WEBVTT 00:00:04.329 --> 00:00:30.109 Hi and welcome back to Tell Me What Happened, 00:00:30.210 --> 00:00:32.670 the podcast that features folks from all walks 00:00:32.670 --> 00:00:36.280 of life. telling us one true childhood story 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:40.380 and how that event, that experience, has impacted 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:43.840 who they are as an adult. I'm your host, Jay 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:47.200 Rehack, and like you, I've had my share of childhood 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.020 experiences. Some of them fun, some of them not 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:53.759 so great, actually. But I'd always like to think 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.799 that everything that's ever happened to me has 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.520 made me a better person. Now, people who've known 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:00.820 me know that's probably not true, but that's 00:01:00.820 --> 00:01:04.709 what I like to think. Today. I have as my guest, 00:01:05.170 --> 00:01:08.469 J .S. Poehler. J .S. is a playwright and the 00:01:08.469 --> 00:01:12.430 author of two middle grade novels, Captain Superlative 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:15.969 and The Lost Things Club. I'd also like to add 00:01:15.969 --> 00:01:20.129 that I met Jessica, which is a J .S., through 00:01:20.129 --> 00:01:23.730 the Playground Writers Group in Chicago. It's 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:27.290 sort of got a national organization in various 00:01:27.290 --> 00:01:29.189 cities, but I met her in Chicago and I believe 00:01:29.189 --> 00:01:32.609 that's where she's based. So welcome to the show. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:36.180 Jessica. Thank you so much for having me, Jay. 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:39.659 It is always exciting to work with other members 00:01:39.659 --> 00:01:42.700 of the Playground Writing Pool. It is cool. You 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.859 know, it's not really part of the story, but 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:48.379 we both write a lot of plays, and you write short 00:01:48.379 --> 00:01:51.219 plays. And I know one of your plays is actually 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:54.040 going to be done at TheatreWit in March, I believe. 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.659 Yes, March 16th. March 16th. Very cool. TheatreWit's 00:01:57.659 --> 00:01:59.719 in Chicago. If you live in Chicago, stop by. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:01.599 I forget the name of it. What's the name of it? 00:02:02.259 --> 00:02:05.980 The play is Scheherazade's voice. Oh, yes. It's 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:08.939 a bedtime story. It is. It is the bedtime story 00:02:08.939 --> 00:02:12.599 prompt. Yeah. Very cool. All right. Well, Jessica, 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:16.099 are you ready to tell your story? I am absolutely 00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:18.400 ready to tell my story. All right. I'm going 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:20.360 to get out of the way. And at the end, I'm going 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:22.379 to ask you how it's impacted who you are as an 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:25.740 adult. But for right now, take it away, Jessica. 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:29.770 Well, I have a lot of Tragic stories in my childhood 00:02:29.770 --> 00:02:32.389 past and I've decided not to tell any of them 00:02:32.389 --> 00:02:35.349 because I feel like we need to put some Positivity 00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:37.590 and some joy into the world So I am going to 00:02:37.590 --> 00:02:40.250 tell you a happy story The first thing that you 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:42.729 need to know about me is I have always always 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:44.949 been in love with the theater I have always always 00:02:44.949 --> 00:02:46.830 wanted to be involved with the theater. I have 00:02:46.830 --> 00:02:50.460 not always wanted to be a playwright I started 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:54.039 very young, absolutely determined to be an actor. 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:57.159 I was committed to this pretty much from fourth 00:02:57.159 --> 00:02:59.900 grade onwards. There was just nothing else. I 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:03.199 was very myopic about it. So I did theater classes 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:06.719 and I went to see plays and I did theater summer 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:10.580 camp. Specifically, I attended Summer on Stage, 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.219 a theater camp that was based out of Highland 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:16.560 Park, Illinois. I attended for four years, and 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:19.360 because I could not sing and was a lousy dancer, 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:23.580 I usually was not cast in very large, very substantial 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:27.500 roles. But my third year, we did a play called 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:30.979 Out of Orbit. which was about the planets all 00:03:30.979 --> 00:03:33.400 being knocked out of orbit and a bunch of astronauts 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:37.300 having to travel from planet to planet, meeting 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:40.860 all sorts of strange creatures in their attempt 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:43.719 to solve the mystery and get everything sort 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.580 of back the way it was supposed to be. And that 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:52.419 year I was cast as Han Solo. Now, I grew up in 00:03:52.419 --> 00:03:56.379 a tricky household. So the name Han Solo meant 00:03:56.379 --> 00:04:00.259 nothing to me. I knew plenty about Captain Picard. 