MY NEW SOAP JOB - AND HOW I GOT THERE

I am writing this blog post on the 5:55 a.m. train from Manhattan heading to Stamford, CT (after having taken two subways to get to Grand Central Station, first). Because, for the first time since before my daughter was born, I have a job that requires reporting to an office.

Seven years ago, pregnant with my third child and too sick and tired to keep making what, in retrospect, was a ridiculously short, five subways stops commute, I gave up my office gig for the freelancer’s life. I was, however, remarkably fortunate in that my then employer, Procter & Gamble Productions, producers of the soap operas “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light,” promptly hired me to keep on doing more or less what I’d been doing up to that point, only from home and at a lower salary–which I deemed infinitely fair.

Alas, the bad economy struck a number of industries, and my area of expertise, television soap operas, proved among them. First “Guiding Light” was cancelled, then “As the World Turns,” and then even ABC’s “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” So there I was, with a fantastic 15 years worth of experience to my resume… and no shows to work on. (The remaining soaps taped in Los Angeles, and I have a husband who believes that if you leave the island of Manhattan, you fall off the edge of the Earth, “There Be Monsters” style.)

So for five years, I hustled in other fields, writing and producing enhanced mystery novels and romance ebooks, and taking freelance assignments for a variety of parenting and education publications.

And then, something that I thought would never, ever happen… happened. A production company picked up the rights to “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” intending to broadcast them over the Internet (they premiered April 29, make sure to watch!). I knew I had to get in on this (one of the benefits to being so narrowly specialized is that when an opportunity presents itself, there’s no mistaking it). I worked for almost 18 months, sending unremitting emails to everyone I knew–and people I didn’t know, either; I’m very shy and retiring that way–to get my foot in the door. And then I got my foot in the door. Except that my foot, along with the rest of me, needed to report to Stamford, CT the following week.

Read the entire piece at: http://www.kveller.com/blog/parenting/back-to-the-daily-grind-after-seven-years/

HOW TO WATCH AMC & OLTL ON HULU

Today is the big day!  The first episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live in over a year are finally up on Hulu!

Click here to watch AMC and here to watch OLTL.

I don't think it's possible to overstate just how critically important these episodes are to all soap fans - not just those of AMC and OLTL. 

If this move from television to the Internet is a success, it is entirely possible that other late, lamented shows like As the World Turns, Guiding Light, heck, maybe even Another World and Ryan's Hope and Edge of Night might become candidates for revival, as well.

Back in November of 2011, I wrote about the fact that there is only one way to bring our beloved soaps back: Prove that they can still make money.

A year and a half later, AMC and OLTL's revival has made it possible for us to do just that.  Watch the shows.  More importantly, watch the commercials.  Don't skip through them and don't tune out as soon as one airs.  Watching the commercials is what's going to make this experiment a success and lead to more opportunities down the line.  This is critically important.  And it's something anyone can do.

The fate of the entire genre is in your hands.  Soap fans got their miraculous second chance.  Let's not blow it.

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #208-1

Dennis was waiting for Donna in front of C-Squared’s building.  He’d called and told her there was an emergency.  She needed to get down here right away.

Donna did.

And Dennis led her towards Matt’s office.  He refused to answer her questions along the way.  He figured, in this case, a picture was worth an infinite amount of words.  (Just in case they were too late, Dennis had also snapped an actual picture with his phone.  One could never be too careful in matters like this.)

Luckily for Dennis – not so much for anyone else – Matt and Olivia had obviously decided to take their time.  Because there was no need for external visual aids.  As soon as Donna stepped through the door, she understood exactly what was going on.

And so did Olivia and Matt.

For a long, fraught moment, the four of them held in frozen, shocked silence.  Donna stared at Matt and Olivia.  Matt stared at his wife.  And Olivia zeroed in on Dennis, who she knew had to be the cause of all this.  She had a pretty good idea of why he’d done it, too.

“You son of a bitch,” Olivia was the first to speak.

“I believe,” Donna managed to pull herself together, refusing to let this little tramp see just how horrified she was by the scene in front of them.  “What you meant to say was: It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, it’s exactly what you think.”

****

Dennis helps Donna get an eyeful of Matt and Olivia, Jamie continues a painful lie, Lucas takes a chance, Amanda's plan backfires, Marley continues her dangerous juggling act, and Rachel and Felicia encounter a new challenge.

How they react to it, though, is up to you: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/2013/2013_208p1.html

BIG NEWS!

I've got some big, professional news to report!  (Read on to find out what it could mean for you, too.)

