Frolic.com: Confessions of an Entertainment Executive Turned Author

by Julia Spiro

My first novel, Someone Else’s Secret, was just published a few weeks ago, and I’ve recently been having preliminary conversations with Hollywood producers to discuss the potential of developing it for film. I’m thrilled and excited at the thought of this prospect. But I’m also somewhat weary, because I’ve been here before. Many times, in fact.

Except, in the past, I was on the other side of the process, as a studio executive. Up until about three years ago, I was a Vice President at Warner Bros Pictures. A significant part of my job involved evaluating incoming material to consider for film adaptation. This included scripts, pitches, and lots of books. I had a particular focus on book to film adaptations, reading several books a week and working closely with authors and screenwriters to develop these books, many of which we had access to months before their publication dates. 

One of the pressures that I often felt as a studio executive was the need to find the next “big” book. Every few weeks, a buzzy book would be sent around town, slipped through the cracks from savvy book scouts or submitted with a ticking clock from established agents. “This is going to be the book of the summer,” I would hear. “Lionsgate is making an offer. If you want to compete, your offer has to be meaningful – and fast.” I fell for this more than a few times, and with good reason. If an author was already well known and if their next book had a commercial concept, then of course there was ample reason to believe that their next book might be a hit. But that wasn’t really what mattered, I came to realize. Just because a book might be a hit in the publishing world didn’t mean that it would translate into a hit film. Furthermore, the sales metrics for books and for film didn’t always match up. In order for a book to be “big” enough to justify being made into a globally distributed film, its sales would have to be in the millions, which didn’t often happen. Furthermore, even if the book was a sales success, that still didn’t address the most important question of all: would it make a good movie?

I’m a big believer that oftentimes, great books don’t make great movies. Books and films are two different mediums that have vastly different storytelling powers and techniques. One of the fundamental differences that I still see between the two is that movies, in my opinion, are best experienced with someone else, or in a group. Even though most of us now view movies from the comfort of our own homes, we often share the viewing experience with our partner, our families, or our friends. And while we can and do interpret films in our own unique ways, we are presented with one visual world in which all viewers coexist while they watch. Books, on the other hand, are read on our lonesome, and while they might be discussed in book clubs, they are experienced within the privacy of our minds. They unfold and come to life through our own unique lens. When we read a book, our version of it is entirely different from anyone else’s version of it. So, when asking whether or not a book would make a great movie – one that people all across the globe would want to go see – we have to consider the notion that within that book, there is an endless number of interpretations and visions of it as a film. Picking the “right” one is a gamble. The “right” version might not speak to viewers the same way the book did. 

Now that there’s a possibility of my own book being developed for film, I’m reminded of a well-worn quote from the late William Goldman, best known for screenwriting All the President’s Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Princess Bride. With regards to finding success in the film industry and making hit movies, he famously said, “no one knows anything.” To many in Hollywood, this is a dusty notion that can be combated with consumer data. Perhaps that’s true. But from my time in the film industry, and more specifically, from my time focusing on book to film adaptations, I have to agree with Goldman on this, with one caveat. He is right that, in general, we really don’t know if something is going to be a hit or not. The world has reminded us many times, especially recently, that we can’t predict almost anything. But what we can know for sure is whether or not a story speaks to us. We can know if we believe in a story and believe in sharing that story with the rest of the world.  We can know if a story makes us feel something. And if it does, it’s a story worth telling, no matter who the audience is. 

CrimeReads.com: 7 Books Told From the Perspective of Domestic Workers by Julia Spiro

We all feel like an outsider sometimes (or all the time). So it’s no surprise that we love to root for outsider protagonists, especially when they’re infiltrating the household and lives of wealthy, badly behaving families. No role is better suited for this than that of the nanny, babysitter, housekeeper, or maid. These figures are the true keepers of the most intimate of family secrets. They’re the ones who handle the dirty laundry—both literally and figuratively. In my debut novel, Someone Else’s Secret, one of the two main characters is a recent college graduate who moves in with an elite family on Martha’s Vineyard for the summer to work as their nanny. She hopes that the job will result in career advancement for her, but it leads to a much more sinister education in a world where greed, jealousy, and secrets have the power to consume us all.

If you are fascinated by stories told through the eyes of the people doing the household and childcare work, here are several books you might enjoy as much as I do:

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Timely and important, but a breeze to read and full of whip smart observations and details, this story follows a black babysitter in her twenties who cares for the young boy of a rich, white family. When she and the boy go to the neighborhood market together one evening, at the mother’s request, a racist security guard there accuses her of having kidnapped the child. The incident begins an unraveling of larger, more complicated family secrets from the past, and the mother of the child in particular is forced to face the ugliest parts of herself.

