“The Story Wouldn’t Die”
Blogging ruled, Friendster emerged, and the World Wide Web was learning to tell stories, one HTML page at a time. Living at the Twin Oaks intentional community in Virginia, the writing bug bit hard.
I blame years of soap opera viewing that bordered on obsession: Evil twins, mysterious illnesses, and torrid affairs. What began as a fever dream became *Tomorrow Waits For No One* – a weekly text-based web series delivered to AOL and Hotmail inboxes. Before video streaming was possible, my “soap opera for people with ADHD” thrived on byte-sized drama. One subscriber became ten, then fifty. Through the hum of 56K modems, nearly 500 readers followed Santa Lorena’s web of desire and deception.
As the internet evolved, these stories simmered on the back burner, but the characters stayed with me. With help from a cherished community in Asheville, NC, I transformed these digital whispers into a short film, premiering in 2009 before a packed house of true believers.
When the pilot script won a prize in a screenplay competition, it was clear – the story wouldn’t die. A new life in Los Angeles as a SAG-AFTRA background performer kept drawing me back to Santa Lorena.
Working with TV writer/producer Brandon A. Schultz and artist Cayetano Valenzuela, we reimagined these characters in graphic novel form. Now we're sharing this teaser of TWFNO: Who Am I/Beware the Stranger – a soap set in the early aughts that embraces infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Where queer stories aren't just part of the tapestry – they're woven into its design. Where tales of amnesia, betrayal, and redemption unfold, and every secret has a delicious twist of fate.
Like an AIM Away Message at 3 AM, Santa Lorena’s secrets have been waiting in the dark.
Yours truly,
Marcello Lanfranchi