Kathleen Smith is, by her own admission, an unabashed fangirl. In addition to being a licensed therapist and a mental health journalist, she runs a site called Fangirl Therapy, where she answers fandom-related questions and publishes pieces about her own fandom experiences.

She’s also a TMS contributor, having published a piece for us last year on Mental Health Awareness Week—and her new book, The Fangirl Life: A Guide to All the Feels and Learning How to Deal, was just published by Penguin Random House! TMS caught up with Smith via email to dive into a discussion on her new book and how we can relate our fandom life to our IRL experiences.

TMS: What are your personal long-time fandoms?

KS: I lurked on the LOST message boards for a long time, but my first was definitely the Glee fandom. I hopped off after a few seasons, but I made a lot of lifelong friends. I was also obsessed with Battlestar Galactica, but I was mainly active in the “Mary McDonnell hair” contingent. My fandom experience usually revolves around actress worship rather than a show or story. It’s a long list of women who continue to both ruin and make my life.

Read the whole interview at themarysue.com and buy your copy of The Fangirl Life on Penguin Random House or Amazon (don’t forget you can use smile.amazon.com to purchase something and donate to a cause of your choice! Sinte Gleska University is also one of the choices.)