The Old Never Gets Old

 

My 2014 poetry book

 

“Wow! That book was published in 2014!” This was a thought I had recently when I was looking for the publication date of one of my poetry books that I was promoting. And even though this book was published over 10 years ago, I was still going to promote it. Why? The book’s theme was still relevant. I mean, we do still care about our soldiers and veterans, right? As well as those who lost their lives while serving their country.

 

Relevance is something writers need to aim for when they are trying to get their work published. One thing I was often told about my Tips book was that the topic was evergreen. And while this is true, I have realized that, as I have been working on revising it for the third time, a lot of the material was not. In fact, it contained a lot of dated material, something that can happen to any nonfiction book. (I often keep hoping that this third revision of the book will be the last one, but who knows!)

 

But circling back to a book’s old publication date, the question remains: Should a writer retire their work after a number of years have passed since publication? I think it really depends on the type of work that is at issue here.

 

When it comes to a book, a lot of factors will decide if the writer should quietly stop putting their energy into promoting it. Some of those factors include whether or not the topic is relevant, if there is a demand for that kind of information or books with that theme, and if there is anything new related to that topic which the old edition has not yet covered. With the Tips book, for example, it never discussed AI. However, AI is a hot topic in the writing community, so it belongs in a book about writing (and I am including it in this particular book about writing).

 

As far as articles, essays, poems, and short stories are concerned, the quality of the work is what must stand out in order for it to withstand the test of time. People will always want to read a good story, poems which are well-written, and essays including lived experiences. This is why we still read the works of Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe even today. With nonfiction, old work is a reflection of the time it was published. For example, anyone who reads the writings of Benjamin Franklin will understand that his thoughts and opinions were all products of the time period they stemmed from. There is the knowledge that dated writing is, well, dated. Still, they serve a purpose; historians are interested in them because they are interested in reading material about certain time periods, and students will read them in order to complete assignments. So, in this way, the old may be old, but it is still relevant.

 

If a nonfiction book warrants an update, then it should be updated. Update the book before continuing to promote it.

 

But with poetry, fiction, essay collections, and plays? Never stop promoting them. Why? Because the old never gets old.

 

That 2014 book I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post is a poetry book. The theme is still relevant, and so is the content of the poems, so that book can still be promoted – yes, even 12 years after it has been published.

 

The same goes with any of my works of fiction, essays, and story collections. Promote, promote, promote.

 

Authors should never choose to stop promoting their work only because said work was published a X number of years ago. If the author knows the work is too dated or irrelevant, then of course they shouldn’t promote the work. But if the theme or the topic is still relevant, then by all means, keep promoting it.

 

Which is why I will always promote my poetry book about the seasons, because we’ll always have seasons. I will always promote my collection of YA horror stories because I know there are young adults out there who enjoy reading horror stories. And I will always promote my book about writing parents because there are always going to be writing parents.  

 

I’ll continue to submit YA horror stories for publication because there is still a demand for YA horror stories. I will continue to submit writing about the seasons, should I ever feel compelled to do so, because the topic is still relevant.

 

The point is that the writer should not decide to give up on wanting to get their work published or promoting their work just because the work is old or they tried a certain number of times to get it published but ended up in Rejection City. If your writing is still relevant or something that a certain demographic of readers will want to read, then keep going. Keep promoting it. Keep trying to get it published. 

 

I wrote a story in 2012 that was published in an anthology in 2025. I wrote a novella in 2011 that was published in 2025. (Alas, it is currently out of print, but I am hoping it will be back in print soon!)  

 

The writing may be old, but the demand for that kind of material isn’t. Update it if necessary, but don’t ever stop trying to get your work into print. You WILL find a home for it somewhere, so keep submitting it! 

 

The Cross Genre Novel: Author M.C.V. Egan talks about The Bridge of Deaths

The Bridge of Deaths is a cross genre novel with a strong factual side. It is about a 1939 plane crash in Denmark. Five men were reported dead. Because the crash took place in between two jurisdictions the investigation involved a power play between the police from Vordingborg and Nykoping. The newly formed Danish Secret Police was also heavily involved.

