Call it destiny, chance, fate, or mere luck, but somehow in my youth, I ended up in Scandinavia. It was due to an impulsive marriage that lasted a little over five years and gave me an up-close and personal relationship with Swedish and Danish cultures. I lived in Stockholm for a few months, and the rest of my Scandinavian experience was in Malmö, Sweden.
At the turn of the millennium, a bridge linking Sweden and Denmark opened. The ease to commute from one country to the other has people living in Malmö, which is less expensive and working in Copenhagen.
It felt a bit more remote in my youth, but still an incredibly fun and casual day trip. In the 1980s, the advantage of living in Southern Sweden was that we had three TV channels: two Swedish and the Danish ones.
I knew then that I was fascinated by my grandfather’s death in nearby Denmark, right before WWII in 1939. I knew Government files in Europe remain sealed for 75 years, after events, and as intrigued as I was, the fun of youth and lack of discipline left research to a future one day.
I had a short-lived, as it ended in divorce, clearly not a good marriage. But I did make lifelong friendships and learned to appreciate good vodka and fish, especially salmon and herring prepared in a myriad of ways.
In my 30s, again mere chance, I ended up alone and a bit bored with little money to spare for a few days in London, I contacted and consequently visited the British Airways archives, then located near Heathrow airport. On a cold day in January of 1993, my quest for “the full Story” began. It took me to several trips back to the UK and to Scandinavia, a vastly different Scandinavia that the one I knew so well in the 1980s.
Some things never change; the good vodka, aquavit, and fish are fabulous, as I remembered. Through globalization, foreign countries seem more alike, brands, and stores we all recognize. I miss the experience of completely feeling like things were worlds apart.
My book The Bridge of Deaths was the culmination of my quest. In it, I give the past a voice through the present.
Death of a Sculptor in Hue, Shape and Color
by M.C.V. Egan
Genre: Suburban Women’s Fiction
Color coded love stories and revealing female anatomies lead to the murder of world renowned sculptor, Bruce Jones.
In life, the artist loved women, almost as much as women loved him. Adored for his art and colorful personality, Bruce is mourned by the world at large. The tale is launched with the multifaceted perspectives of four ex-wives, the current wife, and his new love interest and their children.
Mary , Bruce’s wealthy first love, is always in perfect pink; the color of love. Mother of Clair the famous actress and Aaron the corporate lawyer.
Leslie The Second’s color is yellow for her sunny nature as much as for her fears and insecurities. Her only son Bobby is vulnerable and lost. Mourning his father’s death, he finds himself.
Petra The Third, is outstanding in orange, representing not only her native Holland but also her love of the fruit. Cherished her freedom and had no children of her own.
Toni The Fourth is a vibrant passionate Italian red and part of the eventual glue that creates and solidifies this dysfunctional Jones family. Her teenage daughters Tina and Isa are as different as night and day.
Brooke The Fifth a gold-digger. Green, her color, reflects the color of money and envy. Her young son’s Kyle and Caleb are too young to understand why their world has been turned upside-down.
Mara, as blue as the ocean was the last woman to steal Bruce’s heart. Mother to newborn Baby Peter is the unexpected gift and surprise.
Bruce Jones’ eight children speak out, too. They are as distinctive as the women he loved, their mothers.
Loose ends are tied up by the insights of Sylvia, Aaron’s wife and a trusted keeper of secrets; Scott, the private investigator and family friend; Nona, the quintessential grandmother everyone loves but to whom few are truly related; and Detective Jim Miller who will not rest until he discovers Bruce Jones’ murderer.
A word, a single word defines a moment for Anne. She needs to find a new one when her spouse, Frank, leaves her at the age of forty-seven, coming out of the closet literally in a closet.
She finds herself back in her hometown of Skvallerby, Connecticut among her high school friends which she had left in her past.
An inheritance from a frenemy leaves her with the means to meddle and spy on the lives of mutual acquaintances.
