Readers, other writers, George Clooney, Albert Einstein (okay, I know he's dead, but still ...)
I ADORE music, always have. If you've read my books, you know I tend to set a lot of key scenes to specific songs that I feel set just the right tone for what's happening.
As for faves, really too many to name. John Mayer, lots of alternative artists, AC/DC (the older stuff), Bruce Springsteen (the older stuff), Tori Amos, 80s music, 70s music, some country, and I have a thing for traditional bluegrass.
For more specifics, see my past newsletters at www.ToniBlake.com, where I list what I've been listening to.
Well, I could go on forever, but just to give a sampling: O Brother Where Art Thou, Sense and Sensiblity, Mean Girls, Chocolat, Rain Man, Shakespeare in Love, The Sure Thing, Love Actually, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Princess Bride, Dangerous Liaisons, The Color Purple, Pulp Fiction, As Good as it Gets, Swingblade, Shawhank Redemption, Sixth Sense, It's a Wonderful Life, Lonesome Dove (I know it's a mini-series, but I think of it as a movie,) Ride With the Devil, Cold Mountain (although it's flawed in that the bad guys are a little too bad to be true, but otherwise a lovely movie,) Far and Away, When Harry Met Sally, Back to the Future, Tootsie, Glory, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Legally Blonde (yes, seriously - it's well done and very rewatchable,) Life is Beautiful, The Graduate ... and on it goes.
A few fave actors: Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Robert Duvall, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, and pre-Batman Val Kilmer.
Some fave actresses: Kate Winslet, Renee Zellweger, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman(particularly in historicals), and Cate Blanchett.
Men in Trees, Lost, American Idol, What Not to Wear, How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, My Name is Earl (enough comic brilliance to make up for times when it misses the mark), Criss Angel Mindfreak, Sex and the City (even though it's over), Friends (even though it's over), Freaks and Geeks (yeah, this one's been over a lonnnnng time, but the series DVD is fabulous!), Gene Simmons' Family Jewels and a few other "reality" TV shows (and no, I'm not completely proud of that, but there you have it.)
I truly mourn for the day of the sitcom - there's just not enough funny stuff on TV these days. I grew up on sitcoms and they are truly an artform - several story lines started and completed in about 22 minutes! I like some of the few that are left, but they all seem to revolve around sex. And of course, I LIKE sex, but I like my sex sexy - never really see it as something to cackle about ; )
Although it's only on once a year for four days, I love the Winter X Games.
And I'm a life-long fan of All My Children, as well as a more recent fan of As the World Turns.
I'm the sort of person who was very much raised on TV, so I tend to watch a lot of it. Thank God for the DVR!
New shows I'm watching and mostly enjoying: Moonlight, Cane, Private Practice, Samantha Who?, Dirty Sexy Money, and Big Shots.
Yikes, too many to name, but I'll toss out a few random all-time fave books: To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, Love Medicine, Lonesome Dove, Catch-22, The Frontiersman, the poetry of Sherman Alexie, and my list would be very incomplete without dipping back into my childhood for Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.
In my own genre of romance and women's fiction, some fave authors are Barbara Samuel, Rachel Gibson, Candice Proctor, Kathleen Eagle, Teresa Medeiros, Deborah Smith, and Jennifer Crusie. But I read pretty widely in the genre and am always trying new authors. Oh, and I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.
My late grandmother, Mary Irene Hargis Blevins. Raised in poverty in Appalachia, she worked harder than anyone I ever knew, was a wonderful cook, and had a kind word for anyone she met - except for anyone she thought meant harm to her children or grandchildren, and she also disliked boys with long hair ; ) (What can I say - she was the traditional sort.) She lived a hard life, mostly doing things for others, but she never complained, and she was THE perfect grandma.
Also, anyone who stands up for women's rights or speaks out against censorship.