How to use this Page

Well, kind of. The General Hospital mob anyway.

Actors, producers and TV show creators are getting more creative, people. So must we writers!

I’ve always been vocal about the fact that I’m a (big) fan of General Hospital. Well, you can find a couple of ex-GHers on MySpace. It’s common now to see actors on MySpace. But wait.

On Facebook, three-Emmy winner Sarah Joy Brown has a page for her newest character—Claudia Zacchara. Great. Idea. Sarah. Seriously. :)

So what does this mean? It means as writers and authors, we’re competing with a lot of other mediums to get our message across. Actors, who want to be in the public eye as many writers want their books to be, have taken serious steps to breaking down old boundaries that stood between us (the regular people) and them (the Hollywood stars.)

Innovative writers and actors are using the Internet to give us a glimpse into publishing and the movie business by reaching us through their characters. That sells, in a subtle way, their product and gives us (the interested fans) something back. There’s a sense of “someone’s making an effort to reach out to readers and viewers” with this type of medium. I love it!

Sarah Brown and Meg McCafferty (MySpace) both have pages for their respective characters. (Jessica Darling sure has a lot of friends!)

On Sarah’s Facebook page, she shares behind the scenes photos of GH (how generous and cool!) and answers questions about her character. So, she has increased her visibility as an actress, “bonded” in a way to her fans and created an interest in her art form—acting. It worked for me, Sarah, and I’m definitely taking notes on creating a character profile that draws friends and fans.

It’s the same with author created characters on MySpace. As authors, we’re not blatantly yelling “HEY, BUY OUR BOOK, PLEASE!” Instead, we’re connecting to our audience and growing our audience base through our characters. It’s an extension of ourselves.

I think these pages created by actors and authors also serve to show people we are NOT our characters. :) I’ve read articles about people believing how an actor plays onscreen shows the kind of person he/she is in real life. Um, no. Same for us. I’m spunky and outspoken, like Sasha, my main character in Take the Reins, but we’re not the same person.

In short, I wanted to give a shout out to Sarah Brown and other actors and authors who are working hard to connect us with them. They’re definitely chipping away at the barriers.