I'm thrilled to announce that "Return to Santa Barbara" is back- OFFICIALLY! And no, it's not going to be another tease like last summer and fall- this is the real deal! I'm so sorry that it's taken me 4 years to go back to writing, but I just couldn't get back into the RTSB frame of mind. That, my fans and friends, is no longer a problem. I diligently re-read the ENTIRE blog this weekend and all of the storylines and characters are once again fresh in my mind. I know EXACTLY what I want to do with each story, much like I did before. And I gotta say, I'm on a roll now and I'm not stopping. In fact, you're gonna see anywhere between 5-8 episodes this week alone! I have some time on my hands this week and am going to work hard on this, continuing all the stories that you all grew to love so much. I think it would help many of you to re-read the blog from the beginning, as I have, to refresh your memories as to everything that's transpired from the get-go. I know it's A LOT to ask, but it will only enhance your enjoyment of the blog I think. I've Private Messaged all of my old readers to try and alert them, but if any of you keep in contact with them via email or otherwise, please let them know that RTSB is back......FOR REAL! I really want our little community to come back together, commenting on the episodes, and perhaps even do a radio show or 2. Wendy and Sherri are supposed to be working on my brand new opening credits, so if any of you know how to get in touch with them, please do so! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Now, for a little bit of casting news:

As you may have noticed, Jon Lindstrom (Mark), Renee Jones (Sherri), and Victoria Wyndham (Maureen) have been removed from the cast crawl. They will likely be returning in the near future, as the search for Mary's long-lost son FINALLY comes to a head! In other news, I've decided to bring back a character I dumped late into RTSB's previous run:

MATT CEDENO IS BACK AS RAFE CASTILLO!!!

I've decided to bring back the character of Rafe, since he left abruptly. At the time, I didn't feel I had room to devote to his character or his budding romance with Samantha, but I've changed my mind on that. Samantha is a staple character in this blog and it seems foolish to take away her love interest. Besides, I'm really liking the Samantha/Lily rivalry and this will only add to it. Yes, Lily seems to be tied up with Ted & Angela right now, but I'm writing that as more about her getting revenge on Angela than her still being in love with Ted. We'll find out that her heart still very much lies with Rafe, but is he interested in the person she's become? Does she still have his heart, or will Samantha be able to finally win him over? Tune in to find out....

Also, the younger set is going to be spicing up. I have A LOT of storylines going on, so it's going to be a slow roll, but the Steve/Adriana coupling will be shown more and more, and Brandon is going to add a surprise wrinkle to their budding romance. The Steve character will be explored much more- is this a man who is led by his heart or his wallet? We'll see just how far Steve is willing to go to get what he wants and just what is most important to him. As for Brandon, we're going to see that the resentments he harbors against some of the Capwells are going to consume him more & more. What exactly is he up to? Time will tell, but I will say that his storyline is going to draw very much on Santa Barbara's initial plot- the murder of Channing Capwell III. This is a very different Brandon from the little boy that we once knew and expect his storyline to slowly build into something huge. I'm very excited to be using him to draw on SB's original bible and I think it's a story that the Dobsons would be quite proud of.

As for my ongoing storylines, I refuse to give anything away but you CAN'T MISS AN EPISODE!! Two storylines are going to collide in a major way and I can't WAIT for the fallout of all that. But, for it to have the proper impact, you really can't miss an episode and truly, going back and re-reading the old episodes will help A LOT.

Miss a day. Miss a lot.

RETURN TO SANTA BARBARA is BACK!!!!

Only on SONBC.