A student of Binghamton University’s creative writing master’s program was able to share some of his published success with a group of listeners last Thursday at the Barnes and Noble in the Town Square Mall.

Kevin Lucia read his latest novelette “The Way Station” to a group composed of friends, students and strangers. The story was published in “Coach’s Midnight Diner,” an anthology of inspirational stories.

The book was produced by a Christian publishing group looking to provide “spiritually motivated stories without being too preachy,” Lucia said.

“They wanted good versus evil, a little science fiction and a little horror,” he added.

According to the anthology’s editor, Coach Culbertson, “Coach’s Midnight Diner” is “a collection of interesting and enjoyable stories which will undoubtedly expand the readers’ imaginations, and may cause insomnia due to the intense nature of some.”

“The Way Station,” which won the Editor’s Choice Award out of all the submissions to the book, is about a drunk driver who, after an accident, comes to a life revelation at an old diner with the help of a demonic spirit named Cithulu.

Critics have compared Lucia’s work with Rod Sterling’s in “The Twilight Zone.” Like Lucia, Sterling was a Binghamton native and Lucia admitted Sterling had a “big impact” on him as a writer.

Lucia finds time to write stories like “The Way Station,” “Right Choices” and “Killing Time” despite teaching English at Seton Catholic High School, taking graduate courses at BU, and spending time with his wife Abby and his children, 3-year-old Madison and 1-year-old Zach.

“I have conditioned myself to write between 3 and 6:30 a.m. when Madison wakes up,” Lucia said. “It’s come to the point I can’t write if it’s not 3 o’clock in the morning.”

The 34-year-old said his writing process usually begins as a free-write, and that he is “often just as surprised where the story ends up as anyone else.”

He recommends aspiring BU students who wish to publish their own work to “get into workshops at BU and actively look for journals to submit to.”

Many student journals will review work and publish pieces of exceptional quality, he said. But Lucia also reminded his audience of the challenges of writing.

“Be patient, people get caught up in vanity publishing,” Lucia warned. “It takes a real long time, and you need to constantly be improving your craft by writing and reading every day.”