It is my privilege today to introduce you to Nancy Lynn Jarvis the author of the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series. To celebrate her latest release, The Murder House - Nancy is guest posting today and there's a giveaway! Take it away Nancy!
Show of hands, please, how many of you
believe in ghosts?
Interesting.
I don’t,
you see, except that I’ve seen one, which really plays havoc with my nay-saying.
And if I’m willing to go to just one degree of separation and listen to people
tell of their first-hand experiences with ghosts, oh boy. It was from this ambivalent
perspective that I wrote “The Murder House,” the fifth in my Regan McHenry Real
Estate Mysteries series.
Regan McHenry is a Realtor who winds up repeatedly
playing amateur sleuth no matter how many times she swears she will never get
involved in another murder. She, like me — a twenty-five year veteran of the
real estate business— and many Realtors I know, has had the experience of
walking into a house and having the hair stand up on the back of her neck . She
knows what it’s like to be hit by a wave of cold and experience an overwhelming
sensation of evil when previewing a house.
Even so, like me, she clearly states that
she doesn’t believe in ghosts, not when there might be a rational explanation
for what seems like a spectral presence. Her certainty made it great fun to
write a book in which Regan, convinced the only thing that might cause a house
to be haunted was its past reputation, sometimes wonders if she is right.
It was also fun to write the book because
during the writing process, I began asking people if they believed in ghosts.
What I discovered is that most people have a ghost story or two to tell even if
they aren’t into the paranormal. And ghost sightings aren’t predictable based
on the witness’s educational level, occupation, religion, culture, gender, or
age.
I was able to share my favorite ghost
story in the book’s dedication, too. If you like, go to
I used my personal ghost sighting in the
book, as well. The ghost in the woods in “The Murder House” is what I saw at
the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts before I knew many others had reported seeing
such a ghost. In “The Murder House, “ there is a rational explanation for what people
are seeing in the woods, though, and at the Wayside Inn, there isn’t.
After writing “The Murder House” and
living with its alleged ghosts, did I change my mind and become a believer? As
Regan says at the book’s conclusion when asked if she’s seen the ghost, “I
think that’s too personal a question for you to ask.” Let’s just say that one
thing is perfectly clear: I have developed a love of swapping ghost stories and
would love to hear yours.
Leave me a comment with your ghost story and you'll be entered to win an eBook copy of The Murder House. The winner will be announced on February 28, 2014. You can read my review HERE!
***** *****
Every community has a house
that people walk by hurriedly, nervously peeking at it out of the corners of their
eyes. Bonny Doon is no exception. A bloody double homicide occurred in
the Murder House almost twenty years ago and the killer has eluded capture ever
since. Recently the house was inherited and the new owner wants to sell. The
problem is no one wants to buy a house with a reputation and reports that it’s
home to ghosts. The seller thinks Realtor Regan McHenry would make a perfect
listing agent ― after all, with her penchant for playing amateur sleuth, she’s
no stranger to murder. This is the perfect mystery to read if you don’t believe
in ghosts — and an even better mystery to read if you do.
***** *****
Nancy Lynn Jarvis was a Santa Cruz,
California, Realtor for twenty-five years but was having so much fun writing
that she let her license lapse in May of 2013.
After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she
worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to
Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business
manager of Shakespeare/Santa Cruz. Nancy's work history reflects her
philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years.
Writing is her newest adventure.
She put Regan, Tom , and Dave from the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries Series on hiatus to write Mags and the AARP Gang, a comedy/adventure about a
group of octogenarian would-be bank robbers, but she missed her characters, so
they're back to solve another murder In the newly released "Murder
House."
The next book is unclear because she has another idea for a mystery as well as
an idea for another very different book.
***** *****
Don't forget - to win an eBook copy of THE MURDER HOUSE leave your ghost story in a comment.
H A P P Y B I R T
H D A Y !
My
good friend, Nancy Lynn Jarvis's, is participating in the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation fundraising event this March. Her husband, like Tom Brokaw, has multiple myeloma, a plasma cell
cancer. He was diagnosed a little more than two years ago. If he’d developed
this disease a decade ago, he’d likely be dead by now, instead he’s doing well.
Fortunately great strides have been made and survival times keep getting pushed
out because of research, new medicines, and new treatments.
The Multiple Myeloma
Research Foundation has been instrumental in fundraising dedicated to finding a
cure for the disease. Supporters have answered their call to do creative
fundraising. 
It seems this group loves
alliteration and it occurred to Nancy that as a mystery writer she could donate
books for sale and dub them “Mysteries for Myeloma.
This
year’s Greater Bay Area MMRF - Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation event is a
5K Walk/Run which will be held in San Francisco at the Marina Green on March 22nd.
Nancy will be there selling books. All proceeds will be donated to MMRF. For
people with e-readers or those who can’t make the event, profits from e-books
purchased on Amazon that day will also be donated. 
E-books are only $3 or $4
each — such a small donation to make — but if enough people buy one, not only
will they get a book they may enjoy reading, but we will raise some real
money…perhaps enough to keep Nancy's husband and many others around for those
who love them.
