Modern kids Rowan and Nina Popplewell are forced to spend a summer in an old-fashioned town, Owatannauk, Maine, and stay with their old-fashioned great-aunts. They meet a pair of twins who befriend them, show them an old possibly ‘haunted’ resort hotel. There they visit an even more old-fashioned era when they discover a time-travel machine in Maiya Williams’ first novel, ‘The Golden Hour.’ The novel, published by Amulet, was released April 1 to outstanding reviews, prompting the publisher to contract with Williams for two more books in the series. The Palisadian author will read from her book aimed at fourth through seventh graders and answer questions on Friday, April 23, at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore at 7 p.m. Williams read a great deal in her youth and loved authors such as Roald Dahl. ‘I love quirky characters, oddball things and humor,’ she says. ‘I think humor is important in a book.’ ‘Everything I like is in the book’time travel, old resort hotels, Maine and history,’ Williams says. ‘The book has magical elements, and it takes place in the farthest corner of the U.S. I could think of. ‘I’ve always loved books; it never occurred to me I could be a writer. Now that it has come to fruition, I’m very happy and pleased.’ Williams was born in Corvallis, Oregon, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and Berkeley, California. She traces her love of history to a high school teacher. ‘He would describe things down to the details of what it was like to be there back in time, the smells and sensations, wearing the clothes, toilet habits, everything people are curious about.’ Williams wanted to pass on this love of history to young readers. Not only do the young characters have an adventure, they go through honest emotions as well. The Popplewell children have recently lost their mother, and Rowan is working on a list: ‘Top Ten Reasons My Life Stinks.’ ‘It’s meant to be something kids can relate to,’ Williams says. ‘A lot of kid books in the middle grades avoid emotions or have very simplistic emotions. I imagine kids can handle a little bit more. I wanted it to be honest about what kids are thinking and feeling.’ Williams studied history and literature at Harvard. She served as editor on the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine and was elected vice-president for one year while Conan O’Brien was president. ‘Conan was a goofy guy who would get a lot of attention,’ Williams recalls. ‘He was really funny and talented. He always wanted to have the David Letterman job. He was a nice person and still is.’ Like many Harvard Lampoon alumni, Williams moved to Hollywood and found work as an assistant in comedy development at Columbia Pictures Television. The job involved reading lots of scripts and led her to write her own. Williams has since worked as a writer and producer on ‘Amen,’ ‘Roc,’ ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ ‘Rugrats’ and her current job on ‘MAD-TV.’ At the Lampoon, she met her husband Patric M. Verrone, whom she married in 1989. Patric, also a television writer-producer, is the Secretary Treasurer of the Writers Guild of America, West. The couple moved to the Marquez area in 1996. Their children Patric, 9, and Marianne, 6, attend Corpus Christi. Teddy, 3, is a student at Lyc’e Fran’ais preschool. Williams wrote her book about four years ago, while pregnant with Teddy. She spent about four or five months doing research, and nine months writing the book. Because of her TV writing work, Williams says she is good about sitting down and starting to write, without having to wait for inspiration. ‘I also leave off at an exciting point, so I can start right in the next day.’ She has spoken about the book at Corpus Christi. As gratified as she is about the reviews, she is most excited about feedback from her young readers. ‘I like writing for that age group’books really become a part of the person reading them.’
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