We recently had the chance to connect with Mary K. Tilghman and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mary K. , thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Note: Please call me Mary. I only use the K. in bylines–
If it’s summer, I’m thinking about sailing. I started sailing with my father (and four brothers and sisters) in the late 1960s. We started on a Sunfish, a 12-foot platform with a single sail and hardly enough room for six people. Still, we all learned to sail.
Why it still brings me joy all these years later (I refuse to count them) is that I’m still sailing. And, better yet, I’m still sailing with my father and my two sisters. The boat is now my 22-foot Catalina sloop, not my father’s Sunfish or, later, 25-foot Cal. Other friends and family frequently join us but often it’s just the four of us, letting the wind take us wherever it wants to go for a few hours on a sunny afternoon.
We appreciate the ospreys screeching at us from their nests atop the channel markers. We bask in the sunlight and sigh at the cool breezes. We laugh at each other’s jokes and enjoy the easy camaraderie of old friends–even though we’re family. Dad’s 96 but no one helps him get on the boat from the pier. He’ll tell me what I’m doing wrong but mostly he’s having a great time with his girls.
It’s a joy and a privilege every time we cast off. I wish I could share this joy with everyone.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Mary K. Tilghman, a writer based in Baltimore. I currently write sweet romance (the kind you can share with your grandmother or your daughter) and historical fiction. My books are written with uplifting characters who achieve their happy endings—perfect for a reader’s weekend getaway.
My books always have a Maryland connection. I’m working on the third of a four-book series set in Chincoteague, the seaside resort famous for its wild ponies, which was celebrated in the children’s classic MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE. Even in my books the characters end up across the Maryland line for some reason.
I was a journalist for more than 40 years, writing for community newspapers and magazines. During that time, I wrote travel guides for Frommer’s for 12 years. Touring historical sites gave me the first inspirations for my historical novels. I have three unpublished manuscripts now in the fine-tuning stages. Look for them in print in the next couple of years.
I just finished a two-term stint as tech chair for the Historical Novel Society, concluding with our virtual and in person conference in very hot Las Vegas.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
That would have to be my grandmother. She believed I was the most perfect child she ever knew. Or at least she made me feel that way. When the opportunity to go to the Miss America Pageant came along, I wanted to take my grandmother. We watched it on TV every year and she always said, “Someday, Mary Kathleen, we’re going to go there in person.” When we arrived at the pageant, I said to my grandmother, “We made it.” She said, “Yes, but I always thought YOU were going to be Miss America.”
She loved my writing before I did, encouraged me in my schoolwork, told stories that nurtured my own imagination. She loved me no matter what.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
Not one time…many times. My husband Ray listens all the time. If I’m at a point of frustration or difficulty with my work, he listens and then, remembering times when I was so excited by what I was doing, reminds me of my goals, my accomplishments. I don’t know what I would do without him.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
Love one another. My family. Neighbors, Friends. Strangers. Even the driver who cuts me off on the Beltway. Am I good at it? Sometimes. But I am working on it.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days.
I work very early. I can’t wait to get back to my story. I wake up, grab a cup of coffee, open my laptop and start writing. Sometimes I have no idea what my characters want to do, sometimes I’m excited to work out the problem I left hanging the day before.
I write several hours a day and then move on to other projects. Recently, I gathered a group of fellow writers for a local book festival at a local artisan’s shop. It was so successful we’re doing it again Nov. 15 and again Feb. 7. It’s called SIMPLY WRITTEN HERE, reflecting the name of the shop, Simply Made Here. I love to help writers as much as I like to solve my characters’ problems and help them reach their happily ever after.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://maryktilghmanwrites.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mktilghman_novelist/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-k-tilghman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryKTilghmanWrites
Image Credits
All my personal photos
