VBTC Pit Stop - Chatting with M.C.V. Egan author of The Bridge of Deaths

Welcome to BK Walker Books Etc. I'm so happy you could join me today at the Sea Cafe' in South Beach Miami, where we are sitting outside enjoying the warm beautiful day. Ms. Egan will also be having a giveaway each week so be sure to check that out below!

The Bridge of Deaths by M.C.V. Egan

BK: Please tell us a little about yourself...

My name is Maria Catalina Vergara Egan. I am originally from Mexico City, Mexico where I spent only part of my childhood. I grew up in the Washington D.C. suburbs, Studied in Lyons, France for two years and lived in Sweden for five years (failed marriage of my youth) I have lived in various parts of the US and settled here in South Florida in 1990. I am married and have a teenage son. Aside from writing and reading I enjoy many hobbies; Astrology, Origami, Arts and Crafts, Cooking, walking in beautiful places, going to the cinema and just all around enjoying life. I also absolutely love to travel; I love car trips, train rides, ships, airplanes.

BK: Please tell us a little about your book....

The Bridge of Deaths is based on the true story of my maternal grandfather's death. He was a Bio-Chemical engineer and worked for Standard Oil of New Jersey in the 1930s. He died in Denmark in 1939 at the brink of WWII and the information given to my family in a nut shell and exact quote was "...of course inquiries have been made.....it will remain one of those mysteries that cannot be solved" (you can see the full letter on my website).

I researched the story through a wide variety of sources, traditional and non-traditional and so The Bridge of Deaths is a cross-genre; Historical (with over 200 documented footnotes), Paranormal (information and assistance from four psychics, a Peruvian shaman and two past life regression therapists), Romance the story is told through the experience and research of a young couple in modern day London from the moment they meet and as their love grows into... well, for that you have to read the book! Mystery because the very nature of the true events are an un-solved mystery.

BK: What inspired you to pen this particular novel?

I would say an interest and desire to get to know who my grandfather was and why he died, but those who know me say it was an obsession with a man who died 20 years before I was born.

BK: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

At a very early age, as I always wrote letters and stories. I just always assumed I would be many other things, and then write about them.

BK: How do you keep your story flowing?

As history can be a tedious matter for us all...I created Bill and Maggie and Catalina. I also needed to protect the anonymity of the "real" Bill and detach from the story personally. By weaving fictional characters trying to resolve the phobias and nightmares created by the past life experience, I gave the reader a sense of purpose in following the thread of the story, as the story flowed Bill and Maggie became very real to me.

I also created an obsessed woman Catalina with no real life to speak of other than this quest to solve the mystery of her grandfather's death. I have been very pleasantly surprised to have had readers and reviewers that like Catalina, I did have a reviewer who hated her and called her a bore, which I could absolutely understand as I tried to give her a limited and lonely existence.

The true story in and of itself is very interesting and full of complicated real-life characters.

BK: Do you ever run into writer's block, and if so, what do you do to get past it?

I am a guest once a month on a site called simple Clockwork where I give writing tips and one of my first posts there was about writer's Block. I use many different ways and I am sure I will discover new ways in the future. I am a firm believer that there is more than one way to approach things and more than one way to solve a problem. My favorite way is to walk it out, long walks to inspire me. I cannot help but laugh, I have gained weight so I guess I have not been too blocked lately!

BK: What is your writing process like? Do you have any quirks, or must-haves to write?

I love bulletin boards to help me visualize the story and know where I am heading. Images of what I am writing about, sometimes I create the images myself and books on the subject I am writing.

BK: Where do you hope your books/writing will be in the future?

I have BIG dreams and wishes, and they are fueled not only by a desire and conviction in what I am doing but also by all the psychics predicting amazing success. As absurd as that may sound many other predictions over which I had absolutely no control in life have come true, so I do hold extremely high expectations, after all 'Dreaming doesn't cost anything.'

BK: What do you hope readers will take away from your books?

In an entertaining way knowledge. I love reading the various reviews that say I became aware of historical events that many of my generation are unaware of, or I had one young reviewer who wrote that it made her want to follow up and learn more about certain events. The book I am working on now is far less documented and yet I do hope it will add to people’s knowledge and excite curiosity about history. That being said I have also had a strong response into the past-life angle.

Knowledge about anything as trivial as it may seem, for the book I am working on now I am using as one of my references The Complete Idiot's guide to Crystals!

BK: What is one piece of advice you received that you carry with you in your writing?

It came from several sources but the one that impacted me the most was Bill Traylor a 90+ year old man that put together a Lockheed Electra 10A at the New England Air Museum, a piece of advice for writing as well as for anything else that is important in life. DO NOT GIVE UP!

BK: What is one piece of advice you would give to new and aspiring writers?

I believe that the most discouraging thing is the idea that everything has been said and written, but I believe every writer should remember that their voice is unique and that as such nothing has been written in their wonderful, unique and special voice.

BK: Are you currently working on any new projects? What can we expect from you in the future?

Yes I am, I am working with a very interesting co-author who also happens to be a clairvoyant and channels messages and painting, Jolie DeMarco. We are working on a short novel called 4covert2overt and we should be finished I am guessing by the fall of 2012.

BK: Where can readers find you?

Well thanks to this wonderful virtual tour for the next six weeks virtually EVERYWHERE. I have a website http://www.thebridgeofdeaths.com and it has a contact form where people should feel free to ask any questions or request pdf. Copies of the book in exchange for honest reviews.

Thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today. It's been a pleasure having you and I wish you much success in the future.

Thank you BK it is an absolute pleasure to meet you.

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 fulltime 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.

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.

M.C.V. Egan will be giving away one signed print each week to one lucky commenter that follows and comments on her tour. You can follow her tour HERE for more chances to win and Good Luck!