When I first heard about this book, I thought it sounded simply adorable! I am looking forward to reading it. So naturally, I jumped on the opportunity to participate in the blog tour. I was happy that author Teri Wilson agreed to share about her real-life experience judging beauty pageants. Read her Guest Post below, and then learn more about The Accidental Beauty Queen after the page break.
How was your experience(s) judging beauty pageants? Any funny/unique stories? Lessons learned?
The Miss United States pageant invited me to judge because I’ve had a few books made into Hallmark Channel movies and the pageant director and marketing director were both big Hallmark fans. They followed me on social media and saw how much I adore fashion and sparkle (I love following the royal family, so tiaras pop up on my pages a lot) so they reached out with an invitation. I was stunned, but also super excited to say yes.
I love judging pageants, especially the teen divisions of the competition. Honestly, I’m pretty blown away by teenagers who compete. They are remarkably poised and can carry on conversations about many things I wouldn’t have known much about when I was that age. Without fail, they all have a strong commitment to community and charity work. That was definitely my biggest takeaway from my first judging experience. It was amazing seeing how much the contestants had done for others in their community. I know a lot of people poke fun at pageants, but from my experience the young women who choose to compete are truly wonderful people. I definitely wanted to emphasize this in The Accidental Beauty Queen, which is why it’s got such a pro-woman, body-positive message.
The talent competition is always a lot of fun. It’s amazing what can be truly entertaining. Who knew I loved yodeling? For real. The winner of the last pageant I judged did a yodeling number called “I Want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” and she completely nailed it. It was adorable. I’ve also found myself sobbing through a sign-language performance of “How Great Thou Art.” Talent is really great because you just never know what to expect. I live for the day I’ll finally get to see flaming batons.