In an attempt to run from her reality Anne becomes engrossed in a game of fun and flirtation with her friend and fellow sufferer Connie.
Their fun games turn into a deadly reality. It is no longer a game. Life, death and not even a defining word can stop the reality of manipulation.
On August 15th, 1939, an English passenger plane from British Airways Ltd. crashed in Danish waters between the towns of Nykøbing Falster and Vordingborg. There were five casualties reported and one survivor. Just two weeks before, Hitler invaded Poland. With the world at the brink of war, the manner in which this incident was investigated left much open to doubt. The jurisdiction battle between the two towns and the newly formed Danish secret police created an atmosphere of intrigue and distrust. 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.” Based on true events and real people, The Bridge of Deaths is the culmination of 18 years of sifting through conventional and unconventional sources in Denmark, England, Mexico and the United States. The story finds a way to help the reader feel that s/he is also sifting through data and forming their own conclusions. Cross The Bridge of Deaths into 1939, and dive into cold Danish waters to uncover the secrets of the G-AESY.
On August 15th, 1939, an English passenger plane from British Airways Ltd. crashed in Danish waters between the towns of Nykøbing Falster and Vordingborg. There were five casualties reported and one survivor. Just two weeks before, Hitler invaded Poland. With the world at the brink of war, the manner in which this incident was investigated left much open to doubt. The jurisdiction battle between the two towns and the newly formed Danish secret police created an atmosphere of intrigue and distrust. 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.” Based on true events and real people, The Bridge of Deaths is the culmination of 18 years of sifting through conventional and unconventional sources in Denmark, England, Mexico and the United States. The story finds a way to help the reader feel that s/he is also sifting through data and forming their own conclusions. Cross The Bridge of Deaths into 1939, and dive into cold Danish waters to uncover the secrets of the G-AESY.
M.C.V. Egan is the pen name chosen by Maria Catalina Vergara Egan. Catalina is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. Catalina has lived in various countries and is fluent in four languages; Spanish, English, French and Swedish.
Her first book The Bridge of Deaths revolves around her maternal grandfather’s death in 1939. A true-life pre-WWII event. It has over 200 footnotes with the resources of her extensive search through Archival materials as well as the use of psychometry and past life regressions. It is more fact than fiction.
The revised edition of The Bridge of Deaths; A love Story and a Mystery focuses on the story-line as opposed to fact, but all footnotes and facts are available through the website for any curious minds. http://www.thebridgeofdeaths.com
Defined by Others taps into the dark quirky side found even in the best of people. With the 2012 American elections as a backdrop and the fearless reassurance that the world might end on December 12, 2012, as predicted by the Mayan Calendar.
Death of a Sculptor; in Hue, Shape, and Color is a novella written in sixteen different voices. It is a murder mystery. She is currently working on a sequel; Bruce (title subject to change).
M.C.V. Egan lives and works in South Florida. She loves cooking and crafting. She is married and has a son. Aside from writing Astrology is one of her passions and careers she pursues.
Based on the remarkable true account of a young American who landed in Liberia in 1961.
Ken Verrier is not happy, nor at peace. He is experiencing the turbulence of Ishmael and the guilt of his brother’s death. His sudden decision to drop out of college and deal with his demons shocks his family, his friends, and especially his girlfriend, soon to have been his fiancee. His destination: Liberia – The richest country in Africa both in monetary wealth and in natural resources.
Nothing could have prepared Ken for the experiences he was about to live through. He quickly realizes that he has arrived in a place where he understands very little of what is considered normal, where the dignity of life has little meaning, and where he can trust no one.
Flying into the interior bush as a transport pilot, Ken learns quickly. He witnesses first-hand the disparate lives of the Liberian “Country People” and the “Congo People” also known as Americo-Liberians. These descendants of President Monroe’s American Colonization Policy that sent freed slaves back to Africa in the 1800’s have set up a strict hierarchical society not unlike the antebellum South.
