In addition to being a writer for you fabulous girls, I’m also an author and dating expert! Last year I filmed a series of teen dating advice vids for HowCast.com, covering topics like “How to Turn a Friend into Your Boyfriend” and “How to Read a Boy’s Body Language”–check ‘em all out here! So I was delighted when HowCast called me up a few weeks ago and asked me to do another how-to series on kissing.

“I’m only doing this if I’m the one doing the kissing,” I said firmly. “No models smooching and me narrating.”

Now, this is a classic example of me opening my big mouth without really thinking things through. In my little pea brain I was like “Hey, I like kissing! And I like being on camera! How could this possibly be a bad idea?!”

A week or so later the producer emailed me a pic of my future kissing partner, Mike. A model/actor/comedian, he looked like James Franco (who I have, shall we say, experience with–but that’s a tale for another time!) and the HowCast people said Mike was hilarious and charming and that we would have great chemistry together.

Cut to the morning of filming. I had 40 different kissing topics lined up to cover via 2-3 minute videos. I had a gorgeous set. I had a very competent crew. I even had a sick blow out and great wardrobe. And you know what else I had? A panic attack.

It’s not exactly commonplace to meet a guy (even one as foxy as Mike), shake hands then sit down and French on camera for 10 hours. It’s weird. It makes you feel like a porn star. And if you’re me, it makes you have a nervous breakdown.

Mike and I tried our best to chat and get to know each other as the crew set up, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I was going to kiss someone for the first time on camera, with 10 people watching–and directing it! Kissing is a very intimate thing, usually done in darkness, alone. And um hello, what if he was bad? What if he thought I was bad! Usually if that happens IRL, you at least like the person ahead of time–what if we ended up hating each other and being bad kissers?!

My head was swimming with all the ways this could be a disaster.

“Um, are you OK?” said poor Mike, noticing me hyperventilate and twitch as I tried to put on my lip gloss. He, meanwhile, seemed cool as a cucumber.

“I’m freaking out,” I hissed as the set lights clicked on. Without a word, Mike took my hand and lead me into the wardrobe room.

“I get it,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist. “We can’t kiss for the first time in front of everyone.”

Suddenly his hand was on my cheek and his lips on mine and like reverse CPR, he seemed to inhale all the panic right out of me. But he wasn’t  a good kisser–he was a fantastic kisser. Like, maybe the best ever. After our private kiss, my white-knuckled terror melted away and we had a BLAST filming the videos. It’s weird how our chemistry ignited; by the end of the day, we were holding hands and making out between takes! I began to understand how and why so many celebs end up dating their costars!

I could go on but really, isn’t a how-to video worth 1,000 words? It kinda freaks me out to watch the videos, but y’all should def check out a few more of them–all 32 kissin’ vids here!

Here’s my fave from the shoot:

How to Kiss Step by Step | How to Kiss on Howcast

Would you guys ever sign up for something like this? How nervous are you before a first kiss? Totally grossed out by PDA? Let me know in the comments.

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