"The Bridge of Deaths" by M.C.V. Egan: INTERVIEW & Review + GIVEAWAY Info.!

AN INTERVIEW with M.C.V. Egan

Welcome, M.C.V. Egan. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. After reading your book, “The Bridge of Deaths”, I want to know so much more about you and this journey you took!

Q. THE BRIDGE of DEATHS was a real labor of love for you, wasn't it? You published the book in 2011, but your quest began some 20 years ago, correct?

A. Thanks for inviting me Rebecca and for your lovely introduction. I did not realize it was a labor of love until others called it that! My sister called it my obsession. 

 

I began to dabble a little here and there some years earlier, but the serious quest began in 1993. I can in all honesty claim the eighteen years, but I did have my one and only child and a wide array of paying jobs in the course of that time. The eighteen years were not a full-time endeavor.

I am really lucky and have a very full life, especially lucky that my husband is in the insurance business and I could tag along to London for a very low cost on his business trips and visit the necessary archives to work on my research. 

Q. This book felt to me like a love letter to your grandfather. Your determination is inspiring!

A. Okay so now you made me get all choked-up. I can honestly say that I love him, and not only the good bits. I tried to be as honest as possible while still giving a nice portrayal. 

 

I was afraid about my mother’s reaction and she was unhappy that I rattled the proverbial skeletons in her family closet. Lately though she’ll make a very nice comment about it all, so perhaps in parts she saw what you describe.

Q. In your book, reincarnation plays a big roll and you mention that you experienced a past life regression. What was that like?

A. I have actually experienced several. The first one was in 1991 and I was almost thirty-two years old. I had experienced a repetitious dream a few years earlier that led me to explore the possibility, but I had thought about it as a teen because of the Anthony Hopkins movie, the two lives of Audrey Rose. 

 

I don’t know if it was because of all the books I had read, but I went under hypnosis with great ease and I could see and feel things very clearly. I did get a bit thrown aback because I first went to a super distant future; and to this day I cannot quite wrap my head around future or parallel lives. Anyhow that was a space ship type of setting! 

 

In that regression session I visited many lives, and thankfully all the others were past. I was not entirely sure how I felt about the validity and did question if my very vivid imagination had somehow created the lives.

However I had a physical change. Spanish like English sounds very different from country to country, place to place; (Think British English and Southern Drawl), my Spanish had a very neutral tone and people could never guess where I was from. In that regression I “unblocked” a conflict with my Mexican roots and suddenly I would barely say “Hola” and every Spanish speaker knew I was from Mexico. 

 

Once that happened it was not easy to question what I had experienced, but it was several years before I felt comfortable with the idea of “visiting” past lives again. It had nothing to do with moral or religious beliefs, it was with me more a question of individuality and identity.

Anyhow in that Mexican past I was an Aztec Indian male and I broke my neck slipping and falling down a pyramid, I felt like I died in great shame and fear, I had ruined the ritual and made others topple with me. The regressionist would guide you through the crossing over and what you felt, took away from that life.

Like I said, I ‘visited’ several lives, it was a long private session and one was in Medieval Italy and I had to leave my family and life on a ship; in a hurry and great disgrace through no fault of my own. When that life ended and the regressionist asked “What did you learn?” I answered “I learned about trust” and she said “OH good you learned to trust” to which came the reply “No, not at all I learned trust no-one!” To date I am accused of being cautious and having trust issues.

Q. It was very creative the way you wove your real life experiences with that of fictional characters. Was it difficult to write this way?

A. In some ways it was, because I wanted to detach from the story as much as possible, as well as to honor the wishes of the “real Bill” and at times I felt like it was a shame and that real life was more fun or interesting, for one thing I drank far more Tequila than Sauvignon Blanc!

I do strive for a unique and different style, I am always afraid that all the books I devoured; and if I liked an author I read them all, could influence my writing voice or influence to such a degree that it may seem like imitation. 

 

I did not set out to do something so different, but I do love that the most common word used to describe The Bridge of Deaths is Unusual.