00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:04.139 I knew Captain Janeway. I knew Spock. I knew 00:04:04.139 --> 00:04:08.050 Odo. These were all my childhood friends. But 00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:10.710 I knew nothing about Star Wars. I had seen the 00:04:10.710 --> 00:04:14.030 Star Wars videos from time to time at the local 00:04:14.030 --> 00:04:16.889 blockbuster, but they always kind of scared me 00:04:16.889 --> 00:04:19.529 because the covers had Darth Vader and had a 00:04:19.529 --> 00:04:21.850 stormtrooper and had Yoda, and they were all 00:04:21.850 --> 00:04:25.269 just kind of creepy, freaky creatures, so I never 00:04:25.269 --> 00:04:28.470 went near them. But since I was going to be an 00:04:28.470 --> 00:04:31.509 actress, I knew I wanted to be the best I could 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:34.850 be, which meant I needed to do character research. 00:04:35.129 --> 00:04:38.189 So I convinced my mother to take me to Blockbuster 00:04:38.189 --> 00:04:41.829 and we rented the three original Star Wars movies 00:04:41.829 --> 00:04:46.709 and I watched them back to back to back and absolutely 00:04:46.709 --> 00:04:50.310 had a ball. They weren't scary, I was sure they 00:04:50.310 --> 00:04:53.230 would be scary. These stories were fun and exciting 00:04:53.230 --> 00:04:56.490 and funny and I love the characters including 00:04:56.490 --> 00:04:59.189 of course Han Solo. And thanks to my research, 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:03.670 I felt I had a really good handle on him to really 00:05:03.670 --> 00:05:06.990 enhance my performance in a three -minute scene 00:05:06.990 --> 00:05:12.930 in a camp play. I reached deep and I found backstory 00:05:12.930 --> 00:05:15.230 justifications for everything I did. Now, in 00:05:15.230 --> 00:05:18.670 retrospect, I understand that the camp directors 00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:21.769 just needed a three -minute fight choreography 00:05:21.769 --> 00:05:24.829 musical number, which had a bunch of kids running 00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:28.399 around dressed up as Star Wars characters. you 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:30.160 know, pretending to beat the snot out of each 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:33.180 other. But I decided I needed to give it justification. 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:36.860 Why was Han Solo fighting this particular stormtrooper? 00:05:37.220 --> 00:05:39.920 Why did Han Solo suddenly have a lightsaber? 00:05:40.019 --> 00:05:42.759 Why was Han Solo turning on one of his allies? 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:45.360 You know, the answers are really because those 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.459 are the characters I was paired up with to fight. 00:05:47.819 --> 00:05:51.620 But I went deep. I created backstory. I created 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:55.360 drama. I was so proud of myself. And when it 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.779 was over, I discovered I was still thinking about 00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:03.579 Star Wars all the time. I started thinking, you 00:06:03.579 --> 00:06:05.620 know, what would happen if Han Solo did this? 00:06:05.740 --> 00:06:07.800 What would happen if Luke Skywalker did that? 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:10.319 What would happen if this character were introduced? 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:12.360 What would happen if there were crossovers with 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:16.600 Star Trek? And thus I began my journey of becoming 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:19.920 a fan fiction writer. Now, I will put this out 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:22.379 here in case anyone from Lucasfilm is listening 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:25.160 in on this right now. I have never published 00:06:25.470 --> 00:06:29.670 any Star Wars fiction of any kind. Every story 00:06:29.670 --> 00:06:34.029 that I wrote was handwritten, but I slowly began 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:38.490 to develop my own quote -unquote Star Wars television 00:06:38.490 --> 00:06:43.050 series. It took place between episodes, well, 00:06:43.449 --> 00:06:46.370 I guess it took place roughly between when they 00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:49.069 rescued Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt's palace 00:06:49.069 --> 00:06:52.740 and then the rest of Return of the Jedi. And 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:55.939 over the course of, I'm going to say, five or 00:06:55.939 --> 00:07:00.300 six years, I developed over a hundred episodes. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.439 I called them episodes that featured the cast 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:08.139 of Star Wars, along with some of my own original 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:11.699 characters. and I very detailed wrote out the 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:14.800 episodes and then I wrote an episode guide and 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.680 the episode guide came with trivia about each 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.740 episode such as this is the first appearance 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:22.459 of this character or this episode referenced 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:26.819 this previous encounter. I just got completely 00:07:26.819 --> 00:07:30.459 obsessed with writing my own stories and that 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:33.699 naturally became sort of the gateway drug I needed 00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:38.009 to start discovering and contributing to fan 00:07:38.009 --> 00:07:40.889 fiction forums online and this i moved out of 00:07:40.889 --> 00:07:43.689 star wars and other cannons you know there is. 00:07:44.050 --> 00:07:47.269 Terrible terrible legend of zelda fan fiction 00:07:47.269 --> 00:07:52.310 out there. Because of me and from there i gradually 00:07:52.310 --> 00:07:55.529 started to write original stories when i was 00:07:55.529 --> 00:07:58.649 in college i discovered playwriting and basically 00:07:58.649 --> 00:08:01.470 said goodbye to acting and never looked back. 