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Soap Scribe Dansby Dishes On New Gig!

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Susan Dansby — the four-time Daytime Emmy winner and Writers Guild Of America Award recipient who was responsible for penning the final two years of AS THE WORLD TURNS scripts — has been snapped up by THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS. “I’m going to Y&R around February 6 to start writing,” she tells Soaps In Depth of what will be a six-week trial. “I’m told Y&R has been doing this a lot lately. They put few writers under contract; [instead] they bring them in and see if they get a feel for it or not.”

The opportunity to start putting words into the mouths of beloved Y&R characters like Victor and Nikki has Dansby “incredibly excited and incredibly nervous. History plays such a huge role in Y&R, so I really needed to learn that,” she admits. Luckily, Dansby has someone on speed dial who can help! “My mom watched [the show], so she was my first phone call when I got this deal!” she says with a laugh. Although she says that she never requests specific writing assignments, Dansby — a recent cancer survivor — is intrigued by the possibility of creating dialogue for Lily that will reflect their shared experience.

Dansby certainly heads to her new job with a strong daytime background: In addition to writing for ATWT, she’s also worked as a director on GUIDING LIGHT, GENERATIONS, GENERAL HOSPITAL and PORT CHARLES. However, the online buzz is that viewers are curious to see what unique things she’ll bring to Y&R… and more specifically, the African-American characters on the show’s canvas. “I think the conversation got started about the disparity between what’s on the camera and who’s working behind it,” she explains. “I think there’s a new sensitivity.”

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