The Bridge Of Deaths - Author Interview with M.C.V. Egan VBT Pit Stop April 19

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Louise: MCV, welcome to my blog! I’m so excited you could join me for a chat. When did you first decide to submit your work to be published? Tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step.

MCV: Hi Louise it is great to be here. I decided to self-publish as the industry is in the middle of so many changes it felt like the right choice for me.

Louise: Please tell us a little about your new release without giving too much of a spoiler away.

MCV: The Bridge of Deaths is a cross genre that The Midwest Book Review called an unusual and much recommended read. It blends Fact and Fiction, documenting the former for any would be doubters. The story revolves around an airplane crash at the brink of WWII and it is told from a modern perspective as to how it was researched through traditional and nontraditional means.

Blurb:

On August 15th 1939, at the brink of World War II, an English plane crashed and sunk in Danish waters. Five deaths were reported: two Standard Oil of New Jersey employees, a German Corporate Lawyer, an English member of Parliament, and a crew member for the airline. Here is a conceivable version of the events.

The Bridge of Deaths is a love story and a mystery. Fictional characters travel through the world of past life regressions and information acquired from psychics as well as archives and historical
sources to solve "One of those mysteries that never get solved" is based on true events and real people, it is the culmination of 18 years of sifting through sources in Denmark, England and the United States, it finds a way to help the reader feel that he /she is also sifting through data and forming their own conclusions. The journey takes the reader to well-known and little known events leading up to the Second World War, both in Europe and America. The journey also takes the reader to the possibility of finding oneself in this lifetime by exploring past lives.

Louise: Do you plan all your characters out before you start a story or do they develop as you write?

MCV: All the major ones, absolutely. I craft them carefully and play with them; I get to know them very well. Sometimes I feel it’s a shame not to include parts that define their personalities, but if it isn’t relevant to the story it could lose a reader or two.

Louise: How much research do you do for your books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your research?

MCV: TBOD was a massive research undertaking. In the course of almost two decades I visited numerous archives in the UK, Denmark and the USA. As the internet provided access to some of these the task became easier and far less expensive.

I also used documented past life regressions and the use of psychometry by various psychics. 

Louise: What is your writing process? Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants (Pantser) or a combination of both?

MCV: I am definitely a combination of both. I make lists outlines. I also have a story board bulletin board and I even draw a diagram or two to make things more tangible.

Louise: Do you write full time? What did you do before you became a writer or still do?

MCV: I am very lucky right now and I do. However marketing is also very time consuming so lately it does not feel like a can devote myself full-time.

Louise: Do you have a ritual when it comes to writing? Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen, laptop and a comfy place.

MCV: I have a great little room, and I usually work from there. I carry a tape-recorded in case a lightning of brilliance strikes at the long carpool line when I go to pick up my son from school. I sometimes write in pen and sometimes only a pencil feels right…I guess I don’t have a ritual.

Louise: Describe a typical writing day for you.

MCV: After I deal with my routine of getting a teenager off on his day and that I deal with e-mails and such…I sit down and write. I interrupt for lunch and might watch a good news show to feel connected to the world. I do tend to write a lot when my husband and son sleep.

Louise: Please give us a sneak peek at your future books. What’s on the horizon?

MCV: I am working with a co-author on a fun and interesting little book called 4covert2overt it is a quicker read than TBOD but has its informative message and angle, and this one will be sprinkled with a little sex and loaded with a lot of paranormal.

Louise: What is your favorite genre to read and who is your favorite author?

MCV: I really enjoy murder mysteries, but the truth is I like such a wide variety of books that I cannot stay with one definitive genre. Of the modern American authors I really enjoy reading John Irving. British I like Nick Hornby. That being said I like so so very many authors that I feel a little guilty naming just two.

Louise: Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers we have not touched on?

MCV: You pretty much covered everything, Thank – you.

Louise: Where can the readers learn more about you and find your books on the web? 

MCV: Readers can find my books and me on the following sites:

Purchase links:

AMAZON 

AMAZON UK  

BARNES AND NOBLE  

AUTHORHOUSE 

Website  

Goodreads   

Facebook  

Blog

Watch the book trailer:
 


Readers, each week of her tour, MCV will be giving away a signed print of her book to one lucky commenter that has followed her tour. There is 3 days left so be sure to leave a comment.  You can view the tour schedule here VBT Cafe  

M.C.V. Egan is the pen name chosen by Maria Catalina Egan the author of The Bridge of Deaths. Catalina was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1959, one of eight children. From a very young age she became obsessed with the story of her maternal Grandfather, Cesar Agustin Castillo, mostly the story of how he died. She only spent her childhood in Mexico. Her father became an employee of The World Bank in Washington D.C.

From the early 1970s at the age of 12 she moved with her entire family to the United States. She was already fluent in Southern English as she had spent one school year in the town of Pineville, Louisiana with her grandparents. There she won the English award; ironically being the only one who had English as a second language in her class. In the D.C. suburbs she attended various private Catholic schools and graduated from Winston Churchill HS in Potomac, Maryland in 1977. She attended Montgomery Community College, where she changed majors every semester. She also studied in Lyons, France at the Catholic University for two years. In 1981, due to an impulsive young marriage to a Viking ( The Swedish kind, not the football player kind) Catalina moved to Sweden where she resided for five years and taught at a language school for Swedish, Danish, and Finnish businesspeople. She returned to the USA where she has been living ever since. She is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Swedish.

Mrs. Egan has worked for various companies and holds an Insurance license for the State of Florida. Not her favorite field but involves very nice folks and makes money!

Maria Catalina Egan is married and has one son, who together with their five pound Chihuahua makes her feel like a full-time mother. Although she would not call herself an Astrologer she has taken many classes and taught a few beginner classes in Astrology. This is one of her many past times when she is not writing or researching.

She celebrated her 52^nd birthday on July 2^nd 2011 and gave herself self-publishing The Bridge of Deaths as a gift; she never submitted it to anyone prior to this decision and has enjoyed the very positive feedback.