Marsha DeFilippo

Marsha DeFilippo, a well-known figure to many and almost as famous as her former employer, served for years as the main point of contact for his fanbase. Back in 2004, her first interview was with Hans Lilja. Now, 20 years later—4.5 years into retirement and with six books to her name—we spoke with her once again about the past and present.

SKSM: Tell us about yourself, who is Marsha DeFilippo?

Marsha DeFilippo: Marsha DeFilippo is someone who enjoys being creative and who loves having variety in what she does. She is a lifelong learner and believes that being immersed in learning new things, ideas, and activities prevents people from becoming stagnant and old. She is a writer, a mother, a grandmother, a person who enjoys crafts/hobbies and thinks writing about herself in third person is “weird.” 😊

SKSM: Where does the name DeFilippo come from? (Marsha Peterson DeFilippo)

Marsha DeFilippo: DeFilippo is my ex-husband’s name which I initially kept after our divorce because my children were still young. By the time they were grown, it seemed like too much trouble to change because of all the paperwork. DeFilippo is an Italian name.

SKSM: Where were you born, where did you grow up, and what was your childhood like?

Marsha DeFilippo: I was born in Maine, but my family moved to Massachusetts when I was 10. I was a child of the fifties and sixties and had a fairly typical childhood of someone who grew up in the city. I was an only child and spent a lot of time reading. The local library branch was at the top of my street and when I wasn’t with friends, school vacations were often spent walking to the library in the morning and returning the book I’d borrowed and finished reading for a new one in the afternoon.

SKSM: In 1969, you graduated in Somerville, Massachusetts. What did you want to be when you were younger?

Marsha DeFilippo: Career opportunities for girls/women at that time were not as diverse as they are now. Most women became teachers, nurses, librarians, secretaries, or worked in retail then. I wanted to be a secretary like my mother.

SKSM: How did you end up in Maine?

Marsha DeFilippo: As I mentioned, I was born in Maine and have many relatives who live here. I’d grown disenchanted with living in the city and the commute to my job in Boston and wanted a different way of life for my daughter, who was 5 at the time we moved.

SKSM: What jobs did you have before you ended up with Stephen King in 1986?

Marsha DeFilippo: I’d worked as a secretary in insurance agencies and banks. I lived in Seattle from 1973-1980 and during that time, I went back to college to train as a paralegal. My full-time jobs immediately before working for Stephen were as a paralegal in law firms. I stopped working for a time when I became pregnant with my second child in the latter part of 1985.

SKSM: In 1986 (in 1988 permanently), you began working for Stephen on a temporary assignment to type the manuscript for Eyes of the Dragon. How did that come about? And did you already know who he was at that time?

Marsha DeFilippo: I wasn’t ready to return to work full-time so instead, worked for a temporary employment agency where I could choose when I wanted to work. They assigned me to the job typing Eyes of the Dragon. Yes, although I hadn’t read any of his books, I was very aware of who Stephen was.

SKSM: How did you feel about being interviewed in the past, considering you were Stephen King’s assistant?

Marsha DeFilippo: It was, and still does, feel odd that anyone would be interested in knowing more about me.

SKSM: As an assistant, you have many tasks to fill your day. Is there a particular occasion (or multiple) that stands out to you over the years, and could you share more about it?

Marsha DeFilippo: It did have its more interesting moments, but on a day-to-day basis, the job was like most others in that many of the tasks were just a daily routine. That said, the connections to other authors and celebrities I made over the years and the opportunity to travel to places I would never otherwise have gone, resulted in it being one of the most interesting jobs I ever had, especially in Bangor, Maine.

SKSM: The office was filled with many female assistants (Stephanie Leonard, Margaret Spruce Morehouse, Julie Madden-Eugley, and yourself, of course). Did everyone have a specific role, or did tasks rotate daily/weekly? Am I forgetting anyone?

Marsha DeFilippo: At the time I began working for Stephen in 1988, the only other assistant in the office was Shirley Sonderegger, who was his primary assistant. My role when I was first hired was to answer fan mail and answer the telephone if Shirley was on another call. My tasks expanded as I gained more experience and familiarity with how things were done. We shared some tasks and others were assigned to specific assistants.

SKSM: I also worked in an office for a long time, surrounded by women. There were moments when I thought it could be a bit less. How did Stephen experience working in an office full of women?