I've accepted the job of writing the weekly wrap up shows for All My Children and One Life to Live's re-launches!

Both AMC and OLTL will air daily, half-hour episodes from Monday through Thursday, and then, on Friday, stay tuned for the wrap up shows, featuring video highlights from the week, exclusive actor interviews, special behind the scenes features and tons of fan interactivity!  (Official press release, here.)

My very first job out of college was writing the talk show, Pure Soap, for E! Entertainment.  When Pure Soap went off the air, I moved from Los Angeles to New York City to work for ABC Daytime and write a pilot called SoapLine (produced by ex-OLTL and Dirty Dancing Executive Producer Linda Gottlieb), which was to have been an ABC Soap talk show.

The pilot didn't get picked up, but I stayed on at ABC Daytime, writing and producing soap segment for the Mike & Maty show.  A few years later, I moved to P&G and the official websites, plus tie-in books for As the World Turns and Guiding Light.  I also developed two on-line properties for them, Another World Today and Mindy's Twitter, which officially continued the tales of Bay City and Springfield online after both shows left network air.

The Prospect Park web versions of AMC and OLTL are the next step in that evolutionary process and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of it!

One of the ways in which the Friday shows, MORE All My Children and MORE One Life to Live, intend to be fully interactive with the fans is to take live questions for the actors via Skype, Facebook and Twitter.

Please go to:
https://www.facebook.com/AllMyChildren
https://www.facebook.com/OneLifeToLive
https://twitter.com/allmychildren
https://twitter.com/onelifetolive

Or email:
MoreAMC@theonlinenetwork.com
MoreOLTL@theonlinenetwork.com 

And ask your burning questions now!  Nothing is off limits!

I can't promise that they'll all be answered, but I can promise that they all will be read and considered.

The fans brought AMC and OLTL back to life, and the fans are going to be a part of its future going forward!

SOAP OPERA BLOGGERS WANTED FOR FUN AND PRIZES!

Quite a few years ago (you can figure out exactly how many by the storylines I mention), I wrote a piece for All About Romance about the similarities between soap operas and romance novels.

Now, my own hybrid, Counterpoint: An Interactive Family Saga, a book series where readers tell me where they want the story to go next - and I listen! - is going to be part of the Book Lovers Buffet Blowout. 

From May 1-3, 2013, 174 ebooks will all be reduced to just $.99 cents.  (Books include romance, suspense, mystery, erotica, YA and more.)

The Book Lovers Buffet is looking for bloggers to help spread the word about the sale, and to say thank you, every blogger who participates will be entered into a drawing to win a $250 or $50 gift card to an online retailer of your choice.

I know that soap fans love romance, mystery, intrigue and secrets, and I suspect that they also like to win stuff.

So I'm here to tell you that, if you're a soap blogger and you'd like to participate in helping to promote the Book Lovers Buffet Blowout, please click here for more information on how you can win!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY #206-1

Iris considered, “It must have so peeved you, all those years ago, to lose your beautiful young wife to an uncouth ruffian like Steve Frame.  Here you were, offering her the best that middle class morality had to offer, and Rachel still went sniffing after a working-class stud.  And then, of course, there was the scandal with Jamie!  She let you name that boy after your own father, all the while knowing – “

“This isn’t going to work,” Russ informed Iris calmly.  “Digging up ancient history isn’t going to change how I feel about Rachel today.”

“So I was right.”  Iris smiled without a touch of genuine emotion.  “You are in love with her.”

“Yes.” Russ all but flung the word at Iris.

Her expression didn’t waver.  “How terribly sad for you.”

“You mean, because Carl is still alive?”

“Because you’ll never measure up,” she explained as if to a dim child.  “Look at all the men Rachel has to compare you to.  Daddy, of course, first and foremost.  Carl and his sleazy charm.  Even Steve Frame clearly had something you lacked.  Now granted, those husbands and lovers who came in between, your Ted Clarks, your Ken Jordans, them you could probably best.  But, even Spencer once showed an inexplicable interest in Rachel.  And then there’s Mitch Blake.  I do hear very positive things about Mr. Blake’s charms… His attempt to murder my father, aside.  Truly, darling, how do you expect to compete?”

****

Iris tries an interesting approach to getting back into Russ' good graces, Rachel and Felicia take a step closer to their goal, Frankie refuses to back down - even for Cass, Grant and Marley ponder their windfall, Olivia assures Matt she has a plan where Donna is concerned, and Allie makes Zeno a stunning offer.

