Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva See Inside Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva

by Victoria Rowell

Calysta Jeffries is the hottest black actress in daytime and the diva of the soap opera world, known for her role as Ruby Stargazer on television’s most popular soap opera, "The Rich and the Ruthless." After fifteen years, three returns from the dead, two failed pregnancies, one alien abduction, and overcoming retrograde amnesia, Calysta still hasn’t managed to snag the biggest award in daytime the Sudsy. Now is supposed to be her moment. But Calysta’s onscreen/offscreen rival Emmy Abernathy wins the award for the fourth time. The drama begins when journalist Mitch Morelli asks Calysta for a quote after the award show and her true feelings for her costar slip out. Ripped from the headlines of Soap Opera Digest and straight off of the television screen, Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva will give readers plenty to talk about as they try to guess where the real world ends and Rowell’s imagination begins.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Vicki "Victoria" Lynn Rowell is an American actress and dancer. She is known for two high profile television roles: Drucilla Winters on the daytime drama The Young and the Restless, and her primetime role as Dick Van Dyke's medical examiner, assistant and pathologist, Dr. Amanda Bentley, on Diagnosis: Murder.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a real letdown. I have been a fan of Ms. Rowell for as long as I can remember, and based on media reports and her interviews had sided with her in her feuds against Y&R. However I was dismayed by her comments on women's weight, her attitude twards gay people, her valgarity, and most of all her comments on race. At first I was sad that she so clearly never intends on coming back to Y&R, but now I honestly don't care to see her on any show. There is a way for her to have given backstage gossip without coming off bitter and just mean. I don't know who she wrote this for but not this former fan.

[Laurel-Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweeping across the canvas of the soap-sudsy world and across the miles to the Deep South, this fascinating saga offers a peek into the past, the present, and the future of the soap opera stars and the entire genre.

Victoria Rowell's "Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva: A Novel" bears more than a passing resemblance to real-life soap operas and in her exploration of what goes on behind the scenes, it is easy to imagine that everything is true to life.

After all, Ms. Rowell portrayed a feisty character on The Young and the Restless—a character "presumed dead"—so it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that some of the same machinations portrayed in this story were at work in her soap opera.

This story takes us to the glitzy sets of The Rich and the Ruthless and the sister soap The Daring and the Damned (could these be thinly-disguised pseudonyms for The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful?). When a "sudsy award" goes to an actor who doesn't deserve it, instead of the well-loved black actor Calysta Jeffries, we begin to suspect that pay-offs and much glad-handing is at work.

Just when we think we have it figured out, though, we see how far some will go to ensure that their own agendas are realized.

As a soap fan for many years, I found the story to be compelling, titillating, and a little bit alarming, in view of soap cancellations occurring right and left. Will the beloved world of soaps die a slow death? Or is there hope that someone somewhere will rescue the genre and allow fans to continue enjoying the sudsy treats these shows offer?

My rating for this totally delectable romp is five stars.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I restarted reading this book a couple of times due to the over exaggerated descriptions, names and situations in the first couple of chapters. Then an actual storyline formed that allowed me to see past the "foolishness." It's an okay read if you can stomach the first few chapters.

[Cassandra Richard]

I thought it was well written. I

[Laura Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light and fluffy. I thought I would like it more, but I didn't love the characters.

[Sparklin C Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this novel, soaps use to be my favorite thing to watch growing up.

[SeaBae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably a much more honest look at The Young and the Restless than Melody Thomas Scott's autobiography, and definitely doesn't pull any punches when satirizing Scott, her producer husband, Michelle Stafford, Peter Bergman and others - and Rowell's message about the necessity to diversify the faces both behind and in front of the cameras is very well received (and sadly still very necessary today).

However, the writing is in bad need of a good editor, with random head hopping and changing POVs in the middle of a scene, with characters' motivations even more outlandish and unbelievable than the most excessive soap storyline.

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Revenge Much?

If you are fan of "young and the Restless" then this is a real page turner. It is thinly veiled take on her exit from the show and you can easily spot all the actors and behind the scenes talent she is talking about and that makes it an interesting read. If even one 1/10 of the story she spins is what happen to her in reality then it is shocking and depressing. The book clearly breaks any ties with the show and possibly daytime for Miss Rowell and that is very sad at the end of the day.

That said--

The book is very hard to read at points with it's jumping plot, random use of characters and POV and point elements that seem to come and go as needed. As much as I was invested at points, the actual word play threw me out of the story and made me have to put the novel down to let my head catch up. I did like certain elements of the story but there is such an agenda behind the book that it took away from the actual story.

There are some good points raised in the story about daytime, the place of minorities in television but it is so harsh and mean at times that I lost my sympathy. I don't buy that certain things happen in the story because they are so over the top and blown up that it become beyond fiction and more to satire. And i didn't really enjoy the cliff hanger effect--if only because it would mean i would have to revisit this mean and awful world again.

