'Nanny Diaries' authors to be at Aurora literary festival

It's what every writer dreams about.

Write a best-selling book that becomes a movie starring Hollywood's hottest actors.

For the vast majority of writers, it's a far-off dream.

But not for first-time authors and friends Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, who met at New York University.

And they still can't believe it, either.

The duo wrote "The Nanny Diaries," never imagining it would become as big as it is today. The satire, about an NYU student who goes to work as a nanny for a rich Manhattan family, shot to the top of the New York Times charts, becoming the longest running best-seller of 2002.

An all-star crew of Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Alicia Keys and Paul Giamatti starred in the film adaptation of the movie, in theaters now.

Kraus and McLaughlin, who have since written two more books, "Citizen Girl" and "Dedication," will be among the featured speakers this weekend at Aurora's Midwest Literary Festival.

Their session is at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd.

The free festival includes a screening of "The Nanny Diaries," author talks and autograph sessions.

Q. How did the idea of "The Nanny Diaries" come about?

A. Nicola: Emma and I both worked as nannies in the early 1990s when we were at New York University. After we graduated, we started to read a series of articles about how hard it is to find good help. But the help was never interviewed. We knew from our own experiences that catering to the affluent can be a very hard job.

The more this went on, Emma said, "Somebody should talk about the other side of the experience."

We worked very hard at taking an unfunny subject, child neglect and white-collar and employer abuse, and making (the novel) funny.

Q. What was it like to write a book together? Was there ever any conflict?

A. Emma: It was incredible. We'd never written a book individually. We only know what's it like to write together.

Little by little, we're building a real process to co-authoring. There is conflict, though the conflict surprises people. It's over the tiniest details.

We're very blessed that we've never had to edit for tone and voice. We have a very aligned and shared sense of responsibility.

Conflict is usually over word choice. We had a really big throw-down over whether to use "milk" or "cream." The benefit of the conflict creatively is whatever we do fight about are almost always things that end up getting cut.

Q. Your story doesn't have a typical happy ending, in that the featured family resolves its differences or is a better family because of its nanny. What was the purpose of the ending you chose?

A. Emma: We wanted to ring true to the experience.

And we wanted a satisfying ending in that the heroine (Nanny) has really grown and learned and has a clear sense of how she'll use that experience in the rest of her life.

It was a social satire and it needed to stay true to what happens out there. Unfortunately, frequently, there's so much exploitation within the nanny system because it's an unregulated industry. That leaves a lot of room for all sorts of bad things for nannies. It can be quite traumatizing.

Q. What was your reasoning for using names like Nan for the nanny and Mr. and Mrs. X for the parents?

A. Nicola: We wanted to speak to universality as we saw it, and we thought by giving monikers instead of real names, it would lend a note of veracity to the story.

Grayer X (the 4-year-old charge, one of the few characters who is named) still has potential.

Q. What was your reaction to news a movie would be made?

A. Nicola: We almost blacked out. It's such a huge thing, beyond anyone's radar. We found out in 2001 it was a possibility. We've never really caught up to reality.

Emma: We cried like babies.

Q. What was it like getting to meet Scarlett Johansson?

A. Nicola: When we first met her, she was eating a Pop-Tart. When you read all those stories about (dieting), it's refreshing to see her eating a Pop-Tart. She was lovely. Even everyone on the set talked about how gracious she was.

Q. What do you want people to take away from "The Nanny Diaries?"

A. Emma: Child care is a job.

We tend to sort of mythologize it, with a nanny as part of the family. It's easy to (see) how a nanny shows up out of love for a child.

But she's there to earn her own food and money to pay for her own life. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that it's a job.

If you go

What: Fifth annual Midwest Literary Festival

When: Public festival hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Downtown Aurora

Who: More than 50 authors participating in free workshops, panel discussions, book signings and more

Cost: Most events are free

Info: (630) 844-4731 or info@midwestliteraryfestival.com