Louise Shaffer has appeared on more soaps than are still on the air, so she knows a thing or 200 about what fans want: romance! "The medium is its most successful when it deals with relationships," says the ALL MY CHILDREN veteran (she played Erica Kane's wicked stepmother, Goldie). "I mean, I really don't hear too many soap fans talking about that fabulous serial-killer story their favorite show once ran, but everyone has their root-for couple -- all the way back to GENERAL HOSPITAL's Luke and Laura."
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So the actress kept that in mind as she wrote her latest novel. "Looking For A Love Story," she explains, "is about... well, looking for a love story! As in, romance.
"Grant you," she adds with a laugh, "it's my take on romance, which doesn't include rose petals being strewn over satin sheets. I've never gotten the appeal of ripping up a perfectly good flower, and I don't mean to overshare, but in my experience, satin sheets are awfully slippery."
Food For Thought
Given that Shaffer's suds characters were rarely lucky in love -- and the one that won her the Emmy, RYAN'S HOPE piranha Rae Woodard, was often accused of not having a heart at all -- what is her idea of a great love story? "One where the love kinda creeps up on the couple when they're focused on other things," she says. "Let's face it -- how often does that love-at-first-sight thing really work out? Isn't it more about having each other's backs and hanging in when your partner is freaking out over something which would not be a problem for anyone sane?
"Those," she continues, "are the kinds of questions I explore in Looking For A Love Story. And I'm always game to discuss them with soap fans or cyberspace or on the phone with their book club.
"Oh," she concludes. "And this book has a terrific dog. Can't beat that."
Check out Looking For A Love Story at your local book retailer, or visit www.amazon.com.