Author Dan Meier describes Ken’s many escapades, spanning from horrifying to whimsical, with engaging and fast-moving narrative that ultimately describe a society upon which the wealthy are feeding and in which the poor are being buried.
It’s a novel that will stay with you long after the last word has been read.
2019 Grand Prize Winner – Red City Review
The story weaves drama, dark comedy, and romance throughout a rich tapestry of narration
—THE SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW
**On Sale for only $2.99 until the end of August!!**
A retired Aviation Safety Inspector for the FAA, Daniel V. Meier, Jr. has always had a passion for writing. During his college years, he studied History at The University of North Carolina Wilmington and American Literature at The University of Maryland Graduate School. In 1980 he was published by Leisure Books under the pen name of Vice Daniels. He also worked briefly for the Washington Business Journal as a journalist and has been a contributing writer/editor for several aviation magazines.
Dan and his wife live in Owings, Maryland, about twenty miles south of Annapolis and when he’s not writing, they spend their summers sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.
I didn’t want to take the traditional path. First, I wasn’t ready for college. Second, I was going to live with my best friend, Tiff, and work at the Haunted House. Third, did I mention the hot guy Josh that works there too?
The most exciting thing about Austria’s new job, at a local haunted house, was the fact that the toughest looking people screamed the loudest. But when she meets the boy without a home, Josh, Austria’s life takes intriguing and eventful turns. Up until now, Josh has managed to hang with his Street crowd, but they’re in danger, and so is Austria, the girl Josh recently fell for. The group finds themselves joining forces with previously considered enemies who also now find themselves in danger.
Deeply compassionate and full of twists, Altered Helix captures the struggle of polarized people that must work together for the greater good.
For Austria, travelling to the Stranded Coil means she gets to see someone she believed was lost. She’s able to do this because she’s an Altered Helix. But doing so takes her away from her first true love, Josh. Josh is working hard to keep their Haunted House family safe on Earth, but seems to fall in love with Austria more with every second they spend together.
Austria and Josh face a devastating challenge, the mysterious appearance of Mutant Altered Helixes, and an enticingly dangerous answer to their questions.
Impulsive, caring, and full of surprises, this teenage love against the odds is well on its way to breaking even…maybe.
When the only option left means losing someone you love, you have no options. How could you, how could you save one person you care about, when doing so would harm another? What if they weren’t even letting you choose but choosing for you? You’d have to intervene without letting them know, right?
To be an Altered Helix and put others in danger is the new reality for Austria. Luckily someone’s there to catch her when she falls, Josh, and fall she does, in love that is. While witnessing her family being put in danger, Austria’s haunted house family grows. Now that Austria has found a way to defeat Mutant Altered Helixes after her, a dangerous stream of events occur to those around her. Just when the family has finally come together, could they be ruined?
The amazing conclusion to the Altered Helix series, Paralleled Bond displays the results when polar opposites come together for the greater good.
Stephanie Hansen’s short story, Break Time, and poetry has been featured in Mind’s Eye literary magazine. The Kansas Writers Association published her short story, Existing Forces, appointing her as a noted author. She has held a deep passion for writing since early childhood, but a brush with death caused her to allow it to grow. She’s part of an SCBWI critique group in Lawrence, KS and two local book clubs. She attends many writers’ conferences including the Writing Day Workshops, New York Pitch, Penned Con, New Letters, All Write Now, Show Me Writers Master Class, BEA, and Nebraska Writers Guild conference as well as Book Fairs and Comic-Cons. She is a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community.
Gabriel Cooper is just another cop on the NJPD- well, just another cop, except with almost psychic instincts. When those instincts lead him onto a bus to capture a hostile, he’s exposed to a mysterious bomb. Still, it seems like just another adventure he walked away from. Except that suddenly, his instinct is becoming his primary sense to keep out of trouble- and there is a lot of trouble.
