Author Spotlight - Barbara Hodges talks about her favorite movie

I'm fighting a head cold. My husband is out of town on a business trip and I'm feeling abandoned. So the first thing I do is call my mommy, and then I dive into my stack of feel good movies, they're almost like chicken soup for me when I need cheering up.

I choose Gidget with Sandra Dee and James Darren. Gidget wins out by just a hair over The Incredible Journey. Gidget does the trick, has me smiling, but if she hadn't worked I'd given into a good cry by popping in Old Yeller or maybe Dumbo.

What's in your stack of feel good movies? I seem to have favorites for every mood, and then there are some I can watch over and over no matter the mood I'm in. Dirty Dancing is one of them, and Chicago and Grease.

So what makes a movie speak to us? I think it's the same thing that makes a book one we read over and over and never get tired off; involvement with the characters, the plots, the need to be taken somewhere else.

I've watched Gidget at least fifty times since I first saw it when I was sixteen, but still I get caught up in it. And even now that I'm a few years past 16 I still identify with her struggle and determination to get what she wants. Good messages huh? Give me a happily ever ending any time and that's whether I'm feeling bad or not.


Amazon.com buy link

http://www.amazon.com/Daradawn-Book-Two-Emerald-ebook/dp/B0073NV36M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328145110&sr=1-1

Desert Breeze buy link

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-258/Daradawn-Book-Two-The/Detail.bok


My Website

http://barbaramhodges.com

My Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/barbara.m.hodges


Follow me on Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/BarbaraHodges


My blog
http://barbhodges.blogspot.com/

Author Spotlight - May Williams shares her favorite film

As I mentioned in the Q and A from Monday, I love vintage film so I thought I would talk about one of my favorites today. The film that I could watch over and over is Desk Set (1957). This film from 20th Century Fox stars Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. I don't think there has even been a Hollywood couple with more chemistry than these two.

In the movie, Hepburn (ironically named Bunny) works in the research department of a major TV network. Tracy plays one of the first computer experts who is supposed to be designing a computer to do the work of the research department. As he finds out (and we already know here in the 21st century), the computer can only do so much. People have more value and more knowledge than machines. In the process of figuring this out, Hepburn and Tracy fall in love.

Although I enjoy the spunk of Hepburn in all of her films, I think she is particularly savvy and witty in Desk Set. The three ladies she works with are equally smart plus they all wear some fabulous 1950s dresses. My favorite scene is the Christmas party that roams through the different departments at the network. I've never been to a party quite like that, but it sure looks like fun.

Author Spotlight - June Bryan Belfie talks about her favorite movies

Movies played a large role in my childhood. Growing up in the forties and fifties, there was little else. Sunday nights the family sat and listened to the radio before television entered the scene. I kept a diary from age ten to thirteen and it's amazing how often I did go to the movie theatre. We even had double features on Saturdays.

The first movie I remember loving was Brief Encounter, which looking back seems like an odd choice for a ten-year-old girl. It was a love story. The music is what drew me in. When we left the theatre I raved about it and my father informed me that we had the recording at home. It was Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto and to this day it is my favorite piece of music. When I was in high school I purchased the piano score and attempted to play a few pages. It was over my head, but it was still a thrill to be able to play some of the brief passages that meant so much to me.

Later, I fell in love with Mary Poppins. I was a mother by then and used my young daughter as an excuse to see it three times! Having read it as a child, it had special meaning to me and Dick Van Dyke? Amazing dancer!

If I look back in the last few years, Slumdog Millionaire stands out as one of the best movies of all time. I was riveted to my seat. Of course, The Passion was also spell-binding in its portrayal of Christ's crucifixion. I will not watch it again, though it will stay with me for my lifetime.

Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and some of the old Danny Kaye movies are still fun to watch.

Author Spotlight - AR Norris talks about her favorite movie

Oh my goodness, Steph! You're killing me. How can I choose just one? Just one! *Deep breath*

All right. I have to say, if I were tied up, the evil interrogator, Mistress Stephanie, taking pliers to my fingers to break them. The air thick with the recent shock treatment...oh, wait, sorry. I veered off into my daydream.

