Author Spotlight Week -Toni Noel shares her favorite movie

Dr. Zhivago is my favorite movie of all time, a love story lacking the happy ending of a true romance, as is The Bridges of Madison County. For me, the strong attraction of a married man to a beautiful woman or of a lonely married woman to an intriguing man represents the challenging conflicts an author hopes to create when he/she plots. Of course the scenery in these movies helps. I'm a retired accountant, and when the stress of year-end closing became too great, I'd mentally picture myself in the sleigh with Zhivago racing across snow-covered fields to some secret rendezvous. Aware of my fascination with the story, my husband gave me a music box with a well-dressed Russian couple ice-skating that plays "Somewhere My Love," my all time favorite song.

I consider myself a hopeless romantic. Love songs play from Boom boxes in every room, violins or piano solos. And yes, I'm a firm believer in fidelity. We've been married for fifty-eight years, but fooling around makes for a memorable story, especially when it's told on the big screen. I tried to read Dr. Zhivago and couldn't get past the first page, but I loved The Bridges of Madison County. All those photographs, I suppose. My husband and I are both photographers.