Mary K. Tilghman, Novelist

Hey Historical Novelists? Are you attending the @hnsnorthamerica.bsky.social conference in Vegas? Let me know! I'm looking forward to a jam-packed schedule of great writers, great ideas, great books.

Work begins today on the first-ever #hns2025 Short Story Anthology. I've seen the stories...all set in Las Vegas' past. This is going to be fun. #shortstories #anthology #vegas

Thanks for this wonderful webinar. It was well presented and made me much less afraid of getting into the submission process. Thanks @reneefountain.bsky.social

Picture of statue in front of painting with the text: A GUIDE TO The Raphaelite Society By Grace Morrow

Image of papers with the text: PITCH THE RAPHAELITE SOCIETY is an exhilarating Portal YA Fantasy that combines the secret society aspects of LADY MIDNIGHT by Cassandra Clare, with the adventure of NATIONAL TREASURE and the whimsy and humor of Ally Carter's THE GALLAGHER GIRLS. And pictures of those book covers.

3x3 rows of photos. Row starting left to right, top row to bottom row. Row 1: Picture 1: Girl with longe blonde hair and black bow, dressed in black looking up at buildings. Picture 2: A paint palette. Picture 3: Hand turning page of a magazine that depicts Venus in half-shell Row 2: Picture 1: Bike leaning against streetlight with London in background. Picture 2: Two hands touching. Picture 3: Boy and girl running through streets. Row 3: Picture 1: Hands at a paint easel. Picture 2: Museum gallery hall. Picture 3: Dark haired boy reading at desk.

OG character art by Moth.Deity

James has always been a great art forger, but When she runs into Luke, who claims he's part of a secret society tasked by the Old Masters to protect art, she must put aside her forgery to stop an evil from destroying Luke's world, and her own.

#P2Ppit #agented #W #YA #F

kermit the frog is typing on a typewriter . ALT: kermit the frog is typing on a typewriter .

Wow! Are you reading the pitches during today's #P2PPit ?? Lots of fun stories out there. Can't wait to see them on bookshelves next year. Best of luck, fellow scribblers

What do these books all have in common?

A history of being BANNED. In my #dystopian #pb THE DUMP, characters who have been banished never return. As the once Technicolor world fades to gray, the bookish MC decides the time has come to take action. #P2Ppit #q #contemporary

THE ADVENTURE SCOUTS

⛺️Boy/Girl Scouts
⛺️but make it D&D
⛺️illustrated chapter book
⛺️spunky female MC
⛺️adorable kitty sidekick
⛺️lots of silly shenanigans

#P2Ppit #MG #fantasy #Q

A Very Good Athlete - funny, empowering, fueled by clever text around Avery, a little Black girl who loves to play all kinds of sports with the confidence of a star athlete with little to zero skills, yet she has fun and a winning attitude which is most important when playing sports
#P2Ppit #Q #PB

Photos from Annapolis, including the State House, furniture, and a seamstress's tools, to promote a sweet Cinderella story set in 1783 Annapolis.

George Washington is her hero. As a military leader and for his kindness to her dying husband. Much as she hopes to dance with the General, the seamstress apprentice knows that’s impossible—until a smitten ex-soldier shares her story with his former commander-in-chief.
#P2PPit
#R #HF
#Q

Happily ever after, huh? Maybe for Emily who has the man of her dreams, children she adores, and a sweet small business in an idyllic hometown she treasures. Troubles mount when her husband realizes he’s restless for more.
#P2PPit

#R + #M
#W

A total of 4 Victorian England-inspired images in a collage. Top left: 3 couples dancing at a Victorian ball + top right: 3 ladies having a tea party in a garden, gossiping + bottom left: an aristocratic couple embracing in a dim-lit majestic hallway+ bottom right: an image of a grand country estate in England, UK + middle: a text box with prompts: - first in a series of books - multiple love stories: childhood friends to lovers + enemies to lovers - mistaken identity - Long lost family secrets. At the top of the collage is an invitation with the text: you are cordially invited to Lavender Hall. May your journey be swift and pleasant. Yours sincerely, Duke and Duchess of Sands.

DOWNTON ABBEY X FRIENDS
In 1855, the crème of British nobility attend a 2-week house party. Once the party begins, so does the madness! The days are riddled with impossible love, scandalous secrets AND an abduction..What could possibly go right?!

#P2Ppit #UW #Q #A #R #HF #UW 📖

An agent’s guide to AT NIGHT, WE HIDE by Ann Littler

AT NIGHT, WE HIDE pitch PITCH FIRST LINE: It was so much easier to steal when I worked alone. A SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD SCAVENGER WITH A DANGEROUS SECRET MUST FIND THE MOLE BEFORE SHE BECOMES THEIR NEXT VICTIM AND THE ENTIRE RESISTANCE EFFORT IS COMPROMISED.

