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MEET MAIYA WILLIAMS
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Maiya Williams

The things I liked as a kid are the things I still like, and the list is very long! I've always liked stories in any form; books, movies, television, plays, and acting out make-believe scenarios with my siblings and friends. I was also very athletic. I liked playing baseball, running, judo, gymnastics, hiking, swimming, horse riding, climbing trees…you name it. I liked to construct things, particularly miniature houses and towns, which spurred a love of architecture and design. I love drawing, sculpting and playing the piano. I've always gravitated toward science, since my father is a scientist. I've been a life-long environmentalist, and I've always had an interest in astronomy, zoology, biology, technology, anthropology…all of the “ologies.” This list wouldn't be complete if I didn't include travel. Seeing famous places I'd heard of, and visiting different cultures and environments is always a special thrill.

What books influenced you when you were growing up?

Books with adventure and humor. A short list would include THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, HOMER PRICE.

When you were a child did you ever have moments when you decided you were going to be a writer?

I always fantasized about it but I didn't seriously consider it. My parents made it clear that they would not be supporting my siblings and I when we got out of school, and so we were all aimed toward practical occupations. From the age of nine I was certain I would be a doctor.

How did you get your first writing job?

I ended up not being a doctor. I changed my mind my junior year in college, but by graduation I still didn't know what I wanted to be. I decided to go to Hollywood to hang out with a few of my friends who I had met on The Harvard Lampoon, a humor magazine at Harvard University. They had gone to Hollywood to write for television sitcoms. I thought I'd give it try for two years. If I did well I'd stay, if not I'd go to graduate school. I got a job right away as an assistant to the Director of Comedy Development at a television studio. It was a good job because part of my duty was to read a lot of scripts, and I could see what worked and what didn't. It was like taking a self taught writing seminar. I wrote my own sample script, which got me my first professional writing job on the staff of a short-lived show called “Charlie and Company.” That launched my career in entertainment. I wrote for sitcoms for fifteen years before I wrote my first book.

Do you write every day, and do you have set hours that you work?

Yes, I write every day. I do not have to wait to be inspired; a skill I've developed from having to produce daily scripts for television shows. I basically write between the time that I drop my kids off at school until one o'clock; that's four hours. I then try to figure out what I want to write the next day. I try to make sure that I end each day at an exciting point in the story so that the next day I can't wait to get to my computer and write.

Where do you get your ideas? what inspires you?

I get ideas from all sorts of things; people I meet, odd jobs, newspaper or magazine articles, overheard conversations. I think about what I'd like to read, and try to write that. I'm inspired by my children, by their interests and experiences. I'm inspired by ordinary people who do extraordinary things.

Do you enjoy researching or do you prefer working totally from your imagination?

The Golden Hour books are time travel adventures; subsequently there is a lot of history. I LOVE doing the research. I majored in History and Literature at Harvard, and I am thrilled that I have been able to use the research skills that I learned there toward my occupation. The research helps provide ideas that spur my imagination, so they really work hand in hand. Research isn't just reading books, it can include interviewing people, travel, doing activities that the characters are doing in the story, and more. It's great fun!

What advice would you have for aspiring writers?

Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. It is in the rewriting that all of the depth and nuance enters a story. Writing is a lot like sculpting; you really have to work on it, carving and tweaking and pinching and rubbing until it is a thing of beauty.