I'm back. *Eyes Steph suspiciously*

Off the top of my head, my favorite movie is Stand by Me. I love Richard Dreyfuss' voice as the narrator. The friendship between the boys was endearing. They each had their faults and loved each other anyways. Stephen King had a way with words that the screenwriter translated well into the movie version. It's one of the only book to movie scenarios I've seen that actually keeps the intent and purpose of the book in a satisfying way.

Most of all, the movie inspires and reminds me of the summer adventures and those friends before hitting high school. Every time I watch it I get a good dose of nostalgia.

Author Spotlight week -Sue Perkins share her favorite movies

Depends on how far back you want to go. My favorite movie of all time is “Gone With the Wind”. This romantic story shows the lengths a woman will go to for the man she loves. The background of the American Civil War provides a tugging of the heartstrings. Rhett (as played by Clark Gable) is gorgeous and although Scarlet drives you mad she is acting exactly as a woman who will do anything to get what she wants. Vivacious, maddening, everyone thinks she is tough but inside she is a scared little girl. I really believe this is the film that got me interested in romance, well that and Georgette Heyer.

As for recent releases - that would have to be Avatar. It’s amazing. The softness of love mixes with the hardness of the Pandoran warriors. The people have to save their planet from ravaging humans or they and the creatures who inhabit this fantastic world will perish. The military base and human side is a bit plain and utilitarian although there are a few out of this world machines. The marines protect a scientific team. Not the best place to find love. Some of the scientists and one marine inhabit Avatars to better communicate with the people of Pandora. The marine gets lost and is found by a Pandoran who believes the spirit of the planet wants him to help her people. I found the beautiful scenery (as seen through Pandoran eyes) to be absolutely gorgeous, fairylike and fantasy orientated. The love scenes are tender and romantic. Altogether an action based romantic film.

Author Spotlight week -Theresa Stillwagon shares her favorite movie

I thought about this subject and couldn't com up with only one. (I love so many movies.) I asked my husband what he thought my favorite movie was and he said Grumpy Old Men. I was thinking The Lord of the Rings.

Then it came to me. My favorite movie isn't known except by my family. It doesn't even have a real name. I only call it 'Dad'. It's a mix-match of old 8mm films of my parents and siblings while I was growing up. My sister put them together into a DVD way back in 1992. My father died a few days after Christmas in 1992. After the funeral my mother and sisters and brothers sat together and watched this 'movie'. My dad loved horses, and in the film he was happy riding one of those horses. I couldn't watch it again for almost a year.

My mother went to be with the Lord a few days after Easter in 2001. This is my favorite 'movie' because they are still alive in it.
I still miss them so much.

Author Spotlight Week - Linda Swift shares her favorite movie

My all-time favorite movie is Gone With The Wind. I love the Civil War period of history and sweeping sagas with many subplots, deep-South settings, and elaborate costumes. I get so caught up in them that I feel a part of them. I can achieve almost this same sense of participation in a good thick book. (or ebook) But the visuals and sound do enrich the story for me. I loved the excitement of the battles, the drama of their struggles, and of course, the passion between Rhett Butler and Scarlet O'Hara. There will never be another Clark Gable.

I am fascinated by the fact that Margaret Mitchell wrote only this book and one other which was destroyed. (I doubt that it would have been another Gone With The Wind.) And what a lasting imprint she made with this one story. I had to write one Civil War book in my lifetime and I did. It is being released this July, in the first year of the Sesquicentennial four-year celebration. But wait, I'm getting off track here talking about books and authors instead of movies made from those books. I have to confess that I have seen few movies do justice to the books they came from. But perhaps that is because I am an author, not an actress and prefer books to movies overall.

Many of today's movies bore me with their shallow plots and loud, jarring music and fast action. Spoken like a person not in tune with the times, right? I'm sure my mother said the same thing about my taste in movies. To each his own.

