Guest post written by author Sariah Wilson
Sariah Wilson is the author of THE SEAT FILLER (April 27, 2021; Montlake) and ROOMMAID (October 1, 2020; Montlake). A passionate believer in happily-ever-afters, Sariah and her own soulmate live in Utah with their four children and the two family cats. Her belief in true love has inspired many other standalone novels and several bestselling romance series, including End of the Line (THE FRIEND ZONE, JUST A BOYFRIEND); Lovestruck (#STARSTRUCK, #MOONSTRUCK, #AWESTRUCK); Ugly Stepsisters (THE UGLY STEPSISTER STRIKES BACK; PROMPOSAL), and Royals of Monterra (ROYAL DATE, ROYAL CHASE, ROYAL GAMES, ROYAL DESIGN). You can connect with Sariah online at sariahwilson.com.
I am a huge Star Wars nerd. Huge. It’s my dad’s fault—he raised us on the original trilogy, including making up his own words for the Star Wars theme song that I still hear in my head when watching those movies. I went to see The Rise of Skywalker, and given that I am a romance author, was keenly disappointed by the ending. Ben Solo should have lived, and heroine Rey should have won her soulmate. I needed to know if there had been an alternate ending for Reylo (Rey and Ben Solo), but there was no one to ask.
Until I saw that Adam Driver was doing a charity auction for his charity, Arts in the Armed Forces. It was a chance to meet him on the red carpet at the SAG-AFTRA Awards. This felt like the stars aligning—here was my chance to ask my question! I bid and won and flew out to Los Angeles with my then 12-year-old daughter.
We were put in bleachers next to the red carpet, and it was everything you’d hope for. Glitz, glamour, lights, and all kinds of celebrities. I had the absolute best time getting to briefly chat with stars like Rachel Brosnahan, Henry Winkler, Helena Bonham Carter and Christian Bale, getting autographs and pictures.
Getting to meet Adam was like being involved in a military operation—I met with several different members of his team to get everything arranged. I continued meeting some of my favorite stars while waiting for him to arrive. A few days before, I’d interacted with some other Adam Driver fans online, telling them about my chance to meet him. They told me that he is a bit socially awkward and doesn’t like these kinds of events, so it would be up to me to make conversation. I felt fully prepared to carry on a one-sided chat.
Then…he came over to meet us. He’s a very large, imposing man and my brain short-circuited. I have no explanation as to why I was so overwhelmed. He greeted us, shook our hands, thanked us for our donation and then asked where we were from. I remember thinking, “Why the freak does Adam Driver care where I’m from?” Obviously, he was trying to make small talk but I wasn’t processing conversation on a normal frequency. He had to ask me the question again and I finally managed to answer. He asked where our city was located and I told him, using a landmark he was probably unfamiliar with.
I asked him to sign a couple of autographs for us, a Vanity Fair Kylo Ren cover for me, my daughter’s autograph book for her. He signed a very sweet message to her, and then read the message to us (given his messy handwriting). But because it was so loud, I thought he was saying goodbye. So I somehow managed to ask for a photo, which he was more than happy to take with us. He shook our hands again and wished us a good night.
As he walked away, still kicking myself over my inability to have a conversation, I thought, “This is a book.” A girl meets her favorite celebrity at an awards show and can’t speak. I called my agent that night (even though she was several time zones ahead of me) and pitched her the idea. She loved it, and so did my editor, and thus THE SEAT FILLER was born.
(Don’t worry—I won another charity auction a year later to chat with Daisy Ridley via Zoom, and I finally got my Reylo question answered–no, sadly, there wasn’t an alternate ending filmed.)
