Two Years of TDW on Substack

They say time flies when you’re having fun, and the second year of TeenDramaWhore on Substack flew by and sure was fun.

It was also a relief.

As I wrote when celebrating the first year of TeenDramaWhore on Substack, I put a lot of pressure on myself when I revived TDW after a 10-year hiatus, and that pressure took a toll. In year two, I said I was going to slow down. I turned off paid premium subscriptions and committed to keeping TDW a hobby instead of a second job.

Now a year later, I feel extremely content with how things are. I finally figured out the cadence that feels comfortable, the amount of posting that scratches my teen drama itch and hopefully yours while still embracing work-life balance. That has meant “Teen Drama Links” every Tuesday (with the occasional exception due to illness, vacation, or holiday) and one monthly post on a teen drama topic. Perhaps best of all for readers, everything published in the last year was free and everything published for the foreseeable future still will be (though contributions are always welcome via Buy Me A Coffee).

Besides finding my ideal publishing pace, here are some of my other TDW highlights from the last 12 months…

• Hosting Teen Drama Trivia — and it’s returning later this month!

• Interviewing teen drama fans — MMA fighter David Evans and Reality Steve

• Launching a new format for “Teen Drama Links”

• Discussing TDW on “Welcome to the OC, Bitches”

• Sharing episode reactions to the “Gossip Girl” spinoff

• Sharing reactions to the teen drama rewatch podcasts

• Writing about the teen drama stars who have penned books, the 2021 holiday movies with teen drama stars, my “Beverly Hills, 90210” name pet peeve, cast members who directed episodes of their shows, the rise and fall of SOAPnet, teen drama enemies turned best friends, the similar teen drama journeys of James Van Der Beek and Chad Michael Murray, when “Dawson’s Creek” referenced “Beverly Hills, 90210,” when “One Tree Hill” referenced “Dawson’s Creek,” the WB vs. the CW, Breakfast Club-inspired episodes, the one time I root for Kelly and Brandon over Kelly and Dylan, fictional TV shows and movies in the teen dramas, and teen drama crossovers, series finale weddings, reunions and retrospectives, and awards.

Sadly, there was some tragedy mixed into the year as well. I suffered a loss in my family in April that threw my TDW work habits off-kilter, and in July, a shocking death rocked the “One Tree Hill” and Wilmington communities. Then it was the “Beverly Hills, 90210” family left in mourning with the passings, in rapid succession, of Jessica Klein, Denise Dowse, and Joe E. Tata in July and August.

That’s life, right? The sorrow mixed with the joy. The bitterwsweet. And we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

But I do know this: TeenDramaWhore is one of the best parts of my life, and for that, I thank all of you. For reading, for engaging, for indulging. For being fellow TeenDramaWhores.

I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store.