Author Spotlight Week - Barbara Scott talks about her favorite movies

When it comes to choosing favorite movies, it's hard for me to pick just one. Today though, I will limit myself to three that have influenced me as a writer. I don't know about other writers, but gone for me are the days when I could just lose myself on a movie for pure pleasure. Now I have to analyze them for strengths and weaknesses, for plot points ,and characters. (The Pirate of the Caribbean movies excepted; I love them but they defy my analysis.)


I don't remember whether I read the book or saw the movie of The Princess Bride first. It doesn't matter. Though neither should be missed, the move stands on its own. As both a parody and a tribute to the fairy tale romance, The Princess Bride has everything: a beautiful, spoiled heroine, Princess Buttercup, her devoted and scorned admirer, later turned hero, Westley, the evil Prince and his henchman, and the unforgettable sidekick, Inigo Montoya. The plot is a wild, fast-paced series of improbable events, and the climax is absolutely satisfying. It's no wonder this 1973 film has become a cult classic. As a writer, it teaches me to free my inhibitions and let my imagination take flight.

The original Star Wars is a movie that needs no description or explanation. It's plot is the supreme example of the hero's journey. A improbable hero is called to adventure and goes through a series of obstacles to achieve his goal. Most popular fiction follows this pattern. You can't find a better embellishment of a bare bones structure than Star Wars.


Finally, You've Got Mail is a romantic comedy that I will watch whenever it is on. Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) loses her beloved bookstore due to the opening of a mega-bookstore owned by Joe Fox (Tom Hanks.) With everything against them, these two still find their way to each other. Whenever I think to take it easy on my hero and heroine, I try to remember this movie and go for the harder odds.

*****
Barbara's upcoming release, "West of Heaven" will be released 15 APR with Desert Breeze.

Author Spotlight Week -Regina Andrews shares her favorite movie

I love the movies so much! I'm always looking for the ones with happy endings, though
:-) That being said, 'Sound of Music', over and over.

First of all, in 1930's Austria, how romantic (!), a young woman named Maria is failing miserably in her attempts to become a nun.

Okay, what “IW” aspirant would not identify with her? ☺

Then, Navy captain (yikes, hunk!) Georg Von Trapp writes to the convent asking for a governess that can handle his seven mischievous children, Maria is given the job.

The Von Trapp children, resentful over the loss of their mother, have managed to run each of the prospective governesses off, one by one. When Maria arrives, she is initially met with the same hostility, but her kindness, understanding, and sense of fun soon draws them to her and brings some much-needed joy into all their lives -- including the Captain's.

Eventually he and Maria find themselves falling in love, even though Georg is already engaged to a Baroness and Maria is still a postulant. The romance makes them both start questioning the decisions they have made.

This is the best conflict, the best test of faith, the greatest story of moral character! Add to this story the backdrop of Nazi Germany and their urgent need to escape…as well as the incredible score…sigh!

Honestly, this is one to watch over and over again!

Author Spotlight Week - Melanie Atkins shares her favorite movie

My favorite movie is Silence of the Lambs. No, it's not a romance (not by a long shot), but it contains plenty of suspense, darkness, and psychological thrills… and watching Clarice Starling match wits with the disturbed Dr. Hannibal Lector never fails to make my skin crawl. I love the dance between Clarice and Lector as she prods him for insight into the mind of another sick killer, Buffalo Bill. Evil assessing evil. Both men are psychopaths, and Clarice teeters on the brink as she struggles to keep Lector from getting inside her head. What a fabulous movie. I love to be scared -- not by grisly horror flicks, but by genuine psycho thrillers like this one.

A close second is The Last of the Mohicans. Yes, I know… the two movies are as different as night and day. I love the scenery, hotness, music, characters, and history in the Mohicans. I mean, seriously… Daniel Day Lewis risking all to save his love? Fabulous story.

Give me suspense, romance, or a combination of the two, and I’m happy. Those are my kinds of movies.

