THE WIDOW'S WALK LEAGUE

MY NEXT VICTIM THIS HALLOWEEN!

IS NANCY LYNN JARVIS

Thanks, Nancy, for agreeing to be part of the fun.

Drum roll for Nancy's

Halloween Interview & Flash Fiction Challenge

     1.  You're born on Halloween and have the ghostly evil super powers of one of the following: The Ghost from Poltergeist, The Frankenstein Monster, The Mummy, The most Evil of Witches, The Devil himself, Freddy Kruger, Pumpkin Head, Michael from Halloween, or Jason from Friday the 13^th. Alternatively, if you prefer, pick one of your own. Otherwise, tell us which one you would choose and why? No friendly ghosts allowed! You're to wreak havoc in this scenario!

I would use the ghost of the drunken seventeen year old who fell into the frigid Pacific when he tried to pee off a cliff near Davenport. He died on Halloween, the day the first Regan McHenry Real estate mystery was published. He lurks under the waves and drags surfers who are foolish enough to surf alone off their boards to a watery death deep in the ocean.

       2. The Zombie Apocalypse is going to occur this Halloween and for 48 hours, the world is thrown into chaos. Live through it and consider yourself lucky, you've been warned. What is your first step, especially as no one else knows or believes you? Do you leave family behind and seek shelter to ride it out, or do you try to save your family? How and why?

 I’d try to save not only my family, but a group of friends. I’d invite them to a Halloween party at an abandoned factory which has been carefully sealed with concrete in the windows. Once inside, I’d close a massive metal door and secure it with many bolts and beams. We’d party through the whole apocalypse.\

     3.  Because of the time of your birth, (see the 1^st question) the angels have decided to forgive your sins and are offering to remedy one evil that now exists in the world, but only one! Which would you choose and why?

I’d put the Middle East back together because it’s such a cruel place at the moment.

4.   Why is Halloween a favorite holiday, or not a favorite, and if it isn't why did you participate in this query? Come on; tell us your biggest most secret Halloween fantasy!

Opening from “The Widow’s Walk League” which explains why Halloween is so appealing not only in Santa Cruz, but everywhere. “Halloween in Santa Cruz coupled unbridled creativity with people freed from their normal inhibitions. The night was festive and exhilarating, but with so many people anonymous behind masks, there was always the potential for trouble.”

 I’ve seen my Halloween fantasy done. The reactions of the people who were given a piece of paper with their death date on it by a person in a black shroud was so spectacular, I used it in the book. I may do that again this Halloween.

 Now the fun part: Finish the story. I've given you the first 100 words. Provide us with the rest, but please hold the number to 750 words or less unless the restriction is just impossible then no more than 1000 words. The winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card. The contest will be judged by another lover of the horror genre, the person to be announced later. The winner will be posted no later than a week after Halloween!

DESPERATION HOLLER

Jerry sauntered along Desperation Holler Road that earlier echoed with the excited shouts of ghosts and ghouls as the children scrambled from house to house in colorful and frightening costumes.

Dusk dissolved into the blackest of nights as the little monsters disappeared into the shelter of the brightly lit houses with their chocolate goodies.

Jerry smiled, even suppressed laughter, because he knew there was no refuge, not in Desperation Holler on this most evil of Halloweens.

Concealed by the dark limbs of deformed trees and invasive ivy, the innocuous little cabin looked abandoned, but Jerry knew better. 

The witches abode was anything but abandoned. Jerry used the secret knock—three rapid strikes followed by silence for a count of three, and then three more rapid knocks—and waited for the door to open.

He was greeted by the quintessential grandmother: an old woman short and round, her gray-haired pulled into a neat bun and her pink coat sweater buttoned at her neck to better display a large smiling jack-o-lantern pin attached to it near her shoulder. She reached into the basket slung over her arm and produced a Snickers Bar, not the fun size but a full-sized dollar bar, and extended it toward Jerry.

After a quick look left and right to make certain no one was spying, she morphed into a hunchbacked witch with a long curved nose complete with a prominent mole. Her lips turned up into a cruel smile. “Come in, my darling,” she cooed. 

“You have done well this evening. I have four children-pies backing in the oven and only need one more pie for my coven’s midnight party. “He’s another bunch of stuffed animals for you; use them to bring me two more children and then all my candy will be wrapped in hundred dollar bills and be just for you.

“Here’s a special toy,” she said as she placed a large stuffed spider around his shoulders, “a treat for you, my darling.” The witch pointed a bony finger in his direction. As she did so, the spider tightening its legs around Jerry’s neck as it sunk its fangs into his jugular vein. Stuffed animals flew from his arms as he twisted and struggled to pull the spider off.

His anguish only lasted a few seconds before he collapsed. “Thank you, my pet,” she cackled at the spider. “He’s a big one. I’ll have enough of him for my famous mincemeat pie and may be able to make some head cheese out of him as well. What’s that? Yes, of course, all his blood belongs to you.”

~The End~

 Santa Cruz husbands are being murdered. The local news media is buzzing because a dark-clad figure witnesses describe as Death has been seen lurking nearby each time a murder is committed.

 When new widows start hiring real estate agent Regan McHenry to sell their houses, she discovers all the murdered men have something in common: their wives belong to a walking group called The Widow’s Walk League.

No wonder Regan is worried when the group’s leader starts paying special attention to her husband, Tom.

Regan invites you to attend Woodies on the Wharf and go to a séance with her as adventures unfold and she tries to keep her husband safe in the fourth book in the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mystery Series.

Regan’s best friend, Dave Everett, Santa Cruz Police Community Relations Ombudsman, is back to lead a new cast of quirky characters and struggle with Regan’s amateur detecting.

Amazon

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. 

Thanks Nancy!

I hate spiders but love your ending!

Come on folks a comment may win you a copy of

The Widow's Walk League!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

*****
CONGRATULATIONS!
DENISE COVEY
YOU'VE WON AN EBOOK
COPY OF
THE WIDOW'S WALK LEAGUE

*****

Have you read the Halloween
stories from the 
WEP - Halloween Challenge
Magical - Frightening - Fun!

MYSTERIES FOR MYELOMA



 

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.

There’s a cat litter manufacturer who donates a portion of sales as part of a “Cats for Cancer” campaign. Ditto a Louisiana seafood producer who sells “Crayfish for Cancer.”

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.

Five of Nancy's books are real estate mysteries set in Santa Cruz. Nancy and her husband also edited a terrific cookbook called “Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes” which qualifies in the mystery category because all the recipes are from mystery writers.

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 22^nd. 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.

 

Nancy's Amazon Author page is http://tinyurl.com/6uq4gsx if you want to take a look at the books or get ready to buy one on March 22^nd.

 

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.

 

“Mags and the AARP Gang,” another book she's written will also be included for those who prefer humor to mysteries or cookbooks.


Please consider spreading the word about this wonderful fundraiser. Email your friends. Post about it on your blog. Tweet and share thru social media. Nancy and many others will be grateful.

THE MURDER HOUSE

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 

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-House-McHenry-Estate-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00HO114IA/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391550549&sr=1-1&keywords=Nancy+Lynn+Jarvis and click on “look inside” to read it. 

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!

***** ***** 

THE MURDER HOUSE

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.

***** *****

Nancy's Author Page

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 !