In the wake of marathoning 20 episodes of NBC’s Good Girls in two days, I’m thinking a lot about dark romance/romantic suspense worldbuilding and how character dynamics are incredibly important when it comes to pulling off love stories (or at least root-for stories) with antiheroes and criminals. Why does a pairing like that of suburban soccer… Read More Good Girls, Bad Boys, and the Worlds They Live In
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about characterization and plotting on soaps—as kind of an expansion on a Twitter thread I wrote back in 2017. When it comes to most kinds of fiction writing, there are “plotters” and there are “pantsers.” A plotter outlines and diagrams every beat, every decision, that goes into creating a… Read More Soap Writing 101: Plotting, Pantsing, and Pretty Little Liars
I’ve loved soaps and romance for as long as I can remember. Honestly, they go together like peanut butter and chocolate, strawberries and cream, Jeremy Renner and me…wait, where was I? Ahem. Yes. With only four daytime soap operas currently on air (sniffle!), it’s easier than ever to find the one that works for you.… Read More Soap on a Trope: Love Romance? Try Daytime!
I’ve recently come back to Days of our Lives after a several-year hiatus. In a sea of new faces, there are still the familiar characters. Jennifer Horton. Hope Brady. Marlena. Sami. My geriatric Greek tycoon boyfriend, Victor Kiriakis. And Elvis “EJ” DiMera. To my dismay, it appears absence has made my heart grow fonder…because I’m… Read More How Do You Solve a Problem Like EJ DiMera?
Move over Kurt and Santana, Sonny Kiriakis is in town! The rest of the TV viewing universe may think Ryan Murphy Glee-fully cornered the market on visible gay youth, but soap fans know that our genre has been trailblazing in this department for years. Another Ryan, Ryan Phillippe, played Billy Douglas on OLTL from 1992-93.… Read More Enjoying the Sonny Weather in DAYS’ Salem
Given my fairly public “I hate them with a fiery passion” stance on rapists and rape stories in daytime, you’d think I wouldn’t be compelled by the tale of a serial rapist trying to reclaim “his” life from a sociopath. But OLTL’s “Tale of Two Todds” has been riveting. The truth is, I don’t have… Read More Toddpocalypse Now (I love the smell of retcons in the morning)
I’m not really a huge fan of Freudian or Jungian psychology, but DAYS’ Melanie seems to have one serious Electra Complex! Her hero worship of Daniel is so beyond being a “Daddy’s girl” that it’s almost uncomfortable to watch. That’s not to say that I think there’s anything sexual going on (Come on people, I’m… Read More Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
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