Author Spotlight Week - Janice Zick shares her favorite movies

My favorite movies are Out of Africa, Sophie's Choice and almost any movie starring Meryl Streep or Robert Redford. He is a good actor and perhaps an even better director.

Also, Jeremiah Johnson, Life as a House, An Officer and A Gentleman, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and A Beautiful Mind--the latter because I was once very much in love with a man who suffered mightily with schizophrenia. I know that the movie was accurate in it's portrayal of that illness.

I tend toward dramas, but I enjoy a good romantic comedy too. I recently watched Ira and Abby and thought it was absolutely charming. I think it was a made-for-renting movie, not one for the box office; but it would have done well I think. If you like romantic movies—well, of course you do—I highly recommend it.

When a movie is based on a novel I've read, I am almost always disappointed in the screen play. The movie doesn't usually do the book justice. The exception might be the movie Angela's Ashes, which was well done I believe as were the Harry Potter movies.

Not to offend, (I'm definitely in the minority here,) but I didn't care for Forest Gump or Pretty Woman even though I'd share a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs with Richard Gere in the alley behind an Italian restaurant any day of the week.
Anyway, thanks for checking in. I'd love to hear from you. I am proud and humbled to be among the talented authors of DBP

Author Spotlight Week - Susanne Marie Knight shares her favorite movie

I’m going to cheat--I’ll mention two movies. A criterion for a favorite movie is that it must be one I can watch over and over again... and still enjoy. “Beetlejuice” with Michael Keaton, fits in this category. It’s such an original tale and has so many interesting parts to it. I never tire of seeing the civil service in the underworld or the Handbook for the Recently Deceased--or Diseased! And the dialogue... priceless! At my house, we often quote the characters. “We come for your daughter, Chuck” and “My life is one... big... dark... room” are only two of the numerous funny sayings.

My other favorite is “The Witches” with Angelica Houston. Oh, that movie is rich with humorous lines. Angelica gives a tour de force performance as the Grand High Witch in all the world. Her goal is to change every child into a mouse, starting in England with our hero Luke, and his friend Bruno. If you haven’t seen “The Witches”, I highly recommend it. The story starts out a little slow and is sad at first, with the death of Luke’s parents, but keep watching and you’ll see a fantastic tale unfolding. Missing children living out their lives in paintings, why witches always scratch their heads, and “perfume” that if applied to the skin, grows fur are only some of the topics covered. Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) also gives an inspired performance as the much put upon manager of the resort.

Author Spotlight Week - P.I. Barrington shares her favorite movies

When asked about my favorite movie, I thought hard about it and came to the conclusion that I would have to split that answer into three: one a guilty pleasure, one a genre' I write in, and one for sheer epic romance! Now Lord of the Rings and Star Wars notwithstanding, here they are:

The Ten Commandments is my all time guilty pleasure film but I can't help it. I love spectacle movies and an historical, religious spectacle movie like TTC sucks me in from the opening strains of the soundtrack until the last credits scrolling on the screen! It's huge, from the giant statue of Ramses II to the burning bush to the famed parting of the red sea (come on, I've ridden the Universal Tour from the time I was about seven but that's a whole other psychological problem, lol!), it's reverent and the all star cast doesn't hurt either! Pitting Charleton Heston against Yul Brynner was a stroke of casting genius I don't care what anyone else says. (Besides, how can you not love Yul? He was the STAR of West World, if you've never seen it, track it down, it's amazing! And Anna & the King of Siam is another masterpiece!)
So there I am every Easter season, sitting in front of the tube, sucking down all the many times slightly incorrect ancient history I can stand. Spectacle and Spectacular, just the way I like 'em!

