A Little Behind-the-Scenes Note
Okay, so let’s talk about Milo’s mimicry for a second because that didn’t come out of nowhere.
When I was younger, I had this… very random (and honestly entertaining) ability to imitate people.
Family members, friends—you name it. I could switch voices, change tone, pitch my voice differently, even make it sound like multiple people were talking at once.
If I went deep enough in my throat, I could pull off what sounded like a whole crowd.
It was one of those things I did without thinking about it back then.
And then, like a lot of things we do when we’re younger… I just stopped.
I hadn’t thought about it in years.
So when I started writing Milo, I knew I wanted him to have a quirk—something that felt specific, something that made him stand out.
Not just a random trait, but something that actually fit him.
I went through a bunch of ideas and nothing really stuck, so I did what any writer does at some point—I went down a Reddit rabbit hole.
And interestingly enough, a couple of people mentioned that they could imitate sounds.
And just like that—something clicked.
Because suddenly I remembered… “Wait, I used to do something like that.”
From there, Milo’s mimicry started to take shape. At first, it was just a fun little detail—something he could do while he was out in the forest, maybe mimicking animals he photographed.
But then I thought… “No, this needs to matter.”
And that’s when it became more than a quirk.
It became something that could actually be practical. Something that could show up when it counted most. Something that could do something in the story.
(And if you’ve made it this far, you know exactly what I mean.)
I can’t say I’ve seen this particular quirk used in a romance before, and that made me love it even more. It felt a little different. A little personal.
So yes. Milo got his mimicry because of something I used to do as a kid, forgot about for years… and then rediscovered in the most unexpected way.
And honestly?
I’m really glad I did.