Yes, it’s true, back when I was seven or eight, when most
girls swooned over one of The Monkees, I had a thing for Gilligan. It always
bothered me that all their foiled attempts to get off the island were somehow
Gilligan’s fault. I was naïve enough to believe that one day, they would be
rescued and I always felt a tinge of disappointment at the end of every episode
of Gilligan’s Island.
Thus began my fascination with stories of uncharted islands
and survival. As a kid, I loved Swiss Family Robinson and any other story that
centered around that theme. It wasn’t until Castaway (with Tom Hanks) hit the big screen that the seeds of Uncharted Story for a Shipwright germinated. If I could actually manage to
wash ashore on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere and still be
alive, would I be able to survive with nothing but natural resources? What
inner resources could I draw on?
Realistically, I didn’t think I would do too well—I mean,
with enough determination and time, I could probably start a fire and cook some
crabs. I might even be able to remember some of the principles involved with
water condensation and collection, but I didn’t think I’d last very long. Now,
after having researched shipwrecks and survival, I might be slightly more competent,
but not much….Unless…unless someone had been on the island before me! What if someone
had left behind some useful things—and not only things, but a few instructions!
Now I’m cookin’! Imagining myself under such aided circumstances seemed like
cheating in my little fantasy, but…what if…what if I turned out to be pregnant!
Holy granola! That would add a huge complication. Now my imagination had
shot past a sprout and began to bloom.
So, now you know the soil upon which the seeds of
UNCHARTED sprouted.
