The Mentor

"The Mentor" is a novel set in a small, elite southern university in South Carolina. The story revolves around the relationship between a renowned, pampered author who is a professor at the university and an aspiring student writer from an underprivileged background that he decides to mentor. His ego is legendary, but his talent and value to the university is undeniable. He decides to mentor this student to add to his legacy of not only writing, but inspiring and building the next generation of writers. As the story unfolds, the student is intimidated but captivated. His theatrical, pompous approach is thorny but effective. She begins to blossom and starts to build a small reputation at the college and local community. As her star begins to rise, the professor starts to encounter issues of his own, experiencing extended writer's block, conflict with his agent, and slumping sales. He begins to blame these issues on the mentoring distractions and as she begins to become more established, he puts in a plan to undermine her. The student later, inadvertently, reveals to one of the professor's rivals that he may have plagiarized his most famous poetry collection. An investigation leads to his downfall and ouster, just as she supplants him as the most bankable writer in the region. The novella has a word count of 37,300 and 262 pages.