Daily prompts

OK, 5 books/movies/albums/travels that influenced me the most (#264) – I'll pick one of each and throw in a comic book/graphic novel as well so that's 5 things (did I mention it's my favorite number? ;-) ).

Book: it's actually in 2 parts (2 books) but it's one story I picked up from all the works of this author who is also the main reason why I write. Sorry for the Italian titles, but I don't think there's an English translation: Le ragazze della villa accanto & Ero io quella by Brunella Gasperini. Mostly because the protagonist of book 2, the younger of the two sisters, sounded a lot like me back then. I read them for the first time when I was about 15, and keep rereading them and crying over them every time I pick them up again. Going way back to the beginning of this blog, here's a post about what I love about them. If the author hadn't died in 1979, I'd have been one of the many writing her letters – and might have ended up in one of her books! ;-)

Movie: Labyrinth (1986) Even if I was older than Sarah/Jennifer Connelly I absolutely loved it. I could really appreciate David Bowie at is best as Jareth with those oh-so-tight pants, yummy! ;-) And I love the soundtrack too – I have it on AUDIO TAPE!! Yes, I know, I'm old. Not to mention the best masked ball scene ever… It's still one of my all-time favorites, if I had a daughter I'd treat her with it as soon as she entered her teens! ;-)

Album: well, Making Movies by Dire Straits was one of the first I had along with the lyrics, which helped me a lot with my learning English. At the time (1980) I couldn't sing Solid Rock because it was too fast, but all the others were slow, so I managed to memorize them. It's still my favorite Dire Straits album and I was very happy to find the CD for 3 or 5£ during one of my trips to London (as previously I had only a pirated copy on tape, ahem!).

Travel: I'd say Iceland 2005, the first time I went there, totally ignorant of what I would find. I picked it as destination because it was north and cold, but wasn't expecting the fairyland it turned out to be. In 2007 it was already spoiled and I can't imagine what it has become after last year's volcanic eruption and the banks crash. It's very beautiful, though, and if it weren't for the dark winters, I'd move there anytime! ;-)

the extra: a BD (French comic), Thorgal, which I discovered in the 1990s – when I also discovered comics could be for adults as well. Not only manga are aimed at different age groups, and the French do lots of different things, not all aimed to children or teens (like in Italy). When I wrote the first book set in the Varian Empire (not it's the third of the Chronicles…), I imagined it turned into something like Thorgal, drawn by wonderful Rosinski – except he's unreachable even at comicons, but I drooled over his paintings both in Angoulème and Lucca. Ah, well… one day, maybe… Anyway, that was my first foray into comics&graphic novels for grown-ups, a passion that never went away! ;-)

Closing with topic#261: what does "home" mean to you? I'll let Gari Tarn sing it for ya (and yes, that's where I picked my pen-name oh so long ago, didn't manage to marry him, stole his family name, haha!)! :-D