AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AUTHOR NANCY LYNN JARVIS

Today we sit down for a chat with author Nancy Lynn Jarvis, who writes cozy mysteries and what she terms “cozy adjacent” mysteries. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I’m not sure I ever did. I started writing as a game to see if I could connect what I thought was a good opening chapter and a good ending and got addicted to writing after that. I’m currently at seven Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries and four PIP Inc. mysteries (already planning the next one) and my standalone novel, Mags and the AARP Gang.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication? 

Publication came about as a surprise and suddenly. I had written the first Regan McHenry Real Estate Mystery never intending to do anything with it and put it on a shelf when a would-be writer friend called and said she was dying of brain cancer. Her only regret was that she had never finish anything and seen her name in print. I dusted off my shelved book, wrote a dedication to her, started a publishing company, and got a copy of it to her so she could see her name in print before she died.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Because of Charlotte, I’m an indie publisher. I’m a lazy writer who only writes when I want to, am well past retirement age, and deadlines don’t appeal to me. Also, I like the freedom to do other books, which being an indie offers me.

 

Where do you write?

I have a dedicated office complete with some of my favorite artwork, lots of plants, a display/storage tower for books, a sofa and chairs so we can be comfortable when I meet with other authors, and my husband’s ashes waiting for me to join him before we get scattered.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind? 

Silence, please. I find music incredibly distracting.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

I tell people that any real estate stories in the Regan McHenry Real Estate mysteries―no matter how far-fetched they seem―are real and happened to me or to associates. For PIP Inc. Mysteries, I rely on a friend, the real PIP Pat for inspiration. She was the Santa Cruz County Law Librarian and is an unlicensed PI who gave me permission to steal her as long as I gave my Pat green eyes, the color she always wished her eyes were. 

 

Almost all my characters start out as people I know or have observed (be careful around me; you may be co-opted for a book) but change names, which frees them up to go from people I know to characters who diverge from their origins pretty quickly.

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

Sometimes I name a character and later decide the name doesn’t fit, so I keep changing the name until it feels right. Other times, when I am doing a brief psychological profile of a character before I start writing, I will look up popular names in their ancestral country or the year they were born and find names that way. In Dearly Beloved Departed one character has two names: Devon, his self-styled name, and Emigdio, his birth name.

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

I’m a highly visual writer. My books are set in Santa Cruz, California where I live so I can see locations.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has? 

Syda, (who was named because I saw a vote for sign and liked the candidate’s name) Pat’s best friend, is an artist in search of her muse. She’s constantly changing her mind about which artistic pursuit she should follow. In Dearly Beloved Departed she is asked to be Pat’s Matron of Honor but decides she will be a wedding planner for her next endeavor.  Pat calls her a Matron of Honorzilla because of the way she takes over running Pat’s wedding, and some of her antics have dangerous consequences. Syda also loves to dress up and assume odd identities, which she does in her over-the-top way in Dearly Beloved Departed.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk? 

I mentioned my husband’s ashes reside in my office. He was my first beta reader, webmaster, and would remind me that I frequently slipped into bad writing habits. I have his picture on my desk and his ashes nearby to remind me not to do the things he invariably pointed out were wrong.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

Possibly The Help. I thought it was remarkably well done and the interactions between the characters appealed to me. It doesn’t hurt that it became a bestseller and was made into a movie.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I don’t think I have one. I’m not saying my life has been perfect, but I’ve enjoyed most of it, had many careers I’ve enjoyed which have led to other experiences, and I’ve learned from the bad times.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

People saying, “Where are you at?” instead or “Where are you?”

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves? 

Tea, chicken, and a copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

It was a brief stint as advertising manager for City on the Hill, the University of California Santa Cruz paper. I had to quit to get paid.

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why? 

Miss Marple. I love Agatha Christie and my grandmother slipped me her books to read as a child when I was expected to be reading Nancy Drew. I associate Miss Marple with conspiring with my dear grandmother and understanding that a mystery should have enough clues for readers who are paying attention to be able to solve the mystery.

 

Ocean or mountains?

I live in the mountains with a view over the ocean which, in my mind, is perfect.

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

I’ve become a full-fledge mountain woman: independent, resourceful, and not afraid to ask for help when a fallen tree blocks my driveway.

 

What’s on the horizon for you? 

Book five in the PIP Inc. Mysteries series already has a title and I’m writing it, but right now, I’m becoming a hops grower. I have two hundred vines climbing up their twenty-foot-tall twine. It’s a new adventure, something I try to have regularly.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

Writing mysteries is a great joy. I have so much fun doing it and hope readers will have fun reading what I write.

 

Dearly Beloved Departed

A PIP Inc. Mystery, Book 4

 

Pat is hired by attorney Jason Forman to “get some dirt” on his daughter’s fiancé. Before she gets very far in her investigation, the young man is murdered. Did his past catch up with him or is what Pat fears, that there’s a serial shooter going after Christmas Eve grooms, the reason he was killed? Pat and her fiancé, Detective Sergeant Tim Lindsey, are planning a Christmas Eve wedding which means, if she’s right, he’s on the shooter’s hit list. 

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