What if you suddenly became famous for the worst performance of your life? The head of an elite girls’ school sees her polished life unravel when her cult-movie past is revealed in this funny, hopeful novel about second chances.

Magnolia Wade has become famous overnight—all because of a smashing failure she thought she’d buried. Twenty-one years ago, she starred as a blue alien princess in Alien Storm, a spectacularly bad sci-fi flop.

Now she’s Dr. Maggie Wade, the respected head of an elite girls’ school in Washington, DC, when Alien Storm unexpectedly emerges as a global cult sensation.

Fans in cosplay descend on campus, reporters come calling, and school board complaints quickly escalate. Worse yet, Maggie’s teenage daughter, Rose, adores the film and feels betrayed that Maggie hid the movie even from her. But for Maggie, Alien Storm is tied to painful, hidden chapters of her life with her costar, now-famous director Rob Carraway, locked tightly in the center.

With her career on the line, but desperate to repair her relationship with her daughter, Maggie agrees to join the film’s reunion tour—if she can bring Rose.

As they embark on a chaotic journey of friendship, fandoms, and second chances, Maggie must confront the best and worst of her past—every devastating, heartbreaking, glorious piece of it.

Joani Elliott is the author of The Audacity of Sara Grayson, which won the national STAR Award for Outstanding Debut from the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She believes in the magic of stories—especially those about ordinary, awkward humans like herself who stumble into unexpected courage and resilience. Joani has taught writing at the University of Maryland and Brigham Young University. She lives in Utah with her family, where she’s happiest writing, hiking, or attempting to do a respectable cartwheel. For more information, visit www.joanielliott.com.