priceiswong: Interview with Brittany Geragotelis

Brittany Geragotelis is living the dream.

After 10 years of rejection from the publishing industry, she began to post her original novel, Life's a Witch, on the online writing site, Wattpad, hoping that others would enjoy reading her book.

A year after the first upload, the book had received 19 million reads, which caught the attention of Publisher's Weekly, The Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

After building up some buzz in the industry, she hooked up with her agents who instantly received interest from publishers and movie/tv producers.

Within weeks, Life's a Witch went into auction between four major publishing houses, and in the end Brittany landed a 3-book deal with publishing powerhouse, Simon & Schuster.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Brittany Geragotelis this past week, and she was nice enough to send me a copy of "Life's a Witch" as well. I'm now even more eager to read her book after interviewing her and finding out what a fun and relatable person she is!

Tell us 5 Random Facts About Yourself.
1. I got married this year on April Fool’s Day at Disney World.
2. I have Celiac Disease (an auto-immune disease where my body can’t process gluten—wheat, oats, barley & rye). I was diagnosed when I was 26.
3. I’m moving to Hollywood next week after living in New York City for 12 years.
4. I’m obsessed with Catbug from Cartoon Hangover’s show “Bravest Warriors.”
5. I contributed to the Kickstarter campaign to help fund the upcoming “Veronica Mars” movie. You’re welcome world.

Best writing tip you’ve ever received?

My friend and writer/director Jessica Bendinger (author of THE SEVEN RAYS, writer of BRING IT ON and writer/director of STICK IT) told me once that when she was writing her first book, she made collages of her characters and some of the scenes to help show publishers and editors the kind of vibe the book had. Ever since then, I’ve done my own character collages while drafting an outline. I’ll cut out pictures of who would physically play the character in the movie/TV version of the book, clothes they might where, quirks they might have, likes and dislikes…basically, any specifics about the characters that I’ll need to keep in mind when creating them. Then I post it on the wall in my writing area, so I can always visualize who my characters are. It’s beyond helpful.

Published January 29th 2013 Published July 9th 2013 Expected Publication Date: Jan. 2014

What’s a typical working day for you? Do you have a favorite place to write?

Well, when I’m actively writing a project, my typical workday is from 9-5, just like if I were going to a day job. I always start off my day by doing maintenance stuff, like running all my social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Wattpad, Tumblr, Blog), checking e-mail, answering questions and keeping up with industry news.

Then, within my workday, I give myself a writing goal I must meet. So, for instance, I had six weeks to write WHAT THE SPELL, and eight weeks to write THE WITCH IS BACK. These are pretty tight deadlines, so in order to get it done within that timeframe, I had to write about 10 pages a day either 5-7 days a week. I found this was easier than I thought it might be, but that my days varied. Some days I’d hit my goal within a few hours, while other days I was writing until 6pm. Once I’m finished with my goal, I’m done for the day. Then, sometime within that time, I’ll work out, eat lunch and do other chores if I need to.

As for a favorite place to write…I can write anywhere, but my last four books have been written while laying on my couch, laptop on my stomach/lap, with a cat nearby and the TV on in the background. BUT we’re getting ready to move to Los Angeles, and our new place has a loft area that my husband and I are going to set up as a writing nook/office. It’s gonna be awesome!

Who or what inspired you to write?

I think I learned early on just how much storytelling can mean to a person—because it mattered so much to me. Over the years I’ve expanded that list to not only include books, but also movies and TV shows. Being able to teach people something about the world through a story is such an amazing gift. I think that being exposed to great stories (no matter their form) and having them change my life, has inspired me to try and do the same.

What are you working on now?

Well, I’ve got the third book in the LIFE’S A WITCH series, called THE WITCH IS BACK, coming out in January, and then we’re in the middle of pitching another series right now called PAINLESS. In terms of writing, I’ll be writing a book in the new year about a serial killer. And let me tell you…I’m super excited to take a STAB at this project.