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Mark McCallum '82, a freelance writer and editor from Covington, Ga., recently had his first novel published. Taking Three is a "supernatural thriller" about the old wive's tale that says death comes in threes, according to McCallum's website.

The premise of the book was inspired by a conversation before one of McCallum's English classes during his junior year.

"I had an 8 a. m. Monday Faulkner class under S. Allen King," he said. "I learned on Sunday that my grandfather had died. I had lost my other grandfather two weeks prior.

"Mr. King watched me trudge zombie-like and slump into my front-row desk. He gave Kelly Barrett a moment to cheer me up before saying, 'Mr. McCallum. You know that death comes in threes.' Under her breath, Kelly said, 'Well, that's encouraging.' Within a week, I lost an aunt. Since then, I have kept count. Now, I have a novel based off that notion."

In the book three people die each time an ancient evil appears in a town.

"My story focuses on a father who knows this force is coming for his son," McCallum said. "He must teach his 11-year-old how to conquer his worst nightmare or it will take his life."

While at PC McCallum majored in English and wrote for The Blue Stocking. He was also a member of the Doylian Society and the Scotsmans club baseball team, which he wrote about extensively for the college newspaper.

According to McCallum, the Doylian Society included him and eleven other male students who were the first to live in the Doyle building. Since PC didn't have enough housing at the time, the students were placed in the "previously condemned infirmary." The students conducted experiments with the medical equipment left behind.

"As self-appointed Director of Public Relations for the Doylian Society," McCallum said, "I often felt compelled to issue press releases to The Blue Stocking apologizing for things that had -- allegedly -- gone wrong. For Chocolate Water experiments that muddied the drinking fountain water, for updates on the Fig Newton Strangler and how to disarm him with a glass of milk, and possibly for things that involve the statue of limitations."

McCallum also wrote about the Scotsmans club baseball team, which he and others formed.

"I gave us way too much coverage in the school paper for what we were worth," he said. "Bad-hop baseball but championship memories. I look at where the program is now and feel a sense of pride that I might have helped in some way."

After graduating from PC, McCallum went on to earn a Masters in Journalism from the University of Georgia. He worked as a sportswriter for the Aiken Standard and The State (SC) newspapers before becoming the senior content producer for fastball.com and later content producer at Cox Interactive Media and Cox News Service.

While admitting that "influence is tricky," McCallum says that a character and a location from Taking Three are taken from his time at PC.

Plus, he says his English professors always influence his writing.

"Sitting in classrooms listening to the likes of S. Allen King, Rachel Stewart, and Neal Prater tends to put them on your shoulder whenever you tap a keyboard," he said.

"I know there have been countless times in my career when I tried to end a sentence with a preposition only to hear Mr. King say, 'Mr. McCallum, surely you know better.' I would rephrase my sentence.

"Or wonder if a particular passage might move Dr. Stewart to whirl amid her lesson on Whitman and say, 'What a wonderful way of expressing that' before she slipped back to discussing Leaves of Grass.

"Even writing sports features, I'd try to work in references an English major would relish and hope Dr. Prater, chewing the end of his glasses, would acknowledge my effort in the newspaper with his chuckle.

"Knowing they all graded on perfection," McCallum added, "I never wanted to fail them even after they no longer could mark my career with a red felt tip."