The PhixSix
WITH Writer/Creator
ANDY ECKLES
Much like the longed for good-ol-days of televised soap operas (arguably the 80s and early 90s) there was also once a golden age of WebSerials. And one of these series is always at the top of the list of BEST OF THE BEST: THE BLACKTHORNES! This iconic serial, filled with delicious Hollywood glamor, desire and every scandal you can think of, kept readers hooked from day one and starting this September, we're lucky enough to get a fantastic reboot and I've been given the incredible privilege of reading the first 2 episodes.
Writer/Creator Andy Eckles joined me on THE PHIX SIX to give us all the details of his new series, L.A. CONNECTIONS.
THE PHIX: Hi Andy! I have to say this is quite exciting to speak with you about The Blackthornes Universe. Since I discovered the WebSerial community, your series was always top of the list of the best of the best! What's one of your fondest memories of the original series?
ANDY: That’s so nice of you to say—thank you John! I had a lot of fun writing the series. It was a really vibrant time in the WebSerial community, much like it is now, with writers sharing ideas and inspiring each other. Probably my fondest memory was writing the final season. I felt really creatively liberated in the stories I was telling. At first, I had no idea how I’d tie everything up, and then suddenly it all fell into place. I’ve always believed that when you end something like that, you have to weave in callbacks to the beginning—it’s what pulls everything together.
PHIX: I always look back at my first series and think "I wish I had expanded on this storyline" or something along the lines of making it grander, now that we're hitting the 20th Anniversary, is there one story you wish you made bigger, better back in the day?
ANDY: I definitely didn’t have trouble making stories bigger. Some were so grandiose they were almost ridiculous, but I guess that’s the point of a series like this, isn’t it? But there were definitely stories that I wish I’d done better. Season 4 came from my idea to fill in some blanks about the Rydell family and portray them as even more dysfunctional than the Blackthornes, who were pretty normal by comparison. My vision was to have a season-long mystery in the vein of Desperate Housewives and what they were doing at the time. But the story had a lot of loose ends and plot holes. I fixed some of it in a recent “re-edit”, smoothing over a few of the more cringey moments, but some problems still remain.
PHIX: Your new series is L.A. Connections: A Blackthornes Series is more of a continuation rather than a reboot, I think, did the OG's Anniversary have you feeling like there was some unfinished business with that world?
ANDY: It made me realize there were still stories to tell with my characters. A couple years after the original series ended, I tried a Season 7, but it felt like a rehash, and kind of forced, so I scrapped it. That told me The Blackthornes, as we knew it, was in fact over and there was no going back. If I did bring it back, it had to be something entirely new—and that’s what L.A. Connections is. It’s been 14 years, so a lot has changed with these characters. I mean, I couldn’t imagine Stormy and Brett still trying to one-up the other, or Alex and James still going at each other’s throats. People have to move on from the past. Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t drama in the new series. The difference is now it develops organically instead of holding on to those old tropes.
PHIX: It takes a lot of effort, passion, and creativity to get these series up and running for many episodes/chapters and often times they go on for years. How much has the WebSerial world changed since your OG series ended it's original run? And is it for the better do you think?
ANDY: It seems to have changed a lot. There are so many more genres of webserials today. From gothic ones like your To Benight & Beguile, to the British based series under Our Little Writers Nook, to classics like One Day at a Time, Euphoria, and Footprints. Webserials are having their renaissance this year and so many talented writers are getting on board. The comradery between writers has also been so exciting to see. And with cheerleaders like you and Tarrell keeping everyone engaged, it feels like a real community. I started planning L.A. Connections over a year ago, jotting down notes and coming up with characters and stories—all before this resurgence really took off. I’m super excited to be able to debut the series alongside so many other great ones.
PHIX: I'm calling it here and now, I think L.A. Connections is going to be one of the biggest things to premiere this year. Everyone is VERY Excited! The buzz is pretty hot. The promo's are always my favorite part of the process; to see people's reactions, what's been your favorite part of getting back into the game?
