Defined by Other
By M.C.V. Egan
GENRE: Women's Contemporary Fiction
Out December 11, 2014
COVER DESIGN: Babble
Graphics front cover Nethed Back cover
LENGTH: 50,000 words
LENGTH: 50,000 words
CONTENT WARNING: Adult
Content - Drug Use/Drinking
Synopsis
A word, a single
word defines a moment for Anne. She needs to find a new one when her spouse
leaves her at the age of 47, coming out of the closet literally in a closet.
She finds herself back in her hometown amongst her high school friends which
she left behind in her past.
An inheritance from
a friend leaves her with the means to meddle and spy on the lives of some of
their mutual acquaintances. In an attempt to run from her reality Anne gets
engrossed in a game of "fun" and "flirtation" with her
friend and fellow sufferer Connie at her side. Anne however did not read all
the files and what to her is fun games turns into a deadly reality. It is no
longer a game.
Life, death and not
even a defining word can stop the reality of manipulation.
Excerpt
I sat in Pete’s
office after the video ended staring at the screen with her frozen image. She
looked gaunt and ravaged by the illness that had eventually taken her life.
When they lowered her coffin into the grave the day before I felt that my youth
and much of what makes life feel like an adventure was being lowered into the
ground with her.
As I stared at the
image my mouth felt dry, my hands had a slight tremor and even in my thoughts I
could not quite find the right word to define the moment, to define my
feelings. I burst out crying in loud wracking sobs and I heard the door open,
through my heavy tears the contact lenses swam and moved in my eyes and
everything seemed a blur. I felt the hand on my shoulder and as he handed me
the tissues he said,
“Can I get you
something? Anything? Water? Coffee?”
I blew my nose and
composed myself as best I could.
“Water, ice cold
water would be nice.”
As he walked
towards a bar in the back of his office I heard him say,
“It’s a little
early but I can offer you something stronger if you prefer.”
“No thanks, water
with ice will be fine.”
The musical clink
of the ice cubes against the glass was the familiar tone made only by fine
crystal. I recognized the Baccarat pattern, it was the same as the crystal in
my parents’ home. He hesitated and cleared his throat before he spoke again.“I
know speaking ill of the dead is in very poor taste but Amanda was not a nice
person. I am bound as her attorney to follow her instructions to the letter,
you can watch; what is obviously a pretty nasty recording as many times as you
wish, but when you are done I need to destroy it, in front of you. Then I am to
hand you a box and again you are to open it in absolute privacy, so preferably
not in this office. Can I suggest I destroy it right here and now? I have
pliers and I can smash the flash drive into nothing.”
“It really is not
at all what you imagine. She was even nice and apologized in it. She could be
an absolute bitch, but my tears and sadness are not for her.”
“Oh, I see. How’s
your dad doing?”
“Better.”
“We were all
surprised to see you at the funeral, I actually expected to fly down to Florida
and hand all this to you there. She left a nice expense account for that. How
long have you been in town?”
“Just a few days,
Mom assumed they’d be flying up for Thanksgiving. They are so afraid Obama will
get re-elected after the Romney tape that they wanted to vote in person.”
“He might win you
know. Although you would not know it in this town by the Romney signs
everywhere.”
“Signs can’t vote.”
“Spoken like a true
Democrat.”
“Yeah, yet another
choice where I absolutely failed my parents.”
“Don’t knock
yourself, I do not think any of us live up to parental expectations.”
I drank the ice
cold water and nodded my head at the screen, no words were needed he closed the
file Amanda’s face disappeared from the screen. He pulled out the flash drive
and reached into a drawer, as he crunched and cracked the flash drive that was
when I knew, he too had fallen prey to one or more of Amanda’s nasty games.
“I think it is
pretty done. If you are not sure why don’t you shoot it?”
“That is not a bad
idea.”
That was when we
both started to laugh, I did not recognize it then but that was precisely when
we bonded, laughing over the nasty remains of a common enemy. I gathered my
things including the package Amanda had bequeathed me and Pete walked me to the
car.
