Perfect Moments: The Ducks

When I was a little girl, my bed was situated right by the window and every morning I would wake up to the sound of sparrows rustling around in the leaves of the cherry trees in the yard. To me, those little birds were my friends coming to say hello and believing myself to be some kind of real-life Snow White, I would actually sit there and try to talk to them and say hello back to them. I swore that they could understand me and that at any minute they would come near, land on my outstretched arms, and sing me a song to start off my day (yes, I realize by sharing this that I am admitting to being somewhat of a strange child:) ). Since then, I have always had a fondness for little, living creatures, and for nature, in general.

Today's perfect moment came when my son and I were at the park. We had flown a kite, thrown some tennis balls around, and then decided to go visit the ducks. Since it is Spring, there are several mother-father pairs of ducks swimming around with their newly-hatched ducklings. I think ducklings are possibly the most adorable newbies in the bird family. Anyway, my son wanted to get a closer look (as usual). So, I explained to him that the mommy duck would not let us get close to the babies if she thought we were there to harm them and that we would have to be very still and calm and tell the mommy that we didn't want to hurt her babies, we just wanted to see how they are learning to swim better. And that is exactly what we did. While my son started whispering softly to the mommy duck, she looked at him and gave a soft whisper of a quack in response as if to say, "Ok, you can look, but if you get too close...beware." The ducklings came very close to us and we laughed as we watched them splash around and bicker with each other, all the while keeping a close eye on the mommy duck who, in turn, was keeping a close eye on us. Watching my son and hearing him talk to the ducklings and their mommy was what brought to memory those times when I saw the sparrows outside my window as a little girl....good, simple moments. And, it made me happy to think that my son (if he is fortunate enough to live a full life and have his own children) might be reminded of today and our encounter with the ducks by his own kids one day. It is the cyclical nature of things that continues to make new things old and old things new. It is a fascinating phenomena to observe.

Happy Endings

It's been a little over a week since my last post. I went on vacation with my family and had a wonderful time, but we were all just so glad to be back. While we were there, I kept thinking about some of the feedback I have received from some of the people I am consulting with about the book. None of the feedback was negative...actually it was very constructive and much appreciated. I am still waiting to hear back from a few others and am looking forward to hearing their comments as well. Out of the points that were discussed and mentioned, was the need to evaluate whether or not a happy ending is necessary and effective. There are two sides to it really. One side holds that happy endings are out of touch with what really happens in the world. People want a story that they can connect to, that they can relate to. How many people can connect to a happy ending, especially in times like these? Also part of this is the understanding that some people actually enjoy turmoil, they like things to be left undone. Why else do people watch shows like Maury Pauvich, Jerry Springer, Real Housewives, etc. They have drama and people looooove it. Maybe it is because they like to feel like other people in the world are more messed up than they are...it's comforting....or maybe it's just entertaining to see something that you don't normally get to see in your life.

On the other side, there are people....people like me...who happen to love happy endings. I love when everything comes together, when there is a ray of hope left at the end of a story of brokenness. I'm always hoping for the two lovers in distress to stay together, for the underdog to win the big fight, etc, etc. Why? Because the world is full of so much unhappiness. There are so many times when things do not work out and seeing movies with happy endings makes you want to still keep hope alive. Without hope that things can work out or can get better, life is so dreary! Who wants that?

Both sides of the issue are valid, I think. What matters in context of me and the book is which route would be most appropriate and EFFECTIVE for what I want to accomplish. This question and several other issues I have with the way the book is right now are what I am going to be working on figuring out in the next couple weeks.

Another HUGE question that was posed to me was whether or not the audience I am aiming for can be reached through a book format. It is true, not many teenagers enjoy reading....and ones who have difficulties, like the ones in my book, enjoy reading even less. So, if I want to get a message to them....is a book going to do it? This is something that I thought about before, actually. Which is why I was going to make it an audiobook as well as a regular book, but I have been thinking more and more about it and it makes sense to present the story to these kids in a way that is more visual. So, now, I am thinking that maybe the book should not be a book. Maybe it should be a show or a movie or something. I have sooooo much to think about.

So, where I am right now is kind of back at square one. I know there are some major changes to the story that I want to make. I know that I have to decide on a better format (other than a book). So, can I still make my deadline...to get something done by my 30th birthday party? How much of my plans need to change to fit a new direction? It's kind of all up the air right now. I want to still keep the deadline though. Someone once told me that "without deadlines, we are dead," and it has stuck with me. It will be a challenge, but I am hopeful that I can get it done and make it even better and more effective than before. In other words, I still believe there will be a happy ending :)