Kelly asked Paul Tremblay:

I am currently in school for creative writing, hoping eventually to go into the publishing/editing field and of course get some writing published of my own. Did you take any english/literature/creative writing courses in college, aside from the normal required general education courses? I am just curious since you have your masters in mathematics.

Paul Tremblay Hi, Kelly!

Sorry for not answering sooner. I didn't noticed that I had some new questions here at goodreads.

Second semester of senior year I took a LIT 101 kind of class. The professor was great and really helped to light a love-of-reading fire in me. That was it for formal english classes though. So my training, as it were, was reading voraciously, getting my short fiction and first novel attempts rejected as voraciously (heh...it's true, but the comments from editors, when I was lucky enough to get them, were quite helpful), and I received support from other writers generous with their time. I had a mentor at the HWA (I haven't been a member since 2007) for a few years, and he was so helpful when I was in my early stages of writing. I also joined a local writers group, comprised mostly of friends who wrote, and that was a boon as well.

For some, the social part of writing is a conundrum. We're alone when we write of course, but finding your group for support and, well, just fun, I think is really important. That and patience.

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