Welcome to My World
M.C. Tillson writes. A lot. In addition to writing her books, she’s writing about being an author, about school visits, about new friends and new places, and—well—about writing.
It was the summer of 1999 and M.C. Tillson and her then-4-year-old son were visiting Copper Harbor on Upper Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula for the very first time. Ms. Tillson promptly fell in love with the area, and—after a second visit in 2002—she knew she would write a book about that magic place.
The result was her first children’s book, The Clue at Copper Harbor. When it turned out that there was more magic than would fit into one middle-grade chapter book, Ms. Tillson wrote two more books to finish the Michigan Lighthouse Adventure trilogy. After that, she wrote a North Carolina Lighthouse Adventure trilogy that started with The Mystery at Oak Island and featured two other lighthouses in North Carolina’s Cape Fear region. (Can you think of a better place for a mystery?)
Ms Tillson’s latest book, The Secret at Pigeon Point completes her Northern California Lighthouse Adventures trilogy that explores the San Francisco Bay Area where she found more than thirty lighthouses!
M.C. Tillson loves reading and writing children’s books. Ask her what her favorite books were when she was growing up and she rattles off a list: “The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dangerous Island, the Anne of Green Gables books, and, of course, Nancy Drew mysteries.” She soon stops and protests, “I can’t pick. I haven’t even mentioned A Wrinkle in Time, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Taffy of Torpedo Junction, or any of the Dr. Seuss books that I read over and over.” One of M.C. Tillson’s favorite things ever is talking with kids—especially about their favorite books.
Ms. Tillson grew up and went to college in North Carolina. After graduating with a degree in Political Science (“I use it every day,” says Tillson), she moved to California, started her technical writing career, and got a Master’s Degree (also in Political Science). Today she’s the owner of A&M Writing and Publishing.
When Ms. Tillson is not playing with—er—I mean training Mercy, her Brittany spaniel, she’s probably writing or doing author visits. Or, she could be at a ballgame (she’s a huge fan of the San Francisco Giants: World Series Champions for 2010, 2012, and 2014!). Ms. Tillson also likes traveling to fun places with fun people, working in her garden, playing cards, and reading. Her favorite color is green and her favorite food is anything Italian.