The Story is About   +  guest blog

Author Tales: Alexa Young

Yay! Alexa Young author of Frenemies is my guest blogger for today! I'm so glad to have her! And I hope to be reviewing Frenemies very soon! You can pick up your own copy of Frenemies on May 13th!!
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What, Pray Tell, Is A Frenemy?

First, before I say anything on the topic of the dichotomous, two-headed beast of love-hate upon whom my debut novel is based…I’d like to give a big shout-out to the Story Siren for inviting me to be her first-ever guest blogger! That’s a serious vote of confidence—especially coming from someone who hasn’t read the book yet. (Hey, wait…what happens if you don’t like it, Kristi? Uhhh. Well, for now, lucky me! )

Anyway…here’s a fun fact to kick off the guest blogginess: People often assume that because I’m a writer, I know the correct spelling, pronunciation and definition of every word in the English dictionary—and that I must be a kickass Scrabble (not to mention Scramble) player. Well, truth told? Not so much. Sure, I was the runner-up in my fourth-grade spelling bee and even skipped to a fifth-grade reading level that year. I was also a B-student in Honors English (with occasional A’s, I think?). However, I’m actually way more of a math-whiz (and a cheese-whiz) than a word-whiz (at least, I have been historically). I totally did better on the math part of the SATs than the English part. And I am constantly—I mean constantly—referring to the dictionary and thesaurus.

So what does any of this have to do with the headline above? Well…the other day, I was consulting one of my favorite online resources to find out if there was an official definition for the word “frenemy.” Indeed, there was. And you can find it here. But even more interesting, I learned the word “frenemy” is a portmanteau. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who didn’t know this.) Amazingly, I’ve been pushing portmanteaus for years without even realizing there was an actual word for these words—which only goes to show you that, like I said above, I’m simply not as word-savvy as people might think. Or am I?! How about if I let you be the judge with a little portmanteau free-styling:

Ashleighanna is a tanorexic bleachaholic with seriously skankicidal tendencies. She acts all sweetocent, but I totally caught her getting fauxmantic with my boyfriend on IM like some cyberstalking textomaniac. She really is the worst friend in the friendiverse, and it’s totally time for a friendectomy.

Okay, maybe it’s not my best work. But you get the point. And now for the fun part: The Story has three signed copies of Frenemies to give away. To be entered in the contest, you simply have to leave a comment on this post that includes at least one of your favorite portmanteaus (preferably one you made up yourself) in a sentence. Hey, your effort couldn’t be worse than mine.

Good luck, and may the best word(s) win!

XO
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ALEXA YOUNG spent the first several years of her professional life working in the music industry—for the legendary capitol records and the irreverently funny trade magazine HITS. She subsequently worked as an editor for the now-defunct teen magazine JUMP, as well as for the #1 women’s fitness magazine in the country, SHAPE. As a freelance writer, she’s contributed to a number of national consumer magazines, including Marie Claire, O: The Oprah Magazine and Family Circle. She holds a bachelor's degree in Literature/Writing from the University of California, San Diego, and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, son and dog. FRENEMIES is her first novel.