Another Soap Writer Joins the Club!

Hey all!

I hope everyone's holiday was good last week, and you're all chilling out and saving some energy for New Year's Eve in a few days! I just finished my December job (well, almost... two more days this week), and gearing up for what I hope will be an exciting January.

But today's blog entry isn't about me.

As you all know, I've lived through some doubts about keeping the blog going after it went public in February '08. But if anything positive came out of that turning point, it's that other soap writers found their way onto the web. A short time later, Sara Bibel got her own blog over at Fancast. Dena Higley began blogging about her home life over on the Days site. And suddenly, other writers like Karen Harris, Victor Miller, and Thom Racina, found their way onto Blogtalk radio shows like In the Zone, and the Robert Reid show. Just recently, Guiding Light invited Internet bloggers over to Peapack, New Jersey. These aren't people associated with any of the soap press - they're just fans like the rest of us, who began their own commentary. Finally, daytime is catching up with the rest of us on the Internet (although I think we all waited about five years too late), and I think it's fantastic.

Now, another soap writer - one I consider to be a very dear friend, and I adore completely - has joined the rest of us out here. I first met Leslie Nipkow when she was a script writer on One Life to Live - although I didn't really get to know her until she was promoted to Script Editor and began joining us for the weekly Monday morning writers' meetings with the network. Her levity, and ability to find a way to laugh under even the most tense circumstances not only got me through many an awkward notes' meeting, but also through three months of walking in circles last winter during the strike. And this past year, even though we've been traveling on different paths since the strike ended, she's proven herself to be an invaluable friend, and got me through many periods in 2008 where self-doubt and insecurity reared their ugly heads.

Leslie has veered back into essay writing, and earlier this year, had one of her pieces in the New York Times! A few weeks ago, she posted this essay over at freshyarn.com. I loved it - it's bold, blunt, funny, and paints a much different picture of the "Soap Opera Experience" than anybody else currently online, from a very different perspective than we're used to. And fans of Loving and One Life to Live will really get a kick out of it. You'll never think of Randolph Mantooth the same way again!!

I encourage everybody to go check it out - and who knows? I would love to see Leslie's work continue, and find an audience online, only because her sense of humor, love of both writing and acting, and her experiences working on BOTH sides of the camera is truly inspirational and enlightening. So if you like it, let Freshyarn know, or leave a comment here!

Congratulations, Leslie!

And Happy New Year, all!!!

xoxo --tom