Yep, I'm a bit of a nerd too. My bookshelf has a *lot* of Fantasy on it, but it not without Sci-Fi as well.
What do you think of when this genre is mentioned, do you have a positive or negative mental image?
Positive - one of my elder brothers has a serious book collection, and we've always (as a family) shared books. Funnily enough I never really got into Star Trek, though. TV in Oz is *very* sci-fi unfriendly. Most shows in this genre (if they are on at all) tend to be played late at night, out of sequence etc.
What I love about novels by guys like Heinlein is the science in them - written decades before man actually landed on the moon, these works show that the approach used to build things was well known well before we had the ability to actually build them.
Do you gravitate to this genre, or stay clear?
Absolutely gravitate.
Do you have any treasured childhood memories on the topic?
8 years old - going to the drive in to see Star Wars when it first came out.
How do you view the portrayal of women by the genre?
How do you respond when you meet a woman with interest in the topic?
These are hard to answer - do these women really exist?
List the first 5+ sci-fi works that come to your mind.
The Dune series
Star Wars
Starship Troopers (the book much more than the movie)
Robot series (Asimov)
Firefly (yes I know this is a western in space, but I'm a huge fan)
what about some favourite authors?
In no particular order - just how they come to my mind:
Piers Anthony - Bio of a Space Tyrant series
Alastair Reynolds - I read Relevation Space - and was hooked on his work. I've read quite a few of his book and enjoyed them all
CJ Cherryh - the Faded Sun Trilogy. I had previously read "Fortress in the Eye of Time" which is fantasy, and picked this one up in a sale.
Richard Morgan - Altered Carbon - good read.
John Scalzi - Old Mans War.