My Favorite Things...

I will not bore you with endless* lists of my favorites, but perhaps you'd like to know what inspired me to write novels and screenplays.

So here goes!

The greatest historical novel ever written:  "Shogun" by James Clavell.

The first big novels I ever read, close seconds to "Shogun" in epic sweep:  "Hawaii" and "The Source" by James Michener and "The Far Pavilions" by M. M. Kaye.

The classic movie epics I can watch over and over again:  "Doctor Zhivago" (screenplay by Robert Bolt) and "Lawrence of Arabia" (screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson), both directed by David Lean, "El Cid" (screenplay by Philip Yordan, Ben Barzman and Fredric M. Frank), directed by Anthony Mann, "Ben-Hur" (screenplay by Karl Tunberg, Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Christopher Fry and Gore Vidal), directed by William Wyler, "Out of Africa" (screenplay by Kurt Luedtke), directed by Sydney Pollack, and finally, my favorites among the 'new' epics, "The Last of the Mohicans" (screenplay by Michael Mann and Christopher Crowe), directed by Michael Mann, and "Gladiator," (screenplay by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson), directed by Ridley Scott.  "Are you not entertained?!"

The most amazing epic series on TV: "Spartacus" on Starz.  Also wonderful: "Rome," which aired on HBO, and "The Tudors" on Showtime.

My favorite book and movie of speculative fiction:  "Contact" by Carl Sagan (screenplay by James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg, directed by Robert Zemeckis).  What a beautiful, intelligent story!  I felt instant kinship with the heroine, Ellie Arroway.

Outstanding non-fiction books that have influenced my thinking – and my writing:  "The Epic of Man" from Time-Life Books (my childhood favorite) and then "Long for This World - the Strange Science of Immortality" by Jonathan Weiner, "The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age" by Richard Rudgley, "The Dragons of Eden" and "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan, "Life" by Richard Fortey, "The Blind Watchmaker" and "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, and "The Mountain of Names" by Alex Shoumatoff.

The groundbreaking time travel novel, the one that started it all:  "The Time Machine" by H. G. Wells.

My favorite fantasy/time travel/alternate universe movies, some film classics, the others fun popcorn flicks:  "The Forbidden Kingdom," "Star Trek" (2009 version), "The Lake House," "Déjà Vu," "Peggy Sue Got Married," the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "The Wizard of Oz," "Planet of the Apes" (1968 version), "Groundhog Day," "Sliding Doors," "Heaven Can Wait" (1978 version), the "Terminator" trilogy, "Kate and Leopold" (Director's Cut), "Time After Time," "The Time Machine" (1960 version), "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home."   Yes, I know, I know, what about the lovely "Somewhere in Time?"  Well, I just can't forgive 'em for a major time travel conundrum – the origin of that dang pocket watch! 

The best time travel shows on TV:  "Journeyman," which aired a few years ago on NBC (how sad it was canceled!) and various episodes of "Star Trek – The Next Generation" airing in repeats, including "Time's Arrow," "Cause and Effect," and the final episode, "All Good Things . . ."

My family and friends – especially my mom, Gay O'Neill, and my wonderful pals, Yvonne Johnson, Beverley Kiessig, Marilyn Watt, Susan Ashton and Andrea Perry – who read my works, sometimes over and over again, and who believed.

My late father, Charles Russell O'Neill, who took me on my first fossil-hunting expedition on the shores of Staten Island, New York so very long ago.  We found the impression of a shell in the shale and from then on I was hooked on beachcombing, fossils and deep time. 

Bill Blum, producer and gentleman, who has "a weakness for time travel" tales as much as I, and who has never given up in his quest to find the right fit in Hollywood (or China!) for my screenplay, "Conjurer."

My agent, Cheryl Ferguson, who sharpened my pen with her laser eyes; she's an editing phenom!

The members of my erstwhile critique groups, including my friends Coleen, Susan, Marilyn, Bob, Dorothy, Julie, Jane, John, Don, Tom, Frank, Lennie, Mary and the late Walter, who gave me encouragement and helped me to hone my craft.

My writing partner for time travel historicals, Cary Morgan Frates, without whom I wouldn't have journeyed with our characters Anne and Dr. Brandon to Elizabethan England, with Gwen and Alberto to medieval Italy, or with Gigi and Magnus to ancient Rome.

My terriers, past and present, who have kept me company.  Writing is sometimes a lonely calling, and, to paraphrase Edith Wharton, my dogs are "the little heartbeats at my feet."

And finally... ta-da!

My husband, Tom, who said,  "Never give up."

*OMG!  It did get "endless!"