ANDY: I hope I can live up to the hype! But seriously, thanks John. That’s a big compliment coming from you. I have enjoyed doing the promos for the series, giving everyone a taste of what’s to come, and introducing new characters. But really the thing that I love more than anything is just sitting down and letting my imagination take me on a journey as I write. I can’t wait to start writing most days. I think I wrote the first six episodes in less than two weeks. It’s been a long time since I had that kind of passion for writing.
PHIX: The last question Andy is always a favorite of The Phix Six, it's where you get tell us what we can expect for all your characters! Give us the dish!
ANDY: Well, it’s been fourteen years and you could say life has gone on for everybody. We won’t necessarily revisit all of the characters who were present in The Blackthornes, but most, and definitely the main ones. Miranda, Heather, Kelly and Jane now run one of the biggest talent agencies in Hollywood. You get to meet a lot of their clients who will make up a big chunk of the new characters. Among them: Siobahn Saxton, a sassy British diva and the “It” girl of the moment. Iris Knox and her new-agey, overbearing sister/manager, Sadie. Plus there’s Riley Dean Weir, a super sexy up and comer who lets success go to his head. Stormy gets offered to produce a movie about his late Uncle Nathan Blackthorne, and Brett gets involved in a shady business partnership with an organized crime syndicate. And that’s only in the first ten episodes!
PHIX: This is incredibly exciting, and I am SO ready to dive into L.A. CONNECTIONS this month! Andy, thank you for letting me into this world. GOOD LUCK on the series, we all know there is going to be some delicious drama headed our way.
The Phix Files was created to be a sort of unofficial hub for serialized storytelling and fans of the Soap Opera genre. It was an idea to bring together writers, creators, insatiable readers and fans to celebrate and enjoy these text-based worlds and to be a source for updates, teasers and to be an all-around bullhorn for anyone who wanted to get their work out there to be enjoyed.
A 100% unoriginal idea unbeknownst to me!
Once upon a time, there was an even bigger, more detailed and integrated place where writers and creators shared their visions. The series on this site, known as EpiGuide, became the stuff of legend in the genre of WebSerials. Series like ABOUT SCHUYLER FALLS, HEART & SOUL, FOREVER & A DAY, GOSSAMER, STONEY GROVE, THE BLACKTHORNES and even some that exist today like ONE DAY AT A TIME, FOOTPRINTS and BLISSFUL -- and many many more-- ruled the text-based soap world through EpiGuide!
Those days came and went, and some series thankfully, carried on their own without the hub to post. Enter Twitter (X, now at days) which is when I discovered the vast world of serial drama writing, one that I only wished I had known of a decade ago when I was posting my very first series (THE RETURN OF DARK SHADOWS 2015-2020).
When the community of amazing writers became known to me, I absolutely knew I not only wanted to be a part of it but also be a cheerleader and supporter for everyone. Thus The Phix Files was born.
The EpiGuide Generation, however, are the true pioneers of this genre in my opinion. The writers and creators should be incredibly proud of what they did, where they came from and how far the genre has come because of all of their hard and passionate work on EpiGuide.
Speaking of pioneers! I got the lucky chance to chat with one such person, Kira Lerner the creator of ABOUT SCHUYLER FALLS and the co-creator behind genius that was EpiGuide. Among her many, many incredible accomplishments, Kira was also staff writer of Newport: The Soap Opera an Assistant to the Director at CBS Daytime (East Coast) and a writer/researcher at Carnegie Hall and N.Y. Philharmonic. Basically - the real deal.
THE PHIX: Hi Kira! Thank you for hanging out with me (virtually) to talk about the legendary EpiGuide days! I feel like you're the perfect source for this because every time I've had a question or wondered about those days, you've always had the best answers. Can you tell us a little about EpiGuide, for those who don't know?
KIRA: Sure, and thanks very much for asking me!
