Today we had the wonderful opportunity to do a free Skype with Paul Owen Lewis, author of Storm Boy. When asked when and why he started writing, Mr. Lewis told us that was inspired by another author who spoke to him when he was 27 years old. The author told Mr. Lewis to write stories for himself about things that mattered to him. Since Mr. Lewis lives on the San Juan Islands of Washington state, he likes to write about the killer whales that sees right outside of his window everyday. Storm Boy is a story about killer whales that come to life and speak to a little boy. It is adapted from a Nortwest coastal story. He also shared that a dream inspired him to write his first story about killer whales, Davy’s Dream. Mr. Lewis said that he often starts a story out by drawing it first. It might start with just one scene and he later adds the beginning and ending to it. It was neat to see the totem pole from Storm Boy in the room behind him as he talked to us. Thanks Mr. Lewis!