Central Penn staffer publishes two children’s books
Colleen Hiltl is living her dream of
entertaining children and helping them learn
By Hannah Pasquarella
Knightly News Reporter
Stories the Knightly News Media Club publishes typically focus on the successes of students, the school’s history and campus life.
What we sometimes fail to realize is that there are many talented and creative people among the college’s staff and faculty.
Marketing project coordinator and Knightly News reporter Colleen Hiltl began working at Central Penn College in March 2022. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a concentration in writing, from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in May 2014.
At the start of this year, Hiltl set out on a New Year’s resolution to begin becoming a self-published children’s book author and illustrator. With a book idea stemming from her craft business, her first book, “The Fox and the Poppy,” was published in March.
Photo by Hannah Pasquarella.
The idea behind the fox was that it was one of her first decals she designed in her craft business for a friend. Most children’s books have a fun but educational approach, and that is exactly what Hiltl did. In the book, a baby fox wakes up lost and without her mom. Throughout the fox’s adventure to find her mom, the fox meets and learns about all the baby animals around her.
Hiltl dabbled in artificial intelligence to create the images in the book. With the help of her experience in digital editing and art, she was able to put her illustrations into Photoshop and perfect her images to what she had envisioned.
Becoming a self-published illustrator and author is a lot of work and accompanying frustrations. People’s wariness about artificial intelligence was one of those frustrations.
“As soon as you mention AI for anything, without people realizing the whole extent of the use, they want nothing to do with you,” Hiltl said.
With her background in marketing, Hiltl knew she needed to find a way to promote her book. She enrolled in a class to learn how she could promote her book, but her use of AI was a stumbling block.
“If I had gone later into introducing myself, I definitely would have elaborated better on my use of AI, because as soon as I mentioned … AI” it wasn’t well received, Hiltl said.
She is relying on social-media platforms to promote her work.
Photo by Hannah Pasquarella.
Starting something new and different takes time. Hiltl said the highs and lows she went through motivated her to illustrate, write and publish her second book, “Harmony Under the Sea,” in June.
“The second book was a lot easier, but still a challenge,” Hiltl said. “Because of the backlash I got on the first book for the use of AI, I was trying really hard to pull away from that. I still used it for the foundation, but I did a lot more creating of my own.”
The idea behind this book is to teach children the foundations of music while also educating them about ocean pollution and how we can make a difference, she said.
Hiltl’s writing and illustrating journey isn’t finished—her creative juices are flowing.
“For whatever reason, I am feeling very creative, and they are just coming to me,” she said of ideas. “I’ve got all these ideas for children’s books, and I finally got my big idea I want to explore for a novel.”
As the world becomes more technological, creativity will expand, especially with the development of artificial Intelligence. The backlash that artists, authors, designers and other creative people receive because of the tools available to them makes it difficult for people to try new things.
“It’s a lot easier than you think, and definitely don’t give up on your dreams,” Hiltl counseled would-be creators. “Don’t get discouraged by what others say or think, and definitely do your research.”
Keep an eye out for more of Hiltl’s upcoming work. For now, check out The Fox and the Poppy and Harmony Under the Sea.
Comment or story idea? Contact [email protected]. Edited by media-club co-adviser and this blog’s editor, Professor Michael Lear-Olimpi.
