If it wasn't for the wonders of the little red envelopes in my mailbox, I might not have become the big Supernatural fan that I am. I know -- horrors! You see, it was the summer of 2006, and I was depressed. I'd been writing with the aim of publishing my novels for 11 years, and still nada. I was at the point of giving up, so I largely took the summer off to do my best imitation of a slug on my couch.Many of my fellow writers would often sing the praises of a show I had missed when it was on -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (stick with me -- we'll get to Supernatural, I promise). So, I borrowed the first season from a friend, Jody Wallace, and thought, "Hey, I'll watch an episode a day."
Wrong. I blew through the entire first season in like 2-3 days and went back to Jody to borrow seasons 2 and 3. And when I got to a season she didn't have, I went out and bought it. Suffice it to say that very quickly watched all seven seasons of Buffy and all five seasons of the spinoff, Angel.I still wasn't quite ready to start writing again, so I joined Netflix, went looking for other fun paranormal shows and (queue the Hallelujah Chorus), rented the first season of Supernatural. LOVED it!
Thus began my love affair with my now-favorite show. I finished watching that first season just in time to become a devoted weekly watcher as Season 2 debuted. My fan status grew to where I bought the first season for my very own (as I have with all seasons since), I started listening to a Supernatural podcast, cruised YouTube for fan vids, read blogs related to the show, bought Supernatural T-shirts and eventually came up with the idea for this group blog where some writer friends who I knew were also big fans of the show and I could wax poetic about all things Winchester. And to think it might not have happened without Netflix or my summer of despair. :)
As I finished watching that first season on DVD and launched into the second season live, a funny thing happened. My desire to write and my excitement about creating new stories came back. I wrote a paranormal young adult novel that went on to win the Golden Heart, the top award given to unpublished romance manuscripts by Romance Writers of America. I have high hopes of seeing that book sell and make it to bookstore shelves. It's currently with my editor, so fingers crossed! If I hadn't gotten that burst of inspiration, I might have finally thrown in the towel. I'm so thankful I didn't because one year later, I finally sold my first novel and have gone on to sell five more. So I guess you could say I owe my career to Joss Whedon, Eric Kripke and Netflix.Now, questions for you:
1. How were you introduced to the show? Were you a devoted follower from the Pilot episode?
2. Have you ever gone back and found a show you loved but had missed through the wonders of Netflix, Blockbuster or other DVD option?
