Three years ago, when Marissa Stapley’s editor and agent invited her to dinner, she was convinced they were there to deliver bad news. But then, she noticed a bottle of champagne on the table. Her agent started filming. And finally, her editor broke the news that her novel Lucky would be the Reese’s Book Club pick for December 2021—the first-ever Canadian title to be selected. Stapley immediately started crying.
“I had zero expectation that this would happen,” she says. “I love looking at the video, because even though I wasn’t expecting it, I wasn’t like Who, me? I worked hard, and it was a great reward. So in that moment, I did own it.”
Stapley recalls her editor, bestselling mystery author Nita Prose, telling her that everything will change. And it did. The book became a New York Times bestseller, and Stapley tells us that Lucky is now in development with Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s media company known for hit TV series like The Morning Show, Daisy Jones and the Six, and Big Little Lies.
“[Lucky] will probably be a TV show. And that’s going to change everything again.”
But before it does, Stapley has another success to celebrate: one month into Fall 2024, she has already released two instant bestselling novels. The Lightning Bottles, a love story set against the backdrop of the 90s grunge rock scene, and The Holiday Honeymoon Switch, written under the pen name Julia McKay, a Christmas rom-com inspired by The Holiday.
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The Lightning Bottles follows Jane Pyre, who was once half of a famous rock ‘n’ roll duo. But when her bandmate (and soulmate) Elijah disappeared, the public turned on Jane, who is now one of the most hated women in music. The Lightning Bottles is a compelling mystery—Jane embarks on a cross-continent road trip to track down Elijah, with the help of a superfan. The story is a love letter to rock n’ roll and the iconic era of 90s music, but also a gripping portrait of the grim consequences of fame, especially for women.
The backlash that Jane faces in the story draws from the intense scrutiny that women artists in every era of music have faced, including the current chart-toppers. Stapley points to Chappell Roan, who after skyrocketing in popularity this summer, has been heavily criticized for setting boundaries around meeting fans and for choosing not to endorse a presidential candidate.
“In the 90s it was Sinéad O’Connor, Courtney Love, Britney. But now I look at today and it’s still happening. We have to stop treating female artists this way. We don’t own them,” Stapley says. “The ones who spoke up in the 90s- they are sidelined, footnoted, roadkill. I desperately don’t want this for these women.”
With Lucky, Stapley crafted the thrilling story of a heist gone wrong before developing the lovable titular protagonist. But this time, the character of Jane came to Stapley before the story of The Lightning Bottles.
“She was complicated…I knew everything about her. I knew the worst things about her. I knew she was super protective of her story, and I knew how badly that was going to mess her up.” While the love story between Jane and Elijah is a compelling part of the novel, Stapley also wanted to create an empowering story for the woman at the center of it all.
“That agency and strength is important, and the equality between partners,” Stapley says. “I really don’t love stories where a woman is saved by a man. She always has to save herself.”
This sentiment also rings true in Stapley’s second release of the season: The Holiday Honeymoon Switch. This is not her first foray into the holiday rom-com genre—she’s previously co-written All I Want For Christmas and The Holiday Swap under the pen name Maggie Knox, and Three Holidays and a Wedding with Toronto author Uzma Jalaluddin.
But for her first solo release in the genre, she leaned into a familiar premise from a beloved Christmas film—two women switching places during the holiday season. “It’s like The Holiday, but make them besties!” Stapley says.
In The Holiday Honeymoon Switch, while Holly heals from the sudden end of her engagement, her best friend Ivy goes on her nonrefundable honeymoon in Hawaii. Against all odds, a Christmas miracle happens for each of them, in the form of unexpected romance.
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Stapley tells us that her holiday rom-coms allow her to write freely, uninhibited by the pressures she sometimes feels with her other novels. “When I sit down to write these novels, I feel very confident and very happy. And that love of writing, which lives in me, really flows out.”
That love of writing began at a young age. Coming from a family of writers and reporters, she was always told that she had “the writing gene” — something she can now recognize in her own children, who she tells us are naturally gifted storytellers.
“There was never anything else that I thought I would do,” Stapley says. “It started to get really hard, and then I thought, this is who I am. I’m a writer. I have no backup plan. This is who I am, and I have to make this work.”
To this day, Stapley remains grateful for her breakthrough with Lucky, describing it as a “neat, huge, amazing thing” to have happened. “It gives me joy every day,” she says. “I mean, Reese Witherspoon is like my patron saint.”
Lately, she’s been enjoying screenwriting, telling us that working on an adaptation of her novel Mating For Life has reignited her passion for writing. It’s a full-circle moment for Stapley. While her biggest hit will soon get its TV moment, she’s also returning to where it all began, bringing new life to her very first novel.
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