My grandfather Cesar Agustin Castillo an executive for Standard Oil of New Jersey was one of the five men on board the plane, extreme curiosity about his life and death are what inspired me to write The Bridge of Deaths. There are American, British, German, Palestinian angles to the story.

The book was researched for almost two decades through archives, newspaper microfilms, history books and interviews. It was also researched through documented past-life regressions (not the authors) and the use of psychometry by 5 different psychics.

The Actual bridge in Denmark has been the center of much death, primarily during WW II and in modern day Denmark it became a popular bridge for people seeking to commit suicide. The Cover photo was taken by my Husband; I chose it to thank him for all his patience while I worked on the book.

The Bridge of Deaths is a cross genre and the readers vary widely; the history buffs find all the documented data interesting. The plane crash is an actual mystery and that has an appeal to those who like mystery or conspiracies. I added a love story with a couple seeking the historical data to resolve past life issues and that again seems to attract a different reader altogether.

Amongst the many good reviews it has received a common thread is that readers seem to feel like they become part of a small intimate group that researches the events. I have also gotten the fantastic “you made me like history” feedback which is a pretty cool feeling.

The Bridge of Deaths is a cross genre novel with a strong factual side. It is about a 1939 plane crash in Denmark. Five men were reported dead. Because the crash took place in between two jurisdictions the investigation involved a power play between the police from Vordingborg and Nykoping. The newly formed Danish Secret Police was also heavily involved.

My grandfather Cesar Agustin Castillo an executive for Standard Oil of New Jersey was one of the five men on board the plane, extreme curiosity about his life and death are what inspired me to write The Bridge of Deaths. There are American, British, German, Palestinian angles to the story.

The Midwest Book Review called The Bridge of Deaths “An Unusual yet much recommended read” and gave it FIVE stars.

 

The Bridge of Deaths

Synopsis

Cross the Bridge of Deaths into 1939. Uncover the secrets of the G-AESY in this well documented historical journey with a fictional twist and a touch of the paranormal.

With the Second World War a mere two weeks away, the crash of an English Passenger Plane in Danish waters; near a bridge called Storstroembroen, did not get the attention it would have had today or in times of peace. Amongst those who died the story explores how probable it is that they were not who they seemed to be and all knee-deep in espionage.

While Bill is looking for psychological answers to his recurring nightmares, he meets Maggie who is very familiar with the bridge in his dreams. She urges him to look for these answers through past life regression therapy. They join forces with Catalina whose grandfather also died in the same accident that haunts Bill’s dream.

Author Bio

M. C. V. Egan is the chosen pen name for Maria Catalina Egan, author of The Bridge of Deaths. Originally from Mexico City, Mexico; M.C.V. Egan has lived in various parts of the USA as well as France and Sweden. She is fluent in four languages; Spanish, French, Swedish and English.

Maria Catalina 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. 

She is currently working with Jolie DeMarco on a novel called 4covert2overt in 33 Days.

Her links:

MCV EGAN
AUTHOR WEBPAGE
http://www.thebridgeofdeaths.com
AMAZON KINDLE
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bridge-of-Deaths-ebook/dp/B0057GG3T4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0
AMAZON Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bridge-Deaths-M-Egan/dp/1463410417
FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bridge-of-Deaths/130675087014521#!/pages/The-Bridge-of-Deaths/130675087014521
BLOG
http://thebridgeofdeaths.tumblr.com/

Spoiler Alert!!! My grandfather a Bio-Chemical engineer for Standard Oil of New Jersey had a New York City address and carried a Mexican passport. Although born in Mexico he was raised in Germany and his family had strong ties to the Krupp family (German Arms Dealers).
English Member of Parliament Anthony Crossley was known in international circles as the ‘sole voice for the Arab cause’ in regards to the Palestinian territories in the 1930. He was also affiliated with Anthony Blunt (ESPIONAGE).

Meet Author David Bradley

David Bradley's web site: http://www.dedwardbradley.com/

Interview of David Edward Bradley with Debra Shiveley Welch

Hi, Edward. I’m happy to be able to visit with you today. I have some questions for you which my followers will be interested in. Edward, how long have you been writing?

