Residents of Pine Valley can expect the arrival of a new doctor in town as McKenzie Westmore joins the cast of All My Children.  The 31-year-old actress will be making her debut on the ABC soap in December as a psychiatrist who is expected to be involved in Annie's (Melissa Claire Egan) storyline, according to Soaps.com.

Warning: This article may contain spoilers!!!

James E. Reilly, renowned head writer for Days of our Lives and Passions, passed away this weekend at the age of 60.  According to Reilly's agent and friend for over 25 years, Jonathan Russo,  Reilly had been recovering from cardiac surgery when he died suddenly in the hospital.

Prior to working on Days of our Lives from 1992 to 1997, Reilly served as head writer to Guiding Light from 1990 to 1992 in which he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing, and worked as a staff writer for other daytime dramas prior to that, including The Young and the Restless and General Hospital.

Fans who have been missing the romantic-paranormal soap opera Passions can soon find comfort in the recent hiring made by Days of our Lives.  According to Soapcentral.com, former Harmony residents Eric Martsolf and Galen Gering will eventually head to Salem this fall.  And while one the actors will portray a newly created role, the other will fill the shoes of an already-created character.

Read on to find out what's in store for these two Passions stars.

Michael Dietz, a recurring actor on the soap opera Passions who plays Esme's sexy toy turned corpse, Jake, is temporarily putting his acting skills in the backseat while he pursues work behind the cameras.  In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, the 36-year-old actor gives the rundown on his hectic life outside of daytime TV.

For nearly two years, the Passions star has been working as a producer and has even formed a company with partner Richard Friedman in order to launch Lucky Butterfly Productions.  A Los Angeles based independent motion picture and television production group, Dietz's company aims to provide innovative and quality entertainment in both traditional and new media.  At present, it spans various fields, including a number of feature films and several reality television shows.

Danica Stewart and Kam Heskin, popularly known for their roles on Passions, are now starring on NBC's first online soap opera, Coastal Dreams.  The show, which premiered on October 2, is a 24-episode series that centers on two beautiful women, whose plans for fun on the beach is interrupted by deadly danger.

Stewart, the third actress to portray the role of Jessica Bennett on Passions, currently plays Zoe, one of the lead characters on Coastal Dreams.  According to the actress, filming the online soap is very different from working on Passions, given that they had to shoot 24 episodes of Coastal Dreams in just a span of four days.

Jamie McMurray, a NASCAR race car driver who competes full-time at the NEXTEL Cup Series, is making his daytime television debut on the soap opera Passions, a gig that he claims made him more uneasy than driving on the racetrack.

“You don't want to be the one who screws it up [for] everyone who is doing the scene.  You don't want everyone to do their lines perfectly and then go, 'Uh, why did he mess it up?'" McMurray told Soap Opera Digest.  The 31-year-old professional racer will make his cameo appearance on Passions on September 26.