Soap Opera

Art imitates television in this aptly named sudsfest by one of the reigning doyennes of soapdom, familiar to daytime viewers as Lisa Miller in As the World Turns. Stranded at the altar by her gambling-addicted, promiscuous fianc , unsophisticated Amanda Baker departs D.C. for New York, vowing never to let a man stand in the way of a career on Broadway. In the Big Apple, after a month of waitressing and despairing, she lands a job on Another Life, a popular daytime soap, playing the long-lost daughter of a beloved veteran. Not everyone is happy to have Amanda on board, however. Soon, not only is she coping with the less glamorous aspects of soap life--the grueling hours, the fans who confuse actor with character--but also with bitchiness and blackmail. And, of course, romance. Encapsulating the multiple tragedies, flagrant coincidences and tear-streaked triumphs that define soap opera, Fulton includes such stock characters as the dashing hero, the ingenue, the idiosyncratic diva and the lecherous producer, as well as swarthy and quixotic lady-killers, beautiful na fs ripe for love and scandal, and lost children later found. There are enough car accidents among a small circle of people to completely defeat statistical law. True to its title, the plot moves briskly through assorted melodramas. But this is what millions tune in for on a daily basis--the campiness as well as the escapism--and Fulton confidently delivers the goods. (June) FYI: Fulton is author of seven mysteries (Take One for Murder; Fatal Flashback) and co-author of two autobiographies (How My World Turns; How My World Still Turns).