A student at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine won the 2006 Starcherone Fiction Prize with her first published novel, and she is looking to promote the book throughout the country in the coming months. Third-year student Sara Greenslit said the novel officially went on sale in bookstores and on the Internet this week. However, Greenslit added, she did most of the writing before she began working on her degree at UW. "The press is really exciting," Greenslit said. "I'm looking forward to spring break and spending some time trying to organize what to do next." The novel, "The Blue of Her Body," beat out 177 other entries in the Starcherone contest, and Greenslit called the book "experimental" since it is not written in traditional paragraph form. Instead, she said, it is a hybrid between fiction and poetry that follows the main character through her path of depression. "I wanted to accurately describe to people what it's like to have an illness," Greenslit said. "Our lives don't always work out in that nice, linear pattern." Greenslit said she has always been interested in both animals and the creative writing process, but added it is sometimes difficult to work with both at once. Because she is still managing the demanding curriculum of the Veterinary School, Greenslit said she does not have the time — or the budget — to go on a large-scale book tour. However, Greenslit added she would focus on promoting the novel in New York City, Chicago, St. Paul and Milwaukee. Chris Olsen, associate dean of academic affairs at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine, said faculty at the school only found out about Greenslit's accomplishment this week. "I think it's incredibly exciting. I'm just amazed [Greenslit] was so quiet about the whole thing and that we didn't know about it," Olsen said. "I think it really speaks to the faculty that students today can be good at so many different things at such a high level." Each class at the four-year UW Veterinary School is comprised of 80 people, and Olsen said Greenslit's accomplishment is an example of a student with well-rounded skills, similar to those used in the holistic approach that the faculty likes to take in the admissions process. "I think it's just remarkable that a student can excel in the sciences at the same time as excelling in a creative way," Olsen said. "We're looking for people who bring the whole package of personal qualities … along with their academic preparation."