Maiya Williams was born in Corvallis, Oregon but grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, then moved to Berkeley, California when she was in 6th grade. She loved all forms of story telling, devouring books like potato chips, writing and putting on plays with her friends, writing parodies of radio shows and staging mysteries, setting up crime scenes in the living room and leaving a plethora of clues for her sister to solve. During this formative period Maiya developed a wide range of interests, including a passion for art and architecture, animals, the environment, American history, biology, classical and jazz music, David Bowie and the Beatles, astronomy, Judo, horse back riding, sailing, aquariums and the sea in general, archeology, anthropology, folklore and mythology....well, I could go on. Let's just say Maiya was curious about just about anything.
Maiya went to Berkeley High School, where she was on the field hockey and softball team her freshman year, and speech and debate team, MESA, Junior State and Model U.N. her sophomore, junior and senior years. Her senior year Maiya also became editor-in-chief of the yearbook. She graduated second in her class and then went on to Harvard College where she majored in American History and Literature. Though she produced two plays, Maiya's main extracurricular activity in college was as an editor on the Harvard Lampoon, our nation's oldest humor magazine. She got on as a first semester freshman, a rare feat, and eventually became vice-President of the organization. It was her experience in writing for this magazine that convinced her to give up her plans to go to medical school and instead take a stab at making a career out of her true passion, creative writing.
After graduating from Harvard with honors Maiya moved to Hollywood with her sister and quickly landed a job as an assistant to the director of comedy development at Columbia Pictures Television. In that job she got plenty of experience reading television scripts and making career connections, and after a year was able to land her first staff job as a writer on a show called CHARLIE AND COMPANY for CBS. Maiya's TV credits are available on IMDB, but her more well known credits include RUGRATS, FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR, MAD-TV, FUTURAMA and THE HAUNTED HATHAWAYS.
During this time Maiya married her college sweetheart whom she met while on the Lampoon. They built the house that they currently live in which boasts an ocean view and secret passages. Together they collect first edition books, animation art, and animation figurines. They also had three children, whom they adore. It was during her pregnancy with the third child that Maiya decided to take time off from work. Her two older children were of the age where she was reading novels aloud to them, and was reminded of just how much she loved books written for Middle Grade readers. She had an idea buzzing around in her head and she decided to finally to do something she'd wanted to do for a long time; sit down and write a novel. The result was THE GOLDEN HOUR, the first in a Time Travel Trilogy. After that she wrote THE FIZZY WHIZ KID, about a young man discovering the ups and downs of life as a celebrity in Hollywood, and MIDDLE SCHOOL COOL, renamed in paperback as KABOOM ACADEMY, about a journalism class investigating some strange goings-on at a very experimental school.
Maiya continues to write for television and novels, switching back and forth between the two. She likes both types of writing for different reasons; television is social and exciting and your work is broadcast within months of your writing it, while books are more personal and gratifying, exploring ideas more deeply and completely.
In her spare time Maiya enjoys hiking, biking, horse riding, walking her dogs, reading books and meeting with her book club, watching movies and binge watching TV, playing piano, cooking, visiting with friends, going to the theater, museums, the symphony, the opera, the beach, academic lectures and architectural tours. She also likes to travel, her favorite trips so far being the ones she took to Japan, Italy and the Galapagos. She continues to be curious about just about anything. Most of all Maiya enjoys spending time with her husband and children when they are home, playing games, telling jokes, goofing around, going on adventures together. Family time is always the best time.
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