A couple of months ago while touring Napa Valley sampling the wines, enjoying the fantastic restaurants and scenery, I noticed there were rose bushes planted along the rows of vines. Even though it was November, I could still see the remnants of roses - some red - some white. Curiosity got the better of me and I began checking out every single vineyard we visited, and saw rose bushes in many of them. Was this just an attempt to make the vineyard more pleasing to the eye, or was there another reason? On further inquiry, it seems that black spot, powdery mildew, bugs and flies often attack the rose bushes before entering the vineyard. If a grape grower sees bugs on the rose bushes, he has a chance to spray the pesky insects and fungus before they do much damage to the crop. In essence, the rose bushes act as the first line of defense against such troubles. Nowadays I understand there are much more sophisticated ways to determine the conditions of the vineyard by taking soil samples, water samples, etc. to monitor the health of the vines, but the rose bushes are still there...perhaps just in case.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve published eight books on travel, local history and historical fiction. Several years ago, after speaking with family members in England, a name popped up that I hadn’t heard in ages. It was the dreaded name of Sawney Bean, a wicked and despicable Scottish folklore character from the 1600s. After researching Sawney and his clan, (the BBC did a documentary and tried to locate his cave) the inklings of a story began forming. The first book of what has become a trilogy, Forbidden describes Catherine MacDonald, who becomes a nun after being left by her mother at a priory. After an unusual encounter with a young woman she undertakes a journey to Scotland where she discovers what really happened to her mother, and the horrifying life she endured just to stay alive.
In the second book, Damaged, Catherine tries valiantly to restore her respectability but is thwarted at every turn. Tainted by her mother’s legacy, she is shunned by the church, and by many of her friends. Unhappy and disillusioned with her life, she decides to embark on a journey to the New World.
The final book, Expectations, will be published in the fall of 2014.
A couple of months ago while touring Napa Valley sampling the wines, enjoying the fantastic restaurants and scenery, I noticed there were rose bushes planted along the rows of vines. Even though it was November, I could still see the remnants of roses - some red - some white. Curiosity got the better of me and I began checking out every single vineyard we visited, and saw rose bushes in many of them. Was this just an attempt to make the vineyard more pleasing to the eye, or was there another reason? On further inquiry, it seems that black spot, powdery mildew, bugs and flies often attack the rose bushes before entering the vineyard. If a grape grower sees bugs on the rose bushes, he has a chance to spray the pesky insects and fungus before they do much damage to the crop. In essence, the rose bushes act as the first line of defense against such troubles. Nowadays I understand there are much more sophisticated ways to determine the conditions of the vineyard by taking soil samples, water samples, etc. to monitor the health of the vines, but the rose bushes are still there...perhaps just in case.