Marsha DeFilippo: I can’t speak for Stephen’s personal experience. For myself, it was fairly typical of any office environment I’d worked in before, including those with men as well as women.

SKSM: You were active on the forum as Ms. Mod until your retirement. How did you find that experience? Could you share any enjoyable or challenging moments? Were there other assistants who also took on the role of Ms. Mod?

Marsha DeFilippo: The message board took up the majority of my daily routine and, overall, was an enjoyable experience. The challenges came about when members were not respecting others and when discussions became heated. This mostly happened with discussions about politics, which is why there came a point when I asked Stephen for permission to shut down that part of the message board. I was the only one who moderated the board, except for a few times early on when I was on vacation and Margaret Morehouse filled in for me.

SKSM: How did your family feel about you working for Stephen? Did you find that sometimes difficult or rather easy?

Marsha DeFilippo: It could sometimes be difficult for myself and my children when people found out that I worked for Stephen. It could put us in an uncomfortable position when asked for favors, usually about getting an autograph, but also people wanting him to read their manuscripts, or for monetary donations.

Many of Stephen’s interviews focus on his books and stories; however, I am more interested in his Dollar Baby Program, and my questions will be based on that.

SKSM: Although you started working for Stephen later in the 1980s, can you recall when you first encountered the Dollar Baby Program and how you felt about it, considering it had been established since 1980?

Marsha DeFilippo: I don’t recall when I first became aware of the program. At first, it was an occasional request because not many people were aware of it. It exploded with the internet and the developments with technology which made it easier for film students to produce films.

SKSM: Is there a short story that you consider your favorite, and can you explain why that is?

Marsha DeFilippo: I can’t honestly say I have a favorite short story or novel. It’s cliché, I know, but there are too many I like to pick just one.

SKSM: In the past, you couldn’t choose which story was available for adaptation on the website. When a request came in via email or mail, did you already have a sense of what the possibilities were, or was each request presented personally to Stephen?

Marsha DeFilippo: We had a list of stories that we knew would be available because they had never been produced as a commercial film and that Stephen had approved to go on the list. We would often check with his film agent before presenting them to Stephen because we weren’t always privy to deals that were being negotiated. Otherwise, we only went to Stephen for permission if someone was requesting the commercial rights for a story.

SKSM: It’s time for a change. On the website under the Dollar Baby section, several stories were eventually listed for selection. How was the decision made regarding which stories were featured on the website and which were not?

Marsha DeFilippo: As mentioned above, stories were chosen first by not having previously been adapted for a commercial project and any others were approved for inclusion by Stephen.

SKSM: From time to time, there were Dollar Babies that weren’t officially listed online but were ultimately put under contract. How did this happen? Was this a common occurrence, and how did Stephen handle it?

Marsha DeFilippo: In most cases, we had received a specific request for that story. We would first ask for Stephen’s input and, if he was agreeable, we would then pass it on to his film agent.

StephenKingShortMovies.com is celebrating its 21st anniversary last november. Over the years, I have seen many Dollar Babies, and I’ve often wondered how many contracts and/or Dollar Babies actually exist.

I honestly don’t know how many contracts there are but would guess it’s in the hundreds, if not thousands. Many of the contracts never resulted in a film being produced so the amount of contracts sent out far exceeded those that ended up being made into a film.

SKSM: Can you explain how the process works administratively from the application to the granting of a Dollar Baby contract? Additionally, how was it tracked when a contract expired?

Marsha DeFilippo: The Dollar Baby program has been shut down but when it was operating through Stephen’s web site, people applied for a story by filling out a request online. Assuming the story was on the list, a contract would be sent which explained the process. If a signed contract was returned with the $1 payment, it would be countersigned and at that point was officially in effect.

SKSM: When a contract is granted, it has been valid for only one year in the last decade (approximately), whereas previously there was no one-year limit. What was the reason for this change?

Marsha DeFilippo: It became necessary to include an end date because too many times, the film wasn’t completed for several years and in the meantime, negotiations had been finalized for a commercial project. This complicated things.

SKSM: The contract states that once the film adaptation is completed, a copy must be sent to Stephen for his review. Was this admiration something Stephen shared with you as assistants, or was it intended solely for his eyes? Did he ever express his thoughts on these adaptations?