Braelin Cunningham has no family, but she does have her best friend Gabe. She’ll do whatever it takes to protect him from the mysterious League of Incredible Supermen. As long as Braelin gets to be by the side of her best friend and secret crush, she’ll do it. Even if it means going on the run when more than the League get interested with Gabe’s newfound abilities.
On the run together, it seems like no matter where they turn, danger is there. When it comes to having superpowers, apparently, you can run- but you can’t hide.
Jes Drew is the author of the Ninja and Hunter trilogy, the Howling Twenty trilogy, the Kristian Clark saga, the Castaways trilogy, and Mind of Darkness. She lives with her mom, dad, younger sister, four younger brothers, and two dogs, obsessing about her true love, Captain Steve Rogers. There is a possibility that she may or may not be a superhuman, but she hasn’t discovered her powers. Yet. Also, she might be a spy, but that’s classified.
After a year of making beautiful music together, Chloe Hatherly thinks she’s more than ready to make the age-old promise to her bandmate, Jon. In sickness and in health, for better or worse. When the sudden death of Jon’s father forces the couple to postpone their wedding in favor of a funeral, however, their relationship veers rapidly off course from the ever after they’d both envisioned. Now living in her intended father-in-law’s memory-steeped house and acting as round-the-clock caregiver for her fiancé’s worsening depression, Chloe finds herself afflicted with a songwriter’s block for which she’s only ever known one cure: leaving and writing a killer breakup song. Unlike the subjects of her past lyrical rants, Chloe can’t picture her life without Jon in it, and she begins to wonder if there’s a way to save the music she loves while keeping the vows she never had the chance to make — or if she and Jon have already been irrevocably parted by death, albeit not their own.
The Future Mrs. Brightside is an uncomfortably honest, sometimes hilarious, fiercely romantic prose ballad to the hideous beauty of love in good times and bad.
FIONA J.R. TITCHENELL is an author of young adult, sci-fi, and horror fiction, including Pinnacle City: A Superhero Noir, The Prospero Chronicles, and the Summer 2018 Feminist Book of the Month, Out of the Pocket. The Future Mrs. Brightside is her first foray into contemporary women’s fiction. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Cal State University Los Angeles in 2009 at the age of twenty. She currently lives in San Gabriel, California, with her husband and fellow author, Matt Carter, and has also published under the initials F.J.R. Titchenell. Find out more about her and her books at http://www.fjrtitchenell.weebly.com.
They hit cafes for breakfast then nine to five at the office, and fritter away evenings at jazz clubs.
But paradise is still a distant dream, for there are devils amongst the angels.
Lucas Panda is missing; clues on the riverbank suggest he was probably kidnapped. Enter Frank. Who else you gonna call? Hard-boiled penguin and the finest detective in town. And meet his new partner, Detective Chico Monkey – yeah, the wisecrackin’ kid with all the snappy suits. But the stakes have been raised; three more creatures are missing and the citizens of Noah’s Kingdom are faced with possible extinction. Can the grouchy bird and plucky young ape save the city from doom? Or, will evil prevail and escape the claws of justice?
‘Animal noir’ peppered with plenty of humour; this thrilling debut novel from award-winning comedian JT Bird is an intriguing blend of Jungle Book and Chinatown (Zootopia for grown-ups?! Watership Down with Fedoras!?) – perfect for fans of animal fiction, or mysteries, adventure and crime. A gripping yarn, packed with weird and wonderful creatures, for youngsters and adults alike (or anyone who’s crying out for anthropomorphic detectives!!)
J T Bird is an award-winning stand-up comedian from North London, where he lives with his wife and child. His humble abode sits neatly between the former homes of HG Wells and Robert Louis Stevenson…so there’s no pressure to write something utterly successful and wonderful.
Bird was actually ‘The Chosen One’ that prophets foresaw would rescue the world from all the powers of darkness – however, he opted for a career as a clown and author instead…
Another little known fact – his father was sent from the future to protect him from an android assassin, and his mother’s possessed by a demon – but hey, we all have family issues right?!
