Hi all. Just wanted to give you some idea of where I am with “Soap! The Inside Story….”
My wife and I moved from the wilds of North Carolina to Scottsdale, AZ a couple of weeks ago, which pretty much put a halt to work on the book for the month of May. Now that we’ve mostly unpacked and settled in, I’ll be jumping back into it starting today.
A casual glance at the stats tells me I’m about 40,000 words into the book so far; I’m still aiming to have this out by November or December, but as usual, much of that depends on how much I can get done between now and then.
I also wanted to say thank you to those who’ve shared their memories of and thoughts on Soap, both fans and those involved in its production. Writing used to be such a solitary affair, and while much of it remains so, it’s fantastic to be able to hear how enthusiastic people are about this book, and Soap. You all rock!
Best wishes,
Aaron
Soap! The Sitcom that Broke all the Rules 
So excited to read about your book! Will you be asking the creators how they would’ve resolved the series ending cliffhangers? Thanks!
Ha ha — the million-dollar question! Believe me, I’ve asked everybody (including Susan Harris and Paul Witt) that, and everybody says something to the effect of “it was 30 years ago, and we seldom had any idea what we were going to do next week, let alone next season.” Soap fan fiction, anyone?
will you have an episode guide?
Hi Gary. There will be an episode of some kind, though I’m still debating on how much room that take up in the book. As “Soap” had such complicated plots and subplots, I’m leaning toward having a reasonably detailed episode guide worked into the narrative of the book.
Is there a way to legally work out the rights to include something like this (http://epguides.com/Soap/), or am I showing my ignorance of the publishing world?
Ha – never worry about showing ignorance about the publishing world, Gary. There are people who have been a part of it for decades who still aren’t exactly sure what’s legal or not in the digital age.
Regarding the episode guide, any inclusion of one in the book will probably run along the lines of the one I wrote for “The Gilmore Girls Companion.” (See the following for an idea of what that looked like: http://web.me.com/darkwillow813/Site/Inside3.html). In addition to an episode summary, it would also carry key dialogue, and most importantly, any behind the scenes info on the making of that episode based on interviews with cast and crew.