A coming-of-age evolution from hedonistic impulsivity to hard-won integrity.
In Plot Twists: A Memoir on Writing and Living, writing coach, award-winning novelist, and former CNN editor John DeDakis delivers a candid coming-of-age memoir shaped by the upheaval of the 1960s when assassinations, the Vietnam War, and a nation in turmoil rerouted his life.
Along the way, DeDakis interviews Alfred Hitchcock, covers Ronald Reagan, and works beside Wolf Blitzer—while privately grappling with spiritual doubt, his sister's suicide, and the devastating loss of his youngest son to addiction. In unflinching prose, DeDakis traces his evolution from hedonistic impulsivity to hard-won integrity.
Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
Life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect. When the unexpected happens in real life, we often call it a “crisis.” In journalism, it’s a “story.” And in fiction, a surprise is a “plot twist.”
We all have our own personal plot twists. Sometimes, they’re imposed on us, and sometimes, our choices put us on a new trajectory.
I always thought that to write a memoir, you had to be old and at the end of your life. But the more I thought about it, I realized that, yes, even though I’m old-ish, I’m not over the hill, I’m on top of it. The current view from the hilltop (not mountaintop) reveals a hope of more to come, plus a vantage point to see where I’ve been.
I’m in my mid-seventies now, at a much different place than where I thought I’d be, or wanted to be, when I first began thinking about my future more than sixty-five years ago. I’ve gone from wanting to be a lawyer like my dad, to wanting a career at the pinnacle of politics.
Neither of those things happened.
As you’ll see, circumstances, some beyond my control, diverted my life into a forty-five-year career in journalism (twenty-five of them at CNN), culminating in a second career as an award-winning novelist and writing coach.
Journalism and novel writing taught me to be insatiably curious and not to be afraid to ask questions—deep ones that get below the surface.
I often tell my writing students, “The better you know yourself as a person, the better your writing will be because it will come from a place of authenticity.”
So, this book is for you if you’re a writer or a wannabe author.
But it’s also for you if you’re at a point when you’re trying to figure out what to do with your life. Even though I’m no longer young, and you and I probably grew up in different eras, I had the same emotions you do now, complete with squabbles with parents and angst over the path ahead.
Along the way, I’ve experienced much pain and loss. I’ve made shameful mistakes I deeply regret. I’ve tried to learn from those experiences and have reached a point where transparency and personal integrity are critically important to how I live my life.
In the pages to come, I’ve captured the key pivotal experiences that twisted my life in unexpected directions. For better and worse, they got me to where I am today.
These are my plot twists.
Professional Reviews Heartfelt and Hopeful
Some claim the measure of a man is accumulated wealth and power. John DeDakis shows us the richness of life comes from those key moments, the Plot Twists, which redirect the path you might have chosen. The choices made, the situations forced upon us, and how we react to them are evidence of a life truly lived. Plot Twists is a poignant, heartfelt, and heartbreaking story with lessons we can all apply to our lives.
~James L’Etoile, Executive Vice President, Mystery Writers of America
Profound
"John DeDakis told me some of these stories during our years together at CNN, just as he stood on the cusp of becoming a traditionally published novelist. I thought I had heard it all—until I read Plot Twists: A Memoir on Writing and Living. John has always had my deepest admiration, respect, and friendship. Now, he also has my profound appreciation for a life beautifully lived, and generously shared."
~Carol Costello, Former CNN Anchor; Special Advisor and Journalism Lecturer, Loyola Marymount University
Thought-provoking
John DeDakis’ memoir is beautifully written, thoroughly engaging, and thought-provoking. John doesn’t leave out the messy or embarrassing parts, but writes honestly about his struggle to find himself. We travel with John through doubts, joys, tragedies, successes, and failures, all the time learning lessons for our own lives.
~The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Ihloff, D.Min., D.D., Retired Episcopal Bishop of Maryland
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