Edward: First of all, I should point out that my real name is David Edward Bradley, but I write under the pen name of D. Edward Bradley.

To answer the question, I actually wrote a novel circa 1950 when I was about 20 and still living with my parents in the UK. It was about a giant asteroid….. I sent it to a publisher and it was read (and rejected, of course) by a well known author whose name I have since forgotten. It was pretty awful.

I have been writing seriously since retiring from a faculty position at Canada’s most easterly university, Memorial University of Newfoundland—about 15 years. Since my last novel, She Came from Away, was published in 2007 I have been attending to other aspects of the writers’ craft and learning about e-publishing.

DSW: How do your ideas for stories typically come to you?

Edward: My first novel Leeward is entirely imaginative; the Caribbean island, where much of the action takes place, doesn’t exist. It was vacations in Jamaica and St. Kitts— each with its own dramatic topography, colourful history, and tropical headiness—that rekindled a creative spark that had lain dormant while I had been concentrating on my career as biology researcher. Places I had known as a boy in England, while on military service in Germany and on a scientific expedition to Iceland, were soon woven into the plotlines of my first four novels. You could say that, to some extent, places I had experienced prescribed plot direction. Harry’s War is the only novel where actual events in my life inspired the story. My latest novel, She Came from Away, borrows from our life in a small Newfoundland town, both for settings and for local colour.

DSW: Do you know the entire story when you embark on a new manuscript, or do you begin with a grain of an idea and allow the story to tell itself as you write?

Edward: It depends on the book. For Leeward I had a rough idea of plot when I started, but the plot transfigured itself through twists and turns as I wrote. For all the other books I knew where the story was going before I wrote the plot outlines, and the writing flowed.

DSW: When you decide to write a book, how do you set about the task?

Edward: I have a system:

First I start with a single-sentence descriptor of the book: who, what, where, and when. For Harry’s War it might read “Thirteen-year-old Harry Lockwood’s life at an English boarding school for boys near London during World War II.”

Next, I expand this to a paragraph outlining the plot direction and naming the principle characters. From there I write single-sentence chapter outlines for the whole book. I flesh out the chapter outlines to several paragraphs, three at a time, before I sit down to write. As each chapter is completed, I flesh out another chapter outline. Plot changes are accommodated as they arise by updating the chapter outlines.

Generally, I write several pages longhand and then type them, revising roughly as I do so. There are revisions at the chapter level for things like awkward phrasing, word overuse, and anything missed by the word processing software. With a lot of dialogue, punctuation spell checking can be a concern. Rereading of longer sections hopefully picks up any plot inconsistencies and a read by an “outsider” can help with this. I used to print and bind several copies of my final drafts, complete with laminated colour covers, to send to friends before publication.

DSW: Why did you start writing novels after a career in Biological Research?

Edward: An underlying desire to write fiction had been with me since young adulthood and I felt an unmet need to be creative after I retired. The career work I was involved in —first as an electron microscopist and later as a microbiologist—was both visually and intellectually stimulating. Research is a field where you have an end goal and must plot how to get there. As with writing a novel, you may end up somewhere totally unexpected!

DSW: Do you write to inform or to entertain, or for some other reason?

Edward: Primarily to entertain, though with Harry’s War I wanted the reader to sense the reality of war-time Britain: rationing, German aerial attacks, family separations and stolen childhoods. My other books might be informative in the sense that descriptions of foreign settings are based on my actual recollections, sometimes augmented by research.

DSW: Do you write to yourself or do you keep a reading audience in your mind's eye?

Edward: Definitely the latter. I try to develop characters in such a way that readers can feel strongly about them. I also try to paint a vivid picture of the scene where the action is taking place so that readers might feel as though they are there with the protagonists.

DSW: What is the most satisfying aspect of writing for you?

Edward: Getting very good reviews has to top the list. Producing pre-publication bound copies for family and friends, with covers that I had designed, was also very rewarding as I developed the technique myself through much experimentation in my garage workshop.

