My teens often tire of me bringing up how different life was when I was a kid. I realize that, for better or worse, the world is a different place now and there is no going back. Still, there are days when I can't help thinking about things in my childhood that still appeal to me now. Maybe, like peanut butter and banana sandwiches, it's simply because I still like them. But other things because they make me feel like I'm reconnecting with a few moments of my past.
As a kid, I read a lot. A lot. Like I was always bringing stacks of books home from the school library. Some of my faves from there were Nancy Drew and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. On Saturdays, the Merrillan library was open, and I'd bring a stack home from there. They had older books, and I spent hours with the Five Little Peppers and the Wizard of Oz series.
But, like any kid, I liked to watch television. We got two local channels: NBC and CBS. ( Once in a while, the weather would be just right and we'd get a fuzzy ABC) Every day after elementary school, I'd get home and watch Star Trek. Star Trek started at 4pm, and we stepped off the bus at about 404pm, which meant we always missed the very beginning, arriving just in time for the theme song and the rest of the show. (I was in college before I finally got to see the beginnings of all those episodes.)
Yesterday a channel had a marathon of Star Trek episodes. Just like pulling out a book from my childhood, watching Star Trek has that reminiscent quality for me, and I can't resist. And when I think about the YA books I'm writing now, with their sci-fi/speculative elements, I think they completely come from that part of me which went running from the school bus every afternoon, dying to see what life or death situation Kirk and Spock and Scotty would have to save the Enterprise from.
So maybe, when we're looking hard for inspiration, we only have to look back, and it'll be there.
Comforting, isn't it?
4 comments:
A treky! My husband, Scott is too--endless BEAM ME UP jokes for him, poor guy. So interesting, Stephanie to trace the roots of your current work to early days.
Those Wizard of Oz books were wonderful, weren't they? Those characters are still living somewhere in my brain: the Gump, the Sawhorse, Jack Pumpkinhead. Thanks for the reminder!
The rituals of our day . . .
I rushed home to watch "Dark Shadows" at 4pm everyday. I know Vampire books are extremely in, but I still won't write one... but Star Trek is another thing. I finished Compound the other day!! What a page turner-- great voice Stephanie- you do Captain Kirk proud!
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