Colin Liotta, a sophomore creative writing major, came to Carnegie Mellon looking forward to receiving a good education and playing basketball. At 6'6", Colin immediately stood out from the rest of his class; now, however, he's standing out for another reason.  

One night during the spring semester of his first year, Colin got bored and began writing a story. This story became the first book of a six-part children's book series entitled Boy Werewolf. After sending a manuscript to several publishing companies, Colin received a book deal. He is now looking forward to the November 15 release of the first book in the series, Curse of the Golden Statue, a fantasy story geared toward children ages 8-12.

In the book, protagonist Ace Chapman discovers a golden statue that turns him into a werewolf. Soon after, he finds an underground werewolf village and learns that he is the only one that can cure them of the werewolf curse.

 Colin has always wanted to write children's stories and is greatly inspired by JK Rowling's Harry Potter books, but he never thought he would achieve so much at such a young age.

"I started writing my sophomore year in high school. It was a good hobby and I liked it better than reading since I could make up the story…." Colin says. "I never expected to be writing a book at this age. I expected to be a bum college student."

Colin has achieved his dream without yet finishing a single fiction class. As a sophomore, he is just beginning his creative writing classes this semester — he considers Survey of Forms: Fiction his favorite so far. 

Despite his book deal, Colin considers himself a regular Carnegie Mellon student.

"I think I'm just like most other CMU students — we all work hard. However, each of us has different goals." 

Colin enjoys spending time with his friends and playing basketball. He is able to juggle his writing and his academic work through organization and minimal TV watching, and has a very good sense of humor about his situation.

"A lot of people think I'm scary and intimidating when they first meet me because I'm so tall, but I'm really the opposite. I'm like a little kid," Colin says.

Colin is not playing basketball this year to afford him more time to write, and is currently working on the second book in the Boy Werewolf series. When asked what his plans are for his future at Carnegie Mellon, he said, "I have no idea right now. I just want to keep my options open, which I think is a good thing."