Three Years of TDW on Substack
In the fall of 2020, I started TeenDramaWhore on Substack to fix an ache in my soul.
To fill a void in me that had been there since I put the original TeenDramaWhore on hiatus more than 10 years prior.
Now, three years after that fateful launch on October 9, 2020, I can happily say I am so fulfilled.
That ache is gone.
My heart is whole.
And it’s all because I’m writing about the teen dramas every week and engaging with fellow TeenDramaWhores like you.
As I did on the first and second anniversaries of this reincarnated TDW, I’d like to share some of my favorite TDW moments and posts from the last 12 months…
Continuing to host Teen Drama Trivia — which returns next week!
Interviewing teen drama fans Kelly Martinez and Jessica Gimeno
Reflecting, again, on the passing of Luke Perry
Reuniting with John Wesley Shipp
Doing a special “Gossip Girl” spinoff edition of “Teen Drama Links” and covering the show’s second (and final) season
Sharing my thoughts on the “Dawson’s Creek”-inspired book I Remember Everything
Using ChatGPT to write a teen drama
Featuring a guest post from Vallie Lynn Watson
Marking the milestone anniversaries of “Dawson’s Creek,” “The O.C.,” “90210,” and “One Tree Hill”
Saying goodbye to “Welcome to the OC, Bitches”
Exposing the high cost and exclusivity of events like “90s Con”
Developing a teen drama glossary
Compiling all “TDW Originals” that have to do with our favorite relationships
Sharing TDW Throwback Essays and Teen Drama Quotes of the Week on Notes
Writing about the 2022 holiday movies with teen drama stars, my favorite Donna Martin moments, the teen drama music venues, the teen drama stars who have hosted “SNL,” the best season-ending cliffhangers, similar sweat lodge scenes, how the teen dramas tackled mental health, and the teen drama stars who have competed on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Whew! That was a lot, and is far from everything published during TDW’s third year.
As a reminder, everything on TDW is completely free. This newsletter — covering the teen drama genre, interacting with fellow fans — is a passion and a hobby. It is not a business. I have no desire to profit off of subscribers, despite experimenting with a paid premium offering for the first nine months or so. While the Substack “powers that be” tend to be fixated on subscriber growth and paid subscriptions, I am entirely happy with the way things are.
However, none of that is to say that maintaining this newsletter doesn’t take significant time and effort. I spend hours upon hours putting each issue together, on top of sharing rewatch podcast reactions on Twitter every week and creating teen drama trivia games. If you’d be so kind as to signal your support for TDW through Buy Me A Coffee and spreading the word, it would mean the world to me.
I can’t thank you all enough for helping me feel complete.
ADDENDUM
In the weeks leading up to today, I planned to post on social media about the third anniversary of TeenDramaWhore on Substack and how fulfilled I feel by it.
But since Saturday, that hasn't mattered anymore.
While I still published this pre-written anniversary newsletter this morning, I can't stop thinking about Israel and the people, my people, affected.
I am so grateful my cousin and his family made it back to the U.S. this morning. However, other extended family members remain there.
I am devastated by the loss of life and terrified for what's to come, in Israel and the U.S. and elsewhere, in the weeks and months ahead.
I had written above about how my heart is whole.
Now it's broken into a million pieces and will never be the same.
All because we are Jewish.