Nancy Lynn Jarvis, author of A Faire to Remember, the latest novel in the PIP Inc. mysteries series, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today.
Welcome, Nancy.
Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.
“A Faire to Remember” is book seven in my PIP Inc. Mysteries series. The series features Pat Pirard, the former Santa Cruz County Law Librarian who was spectacularly downsized on her thirty-fifth birthday. She had just spent her life savings to buy a used sunshine yellow Mercedes convertible and was terrified she and her pets, a ginger cat named Lord Peter Wimsey, and her Dalmatian, Dot, would be couch-surfing with friends soon, so she printed up business cards declaring herself Private Investigator Pat and hoped local attorneys and government entities would hire her, which they did. She gets a new case with each book, so this is her seventh investigation. Sometimes she shares her work with her best friend, Syda Gonzales, an artist in search of her muse. During her first case, she met the man she marries in book four, “Dearly Beloved, Departed.”
Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from?
Last year I participated in a fair held in a fire station. The overhead lighting started strobing and no one could find a replacement fluorescent bulb, odd I thought. Fire fighters placed a beach towel over the light fixture which made the venue dark and set my mind thinking about murder.
Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story? If so, what prompted you to write about it?
The potential killers have connections with the victim that my protagonist uncovers. What he did to each of them in the past provides interesting motives for wishing him ill, but none of them seem to have a strong enough reason to kill him. Pat has to explore their fear and ability to forgive.
How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?
I create characters from people I know or observe. Usually, they start out with their real names, but I change their names as I write a psychological profile and make up a backstory for them, something I do before I begin writing. I have a number of favourite characters. Some are positive connections like the men in my protagonists’ lives, but often I enjoy villains and the ways they manipulate others and possibly themselves when they try to justify what they’ve done.
How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?
I’m a very visual writer so I like to be in the place where scenes are set and describe what I see.
What research do you do to provide background information to help you write the novel?
I do extensive research about the background information I use. It’s interesting to me and nothing ruins a mystery like getting something wrong. I learned that early on when a writer I knew asked me to review his book. His protagonist was a retired coroner who had performed many autopsies. In the book, a skeleton was found and figuring out its identity was central to solving the mystery. He had his character say the skeleton was female because the pelvis was narrow. That’s wrong and I couldn’t believe anything else he said in the book.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book?
I was worried that the fire captain would be upset because the fire station in my book is a real location so he would be identifiable. Instead of being upset about being a suspect, he said he couldn’t wait to read the book.
Thank you for answering my questions, Nancy, and good luck with A Faire to Remember, the latest book in the PIP Inc. mystery series.
Readers can learn more about Nancy Lynn Jarvis by visiting the author’s website and blog, and her Facebook and Regan McHenry Real Estate mysteries Facebook pages.
The novel is available online at Amazon
About Nancy Lynn Jarvis: Nancy wore many hats before she started writing cozy mysteries. After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News, as a librarian, as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz, and as a Realtor.
Nancy’s work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years, a philosophy she applies to her writing, as well. She has written seven Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries; seven PIP Inc. Mysteries; a stand-alone novel “Mags and the AARP Gang” about a group of octogenarian bank robbers; edited “Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes,” and short story anthologies, “Santa Cruz Weird,” and “Santa Cruz Ghost Stories.” She also has an ebook on Amazon which she keeps adding to as she writes more short stories.
Her newest out-of-comfort zone experience was recording “The Glass House,” the first book in the PIP Mysteries series for Audible. She still has some free downloads available if you send her your email address.
