I get asked a lot about my inspiration for my Mer series and while the specific answer is "fairy tales," and even more specifically, The Little Mermaid, I'm going to go broader and say the stories I read and saw growing up are what influence my writing.
My favorite shows growing up were Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, and The Addams Family. Greatest American Hero, The Man From Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, Wonder Woman.
Are you seeing a theme here?
And then there were the books I checked out of my elementary school library--so many times I couldn't count: the complete Oz collection. The Wizard of Oz is only one of the stories written by Frank L. Baum. The entire Doctor Doolittle series by Hugh Lofting. I remember seeing my name written over and over on the sign-out slip in the back. They had magic, quests, fighting against the odds and talking animals.
An older cousin was a magician in high school and my mom hired him for one of my birthday parties, and I was fascinated. I love the idea of people having magical powers, so Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were guaranteed hits with me. To this day I love the name Tabitha. (I wanted to name our new kitten that, but everyone else in my house nixed that idea.) No one loves that name more than me--mainly because I always wanted to be that character growing up.
[Fan girl moment: I was watching a celebrity reality show and they had Erin Murphy on, who, along with her twin Diane, portrayed Tabitha, and I was so happy to see her all grown up. I jumped online, friended her on MySpace and did a total giddy squee when she accepted within 45 minutes.]
Those shows and books captured my imagination and fueled it. As I grew, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg fed that imagination with Star Wars and the Indiana Jones series. I was one happy mom when the 4th Indy movie came out. I love the humor, I love the magic/powers, I love the romance, and I love the tongue-in-cheekiness when they poke fun at themselves. That's what I strive to do in my writing.
The proverbial "they" tell you to write what you know, what you like to read, and I'm so thrilled I've gotten the chance to do that. In Wild Blue Under which comes out this month, the second in my Mer series, I giggled to myself when the hero's unwanted sidekick shows up: a seagull. Named
Total cornball, I know, but it still makes me laugh. And what makes it even more fun for me is that I don't plan these things. I'd like to think that my subconscious has this Grand Plan, but I highly doubt it. I just know that I love when it pops into my head and figure if I can't stop giggling and rolling my eyes, readers will do the same.
I had such a blast remembering all those titles of the television shows. What ones (or others) did you watch?
And please stop by my website, www.JudiFennell.com to register to win one of two remaining Romantic Beach Getaway Weekends to celebrate the release of the Mer series books. The next drawing is November 30 at the Atlantis Inn in
About the Author
Judi Fennell is an award-winning author. Her romance novels have been finalists in Gather.com's First Chapters and First Chapters Romance contests, as well as the third American Title contest. She spends family vacations at the
You can read my review of Wild Blue Under here. The publisher is allowing me to give-away a set of Judi's books, In Over Her Head and Wild Blue Under, to one winner! USA and Canada Only please.
Leave a comment with your email, along with your answer to Judi's question: What ones (or others) did you watch?
Winner will be announced on November 10th.
Good morning and thanks, Wendy, for having me here! I'm so glad you're enjoying the series!
ReplyDeleteHi Judi. Your post brought back lots of memories. From your list of shows, I watched Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligans Island, The Addams Family, Battlestar Galactica, Wonder Woman and Casper The Friendly Ghost.
ReplyDeleteCrystal816[at]hotmail[dot]com
No need to enter me, ladies. I'm dropping in to say thanks to Wendy for the e-mail. I've got this posted at Win a Book for you.
ReplyDeleteJudi, if we at Win a Book can help spread any news, drop us a line!
Thinking...okay let's see Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, Wonder Woman, Six Million Dollar Man (I do have a soft spot for Lee Majors), Cover Up(a little later, but had that gratuitously hot actor/Boxflex model Jon-Erik Hexum , and the Man from Atlantis with Patrick Duffy!
ReplyDeletemy list is long XD
ReplyDeleteFrom Judi's list I watched: Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island and The Addams Family (after they ended of course), Kimba and Land of the Lost (circa 1990's). From my own childhood I also watch Ocean Girl, and Mirror Mirror (both Aussie shows), 'Round the Twist, and Atlantis High--those four actually had mermaids, Atlantis and mer-folk involved in some way.
Lexie
Lexie.Cenni@gmail.com
I loved anything from Kroft Superstars like Land of The Lost, H.R. Pufnstuff,Electra Woman and Dinagirl etc..
ReplyDeleteA-Team,I Dream of Jeannie,Bewitched,Three's Company were some of my favorites and can still watch reruns today.For cartoons I was a total Smurf girl :)
I've heard great things for this series and can't wait to read them.
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net
Atlantis High????? Oooh, must search the internet for that one! And I remember Electra Woman and DinaGirl! Wow. I'd forgotten those! :)
ReplyDeleteYep, I had a blast travelling down memory lane for this post. Thanks, everyone, for sharing the road!
At home we only had CBC--Happy Days, Beachcombers, A Gift to last, Homefires, Get Smart, Gilligan's Island, The Saint, Shelley. I remember watching Dukes of hazard when we were out of town.
