Today on Untethered Realms, we're sharing a speculative fiction television show or movie that helped to shape the writers we are today. What movies or shows influenced you?
Ellie Garratt
Star Trek: The Original Series started my passion for science fiction television shows, movies, and literature. As a young child in the 1970s, I remember begging my parents to watch the show that opened up strange new worlds and alien characters. It was like nothing I'd seen before. The earliest stories I wrote were a kind of fan-fiction, sending Captain Kirk and his crew on yet more adventures. They weren't very good, but they did open me up to the idea that
I could write my own stories. More than that, Star Trek made me realise I was different from my female friends, who spent their time playing with Barbie dolls and air stewardess play sets. I didn't want dolls, I wanted a Millennium Falcon and storm troopers. As I look back now, I'm forever grateful to my parents who gave into my begging, though I never did get that Millennium Falcon.
River Fairchild
Among the many decent specfic shows on TV over the years, Star Trek is number one on my list. I love all of the series…well, except for the last one. My favorite, though, is Deep Space 9. It’s so different from the rest of the franchise. The grittiness, the problems, the characters - all converge to grab my imagination and inspire my writing. There are so many non-Federation types on this show, each with their own quirks, flaws, and various agendas. The female characters are strong and unconventional; the struggles are relatable to the viewer. At its core, the theme is about humanity’s survival in an often dangerous environment. This isn’t a nice, clean ship filled with disciplined scientists. It’s a crossroads in space, with cutthroats, thieves, and an ill-mannered assortment of characters guaranteed to win your sympathy as they collide with each other.
And Avery Brooks is certainly easy on the eye…
M. Pax
Although I fell in love with space adventure with
Lost in Space at the age of 3 (I remember my parents, older brother, and I gathering in the family room, sitting in certain chairs, and holding the tin foil a certain way to get reception), it was in 5th grade when I saw
2001: A Space Odyssey at the theater that blew me away. The story made my jaw drop and say, "Wow." Then I read the book and kept saying, "Wow." I loved the discovery and mystery. Most of all, I loved how the story made me think and view the universe differently than before.
Christine Rains
Mystery, horror, comedy, and the supernatural. Well, most of the time the villains turned out to be human, but there was always something creepy going on.
Scooby-Doo was one of my favorite shows when I was a child. I had a yellow
Scooby-Doo lunchbox all through elementary school. I wanted to be the one investigating the haunted houses and monster sightings. So I wrote stories about it. The short tales I wrote as a kid had all the elements of a
Scooby-Doo episode including the corny joke at the end. These days, my writing still contains these elements. Except my humor is much drier and there's no joke at the end.
Cherie Reich
Although most of my ideas revolve the realms of fantasy, my first successful story was a paranormal horror tale titled
Once upon a December Nightmare. Based off true events that happened to my friends and me and with a paranormal and much more horrifying twist than what happened to us, this novelette also owes a lot to
The X-Files. For nine seasons, I faithfully watched
The X-Files on Sunday night. I loved delving into the paranormal, supernatural, and the alien as well as watching the great chemistry between Mulder and Scully. I'm a huge fan of the show and own all the seasons and the two movies and some of the books. Most of all, I share Mulder's optimism. I write because I want to believe.
Cathrina Constantine
I wanted to be Jo from Little Women. To cozy up in the attic, writing and putting on plays. As young as 12, I'd write plays, silly plays. My friends and I would have fun acting them out. I don't know if it was due to the death of poor Beth, but I had the tendency to write tragic tales.
Movies have been a big influence in my writing. Especially paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, and dystopian. I like many genres and could never pick just one as my favorite.
The Harry Potter Series; Marvel Movies, the television show, Supernatural, and the movie, Constantine (0f course) I could go on and on. They light the flame of inspiration.
Werewolf movies... I'm pretty certain I've seen almost everything out there related to the furry beasts. I grew up watching a lot of horror, mainly monster related. My friends and family were subjected to Underworld, An American Werewolf in London, Dog Soldiers, The Howling, Blood and Chocolate, The Monster Squad, Ginger Snaps, and so on. Yep, I can keep going. Anyway, the thing about werewolves is that one could be hiding anywhere, even next door to you, in his or her guise. Whether a person's lycanthropy is beyond their control, or whether they maintain their control, when they change, they are equally frightening. Traditional movies of werewolves were used to inspire fear, but they have since been romanticised in popular culture. I love both of these sides of wolf shifters, and if there's a new paranormal or horror movie, you can bet I'll be there watching it.
Julie Flanders
I've been totally in love with all things vampire ever since I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer during its original run. I was initially hesitant to watch it because I thought it was just a silly show for teenagers, something I was a long way away from at the time. I got over that quickly though, and Buffy became one of my favorite shows of all time. My favorite season of the show is the second, the poster for which is shown in the above photo. I was blown away by the story of Buffy and Angel's evil alter-ego Angelus, and to this day the season 2 finale is one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever watched. I re-watched the show a few years ago and when I got to that finale I thought, that's the kind of story I want to tell. To me, the writing for that arc is as close to perfect as it gets. While my vampire stories are not at all like the Buffyverse, I did enjoy writing my own evil, sarcastic vampire as an homage to my beloved Angelus. I can't deny that when it comes to fiction, I love the bad boys. :D
Gwen Gardner
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I didn't know I wanted to be a writer when I was a child. But I was an avid reader and some of that spilled over into television. Books, comic books and cartoons sparked my imagination and made me crave more. Wendy the Good Little Witch, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Scooby Doo. I loved those worlds. What inspired me most to write as an adult was first the Harry Potter books and then the Harry Potter movies. I love them all. The world of possibilities really appeals to me.