Maid by Stephanie Land

The only non-fiction book on this list proves that oftentimes, reality is much more terrible and heartbreaking than any fiction could conjure. Land describes the excruciatingly difficult years working as a maid while raising her child alone. She takes us into the homes she cleans with such vivid detail that you can almost taste and smell the mold and dust. But you can also feel the overwhelming sense of victory when she starts to create the life for herself that she’s always wanted.

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

Set in Nigeria, this powerful book follows fourteen year-old Adunni, who runs away to the city in order to escape an arranged marriage to an older man. She winds up working as a maid for a wealthy couple, but her troubles multiply when the couple quickly becomes abusive. All Adunni wants is access to education. Through her own strength and determination, she finds a way to claw herself out of enslavement. This story will leave you sobbing and cheering at the same time.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Perhaps the quirkiest and most comedic of the books on this list, the protagonist of this book is Lillian, a lone wolf who has lost her way. When her estranged high school friend Madison asks for her to come be the nanny to her two step kids, Lillian agrees. It’s only after she moves in with Madison’s family that Lillian learns the truth: that the two kids have a rare disorder that causes them to, well, spontaneously combust and catch on fire whenever they’re upsetting. The emotion of this story will surprise you.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This one is pretty obvious, and might be considered the OG book of this category. If you’ve never read the book, now’s the time—even if you’ve seen the show. In the world of Gilead, women are servants of all kinds—maids, cooks, and, worst of all, handmaids, who’s primary purpose is to bear children for the master of their homes. This book will knock the wind out of you.

Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan

When Elisabeth, a writer and new mom, needs to find a babysitter to help her out, she hires Sam, a college senior at the women’s college in town. Though more character-driven than the rest of the books on this list, this story dives deep into issues of class, education, gender roles, motherhood, and more, as the complex relationship between the mother and the babysitter develops.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

In pursuit of a fresh start, Jane takes a job as a governess for a sweet child at a grand manor called Thornfield. What could go wrong? Throw in a mysterious and brooding master of the house, a locked-up wife that’s gone mad, a few house fires, a secret family fortune, multiple marriage proposals, and you’ve got a sprawling story bursting with romance, deception, difficult decisions, and lots of contemplation overlooking the misty moors.

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Campaign for the American Reader: Q&A With Julia Spiro

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

In my book, the two main characters are both involved in an unthinkable crime, but in different ways. One of them is directly involved in the crime, the other is a witness to it. Both of them silently carry the weight of this crime for ten long years, until they decide that the truth must be revealed. I wanted the title to touch on the difficulty we often face in speaking up when we know there has been an injustice, and the feeling that we are somehow unable to do so if the truth will impact others negatively or perhaps if we don’t feel like the truth is ours to tell. The idea really sprung from my time working in Hollywood, when I was privy to so many whispers about sexual assault and abuses of power, but, like many of my peers, I didn’t do anything about it. There were lots of other titles I considered, but I knew that the title had to have the word “secret” in it, because the story is also very much about how holding onto a single secret can shape the trajectory of our lives, and even ourselves. Someone Else’s Secret as a title also poses a bit of a mystery, which was another reason I chose it. The reader knows right away that the story is about two young women, so the question becomes: who’s secret is it? And who has the right to tell?

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teenage self wouldn’t be surprised at all by my novel. She’d read it and guess that I was the author, no question. Both Lindsey and Georgie are very much me, in different ways. Many of their insecurities are my own. But my teenage self would be shocked that I actually let anyone read it and didn’t just stuff it under my mattress. I wrote many short stories in high school but I kept most of them to myself, aside from the occasional teacher. I think my teenage self would love my novel but would have wanted more sex scenes!

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Usually, I find the beginning harder to write, because I go back and forth with countless drafts deciding which has the strongest hook. The endings generally come more naturally to me once I know my characters and where they’re going. In this case, however, it was the opposite. I had visualized the opening scene early on and I knew what I wanted it to look and feel like. But I struggled to determine how I wanted the story to end, and I wrote several different versions of it. Without giving away too much, I wanted the characters to have justice, but I also wanted the story to be realistic and not tie up in a too-tidy bow. It was a difficult balance.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Everyday life all around me has really had the biggest influence on my writing. I don’t like writing alone at home or in an enclosed office space. I need to write in a café, coffee shop or public library. I put headphones on and listen to classical music, but I silently observe the people around me. I find this crucial to my writing process. At the risk of sounding creepy, whenever I hit a mental block in my writing process, I just cast my gaze around the room and find inspiration wondering about the lives of the people around me – the couple having lunch, the mom with the toddler, the person behind the counter making espressos, the old man eating alone. There’s always an abundance of stories and ideas right in front of me if I just look around. Martha’s Vineyard, where I live and where the story is set, was also a source of inspiration in and of itself. It is a seasonal island that transforms for three months a year from a peaceful community where everyone knows one another into a crowded tourist destination, so the politics and socioeconomic dynamics here are fascinating and layered.