It's the news that's rocking the soap opera world:

Within a week, Ricky Paull Goldin left Guiding Light and agreed to join the cast of All My Children. Below, we've posted the actor (long!) letter to his face, courtesy of Golden's MySpace account:

Lunchtime at CBS felt like the last supper. All of our crew, production staff, cast, and security all gathered together in the rehearsal hall to break bread and say goodbye. It is hard to believe that I won't be walking back into the Guiding Light studio or my old dressing room again, but life goes on….

I was and have been a fan of ABC Daytime Television for a very long time, they really seem to do an amazing job, and I'm thrilled at the opportunity to become a part of the ABC family. I've actually been watching all of their shows. This will be the first time that I will be re-creating a character as opposed to creating him from scratch, but I'm excited by that challenge.

I have never seen any of Jake's previous portrayers and he hasn't been on the canvas for over half a decade, so in actuality, the only thing that I will be working with that I'm not used to…is his onscreen history created by others before me. It'll be my job to erase all those memories and "de"construct him in my own image. If that was hard to follow, what I'm saying is…he won't be like any Jake Martin you've known before.

But I can't and I don't want to do it without YOU. I don't want to go to Pine Valley by myself. I want to take you all with me. It'll be like a road trip, it'll be like us all jumping on a bus together or a ship, I just want us all to take the journey together. So I'm going to ask that you search within yourself, and start watching All My Children, so you can learn the history.

Personally I think it's a great show. There is an actor on there named Michael E. Knight who plays Tad Martin, my brother. It's obvious that he is quick, witty, and makes the dialogue his own. I get the feeling that he does a lot of improvising, and I love that about him. I have a good feeling about working with him.

There is another actor on that show named Billy Miller, who plays Richie, probably my favorite character to watch, he's very inventive. Thorsten Kaye plays Zach Slater, who seems to be the rock of the show, and I'm looking forward to getting into the perverbial ring with him. Cameron Mathison who plays Ryan is probably the nicest, most genuine guy I've ever met and that comes through in his character.

When it comes to the women of All My Children, they are all quite beautiful and charming to watch. Alicia Minshew plays Kendall, the daughter of Susan Lucci, and has all the beauty and grace of a Jane Eyre heroine. Rebecca Budig who plays Greenlee is sassy, feisty, and has the sexiest bedroom eyes on television.

She called me the night I accepted the offer to congratulate me and it was at that moment, that I realized that I was really moving over to ABC. I would be proud to work with either one if these talented ladies.
So I consider myself lucky to step onto their set. If you take this journey with me from the beginning, I'll be able to share all of my experiences with each and every one of you.

Everything from All My Children's rehearsal process to their extravagant sets, from their high production values to their Super Soap weekend at Disney, who knows, maybe eventually I'll be able to take you on a studio tour. Now I know that for those of you who don't watch All My Children, to ask you to start watching is probably asking a lot, but look at it this way, now you have somebody who is working on the inside and can fill you in on any and all of your questions.

This is going to be the first installment of my weekly blog, I will log in every Sunday to do another, so check back every week!

I start filming on or about the week of March 31st, which means I will be airing towards the end of April. So start watching as soon as possible, tape it, DVR it, TiVo it, whatever you have to do. I know you won't be disappointed. Weekdays 1pm ET/12pm PT or check your local listings!

ABC does not have an email system for its actors, so I need you to write to me via snail mail at:
Ricky Paull Goldin
c/o ABC TV
77 West 66th St.
New York, NY 10023

Tell me all your thoughts and ideas and I will respond as fast as I can. You will be added to my mailing list. Who would you like me to get into a relationship with first and how would you like to see it happen? For viewers that already know this show, I'd love to hear everything you have to say about Jake Martin, what you loved, hated, missed about him, and what you wished would have happened with him.

It's going to be fun bringing him back to life for you. So that's it for now, I look forward to all of your input, I'll see you in Pine Valley.
Love, Ricky

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.