Blade Runner. It was LA before LA knew what it was. It's the perfect dystopian society and is just technically advanced enough to be believable. This was the anthem movie of the eighties, a sort of cyberpunk gothic that showed us all the future of our city. While we may not have advanced that far (all commuters still fantasize about those flying cars) and our districts (Chinatown, Little Korea, Olvera Street and downtown) may still be a little cliquish, I still have every faith that I'll walk the downtown shopping district some night hearing a "mix of Vietnamese, Spanish, and English" (which is in reality basically any weekend night) and finding some Replicants wearing killer boots and see-through plastic overcoats flinging themselves through plate glass windows for fun.

Gone with the Wind has to get the prize for defining the epic, sweeping romance movie and in color no less! While perhaps not as politically correct as we'd like, who can resist Vivian Leigh's Scarlett O'Hara, a strong, determined heroine that saves both her family and her beloved Tara against the backdrop of the horrific scope of the Civil War and who still cannot recognize what and who is good for her. Scarlett chases her dream man, Ashley Wilkes with a passion that can only be characterized as pathological, all the while resisting the charms of (whom else?) Clark Gable (another pairing example of casting genius) as the dashing and controversial Rhett Butler. Too late she realizes that it is, in the end, Rhett whom she really loves and leaves us hanging as to whether she will really get him back because "after all, tomorrow is another day!" If you've ever been in love with the wrong man, you'll both empathize with Scarlett O'Hara and smirk with smug satisfaction that she finally got what she deserved. Either way, GWTW, is a tearjerker of epic proportions! What's not to love (and hate)?

Author Spotlight Week - Marion Kelly Bullock shares her favorite movie

My favorite movie. Wow. That's hard to say. I don't think I can boil it down to one. My husband and I really enjoy a good movie. My very favorites are clean, inspirational stories that entertain and also pack a punch.

One of my recent favorites is The Blind Side. It follows the life of Michael Oher, the former left tackle for the Ole Miss. Football team and current left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. Oher was a homeless boy who was adopted by a well-to-do family and offered a second chance. I enjoy true stories, when they read like fantastic fiction. I looove fiction. One scene in this movie stands out in my mind. The enormous young football player walking across the football field with his screen "mama," Sandra Bullock. It focuses on a mother's love, reaching out to make a difference.

I just have to name a few more. Gifted Hands is the Ben Carson story, about a young man from an impoverished family, who could have been considered least likely to succeed. But he became a leading neuro surgeon. Again -- a true story that reads like fiction. Whoo-hoo! They're the best, in my book.

More favorites: Facing the Giants; Mr. Holland's Opus; Lean on Me; Second Hand Lions; Music of the Heart; and The Emperor's Club.

Did I say that I really enjoy a good movie. Well, I do. And there are a lot of good ones out there.

BLESSINGS,

Marion

Author Spotlight Week - Tina Pinson shares her favorite movies

Like most people, I have a few movies that I can watch over and over again, just ask my husband. Although, he has a few, too. But I would have to say Calamity Jane with Doris Day would have to right up there at the top of my list. (with Emma, Pride and Prejudice the newer version and so on). I mentioned before that I wanted to be the next Doris Day. (Of course, that didn't happen.) I like to watch her movies. And Calamity Jane is fun to watch. Indian Scout Calamity Jane (Doris Day) is a whip-cracking, stagecoach driving, buckskin wearing Tomboy. She wants to be tough but she has a bit of a soft spot for Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin, played by Phillip Carey. Actually she's kind of hard up to get his love and she's gonna get him whether he likes it or not. When the saloon doesn't get the act, Adelaid Adams, they hoped for, Calamity heads east to kidnap Adelaid Adams and bring her back to Deadwood. She inadvertently brings back, Katie Brown, Adelaid Adams assistant and the wrong woman. And ends up having to fight harder for the affections of Lt. Gilmartin who has eyes for the new singer who's come town. Calamity get jealous because the Lt. likes Katie when he's never liked her, and decides to send Katie packing. She almost succeeds, but through a series of comical misunderstandings Calamity realizes she's in love with Wild Bill Hickok played by Howard Keel. I liked him better anyway.

