Each of us likes to face new challenges and overcome them. After various decades as a Corporate person, heading companies in different geographical areas, leading Management Teams, and scouting for new market opportunities and higher profits, what could I have done that was completely new and would test a very different part of me? Writing a kids’ book was the answer!
I am not new to writing: in fact, I started writing stories when I was eight years old and have never stopped trying my pen with articles, reviews, essays, or other written works. However, my previous books were about business and about my experiences. The book before this was a novel, my first fiction work, but it was for adults and in Italian. I wanted to try something different and, when I started writing, my two children, who were bang in target at that time, gave me the challenge of venturing into something that would be appealing to them.
I chose to write about Lucky, since he had been a very loyal companion for many years, in particular during my first years in India, when I was not yet married, I was alone in my farmhouse and my family was thousands of kilometers away.
He was my family in India, my playful friend during the weekends, the one who greeted me when I would come back from my work and jumped and ran for the joy of seeing me coming back after a trip.
Lucky was a peculiar Indie dog, happy to mingle but at times wanting his own space; usually docile, he could also become aggressive (as when he bit on the right spot a security guard who used to tease him from outside our fence, and we had to rush him to the hospital). He came into my life as a lost puppy and left me in a very discreet way, after twelve years together.
I thought that writing a book inspired by him would have been a good way to remember him.
This was the first time I wrote for kids. I find writing for kids more fun and relaxing than writing adults’ books.
Kids do not have the kind of mental barriers created by logic and rational thinking that adults have, therefore one can be more creative and impose fewer limits to her or his creativity. Episodes that may seem nonrealistic or exaggerated to adults would be absolutely all right for kids.
When writing for kids, content has to be entertaining (not that it should NOT be in the case of adults!), since kids’ attention span is much shorter than adults. Language should be simple; stories linear, though some twists add excitement. Animals are often a good topic for kids, since they are more similar to them in their not fully rational way of behaving. A pinch of naughty acting does not harm.
When I was writing this manuscript the stories flowed very naturally, the keys on my laptop would be pressed in an effortless way (similarly to when I play my piano!) and the chapters came alive one after the other. I must say that I had some very useful tips from wise people who had read the draft manuscript and helped me make the narration more ‘lively’. Maybe the process of revising and editing the book was a bit of a challenge, since it took more time than the time taken to write the book.
Though Lucky does funny and adventurous staff, which incidentally could be appreciated also by not so young adults, he sometimes spills pearls of wisdom that could make anyone reflect on some important values, like friendship and diversity.
Therefore I would recommend this book also to the fathers and mothers of the kids who will read it. Who does not want, once in a while, to rediscover the child in us?
You can buy his latest book, The Adventures of Lucky Singh from Readomania
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