When I first walked through the doors of Selma Mansion, I wasn’t looking for a story—I was looking for home. But the walls had other plans.
Nestled in the heart of Northern Virginia, Selma was grand but crumbling. It had seen generations pass through its halls, from early senators and statesmen to Civil War soldiers and suffragettes. And as my husband Scott and I began restoring it, the stories hidden within its walls started to emerge. I discovered something unexpected: a tale so rich in drama, legacy, and conflict that I felt compelled to write it.
Selma was originally owned by U.S. Senator Armistead Mason. But it wasn’t Mason’s political legacy that first captured my attention—it was the violent tragedy that unfolded between him and his cousin, Jack McCarty. Their deadly duel left Mason dead and McCarty forever altered, his life shaped by the weight of that moment and its aftermath.
That haunting story became the foundation for Masque of Honor, the first novel in my five-book series, Fields of Honor. This fall, Masque of Honor will be reissued with new scenes, expanded chapters, and a new epilogue that will thread through the rest of the series. But the duel was only the beginning.
As I peeled back layers of plaster in Selma, I found myself peeling back the layers of Jack McCarty’s character as well. Who was he beyond the man who pulled the trigger? What drove his hunger for respect in a world that couldn’t let him forget his past? And how do any of us come to terms with the shadows cast by the choices we’ve made?
These are the questions that anchor the next book of the series, Bargains of Fate, coming in spring 2026. Set in the years following the infamous duel, the novel follows Jack as he struggles to find his place in the world. Though society acknowledges his bravery, Jack knows it’s not the kind of respect he wants. What he craves is legitimacy—earned through purpose, position, and public service.
Politics, ambition, grief, scandal, betrayal… and yes, another duel—all converge in Bargains of Fate. And it all started with Selma. Restoring Selma didn’t just give me a beautiful place to live—it gave me the seeds of a saga, Fields of Honor, that explores the emotional truths behind the headlines of American history. It reminded me that places hold stories, that walls can whisper, and that sometimes, the past isn’t done with us until we listen.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey through the Fields of Honor. It all started with one house—but the legacy it uncovered reaches far beyond its walls.
