Book Uses Trees to Teach Kids to Blossom

Here is author Charles Reap talking about his motivation for writing Destiny, a children’s e-book about an old post oak tree that is at first bullied by huge, neighboring pines, but later able to muster the strength and perseverance to live a long, happy, fulfilling life. Charles Reap also discusses how writing has changed him as a person.

Over the years I have become aware of numerous youngsters who, through no fault of their own, have been thrown into bad and uncomfortable situations. On occasion, these circumstances have led to bullying or, even worse, brutal, defensive fights. These young victims saw no options available to free themselves from their dire conditions. Their parents either could not change the state of affairs or didn’t care enough to try. Or perhaps, the youngster was left dangling with absolutely no parental guidance or support.

After seeing scenarios like this occur over time, I have felt sympathy for the wounded children. Writing Destiny enabled me to offer hope and guidance for the plight of these kids. All too often youngsters find no good answer to their dilemmas, so they have no choice other than to endure emotional and sometimes physical torment.

The future may not look survivable for children suffering through distressing circumstances. Certainly, they must ponder: Is this all I have to look forward to? Will I always be locked into this torment? Is there any way out? How can I carry on?

For youngsters who feel they have little chance to escape, Destiny offers sage advice: Hang on, set a goal, and work with everything in your inner being to achieve your objective. Persevere with solid determination, and never lose sight of where you want to be in years to come. The future may look bleak at the present time, and suffering may even continue. But setting a target and going after it with determination can often help you break out of a cycle of trauma and achieve magnificence.

Having read many self-help books, I have learned to do exactly what I prescribe to my readers: persevere. Certainly, obstacles will be thrown at us, but allowing any of them to stop our progress would be devastating to our goals. We must keep in mind the old adage: Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. We can achieve real success by keeping our goals in sight and continuing to plod away at whatever speed we can muster until success is within our grasp.

I have previously published two professional textbooks and two novels. Now, I offer an e-book, Destiny. In addition, I am in the process of completing two new novels and several screenplays. None of this has been easy. I have sometimes spent multiple months at my keyboard preparing first drafts, and then many more weeks working on edits and re-writes. Yet my grand feeling of accomplishment at seeing my finished books fills me with humble satisfaction. To persevere in reaching a goal and to have the public read my work is gratifying and serves to reassure me that, indeed, life can be good.

-Charles Reap

Nesta Aharoni, CBC Book Awards, where Character Building Counts. www.CBCAwards.com