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.060 And since then, I have been developing story 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:07.879 after story, and none of this would have happened 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:12.199 if I hadn't been cast as Han Solo in a camp play, 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.899 if I hadn't been so determined to be appropriately 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:18.000 researched for the role, if my mother hadn't 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.060 taken me to Blockbuster. So although I still 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:24.660 remain a Trekkie to this day, I credit Star Wars 00:08:24.660 --> 00:08:28.160 with turning me into the writer that I am and 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:31.879 the writer that I hope to be. And Jay? That is 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.360 my story. That's a great story in the sense that 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.220 there's definitely a beginning to that writing 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:41.379 career that's very clear. I have a daughter who 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:44.200 was heavy into Harry Potter fan fiction. She's 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:46.740 a bit of a writer herself. And so I understand 00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:48.860 where it came from. But I was going to ask you 00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:50.919 my follow up question, which is always the same, 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:53.019 which is, you know, how has it impacted your 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:55.779 life as an adult? But you've sort of already 00:08:55.779 --> 00:08:58.580 explained that. But maybe take a minute and just. 00:08:58.649 --> 00:09:01.129 break down the books that you actually have written 00:09:01.129 --> 00:09:04.870 that are published versus, I mean, I understand 00:09:04.870 --> 00:09:07.090 that I don't think Lucasfilm is going to come 00:09:07.090 --> 00:09:09.110 after you, but like you said, you didn't actually 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:11.909 publish those hundred series that you wrote. 00:09:12.509 --> 00:09:14.289 So maybe just tell us a little bit about your 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:16.769 career now, unless there's something else you 00:09:16.769 --> 00:09:18.330 want to tell us about how it's impacted your 00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:21.169 life. Well, I will first say if Lucasfilm is 00:09:21.169 --> 00:09:23.950 listening, I would love to develop a TV series 00:09:23.950 --> 00:09:27.200 with you. And I already have the beginnings of 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:29.600 a series Bible in my head. So please, please 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.659 reach out. The stories that I have published, 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.919 I have two published stories and several more 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:38.039 that my agent is currently shopping around. My 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:40.299 firstborn is Captain Superlative, which came 00:09:40.299 --> 00:09:44.279 out in 2018. And that is a middle grade story. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.399 It's sort of an adaptation of Don Quixote for 00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:51.419 tween age girls. It's about a seventh grader 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:54.370 who shows up in middle school one day. dressed 00:09:54.370 --> 00:09:57.269 up as a superhero, declare she's a superhero 00:09:57.269 --> 00:09:59.590 and starts going around performing random acts 00:09:59.590 --> 00:10:03.830 of kindness and standing up to bullies. And then 00:10:03.830 --> 00:10:07.970 my second born, my poor pandemic baby from 2021 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:11.549 is The Lost Things Club, which is set in a Chicago 00:10:11.549 --> 00:10:14.210 neighborhood and sort of deals with how kids 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:18.600 sort out trauma after surviving a school shooting 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:22.440 and how they use theater and puppetry and imagination 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:25.960 and storytelling to address their emotions and 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:29.480 sort of come out of the horrible malaise that 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:33.039 has fallen over them after such a terrible event. 