I grew up in Northern Ohio with six sisters (no brothers), and as the youngest girl I worried that I was not being heard. Writing gave me a voice. I began with poetry and then moved on to writing stories, which always featured magic and a group of friends. As a reader, I loved books about anything unfamiliar to me—and that included the past. That’s still true today.
These days I live in Northern California and I write historical fiction about heroines who get what they want, though at a cost. My previous novels include THE UNDERGROUND RIVER, which was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and translated into six languages; and THIEVING FOREST, which won the North American Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. My short fiction has been published in journals including The Iowa Review, The Carolina Quarterly, The Massachusetts Review, and Folio. I’ve received a California Arts Council fellowship, and I teach creative writing for Stanford University’s Continuing Studies program.
Some years ago my family and I were flying home from Europe on my birthday when the plane’s computer registered a mechanical problem. Partway over the Atlantic, we had to turn around and make an emergency landing at the nearest airport, which was in Shannon, Ireland. My children were literally sick with fear, but we landed safely and were taken to rooms for the night above a pub. When my husband and children went downstairs to find some food, I stayed back for a minute to take stock, alone. Although I distrusted the idea of Big Moments, this felt like a Big Moment.
It was my birthday. I had just had what felt like a near-death experience. I was unexpectedly in Ireland, the country where, until recently, my people had lived for centuries. (“What county are you from,” the Customs agent in Shannon had asked, looking at my face.) So here was the Big Moment question: Am I doing what I want to do in my life?
I had a good relationship with my husband and my children, so that felt right. What about writing; should I make a course correction there? The novel I was working on was proving to be challenging. But writing brings me joy. I was doing what I love.
Then I thought: Maybe I should write a story set in Ireland.
It took me a while, but I finally began writing WE MEET APART. Over the course of three years I made three separate research trips to Ireland, one with my sister and one during Covid (I caught Covid and spent a week in a Dublin hotel room eating scones with jam and cream—it could have been worse). Every time I went back to Ireland I felt more of a connection.
WE MEET APART brings together three of my longstanding interests: historical settings, sibling relationships, and magic—or the unexplained, to non-believers! I didn’t know it was going to have a magical element until Sabine made herself known. When I learned that the Germans had, in fact, worked out a detailed plan to invade Ireland during World War II, all the pieces came together.
As a creative writing instructor, I urge my students to “look for what is possible” in any narrative. With WE MEET APART I found myself looking for what was impossible, and to make a case for that, too.
You can find me on most social media sites, and I post short pieces about creativity and inspiration on the Substack 500 Words. Connect with me! I love to talk shop with readers and writers.
Regal House Publishing is delighted to bring you Martha Conway’s We Meet Apart in 2026.
