Strong and determined women have played an important part in Audience Alliance member Rex Holiday's two member submissions, Omni's Orchard, and The Portrait Maker.

As Holiday explains, he only had to look around his dinner table for the strong female leads in his Sci-fi thriller, The Portrait Maker. "I base my female characters on my wife, daughters, sisters and mother," says Holiday.  "All very strong women. My wife is 6'-1" tall and my greatest source of inspiration. One of my sisters anchored the boys 4x100 relay team in high school because they didn't have a girl’s track team at the time. The other sister challenged the same high school to let her try out for quarterback, but they refused. My mother was widowed 32 years ago after 23 years of marriage, and never remarried. 

All of my daughters are athletic and very intelligent; if not challenging boys to math and science, they have challenged them to pull-ups, sit-ups and wrestling."

For Omni's Orchard, another sci-fi, cum conspiracy theory tale about the strange happenings within an old farmer's orchard, it was a local lady farmer whose pronounced determination in the face of unrelenting property developers helped the story emerge.

"The story is inspired by a local farmer who has been holding out for about 20 years refusing to sell her property to several large real estate developers," explains Holiday. "The property has been in her family for several generations, and she refuses to let go of her history. Her defiance can be seen every time you drive down the main boulevard, because it stops at her property, and you have to take a two-mile detour around to get to the other end of the boulevard."

But despite the frustration of the detour, Holiday agrees, it just highlights the farmer's conviction for what is right. "I'll admit that it's often inconvenient, but I often smile when I get to that dead end. I admire that woman's tenacity."

And it's a conviction to the truth and the notion of family, that similarly has kept Omni Needleman, Holiday's central character, on his farm in the 50 years since his beloved Liz suddenly vanished. Despite the rumors that he murdered Liz, and despite the ever-increasing amounts offered by the ruthless land baron, Randall Thompson, Omni will not sell.

As the offers from Thompson increase, widespread support throughout the town ups the ante of pressure, and builds a climate of tension and distrust in the normally friendly town.

Omni's next-door neighbors Pete and Terry, still aching at the disappearance 10 years back of their only child, are also desperate to hold onto the land, their only remaining connection to Jake. Despite the mystery and rumor surrounding Omni, Pete is left with the reality that Omni is his only ally in keeping developers out, and in so doing, keeping the memory of Jake alive.

Their collaboration, and resulting friendship, reveals the mystery that resides within Omni's Orchard, and also reveals the enormous heart of this story.

A heart, as Holiday recalls, inspired by numerous men and women he has known as they struggled through the grief of lost spouses and children. "Omni is the manifestation of some courageous men I have known who have had the unfortunate experience of surviving past their dear wives. I admire how these men have dealt with their loss, and I created Omni as a tribute to them."

"Pete and Terry are a combination of couples I have known who have had a very difficult time having children, or who have lost children in child birth. I like to think of all lost children as being safe and sound and waiting to be reunited with their parents in another place and time."

Click here to visit the Omni's Orchard project page, or here for The Portrait Maker. Additional material, in the form of a concept treatment has been posted for both submissions. Don’t forget to vote and provide feedback for both concepts.

By Brett Stringer