More recently I had to read versions of several of my books which I had formatted as ebooks (Kindle in particular). I was surprised (though I say it myself!) that the writing still seemed strong and clear. I don’t think I could write as well now.

DSW: What is the most difficult aspect of it?

Edward: Putting pen to paper and composing—converting my chapter outlines to scenes and actions, especially where the outlines lacked detail.

DSW: Do you write on a fairly regular basis, or do you wait for your muse to whisper in your ear?

Edward: I try to have a writing session every day, however short—even just a paragraph or short conversation. This means a day doesn’t pass without thinking about the book. I feel that if I wait for inspiration, there is a risk the work will never be finished, as is the case with a novella I started a couple of years ago.

DSW: What do you do when you face the dreaded nemesis – Writer’s Block?

Edward: I have been lucky in that my system for writing the text seems to have almost eliminated writer’s block. There is always a detailed chapter outline to draw me onward. The fact that three of my novels form a trilogy has meant that my characters have a shared past that can be drawn upon when needed. Quirks of character or past foibles can be revisited.

DSW: Is there a better time of day for you to write?

Edward: Probably afternoon or late morning. Not after dinner.

DSW: Where do you like to practice your craft? Is there any particular room?

Edward: In summer, with good weather, my favourite place is in my shaded garden. Indoors, I enjoy the seclusion of my bedroom where a comfortable chair awaits.

DSW: Do you need quiet, or do you like noise when you are writing?

Edward: I definitely need quiet; even music upsets my concentration. Unfortunately even a suburban garden can be fraught with distraction.

DSW: Do you have to struggle for ideas for stories, or do they come to you easily?

Edward: I do now. Ideas used to come easily since I wrote most of my novels using my own experiences and observations. When I travelled more there were always intriguing places and new people that I could reconfigure into the dramatic scenarios of fiction.

DSW: What do you consider the most important quality in writing: character development, plot, etc?

Edward: Definitely character development. Some of my reviewers have said how much they like the portrayal of my Newfoundland characters in She Came from Away.

DSW: One of your reviewers described Harry’s War as “semi-autobiographic.” To what extent was he right?

Edward: I was just a little younger than the fictitious Harry when I experienced the war years in England. I too spent four years at an English boarding school, complete with prefects and bullies. My school, Malvern, was taken over for the development of radar near the outbreak of WWII and re-housed at Harrow-on-the-Hill, which, like the fictitious Markham College, is about 15 miles from central London. I experienced several of the war-related incidents in the book but embellished them so they were more exciting.

DSW: Did writing Harry’s War change how you remembered WWII?

Edward: Yes, it certainly did. For the first time I wrote down my own recollections in as much detail as possible. I did a bit of research to ensure historical time lines for events in the book were plausible if not 100% accurate, and I located a sound clip of a V1 flying bomb which made me relive the night when they were first launched to hit London.

Oddly, writing the novel made my personal experiences at boarding school feel more like a movie and less real, but how I remember WWII remains a complex compilation of experienced events, newsreel footage, and my relative’s harrowing tales. My parents were in South Africa for part of the war then were finally allowed to return to England in a convoy. The ship behind theirs was sunk in the north Atlantic.

DSW: Can we look forward to other books by you in the future?

Edward: Probably not. As a retiree of many years I’m not sure I have the discipline to take on a novel at this point.

DSW: What made you write a trilogy—the Harry’s War Trilogy?

Edward: That’s simple! A reviewer wrote: ". . . . Growing through the adversities of WWII and of Markham College, Harry develops from a 13-year-old . . . to a confident, mature young man of 17 in 1945, ready to tackle a still uncertain future. His girlfriend, Jenny, is as sure as he is they can succeed. Perhaps there's a sequel in the offing to determine whether or not they did. And if it's as good as this book it will be well worth reading." M. Wayne Cunningham, Books in Canada—The Canadian Review of Books, September 2004.

So I took his suggestion seriously and wrote Another Kind of War, then The Iceland Connection.

DSW: David, that you very much for taking the time for this very interesting and informative interview.

D. Edward Bradley’s books are available on most online book stores, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble and can be ordered through your local book store.