If one person can make a difference, just think what three can do.
Clint Westerly was a success until a fateful choice he makes tears his world all apart. Tanya Wilshire is broke but hell-bent on committing to her mother’s final deathbed request. 84-year-old Seamus Harrington needs to right an ancient wrong before time runs out.
Filled with grit and determination, these three people with three different problems, an unlikely trio of unexpected allies, converge in a small Irish town to form a Triangle of Hope against all odds. Together they take a courageous stand that will forever change their world and that around them.
If you love feel-good reads with happy endings, then TRIANGLE OF HOPE is for you.
“If an author can make you cry for his characters then want to hug them close and then want to do an Irish Jig with them to celebrate overcoming that much pain then you know you have read a book that will stay with you forever.”- Wanda Hartzenberg, Wanda’s Amazing Amazon Reviewers
It is a “fantastic read that will pull at your heart.” – Lauren Alumbaugh, Goodreads librarian
SEMIFINALIST FOR THE 2015 KINDLE BOOK AWARD IN LITERARY FICTION
Michael Meyer is the author of mysteries, thrillers, humorous fiction, and non-fiction: Love and romance, laughter and tears, thrills and fears.
He has resided in and has visited many places in the world, all of which have contributed in some way to his own published writing. He has literally traveled throughout the world, on numerous occasions. He has lived in Finland, Germany, Thailand, Saudi Arabia (where COVERT DREAMS – INTERNATIONAL SUSPENSE COLLECTION BOOK ONE – is set), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (where DEADLY EYES – INTERNATIONAL SUSPENSE COLLECTION BOOK TWO – is set). He gained the wanderlust to see the world, to experience other cultures, at an early age, and this desire has never left him. If anything, it has only gained in intensity as he has aged.
Among the many unique things that have happened to him in his world travels, he has walked the streets of Istanbul with a detective, searching for a pickpocket who got him good. He has ridden on the back of a motorcycle in Tehran while the driver, who spoke not one word of English, pointed out all the sights to him. He has wrestled an Iranian soldier who tried to break into his hotel room in Tehran. He has had the paint completely stripped from his car as he drove across Saudi Arabia in a sandstorm. He has stood on the stage of a busy nightclub in Tokyo, singing “She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes” to an audience feeling no pain from the Sake they were drinking. He has been chased by a family of mongooses (yes, that is the correct spelling) on the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Croix. And that is just the beginning of his long list of worldly adventures.
As a recent retiree from a forty-year career as a professor of writing, he now lives in Southern California wine country with his wife, Kitty, and their two adorable rescue cats.
Nestled in the woods of Windhaven, Blackwood Manor waits to unleash a dark and deadly legacy…
When Autumn Blackwood shows up at Windhaven Academy for the Witching Stick Orientation, she hopes to find out what dormant powers she could possibly possess to have been accepted to the elite supernatural school. Instead, the academy is in chaos as everyone frantically hunts for two missing girls.
But as school begins with Autumn no closer to figuring out her powers, strange occurrences start to follow her everywhere. Even at home, Blackwood Manor keeps many secrets, and Autumn can’t escape its haunting past.
New friends urge her to learn more about her family’s history in order to unlock her powers and make sense of what’s happening at Blackwood Manor, but Autumn’s not so sure. Once an accident brings Autumn face-to-face with death, however, she realizes her gifts are tied to a legacy that can either save or doom them all…
Fans of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Joe Hill’s Locke & Key, or MR Forbes’ Necromancer: The Complete Series will love The Windhaven Witches.
Turns out being the town’s only necromancer could pose some problems when the dead won’t stay dead.
The new semester of Windhaven Academy is about to start, and already Autumn Blackwood’s life is in jeopardy. Rumors are swirling around the school that Autumn and her boyfriend are raising the revenants, and Autumn worries they might be right.
What if the resurrection she performed last semester wasn’t as successful as she thought? What if she really is the cause of the dead returning to life?