The EpiGuide (originally “Episodic Review”) began in 1998 as a combination of Soap Opera Digest and Entertainment Weekly for web-based serials, primarily text-based soap operas. A small group of five or six websoap authors, myself included, organized the zine to promote our work and this niche genre to a broader audience. We published biweekly or monthly recaps/previews, interviews, character profiles, specific themes in series, and other fun feature articles. In the earliest years, we also included objective reviews and critical commentary by writers from outside our circle. Projects included independently judged awards, writing contests, and promo weeks introducing different series.
When we added a community forum, it became the hub for discussion, tutorials, and news/serial updates. and eventually also hosted multiple subforums for individual webserials. Then, As now, the public feedback was mostly writers reacting to one another’s work, but “civilian” readers popped up too. Having the forums together provided an excellent opportunity for cross-pollination, so to speak. We also had a large directory, a tutorial subsite, and eventually user blogs.
By the early to mid-2000s, the Eppy (as we called it) covered a wide variety of subgenres (soaps, action/adventure, mystery, romance, historical, SF/F, etc.) and in formats from serialized novels, webcomics, audio and video series to alternate reality games (ARGs): basically, we highlighted continuing fictional online entertainment.
At that point, I was both administrator and editor-in-chief (most of the other founders had left), and I really pushed for that inclusiveness. Possibly to the site’s detriment, I don’t know; maybe diffusing the focus made us less impactful. But welcoming as many different authors and audiences seemed like the only way to grow. (Didn’t quite work, but not for lack of trying.)
In later years, we initiated Web Serial Writing Month, aka WeSeWriMo, which differentiated itself from NaNoWriMo by offering creators the ability to decide on their own goals, whether it was wordcount, script pages (many serials were in screenplay format, where wordcount was irrelevant), posting a certain number of installments, adding site design elements, you name it. This became quite popular and really did draw new creators into the fold.
And finally, we had a podcast, where Michael Ross (creator of Footprints and one of the earliest/staunchest EpiGuide contributors) and I chatted about news, shared selected series recaps/previews, gossip, and took on specific topics; basically, it was an audio version of the old magazine format. Honestly, the EpiCast was one of the most rewarding and enjoyable projects for me, even though--like everything Eppy-related--it was a metric f-ton of work!
From our premiere through the late 2000s, we had “EpiGuide Featured Series,” voted in by fellow creators. Which received focused coverage, and in return, creators were required to participate in the production of content, or at least to foster discussions in the forum. That “requirement” became a “request” and then a “plea,” and eventually we got rid of the Featured Sites concept entirely because oy, the drama.
Anyway, to paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that when people aren’t forced to expend lots of effort on something in addition to their own busy projects, they kinda…don’t? (The paraphrase is very loose.) Responsibilities for running the site, producing content, promotion, tech stuff, etc., fell to a precious few--bless them for their generosity!--and mostly on me.
And by the mid-2010s, I burned out for a variety of reasons, including sheer exhaustion, frustration, some health issues and personal loss. The EpiGuide slowed down and existed mostly as a hub for writers to announce new episodes and offer feedback in the hosted webserials’ forums. Eventually that activity faded too. So by its 20th birthday, it was a ghost town. Ave atque vale, EpiGuide.
Worst of all, if you go to epiguide.com you’ll see that there’s nothing there. Sadly, in mid-2024, the software we used for our forum (where most post-2001 content resides). I’m hoping to find a way to get it back up, at least as an archive, if nothing else for the benefit of the serials whose forums were hosted there, but that would take some investment. That said, our oldest plain webpage-based articles and content can still be accessed by direct links. And there’s always the Wayback Machine!
It was a wild ride, as any of the longtimers will tell you. Lots of creative brainstorming, exploration, friendships, inspiration, backstabbing, rivalries, hilarious goofiness, and some real “characters” who had to be experienced to be believed! But mostly: fun, support, and a lively zest for what was then new territory we were carving out for ourselves and our audiences.
