Some background, before you think I’ve gone completely
around the bend. As a nine-year-old kid,
my first celebrity crush was formed by watching Teri Hatcher on “Lois &
Clark: The New Adventures of
Superman.” I also still think of Dean
Cain as Superman, but I digress. Anyway,
I loved that show and kinda missed Teri after it ended. Obviously she went through some lean years
career-wise but was also raising her daughter.
She had a brief role in my least-favorite James Bond movie—go
figure. Fast forward to 2004 when I’m a
red-blooded college male who’s just learned Teri is coming back to TV in a
brand-new show, Desperate Housewives.
The show quickly became one of my favorites, a brilliant mixture of
comedy and high drama, a soap opera for the modern world. It was also populated with other beautiful
women, including Eva Longoria, who quickly became another celebrity crush. Teri’s character reminded me of
myself—hapless, accident prone, and well-meaning. For a man, I’m kind of a klutz. Anyway, I remained a faithful viewer of the
show, which was a beacon of light in sometimes difficult college years. Anyone who has been to graduate school can
surely relate to this fact; you need at least one escape from life.
My friend Josie became my friend because of our shared love
for the show Dallas (even though we “shipped” different couples). Over time we bonded over similar interests,
buoyed each other through some of life’s challenges. Even as we drifted away from Dallas (though
we always come back to it) we’d still chat about anything and everything. Late in 2010 she told me about some movie
that was going to be on, “Ricochet”, and how I should watch it because Julie
Benz would be in it. I didn’t recognize
the name but I had seen her before—more on that later—and a check of IMDB let
me know that John Corbett would play the male lead, and he’s one of my favorite
actors. In spite of our differing time
zones we watched the movie together, well past my usual bedtime, and it was
excellent. After that we each read the
book, and somehow I fell in love with both Julie Benz and the works of Sandra
Brown. It was while reading “Ricochet”
that the seeds were planted for my first novel.
It’s hilarious when you consider the obvious—my novels are nothing like
hers. She has an excellent grasp of
sexual tension, thrilling mystery, and sheer terror. I write straightforward romances with happy
endings (then again, so did she at the beginning of her career). Anyway, that is how I became a writer: Julie Benz and Ricochet. Oh, and Josie. But the story doesn’t end there. Josie asked me about Julie’s role on
Desperate Housewives (light bulb!) and I told her it was an amazing show and
that she should watch. Six episodes of
Julie on DH was enough for Josie to fall in love with the rest of the main
characters on the series and buy the seasons on DVD. I got to reminisce as she went along, because
I remembered a lot of the storylines years after viewing them. Other stories I had forgotten, although I had
a good excuse—college brain! When the series
concluded, Josie and I once again watched across time zones as the ladies
completed their stories. Now we watch
at different points in the series on DVDs, reminiscing and enjoying and
observing and laughing. Now I’m a Julie
Benz fan, too, and we’re always thinking of new things to try to get the other
into (she’s Bones, I’m Castle). I’m sure
I’ll tackle Melrose Place next since I made her a Marcia Cross superfan. And while this blog entry may have seemingly
veered into non-writing territory, I bring you full-circle: my coming of age crush on Lois Lane made me
the writer I am today, twenty years later.
Thanks, Jo.
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