“It would only be a
conflict of interest to offer help in anything regarding Amanda, but if you
need any help with your parents’ home, don’t hesitate to call me. Do you have
the card I gave you yesterday at the funeral?”
“It is such a small
town Pete, even if I lose the card, now that everyone knows I’m here it will be
hard to avoid me.”
I stopped at the
grocery store on my way home. Everyone in town knew I was there, so there was
no sense in driving into the city to get what I needed. I had already put a
nice dent in mom’s pantry and dad’s bar. I had been there well over a week,
trying to understand what I had missed, how I had not known about Frank. Then
Amanda died and curiosity got the better of me. What did Alison say?
“Enemies always
attend each other’s funerals. I guess it is a way of knowing they won…”
Well, we weren’t
always enemies, and sometimes it is the good and healthy memories that make
someone go to a funeral. Amanda was the first of us to die. At 47 it seemed too
young to bury a contemporary. Once she was diagnosed it was only a matter of
time, it was pretty amazing she lasted as long as she did, but if nothing else
money can buy you time and in 2012 time can mean science and technology might
just come up with some medication or medical treatment that changes everything.
It had not worked
for Amanda, but so far it had worked for my dad. This last stroke seemed to be
the first time he had an untimely health issue, with no easy fix in site.
Amanda fought hard
for a good two years and then lost, the image of her greenish skin color and
emaciated body made that perfectly clear. Her beautiful heart shaped face was
gaunt and her eyes sunken in the video, the voice was the strangest and most
unrecognizable trait. Was it Karma to go so slowly and with so much suffering?
Our shopping Carts collided and I was as startled by that as by the tone of her
voice.
“Hi Anne.”
“Connie? I just
assumed you were not in town. I did not see you at Amanda’s funeral yesterday.”
“I don’t like
funerals. I sent flowers. I saw the comments on Social Media. I was surprised
you were there.”
“Social Media? I
have avoided social media, the only use would be spying on my kids.”
“Most people use
it. In a very public way.”
“Is something
wrong?”
“You really don’t
know, do you?”
Cyberspace helping
small town gossip. I was so detached from the experiences of my youth and my
past. I could not imagine there was anything I had missed that mattered in the
here and now.
“You know, my dad
is really ill, I am just here getting the house in order and figuring out the
best way to help them get settled in Florida full-time.”
“I’m sorry about
your dad. Can I come over tonight? I’ll bring a nice dinner, we really need to
talk. It’s about Frank.”
This time I could
easily put a word to define the situation; Dumbfounded. It is a small town but
mom assured me that no-one knew.
“I…”
“Believe me it is
just as uncomfortable for me as it is for you, but we really need to talk.
Better said it is about Frank and Mike.”
I learned at a very
young age that the moments that define us in life are sometimes as concrete as
a ton of bricks falling loudly and painfully on top of us. This was one of
those moments, not at all like the subtle hidden one when Pete and I laughed
together.
“What time?”
“Is seven OK? I can
bring dinner.”
“You really think
we can eat?”
“I’ll bring wine.”
I nodded. I started
to pile food like a robot in the shopping cart, as the salesclerk rang it up I
wondered why I had chosen all of Frank’s favorites.
Book Links
Additional Books
M.C. has one other
book that earned her many 5 star reviews. The Bridge of Deaths is a true life
mystery novel with a love that spans time.
Meet M.C.V.Egan
M.C.V. Egan is the
pen name chosen by Maria Catalina Vergara Egan the author of The Bridge of
Deaths in two versions as well as the soon to be released Defined by Others.
Catalina was born in
Mexico City, Mexico in 1959, the sixth of eight children, in a traditional
Catholic family. Communication in such a large family fueled her desire and
need to find a voice and write.
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.
Catalina 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 High School 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 business people.
She returned to the USA in the late 1980s where she has been living ever since.
She is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Swedish.
Maria Catalina
Vergara Egan is married and has one son, who together with their five pound
Chihuahua make 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.
Author Links
MC is very active
around the net. Besides creating sites about her books, she runs around the
social sites, making friends along the way. Click on any of these links and see
what MC is up to today.
Giveaway
Thank you very much for hosting me today
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