I LOVE SOAPS- and I started a Blog Hop to prove it!

SOAPS! Ah, the (not so) humble Soap Opera aka Daytime Television.

If you're reading this, there's a good chance you're a romance and/or chick lit reader. That means you understand a little bit about being disrespected. So even if you aren't a fan of soap operas yourself, consider them your tv-viewing equivalents. Ask anyone who isn't a soap fan and they will tell you: the characters are two dimensional stereotypes, the writing is shallow and the shows themselves are repetitive and lack direction- that, or they're all "splash" that goes nowhere.

Bollocks.

It's true: the writing across the board (and across time) has been inconsistent, even within one show. And television, perhaps due to the nature of its revenue stream, can be really slow to adapt to changing social landscapes- unless they're really quick to. And some characters make you want to shout because of their outdated approaches to reality. But when a soap gets it right, trust me: there's a good reason millions of people want to tune in five days a week.

Ruth Warrick as All My Children matriarch Phoebe Tyler Wallingford. You might also know her as Emily Monroe Norton Kane from a little film called Citizen Kane.

After years of being condescended to because I really wanted to catch up on what Holden and Lily were up to or how Luke and Laura were going to stage their return to Port Charles, I consider it a gift that I was able to watch- and learn- from some pretty brilliant storytelling. Because if there is one thing a long-running soap has to get right, it's building a character. Coincidentally, that's a big deal for a novelist as well.

In the next few weeks, I'm going to be sharing my thoughts on what I learned from a number of soaps, but today, my friend Courtney Giardina starts us off with her reminiscences about Malibu Shores and Passions. Please give those a read and leave a comment. (I'll be updating this page as we continue on.)

5/6/2014- Courtney on Malibu Shores and Passions
5/7/2014- Deb on General Hospital 
5/8/2014- Deb on All My Children
5/9/2014- Isabella and the Three Reasons Why Writing Has Helped Her Writing
5/10/2014- Lydia's Tips and Reflections on a Family Heritage 
5/12/2014- What Doug Marland Taught Jami
5/13/2014- Courtney Gives a Chemistry Lesson
5/14/2014- Deb on One Life to Live
5/15/2014- Danielle on Great Murderers
5/17/2014- Monique on the reach of Australian soaps
5/19/2014- Deb on As The World Turns
5/20/2014- Karen hosts Meredith re: Soap Foibles
5/21/2014- Deb on Guiding Light
5/22/2014- Victoria on Soap Opera's Happily Ever Afters
5/24/2014- Caroline on Murders and Anguish
5/27/2014- Deb on The Bell Soaps
5/28/2014- Deb on Days of Our Lives and Santa Barbara
5/30/2014- Deb on Soap Opera Failures





Have your own thoughts on the soaps? If they go beyond a comment, feel free to post something, let me know, and I'll add you to the hop. Need someone to host you? Let me know and we'll see what we can do :-)