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HEADING FOR A WEDDING......Feature Interview   Soaps In Depth Dec. 14, 1999   It's been one helluva year for Nora Gannon Buchanan. First, she made a baby for husband Bo with old flame Sam Rappaport(or so everyone thinks), then her marriage ended, and now she's accepted Sam's proposal. And if fans think that the last twelve months have been a rollercoaster ride for them, they should try being Nora's portrayer, Hillary B. Smith, for a spell.   "It was very scary the way they did it," says the Daytime Emmy winner of her character's devastating dabbling in adultery. "If it had happened in the middle of the Georgie storyline[during which Nora believed that her better half was helping himself to her nubile assistant], it would have been better."   As it is, the seven year veteran of OLTL feels that the tumultuous storyline obscured the Nora with whom viewers fell in love. "We haven't seen many glimmers of the Nora we once knew," she ventures. "I think we're still in the process of digging ourselves out."   ONCE AND AGAIN   Nonetheless, Smith dug into the material she was given, and over time, even die-hard Bo/Nora fans grew to like the legal eagle with her new love. "Sam has been very good to Nora," she notes. "He's been there for her, and she loves him."   Furthermore, though it was difficult to pry apart Bo and Nora, now that the supercouple's relationship of more than six years is, in fact, over, Smith is eager for a new storyline to begin. "As fun as our scenes could be, I was ready to move on," she confirms, adding, " I don't necessarily think they should go running to put Bo and Nora back together again, but there certainly should be those moments where they get woven together."   Moreover, Smith feels that there should be times when Nora goes it alone. "We need to reestablish who Nora is," she suggests. "She's now defined by whomever she's with --- she's either the ex-wife, the fiancee or mother. A lot of women feel that way." So, while Nora plans her wedding, fans will have to wait to see if she actually says, "I do," Reflecting on her alter ego's splits from hubbies No. 1 and 2, Smith, for one, has her doubts. "Three strikes and you're out," she laughs. "In soapland, just because you're engaged doesn't mean you'll get married. There's all kinds of ways it could play out."   One of which, obviously, is that Sam and Nora will tie the know, the "bride" teases. "There are lessons that come up[soon that say]that life is too short, and you've got to go for the gusto." What would the nuptials mean for Nora and Bo? Does she still love him? "Once you have intense feelings for someone," Smith allows, "it's very hard for them to go completely away. It's also easy to flip it to hate---- it's a thin line. Intense passion can go back and forth all the time."   HOMEFRONT   Luckily, Smith can leave the romantic maelstrom at the studio, when she retreats home to husband Nip, whom she met are age 14, and their kids, Courtney and Phips. On days off, "I never get out of bed," she quips. "My husband calls me the lounge lizard."   All kidding aside, Smith reveals that she is most at peace enjoying the simple pleasures of home and hearth. "I love to cook, go to my kids' games and do homework with them," she relates. "I can putter all day long in my house and never know where the time went." And Smith's commitment to her family is another reason that she continues to thrive on soaps. "When I was doing primetime in California[the sitcom SOMETHING WILDER], I was commuting," she recalls. "I decided that I didn't want to raise my children in LA. So that's why I'm doing daytime in New York. And I will continue working because it makes me feel like a whole person and, therefore, a better mother."   As primetime production on the East Coast continues top grow, Smith would love to throw her hat in the ring. "If[a job] is in New York, I'd jump at the chance because I know that I could do both[the show and OLTL], and it would be fabulous," she says, adding quickly that there is much that she still would like to accomplish in daytime. "I'd love to play the soap bitch. Ruining lives and still being able to go home to a happy life would be too damn much fun,"   FYI FYI FYI   Born: May 25, Boston, Mass. Raised: Palm Beach, Fla Soap gigs: Played Kit McCormick on THE DOCTORS in 1982 and succeeded NOW & AGAIN's Margaret Colin as Margo Hughes on AS THE WORLD TURNS a year later. Primetime credits:Starred opposite Gene Wilder in his short-lived sitcom SOMETHING WILDER. Guilty Pleasure: "I love to shop"