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Into every author’s life a little rain must fall. One example is that all-too familiar moment when she – or he – can’t think of a single word to put down on that smug piece of blank paper. The condition is called writer’s block. For me, it feels as if words are trapped somewhere deep inside my skull. They race around in a mad vortex, desperate to escape but far beyond my reach. My challenge is to break them free – and give me back my sanity. (Something that helps the book would be nice, too.) Every author has different methods for cracking writer’s block. My recipes include the following. I usually start by getting a good night’s sleep (which is rare, when I’m doing much writing), followed by a long shower. That works well for simple problems with a book, so much so that I keep pads of paper close by. Then there are the bigger problems, the ones that make an author pace the floor for days or seek out wise counsel. Thank God for friends; they can solve almost anything. Bone-d

Every scene needs to have all five senses mentioned in it in order to be complete. But how can an author research the tastes, scents, and textures for centuries-dead plants? Many of these varieties are no grown and often the species have disappeared, too. Books provide words and sometimes pictures but that’s not the same as sniffing a rose, biting into an heirloom tomato, or rubbing a leaf of lamb’s ear between one’s fingers. Thankfully, gardeners also love to explore the past. Even better, many enjoy restoring historic gardens and introducing others to their glories. Virginians celebrate spring with Historic Garden Week, when historic and modern gardens are thrown open to raise money for historic conservation. It’s affiliated with the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program, which showcases America’s best private gardens. This year’s 78th Historic Garden Week offers many spectacular gardens from April 16th – 23rd, all of them open rain or shine. Thomas Jefferson’s boyhood ho

Ever been researching a book and had somebody just keep popping his head up out of the distant past? Every time you looked into a different angle of that time and place, there he’d be, waiting for you, ready to lead you through the winding alleys of what-the heck to the glories of just-what-I-needed. Well, Colonel John Fitzgerald was my guide to eighteenth century Alexandria, while researching THE SHADOW GUARD. He never made it into the book, at least not directly. So I’d like to pay homage to him now by telling a few stories about him just before St. Patrick’s Day. Born in Wicklow, Ireland, John Fitzgerald emigrated to Virginia as a young man via Philadelphia in 1769. He impressed plantation society and was soon elected to the state legislature. Despite the great many languishing glances cast by local beauties, he married a Maryland belle from across the Potomac River who shared his Catholic faith. This truly wasn’t surprising, considering that simply holding a Catholic servic

The Hostess’s Dilemma, or When to Throw the Party Whenever I start plotting a historical novel, I always ask myself whether I want to include genuine historical events. If answer is yes, then I figure out when they occurred because I’ll have to schedule everything in my book around them. Sometimes this is so easy that it feels like inviting your best friends over for an al fresco dinner. Sometimes it’s so hard that it’s worse than including the in-laws from hell in your holiday at the beach – and you’ll rethink the entire party! THE SHADOW GUARD , my April release, is set in a thinly-disguised version of Alexandria, Virginia – a town with a very rich history. George Washington is Alexandria’s most famous son. Every year, the city graciously accepts the United States’ announcement of a three-day holiday in his honor and throws him the country’s biggest birthday party . There’s a parade with fife and drums – whose grand marshal this year was a naval commander – various races, cooki