Now she writes about strong, messy women finding their way in the world. Williams has a BA in English Literature from the University of California at Berkeley, takes creative writing from Stanford Continuing Studies, and actively engages in writing groups and critique circles. Williams’s novel The Second Chance Playlist was a winner of the 2024 Emily Contest. When not writing or reading, Williams can be found enjoying California’s beaches, redwoods, and trails with her husband, three kids, and disobedient dog.
She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Truth Is in the Detours, and reported the following:
From page 69:Visit Mara Williams's website.I concede I got us into this mess. But he acts as if I threw them into the fires of Mount Doom. I refrain from saying so and asking whether he’s impressed I still remember the reference—despite having watched The Lord of the Rings only because he forced me.We jump into page 69 when Ophelia has just lost the keys to Beau’s car while at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere.
“Know how to hot-wire a car?” I try instead.
He gestures to himself in a wild head-to-toe pattern. “What about this gives you the impression I would know how to hot-wire a car?”
I take the opportunity to inspect him. He looks ready to shoot eighteen holes of golf, not steal a car—polo shirt, flat-front shorts, and crisp white Nikes. I suppose he has a point. “Okay, then, what do you propose we do?”
“I’ll call a locksmith. See if we can get a key made.” He frowns at his phone, holds it up like he’s in a Verizon commercial, and stomps away. He calls over his shoulder, “Don’t touch anything or go anywhere. And do not lock us out.”
#
The nearest automotive locksmith is a hundred miles away and can’t make it here until tomorrow morning.
Instead of staying at a quaint beachside motel near Santa Barbara, we must crash at the Imperial Motel and Saloon along a dusty patch of land somewhere on Route 166. It’s the only motel within a five-mile radius of the rest stop. But the motel won’t have our room (singular) ready until after dinner. There’s a small music festival nearby, so we were lucky to snag a room at all. They’ve promised it will have two beds, so there’s that. But Beau can’t storm off and pout on his own, and I can’t wash this day off me. There’s no lobby, and unless we want to make another five-mile trek back to the rest stop, we don’t even have the car to retreat to for solitude. So, the saloon it is.
The Page 69 Test works fairly well. Readers would get a good sense of the characters, their initial dynamic, and their different methods for dealing with obstacles (humor for Ophelia, frustration for Beau). The scene is a decent representation of the road trip chaos within the first half of the book—when nothing goes according to plan—and how much Beau resists the mental and literal chaos Ophelia has ushered into his life. However, this snapshot shows nothing of the emotional arc of the book, the grief journeys they’re both on, and the mystery they will ultimately uncover. It introduces a point of tension before they’ve softened toward each other. What isn’t apparent on the page is what is driving this dynamic—the resentment formed from old grudges and the sorrow over the loss of their friendship.
The test is an interesting one. Page 69 is roughly 26% of the way through the book, so the inciting incident has happened, and the characters have already wrestled with how to respond. Now they’re just beginning to wade through the murky middle, when the early setbacks and false wins come quickly and will force them to grow.
Q&A with Mara Williams.
--Marshal Zeringue
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