Just when you thought he had given up... just when you thought he'd freeze his characters in time, never to return... HE'S BACK.

Somerset creator and headwriter Steve Ungrey is here to tell the blog readers that reports of his departure were greatly exaggerated. He tells SONBC that Somerset is indeed returning with new episodes, beginning with Episode 40.

SONBC: Tell us what prompted you to stop writing.

Sungrey: It was those fans. Those damn fans, I tell ya. (Laughs) No, just kidding. Late winter is a terrible time for me because I'm busy at my other writing job, which prevented me from devoting time to Somerset. I'd rather write a well-received episode than a half-hearted one, so I elected to stop for a bit and breathe before resuming production. I'm into a much less busy time of year, so I can revisit the adventures of Somerset.

SONBC: What did you learn from your time away?

Sungrey: That I needed to create more story. More characters. More stuff so that I'm not relying on the same characters day after day. I think I've got it down here so that I can create some new characters without taking attention away from Giovanni, Rose, Jack, Donna, Nick and company. I'm going to slightly expand the cast and send some characters in different directions without taking them away from their original intentions.

SONBC: So does this mean we'll see possessed characters and witches? Poisoned pancakes? Text-message killers that make no sense?

Sungrey: Puh-leeeeeeze. I'm not going down that road. My grandmother and aunt were huge fans of Another World and my goal is to write a show that my grandmother and aunt would be proud to watch and still bring in the younger eyes. I believe in a strong focus on characters of all ages and that's not going to change.

SONBC: Any news about these new characters?

Sungrey: Only that you'll see them spread out over the next several weeks. A couple characters you will recognize. The others are going to be new, but you'll have fun discovering their quirks.

SONBC: What about the fan feedback?

Sungrey: I haven't gotten much feedback from the show, which I expected. Look, it's not like I'm writing a Days of our Lives blog. Not to take anything away from those blogs because they're all good, but people are familiar with the show because it's still on. People like Cody1990 and myself are writing about a show that was canceled in 1976. This is a new show for me, featuring the same town but with all new characters. Nothing is going to change.

SONBC: Any advice for the fans?

Sungrey: Stay tuned, sit back and enjoy. I hope you enjoy these new episodes as much as I did writing them.