THE PHIX: It seemed like such a fun and creative space for so many writers, what were some of the standout series that are now gone?
KIRA: So many! I have to highlight the founding sites: Lake Cybersen, Covington Bay, Casino, and Nordan’s Isle, shortly followed by Footprints (although that’s not departed by any means!), Autumn Lake, Liberty Creek, Stony Grove, The Legacy, and Newport (the original--there were two serials by that name). Guasti Cose, Power & Deception, The Blackthornes, Wonderland, Gossamer, Reconstruction, Paradise Falls, Independence Day, All or Nothing, Heart & Soul. Ooh Ravenhill, very Buffy-esque series, and Animal Kingdom, another paranormal.
I could go on, but they’re all just names to readers now, alas. And I really need my EpiGuide files to kickstart my memory. I just know I’ve left out too many.
THE PHIX: About Schuyler Falls was a series you created. I've heard SO many great things about it. Tell me about creating these series and if you'd ever bring it back?
KIRA: Aw, thanks to whomever you heard saying nice things! Exceedingly generous, I’m sure. ASF began as an absolutely ridiculous joke among three coworkers via email in 1995--yowsa, happy birthday--and by the following year, two of us (shoutout to my co-creator Cassie) went on to revamp and develop it as a then-rare online serial. Schuyler Falls” (original title) officially premiered in November 1997. Its roots as a pastiche remained strong, but as time went on, the storylines became darker, more ambitious, and more psychologically/emotionally intense. A big part of the joy of creating it was learning about web entertainment in general, and our determination to ensure that ASF utilized its web format to our best ability; this was a new storytelling medium, and we wanted that to be integral. We didn’t want just text on a webpage. Back then, the novelty/thrill of the internet was in its interactivity.
So we tried to build an immersive experience…well, as immersive as 1997-era website design by rank amateurs could be…where people could read episodes scene by scene and return where and when they wanted to poke around and learn history. Innovative at the time, we utilized a variety of features that are currently de rigueur / standard in WebSoaps today. (E.g., “casting” characters with soap/TV/film actors? In-episode links to character bios? You’re welcome, lol.) Of course, in fairness, some of those would have cropped up sooner or later. So I guess ASF’s unique selling point, if it had one, was the concept of putting so many of these things together.
But what I loved most was our mandate for our storytelling to home in on characters who always experience consequences, both of their histories and their choices. That’s what Cassie and I most missed in mid-1990s soap operas, and as the years went on, I leaned in even harder to that depth of character-based suspense. Someone said, in its later years, it felt like a “prestige” HBO drama, which was over-generous but is certainly the vibe I was going for.
Would I ever bring it back? I don’t know. I miss the characters and storylines I left untold. There are many unrevealed secrets/mysteries. I miss being able to combine the exploration of emotional/psychological depths along with life or death schemes, as well as whatever snarky, black humor I could toss in. I miss trying to earn shocked reactions, chuckles, tears, or pure empathy from readers. I would like it to return.
If I were to tackle it, it could only be a period piece. Its stories, its characters, wouldn’t work in this current world, and I’m not interested in fast-forwarding fifteen years in their future. Skip all the great material I had planned? Hell naw. Anyway, perhaps a 1990s-based serial might be some of the charm of a reboot? Nostalgia for pay phones and pagers might be big among millennials and early Gen-Z. That said, speaking pragmatically, it would be a Herculean effort, and even if I managed it… would it find an audience? Styles and sensibilities have changed, and I’ll be the first to acknowledge I’m bad at meeting modern fast-paced storytelling expectations. Readers might find it pretty meh. Sorry, “mid.” Giving away my Gen-X! See, that’s why I couldn’t do a 2025-set series
THE PHIX: Its not easy keeping this kind of writing project alive yet (and thankfully for us) there are still some series going strong today (Footprints, One Day at a Time, Blissful, On Concrete Shelves, Liberty City) from this era. What do you think is the enduring thread that keeps readers coming back year after year?
