The House of David

The House of David A tale of supernatural love and vengeance. Celia Wayne owns the Wayne House in St. Louis’ charming Central West End. The only survivor of a devastating house fire when she was 19, Celia rebuilt the mansion as a self-sustaining bed and breakfast. For marketing purposes, Celia floats the legend of the mysterious David Brinkman Wayne, the rogue whose spirit haunts the house. But when David starts actually appearing to her, questions arise: Is this a real ghost, or is Celia’s mind so powerful that she is doing the hocus pocus without even knowing it? And if he is real, why is he here, and what does he want? When new friends Brandy, Laura, and Jessica visit Wayne House for lunch, their experience demands a re-examination of all they have ever believed. Celia’s friendship with these women grows as she enlists ghostly help and guidance for everything from Brandy’s failing health to publicity for the mansion. When she welcomes a writer from a popular psychology magazine who wants to debunk the ghost story, she counts on David to pitch in. But David’s abilities are not inexhaustible. Little does she realize that he is readying himself for a final battle with his own lifelong nemesis—and the battlefield may be her home. It may take all of the powers of friendship, loyalty, and love to take on the evil that haunts the ghost. Jana Meehan writes fiction and non-fiction in St. Louis, Missouri. The House of David is her first novel.

About the Author

Jana Meehan is a writer of fiction and non-fiction in St. Louis, Missouri. She began her writing career in 1981, fresh out of college. Her degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University led her to a career in publication production. Her poetry, which was poignantly personal, political, and filled with imagery, achieved notice in academic circles. But she failed to publish it. She was not finished changing. As a political conservative, she reached an epiphany in 1984 and came to realize that her values, shaped by conservative parenting, had been an error. She turned the fabric of her writing toward a direction that supported the poor and disadvantaged. In 2003, Meehan's juvenile diabetes resulted in very diminished eyesight. She came to rely on her husband and friends to assist her with the daily tasks of managing with a visual acuity what would only correct to 20/400. In 2005, at the height of her career, her husband, Carl Bibbs, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. This event sent her into a tailspin that still colors much of her writing and view of life. "I find that I am more sensitive to those who hurt and more sympathetic to the great mass of humankind who suffers economically or with the difficulties of disenfranchisement or disentitlement in this world," she commented. "I believe that any time you have a society wherein one group of people is more entitled, more enfranchised, or more enabled than another group of people - especially if that harmed group is assaulted economically based on a superficiality such as religion or skin color - you cannot call yourself having a civilization. It is simply uncivilized to diminish people that way. "I know what it is to achieve less because of a quality attached to me from the outside, such as diabetes. I particularly object when a culture keeps poor people poor in defense of the wealthy. It's ugly." Meehan wrote The House of David in an effort to explore relationships, friendship, loyalty and love.

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