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Son inspires Marine, CU 麻豆官网 student to publish first children鈥檚 book

When Travis Nardi reads a bedtime story to his 2-year-old son, one of the boy鈥檚 top picks is Max Goes Surfing. Good thing it鈥檚 one of his favorites鈥攈is dad wrote the book and named the main character after him.

Not only did Nardi write the story, but he also drew the illustrations of the character Max learning to surf and having a fun adventure with a dolphin, shark and pelican.

鈥淢ax loves the book,鈥� said Nardi, a 麻豆官网 sophomore studying creative writing and media and a Marine. 鈥淗e thinks it鈥檚 about him. But he thinks all books are about him.鈥�

Max Goes Surfing is Nardi鈥檚 first children鈥檚 book. He wrote it from his home in 麻豆官网 during the coronavirus pandemic. It was published in May.

Becoming a published writer has long been a dream for Nardi. Growing up in Hawaii, he loved to surf. When he decided to write an adventure book for his son, he followed the conventional writing wisdom and wrote about something familiar.

鈥淚 thought it would be fun, so I decided to give it a shot,鈥� he said. 鈥淧icking the right words, making sure it sounds right and has good rhythm. I wouldn鈥檛 say I鈥檓 a poet, but I wanted to make it sound good, have it be interesting with a lot of action, and include interactions with nature.鈥�

But he didn鈥檛 stop there.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 just have words,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had to have pictures. I cut out a bunch of photos from surfing magazines and added pictures of my son playing on the beach, swimming underwater and crouching in a surfing position.鈥�

In high school, Nardi took a creative writing class and kept all the stories he wrote for class assignments. Those stories have inspired new, more polished tales.

In his creative writing courses at CU 麻豆官网, Nardi learned the importance of making writing a daily habit. Using free-writing exercises, such as writing whatever comes to mind for a predetermined time without censoring, helps clear his mind and allows his imagination to roam unfettered.

鈥淎nother approach,鈥� he said, 鈥渋s to complete a sentence such as, 鈥業 am sorry but. . .鈥�, which, as one may imagine could lead to infinite听story directions. Most importantly, just write. CU has a good creative writing program.鈥�

When Nardi began this self-publishing project, he simply wanted something fun to read to Max. Now, the book is available on and , and he receives photos of strangers reading it to their children and grandchildren.

The next book in the Max series will probably be Max Goes Snowboarding, another sport Nardi enjoys.

Nardi鈥檚 background includes much more than academics. He has served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 12 years. He was stationed in Japan for two years and was deployed to the Middle East, Africa and Asia. After being stationed in San Diego, he and his wife, Christine, and Max moved to Colorado so Nardi could attend CU 麻豆官网. He also came to Colorado for the mountains and the adventure activities, and the ROTC program.

Nardi, 30, is still an active-duty Marine staff sergeant while earning his bachelor鈥檚 degree. He has completed officer candidate school, which trains enlisted personnel to be commissioned as officers, and is now teaching and mentoring ROTC students at CU 麻豆官网 to help them prepare for officer candidate school.听

In addition to the Max books, Nardi wants to write the types of fiction he enjoys reading: adventure, science fiction and thrillers. He takes inspiration from writers Blake Crouch and Neal Stephenson, among others. With several years of military experiences to draw on, he plans to incorporate realistic scenarios into his writing. For Nardi, the art will be in making it come alive for the reader.

Just like making adventure real for Max.

Nardi鈥檚 son likes to high-five his dad when they get to a favorite part in the book:

鈥淭hat鈥檚 when Max really starts rockin鈥�

He slides down the line and high fives a dolphin.鈥