Going Places Around Home

One of the things I try to put into all of my novels is some local color. So far, that’s been pretty easy since they’re either set around the Washington DC area (where I live) or in Ireland, both of which have tons of wonderfully fascinating things to do and see.

For the novels set around here (DC), my characters almost inevitably end up in Old Town, Alexandria. It’s such a fun place to go — full of history and charm as well as neat little shops and bistros. Really, there’s something for everyone in Old Town. Then, if you’re looking for other fun places to go, you can’t go wrong with a visit to the museums on the Smithsonian Mall or any of the monuments and memorials in DC proper. But for A Splash of Substance (out March 3, 2015), I wanted something a little different. See, Jackson works on Capitol Hill, so for him, heading into the city is something he does every day. And though you still appreciate the beauty and history of the city, you also become a little immune to it when you’re there every day.

And so, I thought to some of the places I enjoyed visiting when we first moved to this area when I was younger. I was reading a book where they were discussing, in detail, the writing of the Star Spangled Banner and that triggered a thought: Fort McHenry! It’s definitely within an easy drive of this area (it’s just outside Baltimore, Maryland – maybe 90 minutes driving, depending on traffic. And around here, we laugh at a 90 minute drive.)

But as I was reading up about Fort McHenry and refreshing my memory, I came across the fun fact that Fort McHenry is a star fort. If you’ve been reading here for long, this might seem familiar to you, because Charles Fort – featured prominently in my novella Kinsale Kisses is an Irish star fort.

I don’t spend a lot of time talking about Fort McHenry in my novel, but the fact that I stumbled across another star fort as a place for people to fall in love was a happy coincidence that made me smile.