Q. I get the impression that Maggie was very special to you.

A. I remember so clearly the day she was conceived in my mind. It was during a group past life regression. A young woman described a life as an Eskimo and I had seen a life as an Eskimo in another regression, so on the drive home the idea of the pilot’s wife also being in a modern version started to form very clearly. Before that I toyed with having either Bill or Catalina (or both) be Gay so there was no sexual tension added to the story, I have some fun scenes written with that idea in mind!

I must say, sometimes I miss Maggie.

Q. Have you considered writing another story with Maggie and Bill?

A. I attend writing workshops and one thing all the teachers/monitors agree upon is that stories need conflict; Bill and Maggie rode so nicely off into the sunset to lead the idyllic life and love. At this point I cannot imagine dusting them off and creating havoc in their lives!

Q. As part of your 75th Anniversary event honoring the 1939 events, you released a revised edition of BRIDGE of DEATHS. What's new in this book?

A. Inasmuch as most of my reviews have been positive, the negative ones complained about the footnotes and some of the information. I took out all the footnotes and incorporated the absolutely necessary ones into the narrative. I took out (but placed as appendices) two large bits that had continuous data and summarized them, I also added a new epilogue in which Maggie’s girlfriends are looking for love in the very same bookstore. 

 

Of course the most obvious change is the fabulous cover designed by an amazing guy in Bath, UK Daz Smith. That has the very watch that went down with the G-AESY on August 15^th and it was used to determine the exact time the plane went under water, 1:17 p.m. (well in Denmark it is 13:17).

I chose to keep the integrity of all the data to be able to use the editorial reviews of the original version.

Q. What will your next project be? Do you miss the journey that brought you to this point?

A. I am working on a series, the first book is called Defined by Others, it is chick lit but of course it has a touch of the psychic, metaphysics and other fun elements. I think it is Chick Lit, but I cannot wait to see how it is judged, I have to do a few more edits and I hope to release late October. It was the product of my first attempt at NaNoWriMo, but it has been edited, and edited and it is almost ready!

Q. You were recently a guest on the Halley Elise radio show. What is an empowerment psychic and may I share the link to this episode? How was that experience?

A. Absolutely here is the link. It is a Web TV show and it was great fun, the camera is easy to forget, so I look like I am looking away at times, but please do, as other shows are added to the archive people need to scroll down and look for the date, it was on the air September 15^th.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-halley-elsie-show

(Or see it on youtube!)

Q. In closing this interview, what would you like your readers to know about you, your book, or any other topic that is important to you?

A. Maggie the character in the book is an Absolute pacifist, she objects to war and violence of any kind. I strive to be that, but I am very far from it, but I love to try to tap into my inner Maggie.

In a world where we have so many real battles to fight for a better tomorrow, I hope that we can all find it in ourselves to help prevent wars and promote PEACE in any way we can.

I can't thank you enough for doing this interview and answering all of my questions! You're a real inspiration.

 I am humbled and honored by your wonderful questions, and again thanks for the invite.

CriticalPast File no. 65675035711

 

 

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at Heston Aerodrome in 

London, England. September 9, 1938.

 

My Review of "The Bridge of Deaths"

 

* * * * *

The Bridge of Deaths

by M.C.V. Egan

Genre: Mystery/Love Story/Reincarnation

* * * * *

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review, and I was so impressed with the author's story, in that you can almost feel what she must have felt as she tried to uncover the past.

"The Bridge of Deaths" is unique in the way that it weaves together real life events and people with fictional ones. The author's journey spanned two decades of extensive, comprehensive research to learn the truth of what happened to her grandfather when the plane he was in crashed, in Denmark on August 15, 1939. 4 other people were killed with the pilot being the only survivor, in this real life tragedy that occurred shortly before the beginning of World War II. It is an event in history nearly swept under the proverbial carpet until the author's great need to discover the truth of the G-AESY's crash reinvigorated it.

Experience this incredible quest, through the eyes of the author, and also the fictional characters of Maggie and Bill, who discover their connection to this event through a series of past life regressions. Mystery, love, reincarnation, discovery, and life abound.

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