I jut wish she would have counterbalanced the ugliness going on in the story with more than one or two truly likable characters beyond the lead. It just makes the show, the industry and her life seem so ugly and unhappy. It actually made me sad.

[Ebony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secrets of a Soap Opera diva is wonderfully campy, hilarious, and timely. I confess, I’m a soap fan and if only half of what she presents in the stories is true, I’m enthralled by the politics. Rowell is as much a writer as she is an actress. I thoroughly enjoyed her memoir and will be checking for this sequel too. The story is well told although the shifts from first to third person are a bit odd and some of the dalliances were hard for me to follow , but that was probably because I was most interested in Calysta Jeffries and what she would do next. Admittedly, I also tried to discern which characters on the Rich and the Ruthless may have been most like her co-workers on The Young and the Restless. Rowell swears it’s all fiction and commonalities are coincidences, but wink, wink, I could pick out a few. The book also made me pick up a soap opera digest and consider it differently. For the first time, I noted that only one black woman from the soaps was nominated for an Emmy; she’s regularly nominated and never wins. Also, all of the core black folks on Y&R are bi-racial or from Canada which may have been an attempt to portray safe and acceptable blacks in the 80s and 90s. The book made me think about who gets paid in the soap world and who doesn’t and why. It had me questioning character longevity and storyline decisions. Far from the stereotypical stories-are-for-stay-at-home-moms, this book opened up a world of television politics that all avid tv watchers should be aware of.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought I would be able to get into the book by now and have it done but its kind of slow. I really not feeling it too much. I had such high expectations. All in all this book was a very quick read. I started the book again on Thursday and finished Friday at 11 am. If you looking for characters you can relate to or lose your self in than no this is not the book. There were some scenes were you wanted more detail and other were it wasn't enough detail. Some area's that didn't illustrate why another scene happens. Either way if you want a book for a weekend read than this is the book. But if your looking for a book with more substance than you will do better to keep looking. This is just my opinion but I could be wrong I am usually wrong about everything.

[Tameka Mullins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun. Granted it was way over the top and some of the included sections (portions of daytime scripts, blind items etc) were a bit much at times, but I truly laughed out loud on a few occasions and I was rooting for Ruby Stargazer.

I do feel like the characters could have been fleshed out a little more and that some of the over-the-top'ness could have been reigned in. I think fans of the soaps realize that there are real people underneath the characters the actors portray and it would have been nice to see more of the realness of these people. I think we get this with the grandmother and Ruby, but the other characters were more like caricatures.

I would like to see if some of the aforementioned elements are tweaked in the next book.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a soaps fan but have had a fan crush on Victoria Rowell since seeing her on Diagnosis Murder. I bought this book as much for the cover art as for the contents. However the book was very readable and Ms. Rowell has a great touch for writing humor and satire. The more serious moments weren't as convincing but overall I enjoyed this book and finished it appreciating Ms. Rowell even more. In fact I enjoyed this book enough to read the second book in this short series.

[Deyara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it. Right from the beginning I found it hard to stay motivated enough to read it, the use of "sudsers" and "sudsys" over and over again early on didnt help either. I found it tepid and confusing, I have no idea what it is actually about, and have no desire to find out. Perhaps if you are a fan of Young and the Restless you'll have more luck.

[Lashawn Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the perfect companion to my Florida vacation. I used to watch The Young & the Restless back in college, so I had a ball trying to figure out who was who. It appears from the perfect soap ending that a sequel is in the works.

[Shameka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Usually when I start a book I make a point to finish it no matter how much I dislike it but after months of picking this book up and putting it down again I finally gave up. I love Victoria Rowell and wish that I had liked this book more.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a hard read at first, I just couldn't seem to get all the characters straight in my head. The middle and the end were much better and I am looking forward to reading the sequel The Young and The Ruthless: Back In the Bubbles.

[Malan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm all for high camp and silliness. We all need some fluff in our lives, right?

But this is utter hogwash. Lazily written, poorly plotted, characters badly drawn - an embarrassing effort. No redeeming features. Stay away!

[Jama · Rating 1 out of 5]

Characters have no depth and are obviously there for the whim of the author. Plus, Calysta is a egotistical psycho who needs to get over herself. I've never stopped reading a book this early. Badly written. Don't waste your time.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick fun read. Victoria Rowell has done a good job on her fist book of fiction. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

[Revae · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting story. I could have done without the screenplays randomly throughout the book. Even though it ended in suspense, I think to have a part two would be overkill.

[Rachee]

So far so good. Reminds me of other books I have read but still enjoyable.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

awful awful. and not in the Newport Creamery way.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was so bad I couldn't get past page 7. Donating it to GoodWill immediately after work today.

[Shannan Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

IT WAS OK. Glad i was finally able to get through it.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't remember where I saw the review that said this was good. It's been on my library "for later" list for years. Perhaps I don't watch enough soaps to fully appreciate the humor...