Author Spotlight Week - Deborah Kinnard shares her favorite movie

My all time best movie is "Chariots of Fire." I watch it every couple of years or so, just to remind myself how this pure, and true, story was told. No explosions. No gimmicks. No dissing Abrams or Liddell for their very different beliefs.

Some years ago I was privileged to vacation in England. My host at one of the B&Bs talked of Eric Liddell and lent me his biography overnight. I read fast to get it done, but it was so interesting I didn't care! My favorite part was the bit toward the end of the movie where Eric's and Harold's fans met the team at the boat train. Eric was being cheered, adored, fawned upon for his gold medal -- and he just ate it up. Whooping, hollering, enjoying all the hooplah in its moment.

Then, the biography states, once he'd enjoyed all that to the fullest, he shucked it all and went to China to fulfill his lifelong goal. A very good way to take things, in my opinion.

Author Spotlight Week - Shawna K. Williams shares her favorite movies

This question is probably the hardest for me to answer. I can't really say that I have a favorite movie. I have a lot of movies I like – for different reasons – and like my reading preferences, the list is extremely varied. I can say off the bat though, one genre I can't watch is horror. I absolutely hate being scared! Hate it! I like suspense, but even those I have to watch parts of from the other room, peeking around the door. Or at least hiding under a blanket.

Probably the only scary movies I like are the Alien movies, and they're really science fiction/action/suspense, and yes, I hide, but I still enjoy them. Since I'm on scifi, I'll go ahead and add all the Star Wars movies to my list of favorites, even Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. I like all six.

This leads me to Galaxy Quest, which is a science fiction parody. I quote this movie more than any other. It's great! Totally clever, addictive and it gets better every time I watch it. "Never give up. Never Surrender." My second most quoted movie would be another clever parody, and that's Oh Brother Where Art Thou. When I get frustrated it's all I can do to keep from blurting, "Damn, we're in a tight spot." Then I follow it up with the Galaxy Quest quote. My third most quoted movie isn't quite as clever, but it's still a "classic" (to some) and that would be Wayne's World. "If you hurl and she bolts, it was never meant to be."

Where was I? Other favorites movies are The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, because...Whoa... it's Epic! (Shwing!) I also love Titantic because it puts me on that ship when it went down. Some of my favorite character-driven movies are Fried Green Tomatoes and The Green Mile. My favorite childhood movie is E.T.

Author Spotlight Week -Vijaya Schartz shares her favorite movie

When it comes to sci-fi, I would have to say there are more relevant TV shows than movies. If you do not count horror movies (like the Alien series) true sci-fi movies are rare. There was THE MATRIX series, of course, a little dark but very interesting intellectually, like most good sci-fi movies. There was the blue flying creatures of Avatar. I loved that one, but mostly for the special effects. The last sci-fi movie I saw in a theater was with Leonardo Di Caprio, a tangled mess of dreams within dreams. I liked it, but found it a little too twisted. My husband didn’t get it at all.

But my favorite kind of sci-fi movies are space operas, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate. These are the movies I really enjoy without having to twist my brain cells into knots. After all, I go to the movies to relax and see the good guys win. But that’s just me. I’m a sucker for popular fiction. And that’s another reason why I write romantic sci-fi. I’m definitely partial to good endings, and I hate it when characters you’ve learned to love don’t get the happiness they deserve.

TV, though is where I find my regular sci-fi fixes. From Battlestar Galactica to Caprica, from Stargate SG1 to Stargate Atlantis and now Stargate Universe, even daily reruns of Star Trek the next generation, I have to have at least one hour of sci-fi to enjoy before I can go to bed. In the summer, I also watch Eureka, whimsical and inventive. To think of it, no wonder I write sci-fi. All these shows are running in my head while I sleep. LOL

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.

Borealis Week - What's your favorite Sci-Fi movie or TV series/

Hi everyone, today on the blog the Borealis authors talk about their favorite science fiction series. What's yours? Enjoy!
Steph


GAIL R. DELANEY
This was actually a very tough choice to make. Every science fiction program I've watched I've loved for a different reason. So, I'm going to cheat on the answer and tell you why I loved each one that I loved. I'm skipping Star Trek because that's a topic for another post.