ReplyDeletechey127 at hotmail dot com
Hi Judi! The tv shows I used to watch were Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, Wonder Woman, and The Addams Family. Bewitched and Wonder Woman were my favorite shows when I was a kid. I used to have lots of Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, and Wonder Tot comic books when I was growing up (Back when they used to be 5-10 cents per comic). My Mom threw them all away when we moved when I was 11 yrs. old. I also used to read Aquaman comics, but they were thrown out too. I wish I still had them! LOL! :)
ReplyDeleteTOPSAIL246(at)aol(dot)com
I loved seeing your list of favorite shows--you have some good ones in there. My favorites were Battlestar Galactica, Adam-12, Emergency, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Facts of Life. And these are just a few!
ReplyDeletejoderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
Oh, yeah, LOVED Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch from Battlestar Galactica (hmm, just realized another Richard Hatch is on another show I love - Survivor. Definitely NOT the same guy, though LOL).
ReplyDeleteAnd I used to have TONS of comic books - Archie, Josie & The Pussycats, Sad Sack, and my all time favorite: Richie Rich with his dog, Dollar! :)
This was such a fun post - I love tripping through memory lane!
Hi Judi! The shows that I used to watch were I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Addams Family, I Love Lucy and Munsters. Thanks for stopping by. :)
ReplyDeleteSue
okibi_insanity[at]yahoo[dot]com
My favorite tv shows were Buffy, Angel, Charmed, and Gilmore Girls.
ReplyDeleteI do watch reruns of Gilligans Island and The addams family
usignolc(at)yahooDOTcom
What ones (or others) did you watch?
ReplyDeleteFrom Judi's list of shows, I watched some Bewitched, some The Addams Family, some Casper The Friendly Ghost... None of them regularly (well, I had Casper on VHS).
As for other shows, around middle school I became a huge fan of Gargoyles (I would actually wake up earlier so I could watch it).
Oh, and I read most (if not all, I don't remember) of the Wizard of Oz books and the Dr. Doolittle books. =)
jump_up_thrice[at]hotmail[dot]com
From Judy's list I only watched Casper the Friendly Ghost, The Addams Family, Bewitched.
ReplyDeletejen4777[at]hotmail.com
OMG The memories!!
ReplyDeletePlease don't eat the Daisies, Bill Kennedy at the Movies, I love Lucy, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Gilligans' Island, Family Affair, Facts of Life, Lost in Space, Bewitched, Silver Spoons, Growing Pains, Three's Company, Webster, Night Court, Diff’rent Strokes, The Munsters oh man I miss all of those old shows!!
They were THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!
roxxyroller(at)hotmail(dot)com
From your list I watched Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, The Addams Family, Land of The Lost. I have only seen a few episodes of H.R. Pufnstuf and Sigmund and the Seamonsters. It's been awhile but I remember witchie poo singing "oranges schmoranges"...I thought it was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteRaelena
throuthehaze at gmail dot com
I used watch Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligans Island, and The Addams Family.
ReplyDeletekalynnick AT yahoo DOT com
Let's see, I watched Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligans Island, The Addams Family, Battlestar Galactica and Land of the Lost :-)
ReplyDeletemarielay@gmail.com
Nice to see I'm not the only one who loved these shows!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, everyone!
~Judi
Judi, I think we must be around the same age because we watched a lot of the same shows. :0) Other than the ones you mentioned, my favorites were: Star Trek, Doctor Who, Buck Rogers & The 25th Century, Happy Days, Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Dukes of Hazzards, Fantasy Island, The Muppet Show, One Day At A Time.... Yeesh, I didn't realize I was such a tv junkie as a kid! LOL.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :0)
librarygrinch at gmail dot com
Yep, we must be. And I'm definitely aging "us" since I've mentioned all of those. And I remember Tuesday nights' Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, with Fantasy Island following the Love Boat on Saturdays. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great group of old shows. I watched Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Leave It To Beaver, Lassie, and too many to name. They don't make them like that anymore.
ReplyDeleteseriousreader at live dot com
there are so many good, older shows. I used to love Charlie's Angels, The A Team And Moonlighting...and of course Happy Days
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bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com
Hi Judi & Wendy!
ReplyDeleteFrom your list I watched I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, The Greatest American Hero, Wonder Woman and Casper The Friendly Ghost.
I also watched Mr. Belvadere, Growing Pains, Facts of Life, Gimme a Break, Cosby Show, Family Ties, Silver Spoons, Three's Company, Webster, Night Court, Different Strokes, A-Team, Magnum P.I., Columbo, Remington Steele, Cheers, etc.
Razlover(at)hotmail(dot)com
From Judi's list I watched the following:
ReplyDeleteBewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligans Island, The Addams Family, Wonder Woman and Casper The Friendly Ghost.
Please enter me. Thanks.
cherdon@sympatico.ca