Baldwin School to Host Paoli Author

It's a long way from Paoli to Bryn Mawr when the journey takes you via Los Angeles. Hollywood screen writer-turned novelist Kathy McCullough will be back on the Upper Main Line Monday to talk about her first young adult novel Don't Expect Magic.

Monday night's event at the in Bryn Mawr will feature five women writers, including McCullough and Huffington Post Contributor Ruth Hochberger.

The Long Road from Paoli to Hollywood

McCullough's road from Paoli to Hollywood started after . She graduated Cornell University and then moved to New York City to attend film school at Columbia University. Not long after Hollywood lured her to the West Coast for a career as a movie and TV writer.

McCullough tells Patch she "wrote for the Wild Thornberrys (an animated series starring Lacey Chabert) on Nickelodeon." She co-wrote the ABC Family Network TV movie Teen Spirit. That may have helped fuel her creative juices for Don't Expect Magic. Both the TV movie and the novel feature teenagers with magical powers.

Hollywood can be a tough place for writer, even good ones. McCullough says she's been paid to write several scripts that never made it to the air. While not uncommon, that can certainly be frustrating.

"I wanted to try to write a book because you have a little more control as a writer," McCullough says. About the novel, McCullough tells Patch. "I had this idea and it sold pretty quickly so that was a nice happy ending."

Only the Beginning

Don't Expect Magic isn't an ending; it's just the beginning for the author. A sequel has already been sold and McCullough's agent is shopping the book in as a possible movie or TV series.

In the meantime, Monday is your next chance to meet the author whose parents still live near Paoli. Baldwin Write Now—A Celebration of Women Writers is open to the public Monday at 7 p.m. at the Baldwin School 701 W. Montgomery Avenue in Bryn Mawr. Then it's back to the West Coast where McCullough's book tour takes her next to Washington State.

Click here for a link to McCullough's website.

Click here for a link to find the book online or at local bookstores.