You can meet Francia Raisa from "The Secret Life of the American Teenager!"

by Brittany Geragotelis

When we decided to shoot Francia Raisa, one of the stars of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" I wasn't super psyched. Not because I didn't like her...but I'd simply never watched the show before. So, after we had the actress on board, I knew I had to do a little research. Yes, a lot of my research for work involves watching TV.

How jealous are you?

photo credit: ABCFamily/Secret Life of the American Teenager

Anyway, I began to watch the show and at first was like, "Really? This is what has teens obsessed these days? (It's ABC Family's number one show and is a fave among teens; even celebs like Kendall Jenner and Selena Gomez are fans) It was like "7th Heaven" pregnant (an astute observation, since I later found out that creator Brenda Hampton, was the mastermind behind this show as well).

But as I continued to watch it, I slowly got hooked. Now, only partway through season 4, I'm officially a fan. So the prospect of meeting one of the show's stars is way exciting for me now! And on that note, I'm sure a lot of you out there would be psyched at the chance to meet her, too. Sooooo, because I love you all AND because it's Friday, here's a way you can make your dreams come true!

5x5,
B.

The Quad Squad

by Brittany Geragotelis

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you all know that I just added the first chapter of a new short story I'm writing called THE QUAD SQUAD. It's a family drama about quadruplets who are starting to grow apart. Here's the description:

Seventeen-year-old Brewster Bay is never alone. Like, EVER. And she likes it that way. As one-fourth of quadruplets, she feels most like herself when she's alongside her sisters. But the Quad Squad just entered their junior year and everything seems to be changing. Brewster's sisters suddenly have their own interests, their own identities, their own lives...outside of being one of the Bay girls. 

Worried she's losing her sisters--and her identity in the process--Brewster begins to have panic attacks that force her to seek professional help. Her therapist suggests she take the time to find herself; Brewster has other ideas. She just needs to get them all to team up on something...rekindle their sisterhood and remind them that they're better when they're together. But in order to get the four of them to focus on the same thing at the same time, Brewster knows it'll take something big. In the end, what she thought would bring them together, might actually tear them apart.

Check it out today and be sure to tell your friends if you like it! I'll be uploading new chapters every Tuesday!

5x5,
B.

New Book Alert: MY LAST KISS

by Brittany Geragotelis

Hey guys! I'm so excited to introduce you to an exciting new author whose debut novel, MY LAST KISS just came out! Her name is Bethany Neal, and I had the pleasure of meeting her on one of my author tours and since then, we've become social media buddies. She's sweet, fun, thoughtful and we've had more than one convo about one of our TV faves, AMERICAN HORROR STORY.

Well, you're in luck because Bethany's stopping by to give you a little insight into the sometimes evil world of frenemies...just in time to prepare you for MY LAST KISS. I've already ordered my copy...don't wait too long to get yours!

Congrats to author Bethany Neal to her debut novel MY LAST KISS!

The art of the frenemy. We’ve all had them. Some of us might have even been one in the past—or at this very moment—but one thing is true when it comes to frenemies (at least in pop culture): we love to hate them. But why? My novel MY LAST KISS has its fair share of frenemy love/hate that leads to the ultimate betrayal of the main character Cassidy Haines. Read on as I analyze this list of royal Queen Bee-otches to find out.

First up is Ali from the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard. Talk about two-faced. Ali manages to torment her band of hot for teacher, pill-popping, donut-purging, closeted friends more after she's dead than when she's alive. Brutal, right? But behind every scheme and lie Ali orchestrates, one thing is evident. She’s afraid. Of what? You’ll have to read the books (or watch the show) to find out. The point here is there are two types of frenemies: those who are afraid and those who are jealous. And they’ll tear you down one insecurity at a time to avoid having to admit it. 

Courtney Shayne from the movie Jawbreaker is the latter. Her signature color might be red, but her blood runs a deep envious shade of green. Liz Purr’s death by birthday-prank-gone-wrong courtesy of a particularly bitter jawbreaker might have been an accident, but damned if Courtney wasn’t pleased at punch to strut down the school halls in a V formation—Courtney at the point—mere hours after the much-adored alpha nice girl bit the big one. Courtney couldn’t stand that Liz was revered and loved. Nothing pisses off an alpha girl more than coming in second place to someone who doesn’t have to resort to suggestively licking popsicles to impress a guy in a letter jacket.

Kathryn from the movie Cruel Intentions takes the saying "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer" to a whole new level of villainy when she helps her stepbrother/borderline incestuous play toy Sebastian de-virginize the self-proclaimed waiting-for-marriage Annette. Kathryn is so hellbent on revenge that she swaps spit with her droll nemesis Cecil in Central Park in an attempt to “corrupt” her. But playing puppetmaster on the elite Upper West Side has its pitfalls and Kathryn falls victim to just about every one of them in the end…including an unhealthy dependency on her suspiciously powdery rosary. 

Regina George from the movie Mean Girls epitomizes the term frenemy. She will literally tell you she loves your “vintage” skirt to your face and turn around to tell someone else that it’s “the ugliest f-ing skirt” she’s ever seen. In my totally professional psychoanalysis (based solely on a lifetime of watching teen movies), Regina is both afraid (of being alone) and jealous (of anyone with better hair than her). Regina deals with her insecurities by portraying a persona that will land her as many “friends” as possible. The sweet on the outside, sour on the inside game is a classic from the frenemy playbook. To double the offense, pro-frenemies like Regina “friends” equal power in which she can wield to fill the gapping void of insecurities sticking to her insides like glitter rubbed off the Burn Book. She’s the typical kid who never learned to share on the playground…only she had a perfect enough smile to get away with it, and now she’s stealing away boyfriends and teacher’s integrity instead of sandbox toys.

And then we have Beth Cassidy from Dare Me by Megan Abbott. Beth is the prototypical mean girl—hot cheerleader with a cool, blasé façade—but she’s the antithesis to every established frenemy law. She’ll just as easily trash talk to your face as behind your back, and you’ll want to be nearer to her all the more for it. She reigns with fear, but not her own—she’s fearless, as exemplified by her high-flying cheer stunts. She’ll play footsie with your fears then train them to kick you in the ass with your own foot, and you’ll still want her as your hard-as-acrylic-nails “friend” and have no idea why except that it’s better than the alternative. Beth is either the most messed up female on this list or she’s simply the most evolved. Hey, at least she’s honest. Kinda begs the question: what’s worse, the beast you know or the one lurking at the base of a cheer pyramid waiting to drop you when you fall? 

Lastly...Cassidy Haines remembers her first kiss vividly. It was on the old covered bridge the summer before her freshman year with her boyfriend of three years, Ethan Keys. But her last kiss—the one she shared with someone at her seventeenth birthday party the night she died—is a blur. Now, Cassidy is trapped in the living world, not only mourning the loss of her human body, but left with the grim suspicion that her untimely death wasn’t a suicide as everyone assumes. She can’t remember anything from the weeks leading up to her birthday and she’s worried that she may have betrayed her boyfriend. If Cassidy is to uncover the truth about that fateful night and make amends with the only boy she’ll ever love, she must face her past and all the decisions she made—good and bad—that led to her last kiss.

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Be sure to check out Bethany's new book and visit her on social media! Facebook & Twitter.

Congrats Bethany!

5x5,
B.