Marsha DeFilippo: Any of us could watch the projects submitted. Occasionally he would mention when he found one of the productions had been well-done.

SKSM: Once the film adaptation has been viewed by Stephen, do you know what happens next with the film?

Marsha DeFilippo: The projects were retained in storage.

SKSM: The contract also included a clause stating that a Dollar Baby could not be shown publicly except at film festivals, among other exceptions. Can you explain why this restriction was in place?

Marsha DeFilippo: The primary purpose of the program was for prospective filmmakers to have a project reel to promote their work in the hopes of obtaining future work as a director, screenwriter, or producer. Having it more widely distributed could create an issue for those who wanted to produce the story commercially because their film could be considered by some as a remake, not an original production.

SKSM: The filmmakers (director/producer) send a copy of the film, but most never receive feedback from Stephen, leaving them in the dark. Is this a deliberate choice, or is there another reason behind it?

Marsha DeFilippo: Not every film was viewed by him because of his other time commitments.

SKSM: In response to my website, James Renner organized the first Official Dollar Baby Film Festival in Bangor, Maine, in September 2004, which Stephen could not attend. I understand you were there to watch. How did you find that experience, and what were your thoughts on it, considering it was more than 20 years ago?

Marsha DeFilippo: James did a good job with putting together the festival and promoting it. Organizing such an event is not an easy task.

SKSM: As far as I know, ‘Gotham Cafe‘ (2005), directed by Jack Sawyers, is the only Dollar Baby where Stephen has a (voice) cameo. How did that happen, and how does such a request typically work?

Marsha DeFilippo: Many filmmakers requested his personal involvement, but most of the time, his other commitments took first priority and conflicted with the timing or he didn’t want to do what was being asked.

SKSM: After paying $1, you have permission to adapt the story. How does the process work if a studio approaches to purchase the rights? Is this a decision Stephen makes, or is there more involved?

Marsha DeFilippo: We would hand off the request to his film agent who would then be the go-between.

SKSM: Aside from your retirement, you must have heard the news that the Dollar Baby Program has been discontinued, a program with which you were long associated. How did you react to this news, and what are your thoughts on its conclusion?

Marsha DeFilippo: I wasn’t personally involved with the program for several years before I retired. It was something that had been coming for years, but it was still a surprise when the program ended because it had been in place for so long.

SKSM: Like everyone else, there comes a time to retire, and for you, that was in June 2020. How did you prepare for that transition? How did your colleagues react to your retirement, and what was Stephen’s response when you announced it?

Marsha DeFilippo: It was a gradual transition by first reducing my work week from 5 days to 3 and working from home. Of course, with the pandemic, that was normal for most of us.

SKSM: What did you do on your last (work) day as Stephen’s assistant?

Marsha DeFilippo: I was working from home and most of the day was spent with the message board community saying our goodbyes. Stephen’s publicist at Scribner had arranged a zoom meeting to say goodbye. I had thought it was going to be just with the people I’d worked with there, but they surprised me by having Stephen and other work associates on the call. I’m tearing up a little even now at the memory.

SKSM: You have been retired for almost 4.5 years now. Do you still keep in touch with your former employer and/or colleagues?

Marsha DeFilippo: I haven’t kept in touch with as many of them as I wish I had. Life gets in the way and time goes by much more quickly these days. It doesn’t seem possible it’s been nearly 4.5 years already.

SKSM: After many years of work, you are finally retired. However, you are not sitting still. Like your former employer, you are writing books. Can you share more about how this came to be?

Marsha DeFilippo: I’d had a book I’d been working on for nearly 10 years. It took that long because there would be months or even years in between before I would pick it up again. The idea of trying to put that out while I was still working for Stephen terrified me because of the additional scrutiny it would have had if it became public knowledge. In hindsight, I probably should have picked a pseudonym and just not mentioned it. On the other hand, during those 10 years publishing has had a paradigm shift. Self-publishing no longer has the stigma of being merely vanity press and I made the choice to go the way of indie publishing rather than traditional.

SKSM: You are now retired and have more free time to finish a book you’ve been working on for several years. Can you share more about this book and the process involved in writing it?

