A chance to spy northern goshawks
Migration time gives us a chance to see birds that otherwise escape our detection. Rare and elusive species are now being coaxed into view by the urge to migrate south. Early autumn is the time to visit woodland edges, inland escarpments, and premier coastal birding sites.
With hawk migration now in gear, we have the opportunity to see one of the most evasive of all raptors: the majestic and awe-inspiring northern goshawk. Though mostly nonmigratory, a few head south or move to lowland forests and may be sighted at this time. Birders never see many of them — not like the broad-winged hawks that often turn up in the thousands at hawk watching sites. Northern goshawks are different; they turn up individually, and they migrate later, a month later, in October or even in November.
But like the broad-winged, the northern goshawk is a shy, forest-dwelling raptor, rarely seen or even thought of outside of fall migration time. It is only now, when they leave the shelter of their summer territories, that birders give them any attention. Broadwinged hawks, however, take center stage every fall, as they soar in giant arcs across the brilliant blue autumn sky, and though birders are impressed by the goshawks size, their true magnificence is still not appreciated.
Perhaps, it is just as well, that their agility, mystery and fierce disposition be left for only the most observant and passionate birders to experience: those motivated to seek them out while in their forest homes. You will find goshawks in places few of us ever cross, far beyond earshot of distant traffic or human voice, and where the light is filtered and diffused. There, among great and impressive stands of deciduous or conifer trees, this gray ghost is at home. Shadows and silence are a part of their lives.
Whether it is a sense of being watched, a silent passing shadow, or alarming call notes that alert you to its presence, the chance sighting of a goshawk is usually an ephemeral experience. Few get to observe them for any length of time, but one thing is for sure, and that is the sighting will be a memorable moment. One cannot help but feel inspired and uplifted
not easy on a marriage. But when couples love each other, bonding together over a shared horrific or joyous experience means that a waxing and waning in the intensity of a relationship is natural. And one leads to the appreciation of the other.
Q. Here’s a writing question. The bulk of the action in “Every Breath” takes place in vivid real time over four days and nights on a North Carolina beach. Tru and Hope are very distinctive and vibrant characters with an immediate chemistry that’s conflicted by extenuating circumstances. Then, you had to condense over 30 years of separate story lines into relatively little space without breaking the energy and rhythm and tension. Is that hard to do?
A. First, thank you for noticing because it’s extraordinarily difficult to pull that off. There were many days when I couldn’t write at all because the process of condensing was too ponderous. I WAS losing the flow and it was very difficult to keep the story together and make sure all the necessary elements worked. I HOPE it worked.
Q. Another literary device at play is the fact that there’s a character named Nicholas Sparks in the book. He — you — comes/come across a written narrative at Kindred Spirit that spirals into a plot. The reader might wonder if the set-up of the novel is in fact true. Have you been to Kindred Spirit and did you find an inspiring manuscript therein?
A. (Laughing) It’s fair to say this is a fictional story. But I have been to Kindred Spirit, and my own writing has appeared anonymously there. It’s an interesting and fun place to go on a quiet weekday afternoon when there are few people or boats at the beach and it’s just you and the terns and the water. People write the most thoughtful notes, and it’s wonderful to get to share with someone in this anonymous but sort of universal context.
It’s also kind of a funny thing because it sort of served in a blog-like fashion before there was the Internet. When blogs developed, some of them took off and people could make a living from them. But the things you read at Kindred Spirit are more personal and obviously anonymous or signed with just an initial. Some of them are intensely moving about love and life. Or they might just be the most thoughtful thank-you notes. You just go and read — and maybe you write — and it’s a wonderful way to share.
Q. By now, enough of your books have been made into feature films that it’s probably intrinsic for you to speculate which actors will be cast in any new movie of one of your novels. Is that true and, if so, can wondering about stuff like that actually get in the way of your own storytelling process?
A. Yeah, by now I’m aware that any novel I write might become a film, and the imagining who might play which character is easy. You’re right. Part of the challenge of crafting a novel is I have to write one that feels natural and original but, for it to be a film, it also has to be original in the context of a movie. It’s possible to write a book that works on its own but certain overlapping elements might be too familiar in a movie.
Q. Do you ever hear from readers or critics that it’s difficult for a man to write convincing romance fiction?
A. I very seldom hear that. I’ve heard the opposite thousands of times — that I do it quite well (laughs).