Author · Artist · Preservationist
Sharon
Virts
A life lived at the intersection of history, creativity, and purpose — and the woman who saved Selma Mansion.
"My brand is not a product. It is a practice. The invitation I extend — to readers, to collectors, to history lovers — is to join me in that practice."
Sharon Virts
About Sharon
The Art of
Living History
Washington Life Magazine
Philanthropic 50 of 2020
International Book Award
Best Historical Fiction — The Grays of Truth
American Book Fest
Finalist, Best Historical Fiction 2024 — Veil of Doubt
Sharon Virts is a best-selling historical fiction author, gifted painter, and passionate preservationist. After more than 25 years as a successful entrepreneur, she followed her deepest conviction: that the past is not a subject to be studied at a distance — it is a living force that shapes who we are.
She has authored four novels: Masque of Honor and Bargains of Fate (Books 1 & 2 of the six-part Fields of Honor series), the macabre mystery The Grays of Truth (International Book Award winner), and the true-crime thriller Veil of Doubt (finalist, Best Historical Fiction 2024), with four more novels forthcoming.
In 2016, Sharon and her husband Scott rescued Selma Mansion — a historic 1810 Virginia estate on the verge of demolition — and undertook a top-to-bottom restoration that captured over 109,000 social followers and became one of the most-watched preservation stories in America.
Every dollar from Sharon's books and paintings flows to the Virts Miller Foundation, funding education, healthcare, and cultural preservation in Loudoun County. She lives at Selma with Scott and their three Labrador retrievers, and is mother to four sons, stepmom to two, and "Nana" to Charlie, Bodhi, and Aubry.
The Journey
How an Entrepreneur
Became a Storyteller
Every life has a turning point. Here is Sharon's — the arc from business to books, and the house that started it all.
Before
The Entrepreneur
Before
The Entrepreneur
A Life Built First
For more than twenty-five years, Sharon Virts built and led businesses — a career defined by sharp instincts, long hours, and the kind of relentless drive that turns small ideas into serious enterprises. She was, by every measure, a success. But the story she would become known for hadn't started yet.
2016
The Discovery
2016
The Discovery
A House on the Edge
Then Sharon and her husband Scott found Selma — an 1810 Federal mansion in Loudoun County, Virginia, fallen into ruin and facing the wrecking ball. Most people saw a lost cause. They saw a home that deserved to be saved. They bought it, and began a restoration that would change both of their lives.
The Walls
The Turning Point
The Walls
The Turning Point
History in the Plaster
Room by room, beam by beam, the house gave up its secrets — hand-plastered walls, heart pine floors, mantels that had watched two centuries pass. But the deeper they went, the more they realized: Selma wasn't just a house. It was a witness. Armistead Thomson Mason built it in 1810. He was killed on a dueling field nine years later. And the woman who lived next door was his widow. The history wasn't something Sharon had to go looking for. It was already in the walls.
The First Page
The Writer Emerges
The First Page
The Writer Emerges
From Restoration to Story
Sharon had spent a lifetime as an entrepreneur. Now she found herself pulled toward something else entirely — the urge to tell the story she had uncovered. Not as history, not as biography, but as the kind of novel that lets a reader step through a door and stand in a room that no longer exists. She sat down to write. The result was Masque of Honor — the first book in what would become the Fields of Honor series.
Now
The Practice
Now
The Practice
A Life in History
Four novels, an International Book Award, a monthly television segment, a six-book saga spanning twenty-seven years of American history — and a social audience of more than 109,000 following the work of restoration and storytelling alike. Sharon writes, paints, preserves, and gives — every dollar from her books and art flowing to the Virts Miller Foundation. The entrepreneur became an author. The house became a story. And the story, it turned out, was only beginning.
"The past is not a subject to be studied at a distance. It is a living force that shapes who we are."
Explore the Novels →What People Are Saying
Sharon Virts' novel, Veil of Doubt kept me turning pages and left me thinking about the characters long after the last chapter. Absolutely amazing."
Sarah Ferguson
Duchess of York, Best-Selling Author
Masque of Honor is powerful and compelling. Sharon's characters step off the page and into your life."
Anthony McCarten
Award-Winning Novelist & Screenwriter
The Grays of Truth is a vivid and compelling tale — equal parts murder mystery and well-researched historical fiction."
Susan Meissner
Best-Selling Author
Awards & Recognition
Washington Life Magazine
Philanthropic 50 of 2020
International Book Award
Best Historical Fiction — The Grays of Truth
American Book Fest
Finalist, Best Historical Fiction 2024 — Veil of Doubt
Historic Preservation
National recognition for saving Selma Mansion
Loudoun Museum
Board Chair for nine years
Scripps TV — "Between the Lines"
Monthly segment on WMAR Baltimore & expanding markets
Media
In the Press
July 2026
Loudoun Now
Virts: Preservation or Progress?
"Process must serve preservation’s purpose — not become it."
— Sharon Virts, Loudoun Now, July 2026
An op-ed by Sharon on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s proposed rewrite of Section 106 — arguing that process must serve preservation’s purpose, not become it. Drawn from her years restoring Selma and serving on preservation boards.
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 the ReviewWriter’s Digest
Finding the Story Within the Walls of a House
An authored essay for Writer’s Digest on how restoring Selma Mansion uncovered the real lives behind the Fields of Honor series — and how a house became a novel. A national feature on how preservation, place, and storytelling collide.
Read the EssayDeborah 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 the InterviewExplore Sharon's World