Updates from Ellen See my latest news for information on books, signings and other author events. Writing The Merlot Murders - Where? History and the Old Dominion The Merlot Murders takes place near the town of Middleburg, Virginia which straddles the scenic and history-rich region of Fauquier and Loudoun Counties in the heart of the Old Dominion's horse and hunt country, some fifty miles west of Washington, D.C. George Washington once surveyed the land west of Middleburg and the town of Leesburg -- Loudoun's county seat -- was a temporary refuge for the government of James Madison who brought the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution there for safekeeping when the British burned Washington during the War of 1812. The region is also known as "Mosby Heritage Area," in honor of John Singleton Mosby, a Confederate colonel who earned the nickname "The Gray Ghost" because of the damage he and his guerrilla group of Partisan Rangers inflicted during lightning-swift surprise raids on Northern supply trains and troops. Virginians have been making wine for nearly four centuries beginning with the colonists at the Jamestown Settlement and spurred on by the efforts of Thomas Jefferson, who spent years trying unsuccessfully to grow grapes at Monticello. It wasn't until the late 1970s that Virginia's commercial winemaking industry began to take off. Today there are more than 100 wineries throughout the Commonwealth, which ranks 10th nationally in commercial grape production. To learn more about Virginia wine country, visit the official website. last updated: 8/4/2008