KIRA: Well, real talk, Footprints is unique, having continued publishing from day one: no hiatus, no years-long breaks. I believe its enduring nature can be traced to its excellent writing, its author’s devotion to craft and growth from its earliest days till now, its tight focus on believable characters with interwoven lives, and storylines that also have just enough over-the-top elements that keep the high stakes surprising.
That’s not to denigrate the rest of the series you mention. As I know personally, God knows, once a writer puts down their pen, picking it back up is one of the heaviest tasks one can undertake. One Day at a Time’s resurrection from a few years’ absence--and author Dallas Walsh’s prolific production--is an absolutely remarkable achievement. Blissful as a group project has always been super-ambitious, and returning to it with new writers is especially impressive. Seeing Liberty City, Euphoria, and On Concrete Shelves revive their stories and characters in new ways for a new era…well, it’s insanely admirable and imaginative.
And if I may offer a subjective opinion, several returnees relaunched their series with huge quality bumps in writing and editing. It’s clear the creators learned a lot about craft in their interim years. I mean, okay, some were practically zygotes in their first go-round, so one would expect maturity to improve things. But? I’ve found that’s not always the case. The returnees whose work has taken leaps and bounds ahead of their OG versions are clearly those who spent the time refining both their writing and editorial skills.
So what do I think is the link shared by these older series that are around now, either continuously or via returns, that keeps both writers and readers going? Their creators’ evident passion. Love for the worlds they created and the genre they inhabit. Enthusiasm for the challenge. And, I daresay, confidence that they’ve got more to say and others want to listen. One thing’s for sure: I’m looking forward to other announced returns, and crossing my fingers in hopes for others that might exist only in my wildest dreams.
THE PHIX: I created The Phix Files before I knew about EpiGuide so I feel a bit in debt to those who started this kind of hub because having a place to celebrate and share this kind of work is not only beneficial for the person who's created it but it's also fun for creators to explore other's worlds too. During the EpiGuide days, was this the vibe too? Sort of a give and take of writers?
KIRA: First, I have to say I’m humbled to have been part of a project that inspired anyone, much less The Phix Files and your role in helping to promote and support this new part of the genre, not just your own serial. That’s the spirit that we tried to foster back in the EpiGuide days, with, erm, varying levels of success.
People were incredibly generous and supportive, not just with their feedback, but with assisting each other with writing concerns, promotion (such as writing feature articles about others’ series), design/graphics, and even tech support. And emotional support, too. Sometimes the stress and frustration of writing, plotting, finding audiences, etc., required venting, and the group was usually there to commiserate! As creators, we learned so much from one another--at least, many of us did--and even when there was competition, quite often it resulted in inspiring people trying to up their game!
…On the other hand, sometimes there were rage-filled trolling insults and death threats. So, you know, it varied.
From what I now see around the bird app, however, there’s not nearly the competitive sense that sometimes reared its ugly head in the old days. There’s some, don’t get me wrong; now and then I catch a whiff of toxic subtext…or subtweets…that almost makes me nostalgic, at least when it’s not directed at me. (And I’m so peripheral now, it fortunately rarely is!) But look, we’re talking about artists and divas and people who dig the melodrama and catfights of soap operas. Of course, there’ll be some of that among us!
THE PHIX: There is a real connection between the writers and creators that I am so happy I came across. I was writing stories in a serialized format a decade ago and had no community, just a few friends and followers here and there that kept up with the stories over the years. What does it feel like - coming from the lush history of EpiGiuide to see this style of storytelling still going strong after all these years? And does it feel revitalized in anyway?
KIRA: Aw, a decade ago we were still around! I’m sorry the Eppy wasn’t visible enough to offer you a community back then. Especially since To Benight and Beguile differs from others in this small corner of the WebSerial space by focusing on the gothic paranormal--and it's historical, too! As I mentioned, spotlighting such not-your-everyday-soap serials was important to me and the EpiGuide.
