Sometimes, lightning strikes from unexpected places, according to children’s author Paul Mila.
For the past year, Mila had been struggling to come up with an idea for the fourth kids’ book in his Harry Hawksbill Sea Turtle Adventure series. On a sunny July Saturday afternoon this past summer, Mila’s 10-year-old grandson Luke Chiappetta opted for some alone time with grandma and grandpa, instead of hanging out at the nearby sports complex between games of his sister’s softball tournament.
While Luke and his grandfather were snacking at the kitchen table, Luke asked:
“So grandpa, where do you get the ideas for your books?”
Mila explained that the ideas for his adventure novels and children’s books came unexpectedly from meeting interesting people and encountering fascinating sea creatures on his scuba diving adventures:
“I never know where the inspiration for the next story will spring from. I told Luke that I couldn’t come up with an idea for the next book in the Harry Hawksbill series, which involves mostly sea turtles.”
Luke’s next question rocked Mila:
“So Grandpa, why don’t we use a different sea creature in the next one?”
The idea of writing a book together had never occurred to Mila.
“I asked Luke if he really wanted to write the next book with me. He smiled and nodded enthusiastically. I was pleasantly amazed by his response. Also, I had been so laser-focused on sea turtles I just never thought ‘outside the box’ to use a different animal. Luke’s fresh perspective breathed life into the project.”
Mila uses his underwater photography instead of using an illustrator, to provide a sense of realism for children reading a fictional story. He went through his photo archives and found many interesting stingray photos, in addition to sea turtles.
“I suggested to Luke that the story could involve Harry the hawksbill turtle helping a lost stingray find its way home after being swept away by a giant hurricane. Luke helped me select photos, explaining why he thought some worked better than others. He also wrote some of the text and dialogue. For the ‘teaching points’ that I provide in every story, I had Luke ‘Google’ the information for research experience, such as what stingrays eat, how they find their food, and how sea turtles navigate, even though I knew the answers.”
One day, when Mila was stuck trying to insert a “thought bubble” showing what a character is thinking, Luke surprised him with his technical savvy:
“Grandpa! Move the cursor here! Click, then drag it over here and click again!”
Finally, their project was completed and Best Publishing Co. accepted their proposal, according to Mila:
“When the graphic designer sent the us the cover for our review, I blinked and skipped a breath seeing our author names together: By Paul Mila and Luke Chiappetta.
“Luke loves writing, so I wondered what this experience could mean for his future. Was I passing the torch, to inspire a writing career?”
For himself, Mila thought about legacy:
“I felt a moment of peace and happiness knowing that after I’ve left this planet for parts unknown, ‘Sally Stingray Finds Her Way Home’ and I will always be on a bookshelf in Luke’s room, not just a name carved on a cold tombstone.”
For more info on Mila’s books, go to milabooks.com.
