Maria Nieto, a biology professor at CSU East Bay has achieved yet another accomplishment with the 2012 release of her first fiction novel, “Pig Behind the Bear.”

Nieto, a lively professor who warms the room with her smile and infectious laugh, has been a human sexuality, immunology and cellular molecular professor at CSU East Bay for 24 years and is well respected by her students and colleagues.

“Maria Nieto is a kind, generous, intelligent, and compassionate person,” says Terry Cunningham, a colleague of Nieto’s at CSUEB. “Working with Maria is a remarkable experience. Her enthusiasm and dedication to her profession is awe-inspiring.”

Nieto says the idea behind a science fiction novel started while working at CSUEB when she and a friend were given the opportunity to write an Immunology textbook for Pierson Education.

After three years, and 10 chapters into the textbook, Pierson Education made the decision to not continue the contract. Nieto says she channeled her frustrations concerning the incomplete textbook and began writing a book of her own.

“I’ve always liked writing, since I was a kid,” says Nieto. “And it was always in the back of my mind that at some point in time I wanted to venture off and explore fiction writing.”

Nieto says she used her strengths in science and history to carefully construct a novel with a variety of elements. The brainstorming began when she decided the backdrop of her story would be based off the actual death of Ruben Salazar, a renowned reporter and TV news anchor.

“[My inspiration for the book] came from so many different places,” declares Nieto. “It came from an interest in wanting to tell several different stories that are couched in a lot of emotional hardness and also to tell the story about people who never get told, about particular characters in our society.”

The novel is a murder mystery crime drama that takes place in 1971, exactly one year after Salazar was killed. Alejandra Marisol, a junior reporter for the Los Angeles Times, is asked to write a commemorative piece in honor of Salazar and realizes that there might be a bigger story behind the reasoning of his death. As she is writing the piece, Marisol begins to uncover a world of dishonesty and turmoil while bringing the hardships of the Chicano movement to light.

“You have to go through clues, you have to investigate and you have to deduct information,” says Nieto. “It’s very similar to doing research and doing science. You have to lay out and find your clues, so to speak, get your data and you have to analyze the data to come up with information that leads you in a particular direction. The mystery is like working in a lab space.”

In addition, the book has not only gained popularity with readers around the US but has become wildly popular with students and professors on the CSUEB campus.

“I greatly enjoy reading her book,” says Claudia Stone, a colleague of Nieto’s. “[It’s] filled with likable and interesting characters and educating me about a time and culture, Chicano culture of L.A. in the 70s, of which I knew very little.”

Terry Cunningham agrees.

“Maria’s novel is one of the best works I have read in recent memory,” says Cunningham. “Her characters embody all aspects of the human condition.”

On top of teaching three courses, grading papers, helping students and more, Nieto dedicated any free time she had to writing her book.

“I don’t have a go-to TV,” says Nieto. “If I had a TV at home I would sometimes go to it and turn it on because it’s there … and because I don’t have that go-to, my go-to is writing or reading.”

At first, Nieto didn’t inform her students of her accomplishment, but in fall 2012, when her book hit the shelves, she began to tell more students about “Pig Behind the Bear.”

“The students have been very inspired,” says Nieto. “[They think] wow, here’s this biology professor. She’s teaching, she has done research, she’s doing these other projects related to research still currently and yet she’s still doing this other thing. And I think it’s been really good for them to see that.”

Her passion for her job as a professor and writing is something that her students have indeed noticed.

“The way in which she spoke reflected her passion for teaching and made me so attentive in class,” says Natally Servino, a Kinesiology major at CSUEB who has taken a variety of courses with Nieto. “She is such a knowledgeable individual and had so much to share with us.”

Nieto took a short break from teaching at the university to complete a book tour that is already underway. She is also working on a sequel to “Pig Behind the Bear,” which will feature characters from the first book, in addition to forensic science.

The novel, which took about five years for Nieto to complete, is currently being transformed into a play through the CSUEB Theatre department. It will potentially be showcased within the next year.