Locked in on Being Lost

I have a reputation for getting lost. I’ve been lovingly nicknamed Wrong Way Denise and rightly so. Friends suggested I invest in a GPS. I tried it once. I didn’t agree with the voice emanating from the little box .How could they know? Their direction didn’t seem right; so I turned them off and went my own route, much to the dismay of those carpooling with me. It’s true, I usually arrive late, but boy do I have stories to tell when I get there.

It’s no surprise then, that my favorite TV series of all time was LOST. I watched it faithfully right up to the bitter end. I won’t waste time telling you how I felt about the ending. Well maybe in another blog, but not now. Never the less, it was a great series, with a great story and most of all, memorable characters that became like family.

I fell in love with John Locke. Not the romantic crush kind of love but a deep admiration and love for a real man with substance. I’d like to be lost with a man like him. He could kill a wild boar and make a cradle for a baby on the same day. He had faith and belief that he was meant for something great. He embraced his hardship because he believed he had a purpose to fulfill. That’s why his mantra was, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” The first time he yelled that phrase, (Season 1 episode 4; Walkabout) I cried like a baby.
Why, because I dream of my own walkabout. Because I, like John Locke believe I have a purpose…a calling on my life and like him, I was told I was delusional.

They (I will protect their identity) said I was delusional because I wanted to write books. They told me in light of the college education I never received, that I couldn’t do it. They said I would need to go back to school first and take English and writing courses and maybe….I could write a novel. They said the market was too competitive and I was a nobody, and would never be heard. Their advice was to go back to the hair salon and continue my career as a hairdresser because that was my future.
How could they know? Their directions didn’t seem right so I turned them off and went my own way because I believe some things can’t be taught. You can sit in a class and learn story structure but no one can teach you how to dream one up. So, I adopted John’s mantra and yelled, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!”

So guess what? I wrote a book, a great book. It’s about someone getting lost and ending up in a peculiar town hidden deep in the Appalachians. It’s creepy and exciting and everyone who reads it says they lose all track of time because they can’t put it down.
I was told not to self-publish; so I turned the box off again and put my story up as an ebook because I wanted to share it, like the creators of LOST shared their story with me. I must have done something right because in less than three months over a thousand people read it! A friend said I should tweet the great news so I went to Twitter and got lost again. I was groping my way around, trying to navigate the site when I stumbled upon John Locke! I was thrilled. Imagine my excitement when I discovered he wrote an ebook telling how he sold over a million books! My hero is also a writer? I was intrigued so I began to stalk him and discovered there are TWO John Locke’s! Talk about good fortune! If this new John Locke was anything like the LOST Locke then I was an immediate fan. I went to his page, and he was handsome and bald like the other John Locke! I was more intrigued. I immediately downloaded his book and devoured it, enjoying every page. He is an entrepreneur and a devout believer in self-publishing. His words encouraged me, inspired me. He’s the reason I am writing this blog and he made me believe I am an OOU. I bet he cooks a mean wild boar and I bet he doesn’t let people tell him what he can’t do.

So what can I say? I enjoy getting lost because it’s then that I discover new ground and in so doing I discover something about myself. Just like Bronwyn in my book The Secrets of Moonshine. Her bus breaks down on the side of a forgotten highway and when she goes looking for help she stumbles upon the mysterious town of Moonshine. There she makes a startling discovery and unearths cryptic secrets the town’s kept hidden for over two hundred years. If you like LOST or Jon Locke or John Locke, you should read it. I hope JJ Abrams reads it and plans on making it his next big series. I’d like John Locke to have a part. While we were filming we could get to know each other better and maybe we could play a game of backgammon and he could tell me the secret he told Walt that day on the beach and when he is finished I will tell him The Secrets of Moonshine.

The Secrets of Moonshine (The Moonshine Series)

Denise Daisy
Author

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