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:38.139 And both books, you know, were largely inspired 00:10:38.139 --> 00:10:41.940 by things that I have witnessed kids today going 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:44.830 through. You know, back in the day, my biggest 00:10:44.830 --> 00:10:49.570 concern was playing Han Solo correctly. Now kids 00:10:49.570 --> 00:10:53.149 have to deal with trauma beyond anything that 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:55.330 I, and I was bullied. I was definitely bullied 00:10:55.330 --> 00:10:58.029 as a kid, but what's happening to kids today 00:10:58.029 --> 00:11:01.549 is so much more extreme. Yeah. I mean, I'm sorry 00:11:01.549 --> 00:11:04.730 that you were bullied, but I'm glad that as a 00:11:04.730 --> 00:11:08.549 consequence, you're writing novels or books that 00:11:08.549 --> 00:11:12.820 in some ways may assist other people in understanding 00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:15.279 that that's not right or whatever else. I was 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:18.919 a school teacher for 36 years, so I have a sense 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:23.019 of what kids go through, a sense. My childhood 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:24.700 was definitely easier than what I think these 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:27.460 kids have today. But the fact that you're writing 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:29.440 these things, do you think that your childhood 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:32.480 experiences have impacted your writing directly? 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:34.940 I mean, you think that what I'm saying, like, 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.259 besides Han Solo, I'm talking about, yeah, being 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:40.700 bullied, I guess. I'm sorry, but... I'm sorry 00:11:40.700 --> 00:11:43.179 that happened to you, but did that impact your 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:46.460 writing, you think? Oh, absolutely, and both 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:48.860 consciously and unconsciously. You know, I had 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:51.440 one particular kid who picked on me all throughout 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:54.639 my childhood, and I didn't realize until well 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:57.399 after the fact that I had written her into Captain 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:01.720 Superlative that she was the bully. I just thought 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:05.740 I was writing an original, brand new character. 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:08.820 But looking back, I realized, oh no, no, that's 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:13.799 definitely my trauma speaking there. Wow. Well, 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:17.220 Jessica, thank you very much for sharing your 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.159 story. I look forward to reading some of your 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.419 work, actually. I've not read Captain Superlative, 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:25.539 or I forget the last, the other one's called 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:28.330 though. The Lost Things Club. The Lost Things 00:12:28.330 --> 00:12:31.809 Club. But I will definitely, are they available 00:12:31.809 --> 00:12:34.549 on Amazon or somewhere that I can get them? They 00:12:34.549 --> 00:12:37.950 are available at Amazon. Any independent bookstore. 00:12:38.129 --> 00:12:40.710 You can also get them at the Chicago Public Library. 00:12:41.029 --> 00:12:43.809 Oh, I love that. I'm a big fan of women and children. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:45.620 books, which is around the corner. I'm going 00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:47.419 to ask them. Oh, I love women and children and 00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:49.820 first they're the best. So I'll ask them if they 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:51.639 got it and I'll get out and get the first one 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:53.320 anyway and maybe get the second one too. But 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.360 I like to read one at a time, so we shall see. 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.100 But very cool. So what's what's what's the next 00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:00.779 book you're working on? Do you have any another 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:02.659 book that you're working on or just working with 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:05.659 the plays these days? I am chronically working 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:09.019 on a book right now. My agent is trying to shop 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:12.059 around a young adult coming of age story about 00:13:12.059 --> 00:13:15.950 a girl. who goes on a very dramatic road trip 00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:19.629 with her father. We haven't quite found anyone 00:13:19.629 --> 00:13:22.950 who wants to read it yet, but it is early days. 00:13:23.629 --> 00:13:25.929 Very impressive. Well, thank you for coming on 00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:28.649 the show, Jessica. Thank you for having me, Jay. 00:13:29.649 --> 00:13:31.509 All right. Well, that's our show. Thank you. 00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:33.529 Thank you again to J .S. Puller, the author. 00:13:33.750 --> 00:13:36.559 I'd also like to thank our sponsor. Sidelining 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.960 Publishing, publishers of quality books and publishers 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:45.159 currently of 10x10 Black Hole Chess. A game that 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:48.879 pawn E4 does not work. You cannot use that as 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:52.620 your opening. Check out blackholechess .com for 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:55.659 more information about the game. So until next 00:13:55.659 --> 00:13:59.179 time, this is Jay Rehack asking you all to please 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:01.980 stay safe out there and try not to hurt anybody.