If you look at Plugged In's home page "rotator" today, you'll notice a big picture of a candle grasped between two fingers. It's a pretty cool picture for what, I hope, you'll think is a pretty decent story—the first of an 8-part series (titled "Not Just a Movie") I've written that explains why we at Plugged In do what we do.

The first part ("Super Story Power") is really (as you might've guessed from the title) about the power of story—why stories resonate so deeply within us, and why the act of storytelling itself is, I think, close to a sacred act. For me, it may be the part of the series that hits closest to where I live.

I was one of those weird little kids who reads all the time. Even when I was in my crib, I needed to be supplied with 11 books (not 10, not 12) to look at before I went to sleep. C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia books, I think, were the first books I ever really loved, and I remember sometimes reading two in a day. (I was out of my crib by this point!) I majored in English in college, and I still find myself with three or four books on my nightstand at any given time. As long as I have a book nearby, I'm a reasonably happy person.

Movies are simply stories told in moving pictures, and as such I have a big appreciation for much of what I see onscreen. I think I can say, fairly, that I love movies, though that might be a little misleading: I don't find every movie all that lovable, and frankly, most have their share of problems—too many to embrace without reservations.

But all that's there in my story. And as you read it, this week and in the coming weeks as it arrives online in installments, I'd love to hear what you think.