Peter Millett is an author living on Auckland’s North Shore. “From an early age I enjoyed playing word games with rhymes and jokes. I had my first funny verse published in the national newspaper when I was at primary school, and I’ve been creating comedic rhyming verse ever since.”
Peter Millett is the author of Children’s Choice Award Winner The ANZAC Puppy, ‘The Invincibles’ series, the Scholastic sing-alongs The Kiwi Go Marching One by One and Five Little Ducks Went Off to School and the number one bestselling My Old Man, He Played Rugby. Peter talks to NZ Booklovers about his new book.
Tell us a little about Spotty the Zebra.
Spotty the zebra is tired of standing out in a crowd. Sick of being teased, Spotty asks a porcupine to paint her spots into stripes. Finally, she feels the same as everyone else ... but finds that conformity doesn’t bring the happiness she seeks. In the desert, she meets a wise golden mole, who tells her, “You’ll only be happy when you accept you.”
What inspired you to write Spotty the Zebra?
As a child, I was very self-conscious about my height. I was six feet tall in middle school, and I could never hide or blend into a crowd. I was constantly asked if I was a basketball player or a rower, and people assumed I was years older than I was and that I should act more maturely. I found this odd, as I wanted to write funny poetry for a career and wasn’t interested in what others were telling me I should do.
What research was involved?
I wrote the basic outline draft of this story in 1999. From then until now, I have spent the bulk of my time trying to create the story’s imagery via vocabulary. As the years rolled by, I made some interesting discoveries about real-life animals with astonishing design quirks. The spotted zebra, patternless giraffe, and iridescent, sightless mole all came to my attention in the last eight years.
What was your routine or process when writing this book?
Bursts of inspiration followed by long gaps of leaving it to simmer. It’s the longest-gestating book of my career, and it’s all the better for it. I’m glad my story took this long to write, as the story components added in recent years are some of the most positive things about it. It's the most organically written project I've worked on yet.
How did you work with the illustrator, Raymond McGrath?
I imagined my story to be like a silent movie. I wanted any reader in any country to be able to follow my story’s progression by the artwork alone. Raymond has been very accomodating about my various art requests. He even kindly included a tree inspired by a Dragon Blood’s tree so we could show the shadowy effects at night in a zigzagging style. Raymond of course delivered a stunning vision for the book in his own unique style. He’s a genius.
If a soundtrack were made to accompany this book, name a song or two you would include.
Earth Song by Michael Jackson. That song feels like a great soundtrack.
What did you enjoy the most about writing this picture book?
I jumped for joy when I figured out the middle of the story. My story needed a secondary character and it took me years to discover it. The Golden Mole and Spotty meeting in the middle of the story is the glue that holds everything together. Writing is a mysterious pursuit. I have other incomplete stories resting in my top drawer that are missing middles and ends. It’s joyful when you unearth them!
What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?
I was in the thick of another writing project so I just went back to that one. How unglamorous of me!
What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?
Roald Dahl: A Biography. Roald Dahl is a very complex person. I learned that he tried to make a strong point about writing for children being harder than writing for adults by using Graham Greene’s failed children’s book series ‘The Little Train’ as an example. I think this was a little disingenuous. I think Roald was frustrated that he was unable to write a classic long-form adult novel. I was also surprised to see how many changes his editor made to Matilda (about 30% of the story) that completely transformed it. This is not spoken about much and the editor has not really received full credit for the input. I found this book fascinating and enlightening.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
I want to be part of a funny graphic novel project. I’ve been wanting to do this since 2015. Please contact me if you need a zany story!
Scholastic New Zealand
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