Mentioned in the Will

Fort Lauderdale, November 2006: Regrets, we've all had a few. Words thoughtlessly said, opportunities missed, actions neglected. It's very rare that one has the chance to put right a mistake made years before, but in her new book, Mentioned in the Will, Paula Anne Ervin's hero does just that.
Mentioned in the Will is purely fictional, taking readers to the picturesque town of Carlysle, where a charming Victorian home burns purposefully under the watchful eyes of firemen and on-lookers.

Meet Dennis Whitehead. He endured a bitter childhood, watched his mother work herself to an early grave, and he is determined to "never be poor again." One day, Dennis meets a librarian named Sara. Drawn to her laughter and gen-tle spirit, he begins to fall in love with her. He reveals his secret fear—that he has inherited his father's alcoholism—and vows to stay away from drinking. One hot evening, however, Dennis' steely resolve weakens; he downs several glasses of wine, and then makes love to Sara, who believes his protestations of love and promise to marry her. When she conceives a child, he brings her five hundred dollars and tells her to "take care of the problem." He never sees Sara again.

Having learned that Sara recently died and has mentioned him in her will, Dennis makes the trip back to Carlysle, and witnesses the burning of her hundred-year-old home. The story unfolds as Dennis realizes that one young witness of the fire is his son.

About the Author
Paula Anne Ervin began writing essays and sending them off to family magazines as a wife and mother of six chil-dren. Although her early efforts were rebuffed, she persevered and finally saw her essays appear in several publica-tions.
Eventually, she published a non-fiction book, Women Exploited, the Other Victims of Abortion. Her book was one of the earliest to detail the tragic symptoms and personal stories of post-abortion syndrome.
Mentioned in the Will is her first work of fiction, in which she has found delight. It was inspired by an article in an Illinois newspaper about a woman who left a will stating that the house she had lived in her whole life was to be burned to ashes upon her death. The burning of her home is the opening scene in Paula's book, Mentioned in the Will.