Days of our Lives' beloved off-screen and on-screen couple, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth-Hayes (Doug and Julie Williams), are once again putting pen to paper with the aim of bringing fans another novel.
In a recent interview celebrating Seaforth-Hayes's 50th anniversary on the NBC soap opera, she revealed that she and her husband are currently working on a sequel to Trumpet, their 2012 novel about a heroine living in England in the early 1800s.
Trumpet tells the story of a brilliant and sassy teen named Elizabeth Trumpet, who experiences a perilous journey to stardom on the London stage that includes a dangerous love affair with a reckless actor named Jonathan Faversham. The Hayes's second novel will pick up where Trumpet ended.
"I'm back into [writing] now and it's exciting. Billy's been counting the days since I was last at the computer," Seaforth Hayes tells TV Insider. "Our next novel is set directly after our last one ended. It's set in 1820 in Charleston, [West Virginia]. Years of research goes into it. In the past, people interacted more slowly. Emotions were the same, but because you couldn't always get to the person you wanted to when you found out something that angered you, you had time to compose yourself. We're writing around a great historical event that took place at the time. Our characters are not Americans. They've come to the slavery south and how it all hits them and how they respond to it is the core of our whole story. It was all Billy's idea. We'd left our heroine there at the end of our first book. We ask what if? And our 'what if?' is very exciting."
When asked whether or not she and Hayes had considered pitching their second novel idea as a TV series, the actress jokes, "I don't have that kind of an agent!" before adding: "We don't have an agent at all and haven't for years, but I do have a very good editor who worked with us on [our 2005 joint-memoirs], Like Sands through the Hourglass. I hope what we're doing will continue to be delightful, engaging, informative, and full of heart."
As for Seaforth-Hayes's thoughts on DAYS recently airing a special episode in honor of her 50-year history with the soap, she says she couldn't believe it was happening.
"I'm very grateful. Days of our Lives has given me a wonderful marriage, my mother [the late Elizabeth Harrower] another career as a soap opera writer, and the opportunity for me to do some acting, some of which I'm very proud of," she shares. "DAYS has given me friends all over the world and a continued enthusiasm for life. I look forward to the show going on and on and getting to be a part of it."
For more information about Trumpet and to purchase a copy, visit Amazon.com.
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