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One Life to Live writer Chris Van Etten, famed YA novelist/editor David Levithan \nand SOAPnet blogger David Ozanich join Luke and Jamey on today's Daytime \nConfidential podcast to dish about their fun Likely Story series of teen books. \nWritten under the joint pen name David Van Etten, Likely Story and its sequels \nAll That Glitters and Red Carpet Riot (on sale July 9, 2009) tell the story of \nMallory, just your typical teenage girl living in SoCal\u2013except that her mother \nis an over-the-top soap opera diva and she's caught up in a hot love quadrangle \nwith a teen soap hunk. After an explosive confrontation with the aforementioned \ndiva (Mal's mom is so fab, her name is never mentioned!), Mallory blogs about \nhow ridiculous and unbelievable the soap opera her mother stars on can be. Mal \nwrites about how if she had the chance to write a soap, it would be realistic \nand find its drama in real life situations, in other words a likely story. \nImagine Mal's surprise when the network gets wind of the blog post and decides \nto cancel their long-running daytime drama and greenlights a new teen soap based \non Mallory's premise! Did we mention the soap the network cancels is the one \nMal's Mommy Dreariest stars on?

You'll want to tune in to hear Van Etten, \nLevithan and Ozanich talk about how the Likely Story book series came into \nbeing. Learn how OLTL ultimately facilitated Van Etten and Ozanich becoming \nwriting partners when the soap hired Ozanich an intern. Find out how at a Gotham \nparty one night, Levithan, author of such teen classics as Boy Meets Boy and \nNick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and editor of the smash \nhit The Babysitters' Club novel series for Scholastic, became intrigued by the \nidea of helping the pair bring Mallory's story to life.

You'll learn what \nit's like to write a book series with not one, or two authors, but three. Van \nEtten and Ozanich, while swearing none of the characters are based on anyone \nthey've met in their soapy pursuits (Talk about a likely story!), reveal how \ntheir day jobs did in fact help color Mallory's world. Is Mallory speaking for \nevery disgruntled soap opera fan with the impassioned rant she posts on her \nblog? What about when she actually lands her dream job? As Mallory quickly finds \nout writing a daily soap opera, while dealing with temperamental divas, a \nreluctant hottie leading man and network interference, isn't as easy as she once \nbelieved, are we getting a glimpse of what it's really like for the harried men \nand women who bring us our favorite soaps five-days-a-week? What about Van \nEtten, do he and other real life soap scribes ever log on to blogs like DC or \nmessage boards to read what we're saying about their work? If so how does it \neffect the writing process?

Ozanich, also an acclaimed playwright (The \nLightening Field) shares how he's dealt with some of the sticky situations \nMallory finds herself facing in the Likely Story books, such as having to let \ndown friends who thought they were a shoe-in for a role in one of his dramatic \nworks. Onzanich also runs hilarious, SNL-worthy interference for his pal Van \nEtten, when Jamey and Luke try to pry a few juicy spoilers about ABC Daytime's \nhottest soap out of the Emmy-winning breakdown writer.

Levithan, an \nadmitted novice to the wonderful and wacky world of daytime soap operas, talks \nabout how he brought to the table the basic tenets of characterization and story \nto help make even Mallory's more larger-than-life adventures ring true. The \neditor for Scholastic's PUSH imprint shares how the coming of age tale, despite \nits soapy flavor, is quite universal. Levithan also tells us how he feels about \nthe success of the big screen adaptation of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, \nand gives other writers a bit of advice on how to make their books readily \nadaptable for film. Speaking of adapting literary works for the screen, could a \nLikely Story television series or film project be in the works? Tune in to find \nout. Then go to Amazon.com to purchase the Must Read Likely Story and All That \nGlitters. You can also pre-order Red Carpet Riot.