. Although she is self-published through Amazon, she works closely with two editors and a cover designer. Each release date is chosen with intention – anniversaries, symbolic birthdays, character milestones.

“Meeting the deadline matters to me,” she said. “I don’t want it to feel random.”

For Frechette, writing has become more than a creative outlet, it has reshaped how she sees herself.

“I used to feel intimidated by how big my imagination was,” she said. “I was always the kid with her head in the clouds. But now I have this outlet. It’s become such a huge part of me that I can’t remember who I was before.”

Most of all, she hopes her books do for young readers what stories once did for her.

“If one person can feel seen, if I can help them in any way, that’s what it’s all for,” she said. “People love dystopian books because they show a messed-up world, but they also show how people handle it, how they still find the good. Especially today, I think people need that. I hope my readers can connect with the characters and feel less alone.”

As she looks ahead, Frechette is already deep into drafting the fourth and final installment of “Divided,” determined to bring her characters, and her readers, the ending they deserve. It’s a fitting next chapter for a writer whose creativity has grown alongside her education, shaped by Salve’s literature program, community and the quiet moments she’s learned to turn into stories.