The truth draws tantalizingly closer in today's AWT: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/2013/2013_206p1.html

DAYS OF OUR LIVES & HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

When Robert Clary (best known for his role on Hogan's Heroes) joined the cast of Days of Our Lives in 1972, he was basically Doug's happy-go-lucky friend, whose main function was to sing... and be French.  (He also married Rebecca, Doug's housekeeper, who was a surrogate mother for Doug, but then Doug changed his mind and Rebecca died and Robert ended up raising Dougie like any good soap parent - by stashing him away in boarding school.)

When Robert returned to the show in 1986, he was primarily there to prop up his niece, Robin, who was dating Mike Horton over the objections of her Jewish father.  (Robin is the mother of Mike's son, Jeremy, though Mike initially didn't know of his existence after Robin moved to Israel.  Because Jews on soaps don't get to move to Ohio or London or even the ever popular Hong Kong.  It's got to be Israel.)

It was at this point that we learned Robert was Jewish and a concentration camp survivor, to boot.  When he recognized another doctor at the hospital as a former Nazi, it was up to Patch - who, until then, had been an unrepentant thug terrorizing the Salem populace, running drugs for Savannah, and torturing Hope by tying her to a chair with (what he said) was a bucket of acid suspended over her head - to decree that Nazis Are Bad (there's a controversial stance) and begin his match towards redemption by helping to unmask the villain.

About the only thing that saved the rather silly storyline for me was the knowledge that the Jewish Clary himself had been interned in a concentration camp during the war, and that he lost most of his family there. (Read more about it here.)

Yesterday was Yom HaShoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day.  In the spirit of "Never Again," please watch the below scene from Days of Lives, with Clary, as Robert, heart-breaking in his remembering....

SUPPORT A GREAT (SKATING) CAUSE, GET A FREE (SKATING) BOOK

Figure Skating in Harlem is a New York City non-profit that empowers pre-teen and teen girls to achieve, do well in school and go on to college, all through the power of figure skating.

Their annual fund-raising gals is coming up this Monday, April 8, giving fans the opportunity to share the ice alongside Scott Hamilton, Michelle Kwan, Dorothy Hamill, Sarah Hughes, Evan Lysacek, Emily Hughes, Sasha Cohen, Tai Babilonia, Johnny Weir and more (guest list may vary).  (For the soap fans, ATWT's Tamara Tune is the organization's former chairperson, and AW's Rhonda Ross was honored last year for her contributions.)  Read more about the gala, here.

I've been a fan of Figure Skating in Harlem for years, having done a writing workshop with the girls, and book signings of my skating mysteries to benefit them.

To encourage ticket sales for their gala, I am making an offer: Buy a ticket or make a (tax deductible) contribution and email me at AlinaAdams@gmail.com, and I'll send you a free copy of Murder on Ice: Enhanced Multimedia Edition.  (If you already have that book, you can pick any one of my other enhanced electronic titles.)

Every little bit helps, and thanks for your support!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #204-2

Russ nodded thoughtfully.  “You think that means Carl is still alive.”

“I don’t know what it means,” Rachel confessed.  “But, yes, maybe.  Maybe, he is.”

“Then where is he?  Why hasn’t he sent for you?  Why hasn’t he at least told you that your children are alive?”

“Maybe he hasn’t been able to.  Maybe he’s being held somewhere against his will.  The children, too.”

“They’re being held prisoner… while drinking hundred thousand dollar wine?”

“I don’t know,” she shook her head desperately.  “I don’t know anything anymore, Russ.  I realize how ridiculous this sounds, how insane I sound.  But, can’t you see?  I need to find out the truth, no matter what it is.  Or else I really might go insane.”

“And if you find him,” Russ wondered.  “What then?”

****

Rachel confides her suspicions to Russ, Dennis plays straight into Marley's - and Olivia's - hands, while Matt and Donna come to similar conclusions about their marriage, and Chase offers Lila information on Kevin.

Everyone *thinks* they know what they're doing on today's AWT: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/2013/2013_204p2.html

FUGITIVE SOAP

It's a week of soap opera anniversaries!  On Monday, we highlighted General Hospital, Tuesday it was As the World Turns, and now it's time to wish a happy anniversary to The Edge of Night!

Enjoy an excerpt and clip from our interview with Tony Craig talking about EON's Fugitive-like Great Train escape, below!

