EAST LONGMEADOW – Next year will be Michael Maloni’s 30th reunion for his class at East Longmeadow High School and he’s looking forward to it as now the mental illness that was undiagnosed at that time is under much better control.

Maloni explained to Reminder Publications his career as a novelist and photographer are benefitting from the advances made in treating his illness.

He is now preparing a new sports novel, “Olympic Gold,” for publication.

He has written about hockey and baseball in past books, but now his subject is boxing and the life of five amateur boxers in South Boston.

He called it “non-traditional from most boxing stories” and further explained the “people in it are not on the ragged edge of society.”

Now a Wilbraham resident, Maloni graduated from East Longmeadow High School in 1987.

“I wasn’t a model student,” he said. Since his mental illness was unregulated, he frequently drank, a behavior for which he is sorry.

He wasn’t diagnosed until seven months after his college graduation in 1994. He said his “episodes” before treatment would last seven to 10 days, but now they are only three to fours hours.

As a fourth-grader going to school in Springfield, Maloni said his life-long live of reading was started by a citywide reading program. At age 10, he said he knew he wither wanted to be a writer or a professional hockey player.

He joked that reaching 50 percent of his goals isn’t bad.

He started writing as a hobby in high school, but didn’t take it seriously. In 2006 he decided to complete his first novel. 

He explained his writing is left unedited do doctors can story the brain patterns and they can see a healthier pattern over time.

As a novelist, he said he doesn’t really have a writing regimen. Sometimes he writes first thing in the morning, but sometimes the idea takes three to four days “to percolate.”

He said he deliberately organizes his books in shorter chapters, as he believes that helps his readers who are senior citizens or mentally challenged.

He is already working on a new book, a sequel to his book “Shortstop” and he has another book planned after that.

Maloni urges high school students who believe something is wrong with them to speak with their parents or a doctor.

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” he said.

To learn more about his novels, go to www.sbpra.com/michaelmaloni.