Welcome to the Soaps site, my sudsy friends!

Today is our first official "live" day since I took over as Guide to this awesome site and I couldn't be more excited. Can't wait to get to know you all and dish about our favorite shows, characters and storylines (and gripe too, of course!)

Please forgive me as I get acclimated. I've got some serious recapping and spoiler-ing to do now that we're up and running. I'm also looking forward to digging into the forums, and invite you to get active in our soaps community as well. Looks like there are plenty of lively discussions going on in there. Just click the "Community Forum" button at the right of this site and you're on your way.

I also invite you to email me at soaps.guide@about.com anytime with questions, comments or just to chat. I know we soap lovers are some of the most vocal fans in TV-land, and I look forward to hearing from you!

One more thing: Be sure to sign up for my free newsletter which will hit your Inbox once per week. Another great way to keep in touch with all the happenings in soap world.

Thanks for coming by, everyone. I'm so happy to be here, you have no idea! Now...what do you say we have some fun?

Holy casting news, The Young and the Restless fans! Eileen Davidson (Ashley Abbott) is returning to Genoa City for the long haul beginning September 26. So for all of you speculating whether Eileen would be returning to Days to reprise the role of Kristen, I guess you have your answer.

So what's ahead for the talented Ms. Davidson at Y&R? A tangle with Victor, perhaps? Given that the current roster of stars headed across the pond for the much-anticipated location shoot in Paris includes Eileen, Eric Braden (Victor), Sharon Case (Sharon) and Joshua Morrow (Nick), maybe those chances are good. Oui, oui!

What do you think about Eileen's return? Are you excited that the character of Ashley will be back on canvas again? Let us know!

How exciting! The Season 7 cast of Dancing With the Stars has been revealed and lo and behold, one of the most beloved soap stars in history has made the list!

The fabulous Susan Lucci, who plays the "love to hate her" Erica Kane on All My Children, will be showing us her moves on the ABC hit show beginning Monday, September 22 at 8pm Eastern time. This might be the only time Ms. Lucci gets to dress even more amazingly than her character, I'm thinking.

By the looks of the cast list, this season promises to be remarkably competitive, so we wish Susan the best and hope to see her and partner Tony Dovolani come out on top!

More great news on the personal appearance front: Soap Opera Digest's 4th Annual Shop Like a Soap Star Tour will soon get under way at Wal-Marts around the country this fall.

If you're planning to be in the areas of Chicago, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Diego or Las Vegas, you're in luck! Not only will you get to meet a top-notch soap star, you'll also receive an autographed picture and free samples from the event's sponsors. Sounds great to me!

For a complete list of who's attending, along with the wheres and whens, click the link or simply head to the Scoops and Spoilers section of this site.