The Art of Living History
"I believe the past is not behind us.
It lives in our stories, our art,
our homes, and our conversations."
Sharon Virts
Four Pillars · One World
The Art of Living History
History is not a destination. It is a dimension — one I have spent my life learning how to enter, and how to share. My work expresses itself through four interconnected pillars. Each one is distinct. None stands alone.
Proceeds from Sharon's books and paintings support the Virts Miller Foundation — funding education, healthcare, and cultural preservation in Loudoun County.
The Fields of Honor Series · 6 Books
Six Books. Twenty-Seven Years.
One Family's Reckoning.
Spanning 1816 to 1843, the Fields of Honor saga follows the McCarty family through the turbulent rise of nineteenth-century America—through war and duels, forbidden love and political intrigue, Indian removal and slavery—as a young nation struggles to reconcile its soaring ideals with its darkest ambitions.
From Virginia's great houses and the corridors of Washington to the frontiers of Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin, each novel stands alone while carrying one family's story across a generation.
Richly researched. Deeply human. Readers don't just learn history. They inhabit it.
"Sharon's characters step off the page and into your life."
— Anthony McCarten, Award-Winning Novelist & Screenwriter
Book 2 — Bargains of Fate — available now
Available NowMasque of Honor
Available NowBargains of Fate
The Complete Series Arc · 1816–1843
Also by Sharon Virts · Historical True-Crime Novels
Macabre Mystery
The Grays of Truth
Post-Civil War Baltimore: mysterious deaths among the city's elite. A chemist-turned-widow battles institutionalization, grief, and a killer hiding in plain sight.
True Crime Thriller
Veil of Doubt
Reconstruction-era Virginia: widow Emily Lloyd faces murder charges. Defense attorney Powell Harrison takes the case — and uncovers a truth far darker than anyone bargained for.
Media
In the Press
Jul 2026
Loudoun Now
Virts: Preservation or Progress?
Sharon weighs in on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's proposed rewrite of Section 106 — arguing that process must serve preservation's purpose, not become it. Drawing on her years restoring Selma and serving on preservation boards, she makes the case for reasonable deadlines over endless reviews.
Read the Op-EdAug 2026
Historical Novel Society
Bargains of Fate — “A Fabulous Immersion”
“A fabulous immersion in this piece of American history—a real page turner with action and characters that never ebb.” The Historical Novel Society reviews Book Two of the Fields of Honor series.
Read moreJul 2026
Writer’s Digest
Finding the Story Within the Walls of a House
An authored essay on how restoring Selma Mansion uncovered the real lives behind the Fields of Honor series.
Read moreJun 2026
Deborah Kalb Books
Q&A with Sharon Virts
A wide-ranging conversation on the origins of the Fields of Honor series, the real history behind the Mason-McCarty duel, and what’s ahead in Book 3, Swamp of Lies.
Read moreMay 2026
Midday Maryland · WMAR
Scandals, Trials & Secrets in Bargains of Fate
Live segment on ABC2 Baltimore ahead of the June 23 release of Bargains of Fate — the second book in the Fields of Honor series.
Read more
Fields of Honor Series
See the World
Come to Life
War. Duels. Betrayal. Legacy. The Fields of Honor saga spans twenty-seven years of American history — and it begins with a single act of pride that no one can take back.
Daffodil Drift
Ike
Boundary in Bloom
Ditch Lily Lane
The Ordinary Art Gallery · Leesburg
Painted with Purpose.
Sharon paints mostly landscapes, working quickly and in bold color straight from the tube — the way the eye catches a scene before the mind has time to neaten the edges. Trained in the Reflectionist style under JD Miller of Samuel Lynne Galleries.
The impulse behind her paintings is much the same as the one behind her novels: to look at a place and wonder about the lives that came before. How long has that tree stood there? Whose hands built that barn? Who walked this road, crossed this field, or watched the same light fall across the land?
For Sharon, every landscape holds a story. Painting is another way of finding it.
Preservation · Loudoun County, Virginia
Selma Mansion — Restored, Alive.
Built in 1810 and home to some of Virginia's most storied families, Selma Mansion had fallen into neglect and faced the threat of demolition when Sharon and Scott discovered it in 2016. What followed was a three-year labor of love — room by room, beam by beam — guided by a fierce conviction that the past deserves to be saved, not erased.
Original architectural details were preserved wherever possible. Lost elements were painstakingly researched and faithfully recreated. The result is a home that breathes history — where original heart pine floors, hand-plastered walls, and century-old mantels coexist with a warmth and vitality that honors the generations who came before.
"For me, history is not abstract. It lives in buildings, in landscapes, in the grain of old wood and the weight of stone walls."
1810
Original Construction
109K+
Selma Social Followers
3 yrs
Years of Restoration
Collaboration
Amlés Wines — Art, Wine & Purpose
Where landscape painting meets the art of winemaking.
The Story Behind the Bottle
Amlés Wines grew from the restoration of Selma Mansion—the historic Loudoun County estate Sharon Virts and Scott Miller brought back to life beginning in 2016. Inspired by Thomas Jefferson's passion for wine and his early experiments with viticulture in Virginia—and by his connection to the people who once called Selma home—the couple felt compelled to create wines of their own.
Rooted in artistry, history, and craftsmanship, Amlés wines are pure expressions of iconic wine regions—from Napa Valley to Germany's Mosel Valley and Oregon's Willamette Valley—crafted by world-renowned winemakers including Philippe Melka, Ernst Loosen, and Bryan Weil.
Every bottle carries forward an old-world tradition, shaped by modern technique—and a belief that the best things are made to tell a story.
Explore the Collaboration
Samuel Lynne Galleries
A Creative Partnership
The Amlés label collection was made possible through a collaboration with Samuel Lynne Galleries, co-founded by JD Miller and operating across Dallas, Houston, and Chicago. The gallery represents both Miller and Lea Fisher, whose distinct Reflectionist styles — three-dimensional oil, diamond dust, and layered gesture — grace the Amlés bottles alongside Sharon Virts' original paintings.
Visit Samuel Lynne GalleriesScott Miller, Proprietor
Vision & Purpose
Scott Miller's journey from high-tech entrepreneur to wine proprietor was shaped by the rebirth of Selma Mansion itself. His vision: wines that reflect the storied history of winemaking, crafted from the finest vineyards in the world. Together, Scott and Sharon were named to Washington Life Magazine's Philanthropic 50 of 2020.
A Bottle With Purpose
Wine creates community — and Amlés helps make it better. A portion of every bottle sold flows directly to the Virts Miller Foundation, funding education, healthcare, and cultural preservation in Loudoun County, Virginia. Buying a bottle of Amlés is, in every sense, a charitable act.
Community · Conversation · Purpose
History is Most Powerful When It Moves Between People.
Sharon doesn't just tell stories — she starts conversations. Three ways to engage with the living history world she's built.
Living History Lectures
Hour-long immersive presentations on defining moments in 19th-century history — designed to make the past feel as immediate as the present.