Sure, Mecklenburg’s northernmost burg has faced some weighty issues in Williams’ years as mayor and town board member, but Hezbollah and Mexican drug cartels have not been among them. That, Williams says, has made her literary collaboration with co-author Jon Guttman all the more rewarding.

“It is way cool,” Williams says of Madame President, her second novel with Guttman.

The book follows the adventures of Kate MacIntyre, America’s first female president, who narrowly escapes an assassination attempt that claims the life of the vice president. The attack unwinds a story of political betrayal, terrorist plots, violence surrounding the drug trade on U.S. borders, and heroic actions by the U.S. Army Rangers — not exactly a portrait of everyday life in a quiet college town.

“For us, the blank canvas became a dynamic challenge, rather than something scary,” Williams says of her work with Guttman, a Virginia author who has written extensively about World War I aviation. “With each other, we could be free to imagine, write, rewrite, argue, flesh out, and create. We helped each other stay in the chairs in front of the computer. Some days were hard. But most were exciting. And no days were ever boring.”

Williams, 62, says her decision to not seek re-election to the town board in November is based largely on her desire to spend time promoting her book and working on more writing projects. Madame President is available now at Amazon.com and will be in book stores by the end of September.

Williams, who has lived in Davidson for 34 years, majored in English and Spanish at the University of Texas, and has her own freelance writing business, Way With Words.