WHAT TE EXPECT • MORALLY-DODGY STEM FEMALE MC WHO CAUSES ALMOST ALL THE PROBLEMS • THERE'S SOMETHING OUT THERE, BUT WE DON'T • DYSTOPIAN MURDER MYSTERY • SLOW BURN ROMANCE •FOUND FAMILY KNOW WHAT • EVERYONE HAS SECRETS • CLOSE QUARTERS • UNEXPECTED VILLAIN • UNPUTDOWNABLE TWISTS • PLANNED TRILOGY

Comps: Dystopian vibes of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Thriller elements of Five Survive Close Quarters of The Stranded

May I proudly present to you my #agentsguide to AT NIGHT, WE HIDE, a YA Dystopian Thriller.

😒 A snarky, thieving FMC
😈 A very unexpected villain
👽 Stay hidden at night or die
🫦 Slow burn
☠️ Murdery mole
🌪️ Twisty AF

#Q #UW #YA #DS #T #ANWH
#amquerying #litagents #P2Ppit

a moodboard detailing nine images related to my work in progress devilswip, they are: big ben (london), a board of evidence, a street cornered off by crime scene tape, someone playing the guitar, the silhouette of a rockstar, musical notes, a crowd of music goers, evidence on the floor and someone punching a mirror.

🎸 daisy jones x knives out 🗡️

the songstress, the high-flyer, the gambler, the sweetheart, the watcher, the matriarch and the rogue. seven suspects. one the killer of renowned rockstar sam corvi. but who? only they can tell you

#P2Ppit #W #A #LF #M

Pitch: When the chosen Empress is assassinated, her disabled and gutsy ex-girlfriend must triumph over a dysfunctional family of ancient gods or submit to fulfilling the chosen’s grim fate as the gods’ eternal slave and weapon against mortals. 112,000 words Adult Crossover Fantasy Comps: Damsel (2024 film) Hannah Kaner’s Godkiller T. Kingfisher’s A Sorceress Comes to Call V. E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Themes & Tropes: - Forbidden Love - Hot Banter - Feminine Rage - Anti-Chosen - Found Family - Second Chances - Dark Humor - Identity - Friends-to-lovers - Faustian Bargain - Choosing vs. being chosen Representation: - LGBTQIA+ - BIPOC - Mental Health - Neurodivergence

Excerpt: A gaunt mouse nibbled greedily at a stale bread roll left on my lunch tray. I didn’t have the heart to give her a name as I might lose her too. The cast iron rods of the bed dug into my ribs through the thin mattress. I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. The medications I was forced to swallow left a cotton taste in my mouth and a dull ache in my skull. The lingering scent of mud and mildew hung in the air, a long-forgotten tomb. I was not allowed visitors or to walk in the fresh air outside. The faded floral pattern of the peeling wallpaper was my only reminder of life beyond these walls. I pulled the threadbare blanket tighter around my body, hugging my knees to my chest. It did little against the chill creeping into my bones. The raging blizzard had transformed the courtyard into a churning white sea, rattling the broken window shutters hanging askew. At least no screams echoed through the halls today.

Moodboard: Dark fantasy Victorian vibes with purple color composition. Top row, left-to-right: a Byronic, handsome man in black, a palace, a dark figure burning in hell fire, a masked female assassin of dark complexion holding a dagger, a serpentine forest trail at night marked with red flowers. At the center next to a silver plume is the text: “This world, my dear, is the slaughterhouse of noble ideals.” Bottom row, left-to-right: a dark gaslit street, a gaslit city blanketed in coal smog at night, a young woman in a Victorian gown, wrought-iron gates opened to a foreboding foggy estate in the dark, a trail of red petals leading to a dark stone temple gate.

When the chosen Empress is assassinated, her disabled & gutsy ex-GF must triumph over a dysfunctional family of ancient gods or submit to fulfilling the chosen’s grim fate as the gods' eternal slave & weapon against mortals
🌶️Hot Banter
🖤Forbidden Love
🏳️‍🌈LGBT, BIPOC,♿, Neurospicy
#P2Ppit #Q #F

Sweet romance meets cozy mystery: After her husband is accused of a crime, can this small town woman find the truth so this once-happy couple can reclaim their HEA?
#P2PPit #Q #R + #M

Alongside a graphic of a typewriter, text reads: "Call for #HNS2025 Conference Proposals: Submit December 15, 2024 thru January 15, 2025. #HNS2025 Conference Theme: Celebrating Historical Fiction in its Many Forms. June 26-28 / Las Vegas"

The call for proposals for the 2025 Historical Novel Society Conference has just been announced by @hnsnorthamerica.bsky.social.

If you'd like to be part of #HNS2025 programming, click here for details on how to submit a proposal: hns-conference.com/hns2025-call...

#HistoricalFiction #histfic

Hi Meghan! I'm a Baltimore writer too. I write sweet contemporary romance and historical fiction.

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Just followed @levarburton.bsky.social and @markhamillofficial.bsky.social -- Decided to add some fun to my mostly-writing Bluesky feed. What accounts have you followed because they're fun?

So good

Looking forward to meeting Baltimore writers at Books and Brews at Union Craft Brewing tomorrow. I've got my historical and romance books, my wrapping paper, my salt water taffy. Is it too early to be thinking holiday presents?

Visited #chincoteague yesterday with my dad. Made sure to stock up on candy before this Saturday's #booksandbrews at UNION Craft Brewing All in a day's fun. Come by Saturday 11-2:30 for a book—or a beer!— or a piece of saltwater taffy.