Because science fiction can be in outer space, can be the future, can be here and now... my favorites vary just as much. My favorite science fiction program of all time is Farscape, which falls under the category of a Space Opera. Space Operas are a subgenre of speculative fiction that emphasizes romance, dramatic adventures, set mainly or entirely in space, with power elements of good and evil. And that's Farscape in a nutshell. Inspired by the creative mind of Jim Henson by way of his son, Farscape is one of the best romantic stories set within the parameters of a television series I've ever watched. In fact, my children and I are watching it through from beginning to end on DVD.

After Farscape, I would have to go with Stargate SG-1. I loved that SG-1 was set in the here and now, right here on Earth, but we had the technology to jump wormholes to other worlds, other galaxies. And of course, being a lover of romance, I loved the dynamics between Colonel Jack O'Neill and his second in command, Samantha Carter. Unlike Farscape where the romance was allowed to play out to its full potential, SG-1 was restrained. In the words of Jack O'Neill, when forced to admit his affection for his 2IC, he said, "I care about her. A lot more than I'm supposed to." As her commanding officer, regulations prevented them from openly admitting how they felt. But, oh, the fanfiction those two inspired!

I could keep going, but I've run out of word count. ☺


PI BARRINGTON

Star Wars. In my opinion that first movie shattered everything before it as well as influenced the designs of our actual space transportation. I watched it recently and while now it looks a little dated, so much of the design of our technology that exists today smack of that movie. We can look at Princess Leia's cinnamon bun hair style and laugh but to me at least our Space Shuttle design is really close to what Star Wars introduced. Prior to that movie, our space travel vehicles were phallic looking pointed rockets. Star Wars changed all that with sleeker, prettier fighters and space stations. And they were inventing film technology as they went using miniatures that blew away effects masters like Ray Harryhausen. Those miniatures changed film-sci-fi film-into the most amazingly realistic efforts that nothing, not even CG (with the exception of WETA) has affected and changed sci-fi as much. I actually ducked in the theatre when SW opens up and the giant white ship appears to travel over the audience after the narrative. That moment just blew me away like nothing else could. Body armor, blasters, and Bespin along with Darth Vader's man/machine combination (while not a new concept, the best attempt at it) are now called "sexy" technology but they were so beautiful and possible that it took away one of my big pet peeves: the suits/technology becomes the character as opposed to enhancing the character: if a suit or machine can do everything, who needs a protagonist?

For me Star Wars cannot be topped for innovation in both film and sci fi genre. It's gonna take something big to top that!

J. MORGAN:

Star Wars is the ever loving bomb! No other movie has influenced me more. I can still remember going to the Rose Theater, an impressionable boy of eight, and seeing it. From that moment on I wanted to be Darth Vader. Still do in fact or Boba Fett. Darth Maul is pretty awesome too. Yes, I am a student of the Dark Side. My love for science fiction didn't start with Star Wars but it did bloom into an obsession that I haven't been able to shake with it. The first movie to capture my interest was Planet of the Apes, along with a TV addiction to Lost in Space. I so loved Angela Cartwright. But, Star Wars affected me on a level, I'm sure I even understand. Maybe it was the battle between good and evil, or the story of redemption that got me. Whatever the case, every book I've ever written has some homage to the love of my life. As I write this, the Duel of the Fates is playing in my head.

That isn't to say, over the years I haven't dabbled in other venues. Battlestar Galactica, both old and new, Doctor Who, Tom Bakker being the best of them, Red Dwarf, Star Trek, every incarnation but Enterprise . See, the list goes on and on. That is the thing with Science Fiction, once you get started you just can't stop. You're like a junkie looking for your next fix. Which is a lot like being an author. Once you put words to page, you just can't stop. You want to see new worlds unfold in front of you and if you can create those worlds yourself, it just makes it all the more satisfying. For me, it all started with a galaxy far far away.