MAY 2023: Welcome to the Phix Files!
Welcome to the first ever entry of
The PHIX FILES!
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This blog will follow several online Web-Serials as they continue their work of bringing the web quality fictional drama to entice, entertain and enthrall us each and every time they post a new episode.
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| Nixon |
Phillips and Nixon literally wrote the book on several iconic daytime television soaps like Guiding Light, As the World Turns,
All My Children and One Life to Live to name a |
| Phillips |
Now on to the topic at hand: Web-Serials.
These text-based forms of creative writing follow the same path as their televised ancestors in that each week (and on some special occasions, each day) they release episodes of their story's continuation. In one click the reader is transported into a world of drama, scandal, romance and adventure. The small towns and characters take on lives of their own in your mind. Their trials and tribulations are as vivid, over the top and hooking as anything you'd ever watch on your TV in the afternoon.
You want high drama? ONE DAY AT A TIME has it!
You want families in crisis? Click over to FOOTPRINTS.
Secrets, lies and back-stabbing? TOWN & COUNTRY!
It's Escapism at its best!
You'll have full access to the history of each story via their respective websites thanks to the incredible backlog of episodes and story break-down synopsis that, for a few serials, go back 20+ years. TWENTY YEARS!
The world's day-to-day real-life drama is no match for the imaginations of these incredibly creative artists, so once again, buckle up and enjoy the ride that each serial will take you.
This month we feature ONE DAY AT A TIME!
Below are six quick questions with writer/creator of ODAAT & CHASING DIAMONDS, DALLAS WALSH, he answers the first ever PhixSix!
PHIX: Hi Dallas, thanks for taking time to be a part of PHIX's very first feature! Tell me a little about ONE DAY and what is it about this form of serialized writing that keeps you motived to keep it going?
DALLAS: Thanks for having me! This is an absolute honor to be with you! My motivation is purely selfish. I need to write and create, it's in me. Even if no one reads what I put out, I'd still be writing all the time because I have a passion for it. I love creating this drama, I get so excited when I get a new idea, I can't imagine ever stopping.
PHIX: And what about ONE DAY, tell me a little about Twin Peaks and it's citizens.
DALLAS: So, back in the day, when I created ODAAT, I didn't have a concept of all other shows, like Twin Peaks. I mean, I was 12! I had an encyclopedia and looked at a map and saw a town called Twin Peaks, I loved the idea of a mountain town so that's where I based it. This was way before cell phones. Prior to me writing, my brother and I would play out our soaps with Tonka cars on a plastic map or a town may. After so long I suggested we write, and Patsi agreed. And so the characters just moved from one level to another; the writing. Natasha, Shane, Cory, Robin, Chris, Daisy and many more were there from the start, which is before writing!
PHIX: When you look back at all the work you've done, not only for ONE DAY but the other shows you've written and created in the past how does it make you feel?
DALLAS: This is a tough one, I guess with ODAAT, the fact that I created this series and a majority of characters back in 1995 and that they are still going is something I'm proud of. They are apart of me, and I've grown up with them and aged with them. I guess that's what I love. And with my other series, it's just that I'm proud that I've been able to make them their own and not a ODAAT knock off.
PHIX: Sometimes our personal lives and experiences can bleed into our stories, intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. Has there ever been a story arch on any of your shows that was cathartic for you personally?
DALLAS: I don't think I've been too personal in any stories; my life has been chaotic but not this way. I did have a co-worker whose daughter had cancer, was told was in remission, only to pass a few weeks later. This was (the) inspiration for Reese, which I got her (my co-worker) approval before I wrote it (into ODDAT). But otherwise, I can't think of anything else that's been that personal.
PHIX: Characters can be like our children, it's hard to pick our favorites, but let's be real: There ARE some we really love writing for. Which are some of yours and why?
DALLAS: I mean, it is like asking me to pick my favorite child! But on ODAAT I love Cassie, only because no rules apply. This is a woman that has had surgery to look like Helen so she could get close to Shane, a woman who has arranged a baby switch to keep Shane, a woman who seduced her arch rivals son and got pregnant...like anything goes and you can justify it. I love that! On DIAMONDS I love Lucinda, the older broad who takes no shit from anyone.
PHIX: Because serialized text-soaps like these are a form of the soap genre where someone may have to flex their imagination a bit more to really get into the story it can be hard for TV soap fans to grasp the concept at first. Do you find that a challenge?
DALLAS: The biggest difference is that text-based series are not daily, so you may feel like there are some things missing but I try to make a point of each scene having a longer-term vision or either story or character development. As for storylines, anything goes, if you don't like the reality, it's not for you; and that's okay. I do this for me first and the fact that people read and enjoy is a cherry on top.
PHIX: Before we go, let's get the skinny! Any juicy summer previews???
DALLAS: Well, DIAMONDS is wrapping up soon with Season 9 and there's a shocking death in the season finale! DIAMONDS is back for a Christmas special this year which I'm stoked about. For ODDAT, boy on boy, Abby is drugging Dominick so he doesn't remember the fact that Eva is alive, but Tyler will learn Eva is alive from Felicia! Unfortunately, Tyler will think that his mother is off the rocker again and suggest she go back to Ravens Meadow. Witch Victoria, Eva, Felicia, Will, Bryce & Frederick at the hospital, what could go wrong? Also look for Jasper to make a stunning move against Donavon and Antonio to go to great lengths to keep Robin away from Cory; and finally, Natasha learns she's...dying!
THANK YOU Dallas for taking the time to bring the first PHIX to Life!!
Come back next month friends, we'll be featuring another one of our your favorite Text-Based dramas with the PhixSix!
