The past three years have taken me on an incredibly amazing journey, both personally and as a “budding” soap writer. My soap viewing experiences began when I was just a teenager. When was that you say? Well, since I am fifty-two years old, you can do the math. I have probably sampled all of them at one time or another and I have always held a special place in my heart for the daytime drama genre.   Watching these “distractions of pleasure’ just got in my blood. I find them to be like chapters in a book. You just crave what is coming next in the storyline. 

When Port Charles was on the air, I pondered the question, “Would I have something to offer to the fans of this show?”  I actually came up with the answer that, yes, I think I would have something to share. So, I approached the Webmaster of the web site:  http://www.portcharlesexplosion.com and asked him if I could contribute to his web site in the form of Port Charles articles. He enthusiastically said yes and that is how I got my start writing about soaps. I want to thank Jon for having the confidence in me to log thirty-five articles on the site. 

Last year I got another opportunity that I just could not pass up and that was to contribute to http://www.michaeleastoncorner.de in the form of One Life to Live show recaps and commentaries and the web mistress, Josi Kull, offered me the chance to have my own column on there, Lois’s Life – Lines, plus I scan articles from the soap magazines every week for her to enhance her site. I want to, also, thank Josi from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to join her as her co-worker. Of course, given the chance to work on the web site for the actor who has inspired me so much and that I admire and respect, Michael Easton, was just the “icing on the cake”. 

Circa 2004: I got another “golden” opportunity that I tossed around for a while and that was to become a guest writer for the Llan-View column on Soaptown USA. I actually was approached to do this column full-time, but I have a pretty full “daytime writing plate”. But, due to the generosity of Nina, the owner of this web site, I agreed to contribute to the column once per month. Well, as luck would have it again, I, along with Kelli, will co-write the Llan-View column. We will switch back and forth so you will have the views from two writers, which I feel can be a good thing.  I like to present thought-provoking and insightful articles and I thank all of my readers over the years for their very kind comments. 

I mentioned at the beginning of this article about my amazing personal journey. My husband, Kenneth, passed away on May 23, 2001, after an eleven-year battle with cancer. It was after this event that my dear “sister”/friend, Kathy, from Ohio, encouraged me in the summer of 2002 to write about my life as a caregiver. Kathy and I met on the SoapNET message boards during the summer of 2001, posting about whom else, Michael Easton. We liked the quality of our posts. One thing led to another, we started e-mailing, getting in contact on the phone, and we have met and have been together live numerous times since. 

I wrote a Chronicle of My Life as a Caregiver and some original poetry and have a web site as a tribute to my late-husband, Kenneth E. Troutman.  The web address is: http://www.geocities.com/kensgal51 and it became very therapeutic to write about my experience in taking care of my husband during those very difficult years. I, also, have written articles for the Hospice that took care of my husband during the last two weeks of his life, plus I am having for the very first time an article about my personal story published in a national publication, Today’s Caregiver Magazine. This will be in that publication sometime this year. The title of that article is: You Just Do It and You Get Through It, which is a motto I immediately adopted when I heard my husband had cancer, plus I espouse that motto to this day. My faith in God is seeing me through, too.

I have, also, been approached by people saying that I should write a book detailing the different aspects of being a caregiver and I just might take that challenge on because I believe there are so many people who could use advice and just listen to some simple words of hope and how to get through the rough times like I did.  

As you can see, I have had an amazing writing journey already, but I hope to take it one step further and become a full-fledged free-lance writer as a career. I have always had a love of words, being an avid worker of crossword puzzles, word games, crypto quotes, and I love playing the computer game, Bookworm and am a Scrabble “nut”.  So, I think it is just natural that I have come to love putting these words into action and having an audience to appreciate my efforts. I am, also, an avid newspaper and magazine reader. I always say I hope to keep my mind sharp and active even into my much older years. 

I have other varied interests, too.  I am a member of our church choir and a soloist, love watching all kinds of sports of television, have a wonderful family and friends to share my life with, love going to movies, traveling, and enjoying the things that I could not do for so many years that I had put my life on hold being a caregiver of a terminally-ill cancer patient. 

In closing, my life has taken many twists and turns, some of which have challenged me in ways I never thought I would have to be challenged. But, yes, I have done it and I got through it and so can you.

Thank you so much for reading this and for inviting me into the family of Soaptown USA. I am sure my writing journey is far from being over and I shall accept the next challenge with my whole heart. 

Sincerely,

Lois A. Troutman