Welcome to PLW’s Words with a Wordsmith Friday!

Today we interview Mary Tilghman, author of the historical novels Divided Loyalties and Love Letters & Gingerbread: An Annapolis Christmas.

Now, let’s meet Mary, who writes both historical fiction and sweet romances!

Do you tend to write about places you’ve been to, or places you wish you could go to?

I became inspired to write novels while I was a travel writer for Frommer’s. I visited not exotic locales or sunny Caribbean isles but my own state of Maryland and neighboring Delaware. But lots of history happened here: the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, the Civil War. The railroad began here. Our first American-born saint started the first Catholic school. Chesapeake Bay oysters fed diners from Maryland to New York. We have ocean beaches and part of the Appalachian Mountains. Sure, I’d love to write a sweeping tale about Venice or Edinburgh or Buenos Aires — but I want to tell stories about the places I can visit again and again to draw new inspiration.

Where is your next vacation planned? Where do you WISH your next vacation would be instead?

I answer this from Ocean City, the setting for one of my unpublished novels (more on that in a minute) I’m going to New Orleans, a city I truly love, in January. Where do I wish I were going? Antarctica, the Galapagos, Scandinavia, Scotland, always Ireland. I can never get enough of Ireland.

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?I love libraries. Baltimore’s Peabody Library and the Enoch Pratt Library are treasures I’ve frequented many times. Visiting the Library of Congress is always awe-inspiring. I’ve been to the New York Public Library a number of times. After reading The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, I had to return to the Morgan Library with new understanding. Can you ever get tired of books?

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I’m embarrassed to say there are three unpublished historical novels waiting for the key that will turn them into page-turning marvels. I may have found that key at the Historical Novel Society conference in Las Vegas. I was so inspired the wheels are really turning, especially for one of my books, set in Annapolis at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. I’m letting the juices flow a while longer before I sit down and see what happens. They will one day be finished and published. Promise!

What brings you great joy as a writer?

I love to meet my characters, talk to them, get to know them, tell their story, reveal their flaws, their dreams. Then I get to introduce them to my friends—that is, anybody who picks up one of my books. When a reader tells me about one of my characters, what a thrill that is. We’ve woven a story together, created new relationships, and shared a moment. I love that.

photo via Ocean Pines Progress

As a journalist, Mary K. Tilghman couldn’t always promise her subjects happy endings.

Now as a novelist of historical fiction and sweet romance, she creates restless characters who must break out of their routines to find happiness. She sets all of her books in and around her home state of Maryland, a marvelous little state that inspires her every day. Spend a weekend with one of Mary’s books and escape to worlds full of courage, love, and—always—happy endings.

When she’s not wearing out yet another computer keyboard, Mary likes to sail with friends on Seabrina or play the hammered dulcimer. When not writing, she loves to encourage other authors. She and her husband Ray, who live in the Baltimore area, are lucky to have their three grown children—and their granddaughter and grandson on the way—living close by.

Meet up with Mary in instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.