That time I felt like a movie star for 15 minutes

And the result is now available to behold!

“They’re ready for you!”

I almost dropped my fork.

I was in the middle of eating lunch with Kara Swanson and Nova McBee in the Wheaton College cafeteria, which was already surreal enough.

But it was about to get even more surreal, because it was my turn to come downstairs and talk to some cameras!

It was June 10th, 2024. I was at the Write to Publish Conference’s exclusive Author Conservatory event, where I would walk the aisle as an official writing school graduate.

Earlier that morning, Conservatory staff member Josiah DeGraff had put out a sign-up sheet for graduates interested in giving a video testimonial for the program. And I was like, “Sure, why not, sounds fun.”

I didn’t know I’d get my cue during lunch.

I DEFINITELY didn’t know that getting my cue during lunch would require me to non-smoothly exit the cafeteria table where I’d just been talking to two very successful authors, one of whom is actually having her book turned into a film.

That’s the thing about writer’s conferences: they have a way of piling up crazy opportunities and wild experiences one on top of another until “once in a lifetime” seems to happen about once per hour.

Anyway, I found my way downstairs (a minor miracle for this directionally challenged human being) and waited for the previous student’s interview to finish.

I walked in and sat down in the carefully placed chair in front of the flawlessly arranged backdrop with professional lighting shining on my face. I had a mic clipped onto my shirt…and had to rearrange my hair multiple times to keep from interfering with said mic. (Have I mentioned I’m a magnet for awkwardness?)

The whole time, I was internally screaming because I’ve loved film production my whole life—and even made a few amateur movies—but I’ve hardly ever gotten to experience a professional filming setup and see how everything works from behind the scenes.

Obviously, this was an extremely simple and brief filming project compared to a blockbuster fantasy film or something, but it still felt like a really cool backstage experience.

The other neat thing was that I found myself able to pretty much sit back, calmly answer the questions, and enjoy the moment. This is coming from a girl who, back in 2018, was ready to throw up at the thought of getting on a video call. In the interview, I ended up talking a good bit about how the Conservatory has helped me grow in confidence and conversation skills. In a twist of irony, the interview itself is a prime example of said growth.

Once the cameras stopped rolling, I went back up to the cafeteria to finish lunch. “How did it go?” Kara and Nova asked me.

“I think it went well,” I answered. “I felt like a movie star!”

“As you should!” said Kara. (Have I mentioned that my instructors are really nice?)

I figured that, at some point, a few clips from my interview would get edited together into a video with all the other students’ interviews. Maybe a line or two of my testimonial would stand out enough to make the final cut, who knew? At least I had fun.

Then, nine months later, this happened:

The Author Conservatory gave my interview a whole video all to itself. And this is pretty much all the material. If I said anything else, I don’t remember what it was.

Plus, they chose to post my video as the FIRST student testimonial on their YouTube channel. Which is just a crazy honor!

I think the main takeaway here is that really cool adventures can happen to normal people.

You don’t have to be an actual movie star to have awesome experiences. You just have to attend the conference, write your name on the signup sheet, show up when your call comes even if that means scrambling out of a cafeteria chair. The opportunites are there. You might as well see what happens.

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As I said before, writer’s conferences are like magical realms where adventure lies around every corner—and they’re also a huge part of helping us writers bring you the fantasy adventure books you want on your shelf.

If you’d like to help me attend a writer’s conference in 2025, you can do that by purchasing a copy of Voices of the Future Vol. 1: Stories of Family and Fearlessness (it’s that blue book you can see in the video background), which features my short story, “People of the Rain”:

Do you have questions about what it was like to attend writing school for four years? Should I write more about my Conservatory experience now that I can look back on it as a graduate?

Have you ever felt like a movie star?

Adventurously,

Jandalf the Green