Soon, Autumn and her boyfriend find themselves in the center of a supernatural federal investigation that could land them both in prison—or something far worse. And if Autumn doesn’t find out what’s really behind the soulless scourge quickly enough, everyone she cares about could be next on the death toll.
Soul Legacy is a harrowing and suspenseful supernatural mystery for fans of heart-thumping paranormal tales! Fans of Joe Hill and Kelley Armstrong will love The Windhaven Witches by Carissa Andrews!
Being haunted by ghosts isn’t unusual for Autumn, but this time it’s someone she didn’t think was dead.
Autumn’s world is a life of ghosts, death, and destruction. The last thing she wants is to be the cause of her boyfriend’s early demise. Especially when she’s already been warned by the Angel of Death to stay away from him. So, to keep Wade safe, there’s only one thing to do: end it.
But of course, fate doesn’t let them off the hook that easy. Thrust together for a school project, Wade is put right in the line of fire when an unexplained, and surprisingly violent, haunting erupts at Blackwood Manor.
To figure out how to stop it, Autumn has to communicate with the spirit, but it will do anything to protect its identity. The deeper Autumn digs, the more sinister the truth becomes. Devastated and vulnerable, Autumn has to face the facts and find a way to end the ghost’s deadly attacks. Otherwise, both she and Wade will become the ghost’s next victim.
Haunted Legacy is the third installment of the Windhaven Witches series – a spine-tingling supernatural suspense series that will have you questioning everything you think you know! Fans of Deborah Harkness, Kelley Armstrong, and Anne Rice will love The Windhaven Witches by Carissa Andrews!
How do you break a family curse set by the Fates themselves?
The Blackwood family curse is closing in on Autumn. No matter where she goes, the tattered red threads of the Moirai follow her. It’s only a matter of time and she’ll join the early grave of so many Blackwoods before her. What’s worse, the curse is expanding and threatening to take more lives.
Expelled from his birthright for loving a necromancer, Wade is now a completely mortal—and vulnerable human. If he dies, there’s no coming back because not even Autumn can save him when fate and death conspire.
After an eye-opening revelation, Autumn realizes everything about her crazy, supernatural life has been built on a lie. And that lie is about to wipe out her entire lineage forever. With time running out, will Autumn find a way to appease the Fates and break the curse?
“An author emerges from the depths of Minnesotan waters. Sci-fi/Fantasy is my pen of choice.”
Carissa Andrews is an internationally bestselling author from central Minnesota who writes a combination of science fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance, supernatural thriller, and dystopia. Her plans for 2020 include launching the paranormal\supernatural thriller series: The Windhaven Witches.
She keeps sane by chilling with her husband and five kids, playing with art in its various forms, seeking out mysteries, and being an occasional meditation and reiki badass.
You can learn more about Carissa and her upcoming books by visiting her website: www.carissaandrews.com
Kameryn Gamble ran away from an awkward life. A new city offered a fresh start, a new job and a new man. Reynaud added something she never had in a relationship before…friendship, passion and peace. Things were looking up for Kameryn until an ex-lover showed up with the intention of bringing her home.
Reynaud Leduc had everything he ever wanted with Kameryn and yet something nagged at him. He hoped going ‘home’ would ease his weariness, but friends had lost their places and enemies had gained power. Will the final confrontation with his past destroy everything Reynaud had in his present preventing him from having a future with Kameryn?
Where sensual erotic romance is always waiting for you.
I am Dana Littlejohn, author of sensual erotic romance. You will find that I write contemporary romances with just a hint of another genre to take it away from the ordinary. My stories will touch your heart and your soul and make your body feel like it’s being touched, too.
Imagination will take you places your money can not. I invite you into my world with open arms to see my imagination run wild…
Come along for the ride as I go on an imaginary trip into my world. You’ll enjoy every minute of this wild ride.
M.C.V. EGAN ❧Defining Ways❧ 