Marsha DeFilippo: The inspiration for the romance book began as a dream that evolved into a story within a story. In the present, the story is from the POV of a woman who was having a series of dreams about a Native American couple from a time before their contact with white men/woman. As the dreams and their story progresses, she comes to believe they are from a past life experience. The location was influenced by the time I spent in Arizona. Although it took me 10 years to write, it was one of those ideas that never went away and I knew I had to finish the book regardless of whether it was ever published. I also wanted to write it from the perspective of a mature woman instead of a woman in her 20s or 30s like most of the romance genre novels available.

SKSM: From a mystery to a romance trilogy, what else can we expect?

Marsha DeFilippo: I’ve just published the sixth book of my cozy mystery series and have begun work on a new series. I’m not done with the original Cozy Quilts Club Mystery series but want to expand my work into new areas. It’s easy to fall into the trap of becoming derivative otherwise.

SKSM: There are many writers around the world. What makes your books so unique?

Marsha DeFilippo: In most mysteries, the premise is that the reader guesses the identity of the killer by the clues provided. In mine, the protagonists learn the killer’s identity before the end of the book through the use of their paranormal skills and it’s then up to them to find a way to convince the authorities they are right.

SKSM: You have published several books and built your own fan base. How do readers experience your books?

Marsha DeFilippo: The most positive comment I hear repeated is about my characters and their relationship/friendship with each other. I have four protagonists, all members of a quilting club who each have their own paranormal skill, and have formed a bond and trust with each other because of it.

SKSM: What is the nicest compliment (or multiple compliments) you have received so far?

Marsha DeFilippo: The first compliment is that readers wish they knew my characters in real life and could be part of their quilt club. The other may sound strange, but it was the review that said my story made the reader cry because of the theme about forgiveness. As a writer, I understood that it had touched that reader and made a visceral connection in an emotional way. I think that may be the highest compliment a writer can receive.

SKSM: Would you be open to the idea of a producer or studio approaching you with a request to adapt your book(s) into a film?

Marsha DeFilippo: I’d be delighted! Hmmm…maybe I should think about contacting the film agent I know from my days working with Stephen. 😉

SKSM: What do you do when you’re not writing?

Marsha DeFilippo: I still try to do crafts/hobbies although I don’t have as much time for that as I thought I would. Unfortunately, a lot of my reading time is non-fiction information about publishing and marketing, but I still try to get in fiction works as well. My grandchildren are only 5 and 8, so I try to spend time with them, but they live in Massachusetts so it’s not as often as I would like.

SKSM: Besides writing, do you have other interests or hobbies that you enjoy?

Marsha DeFilippo: I suspect I may be undiagnosed with ADHD because I have so many crafts I enjoy doing. I go through phases of being immersed in one craft and then move on to another and eventually back to the first one.

SKSM: You live in both Arizona and Maine. Can you share what you find appealing about these places and what makes them feel like home for you?

Marsha DeFilippo: They both feel like home. Of course, Maine has been my actual home for most of my life and my family roots go back to coming to America on the Mayflower. I dislike being cold and the winter months in Maine are intolerable for me, but unlike most of the population on the East coast, I have no interest in going to Florida for the winter. I can’t explain what it is about Arizona other than that from the first time I visited there, I had an affinity for it and it felt like home, too.

SKSM: Looking back on your life, are there any special or memorable moments you would like to share with us?

Marsha DeFilippo: I’m more of a private person which is one reason I don’t share a lot of personal information on my Facebook or other social media accounts, so the only memorable time of my life I’d share publicly would be my years working for Stephen.

SKSM: What is in the top 5 on your bucket list? (Everything is possible and nothing is too strange)

Marsha DeFilippo:

• Traveling more to places I’ve never been. Scotland, New Zealand, and Hawaii are 3 places that come immediately to mind.
• Becoming a 6-figure income writer.
• Writing four books a year.
• Living closer to my grandchildren.
• Being alive when a woman is elected as President of the United States.

SKSM: What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

Marsha DeFilippo: I put mayonnaise on my French fries.😄

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Marsha DeFilippo: Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope my answers have been interesting and you’ll take the opportunity to check out my books if you haven’t already. Also visit my website; www.marshadefilippo.com

If you’ll be attending the Tucson Festival of Books in 2025, I hope you’ll stop by the Wily Writers booth, where I’ll be selling and signing my books, so we can meet in person.

SKSM: Do you like to add anything else?

Marsha DeFilippo: Thank you to you, Bernd, for inviting me to respond to your questions. It’s always been a pleasure working with you over the years.