Originally posted on 4/4/12

EDGE OF ANNIVERSARY

Along with As the World Turns, The Edge of Night also marked an anniversary this Monday. To celebrate, we are offering Soap Opera 451: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama's Greatest Moments enhanced e-book for 50% off regular cover price at Amazon and BN.com, as well as an exclusive excerpt from our interview with actor Tony Craig, who played Draper Scott during EON's 1980 Fugitive storyline:

It was all done on the soundstage. They had stock footage of a railroad car. They did everything in close-up, and they had me wandering in about six square feet of artificial trees. I told the director, "Just get a couple of cameras and follow me around, and I won’t go outside this perimeter." And sure enough, that’s what he did. We shot it all in one take on one soundstage with artificial trees and smoke pots. That’s all we did. I was so concerned about not getting out of the camera line and giving them as much as I could in terms of the movement, because it had to seem like I was going for miles, when I was only going six square feet, around and around. I guess when you’re young you can do anything.

Check out the result of Tony's hard work (in a very small space) below:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AS THE WORLD TURNS!

In April of 2006, to celebrate As the World Turns' historic 50 years on the air, the show released a tie-in novel, Oakdale Confidential.  The book went on to hit #3 on the NY Times best-seller list (yay, soap fans!).

A few months later, they released a holiday version, Oakdale Confidential: Secrets Revealed which... well... revealed who'd actually written the juicy book in question (remember when Nancy first took the credit/blame?).

Katie wrote a new introduction for the second edition, defending her decision to spill all of Oakdale's secrets in print.

Today, to celebrate the show's anniversary, click here for a free, on-line excerpt from Oakdale Confidential: Secrets Revealed (including A Note From the Author, Prologue and Chapter #1).

Enjoy!

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL.... ABOUT SOAPS

I started watching soaps when I was 10 years old, with my aunt.  It was 1980, the summer of Luke and Laura, and I've been hooked ever since.  (Though not always on GH; in the thirty plus years since then, I've pretty much watched every show, with each taking a turn at being my favorite at some point.)

Not content with merely watching soaps, I yearned to be a part of them.  In 1994, I wrote E!'s talk show, "Pure Soap."  In 1995, I moved to ABC Daytime and in 2000, I landed at P&G, where I produced the official websites of ATWT and GL, wrote the tie-in books, "Oakdale Confidential," "The Man From Oakdale," and "Jonathan's Story," and developed "Another World Today."

And yet, in spite of all that, I never did the one thing that's been proven key to keeping soap viewership going - I never introduced my kids to soaps.

Until, that is, this past week.  My sons are 13 and 9.  My daughter is 6.  And this past Spring Break, they watched their first five consecutive, soap opera episodes, as GH prepared to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.

My younger two promptly dubbed it "That show where the teddy bear got a girl kidnapped."  That's how they asked for it.  "Are we going to watch the show about the teddy bear today?"

My oldest son, on the other hand, first asked me to catch him up on the past 50 years he'd missed.  When my husband (a lifelong AMC fan) told him that was impossible, my son demonstrated how this wasn't his parents' days of watching soaps.  No one has to just jump into the middle anymore - he went on Wikipedia and started reading about the Spencers and the Cassadines and who was Helena and why did she hate Luke and Laura, peppering me with questions about details like who is Nikolas' dad and where was Lucky.  (In my day, we didn't have Wikipedia, son....)

The four of us watched diliginetly for a week, which required me schooling my kids in the World Security Bureau, and Richard Simmons and why Mac finally punching Frisco was almost 20 years in the making (yes, I'm one of those who thinks Frisco was a deadbeat dad and deserves no sympathy).

And I realized something, too.  Despite soaps having a rep as "stories for grown ups," they are actually perfect for kids.  And I don't mean that as an insult.  Soaps are big and emotional and dramatic.  Something is always happening while, at the same time, what's going on is always being explained, so nobody feels like they're missing something.  Kids, especially teens' lives, are messy and confusing and everything feels like a matter of life and death.  Just like the soaps.

The teen years are the perfect time to get hooked because the stories are both compelling and constant.  If nothing else, you know that tomorrow there will be another episode of "General Hospital."  And that's very reassuring in a way that the rest of your life simply isn't (plus, everyone is pretty and doesn't have pimples, another fantasy element).

In the beginning, it's all about: What's going to happen next?  That's where the initial excitement comes from.  Then, as you get more and more into the story, what happens next becomes less important than how the characters you've grown to love will respond to it.  All scenes take on layers and layers of meaning because now you know the backstory behind Mac punching Frisco, or Helena capturing Luke and Laura or even, yes, that song Richard Simmons played on his boombox while remembering Amy Vining and her love of gossip.

What an adult gets out of soaps is not the same thing as what a kid gets.  But, both experiences are valid.  And awesome.

So don't be like me.  If you haven't introduced your kids yet to soap operas, do it quickly.... Before your chance is lost forever.