www.Examiner.com, Frank Mundo, LA Books Examiner

With Halloween fast approaching, there’s nothing more fun than some ghost stories you can share with the whole family. With this in mind, meet Elizabeth Eagan-Cox, author of the Shannon Delaney paranormal mystery series, G-rated "tea-cup" or cozy mysteries that the whole family can enjoy together.

The series is currently made up of three books, A Ghost of a Chance, A Ghost from the Shadows (Elizabeth’s latest work), and A Ghost Meets an Angel (due out in 2010). What’s great about these books is that Elizabeth’s background in nonfiction helps her creates an authentic and historic quality that you might not find in other similar books. Elizabeth enjoys digging up history through her own ancestry that is documented to the 1600s in America and to Patriots of the American Revolution of 1776.

Elizabeth lives in California and the California settings and history in her work also adds another layer of interest. In A Ghost of a Chance and A Ghost From the Shadows she used many elements of history to bring the story to life, including the study of late-nineteenth century sleight-of-hand magic, Victorian architecture, Craftsman bungalow architecture, and details regarding California’s founding Hispanic culture.

Elizabeth is a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, known as the D.A.R. She is equally proud to be a member of the Irish Clan Mac Aodhagain with headquarters at Redwood Castle, Ireland. The authentic spelling of her surname Eagan is Mac Aodhagain ("Mac Egan").

I had the great opportunity to meet up with Elizabeth Eagan-Cox and ask her some questions about her books and her life. Please take a few more minutes and read the revealing interview below.

Q. The Shannon Delaney "Ghost" Series is very different from typical Ghost/Horror stories. On your website you describe your books as "Tea Cup" or "Cozy" Mysteries. What’s the difference and who is your targeted audience?

A. A cozy mystery and a tea cup mystery are the same genre. In the USA we more often use "Cozy" as the description. In Europe, especially in England, the description is just as likely to be "Tea Cup" mystery.

Basically the difference between a cozy mystery and all other categories of mystery novels is that with a cozy, there is never explicit or graphic sex, language violence or horror. The focus is on the discovery of the mystery, which most often is a murder, but could be any other sort of mystery, including theft, lost treasure, missing persons and such. After the sleuth discovers the crime then the sleuth is put into action to solve the mystery by a deduction of clues, to which there are almost always numerous twists and turns in the plot. The reader is invited into the story in the sense that the reader discovers and investigates the clues along with the main characters.

Yet another aspect to a cozy mystery is that the location in which the story takes place is a singular setting. A village, small town, campus or neighborhood are idea places for a cozy mystery setting.

Jokingly, but true, I have told people that because my books are cozy mysteries, you can set one down, anywhere, and never fear who might pick it up! The plots and reading level are at adult level, but the G-Rating is definitely a factor that makes a cozy mystery family friendly.

Q.What inspired these stories, and how do you do research for your work?

A. I used to write non-fiction about California and American history. In Southern California I was well–known for the narrative stories I wrote for the now defunct FEDCO Store Reporter and the Old California Gazette. I wrote monthly columns for both of those magazines and the columns had to do with the lesser-known aspects of history. I wrote in a narrative voice a factual story in a fun, easy-reading style. Because the columns were non-fiction, I did a lot of research and having been a school librarian (in another lifetime) I knew how to access the lesser-known aspects of California and American history, which I’ve always had an abiding fascination with, anyway.

As far as how I do my research…Hmm. Well, I dream a lot of my plots and the twists and turns and I imagine my dreams stem from my love for and knowledge of history. Once I have an idea I begin to check the facts by using various primary sources to research from. These include libraries, archives, old newspapers, museums and genealogy data banks. As a former librarian, having a background in reference and resource materials really pays off and I make use of it. In some research, I may go outside the norm and contact specialty groups.

Q. In A Ghost from the Shadows, the story takes place, not in some dark Gothic city, but on Catalina Island. What an interesting choice. Is there something behind that decision?

A. Santa Catalina Island, more specifically, Avalon is one of my personal favorite places. I live in Southern California and a trip to Catalina is an easy commute and yet it is world away. A lovely example of the magnificent diversity that California has to offer in climate and culture. As to choosing Catalina, specifically… well, I wanted a small, isolated locale, but one where I could weave together two very different and distinct features of California history: the Spanish Exploration of the 1500s and the pirate pillaging of the 1800s. On this small island, less than 30 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, these two fascinating threads of history come together.

And, because one of my main characters, the retired San Diego Detective, Francisco Zavala has his roots in the California colonial and founding Hispanic culture, I needed a place where a member of Francisco’s extended family could make an appearance, so to speak.

Along this vein of thought, if you don’t mind I sideline a bit… It was important to me that throughout the series to have California’s founding colonial culture represented in present-day. Hence, the introduction of several characters who are of the California Hispanic culture. However, none are as important as Francisco Zavala who, not only is a kindred spirit to the young twenty-something lead character Shannon, but Francisco is also somewhat of a paternal figure to her, after all, she has no living relatives around her.

Q. You’re involved in a number of different organizations. Can you discuss these groups.

A. Yes. In order of my membership:

Mac Aodhagian ("Mac Egan") is the authentic Irish/Gaelic spelling of my name EAGAN. In Ireland, Redwood Castle is the oldest castle that is resided in by the original clan. The Egan powers that be in the administration of our family genealogy and heraldry have done a great amount of documentation through legal venues in Ireland and the U.K. We have clan rallies there every four years. My great-grandfather James Eagan came to America in the mid-1800s. He married into one of the oldest families of Virginia, the Corley clan (also Irish) dates back to the early 1600s. Staying connect to my Irish roots and having grown up in a Celtic culture is a profound influence on me. I am named for James Eagan’s wife, Elizabeth Corley. The Corley family is listed on the roster of America’s First Families. In Virginia a church they helped to build in 1700 still stands. I have visited it and saw for myself their name on the parish records.

Really, I’m very serious about this. There are so many women who qualify to belong to D.A.R. who never think to do the research. And stereotypes persist! It is grossly incorrect to stereotype members of the D.A.R. when in actuality we represent all cultures. The simple truth is, if a woman has direct lineage to someone who served for or supported the American cause of the revolution that began in 1776, then once her lineage is proven, she can join the D.A.R.

Q. You write paranormal novels and you do a lot of paranormal radio shows? What fascinates you about this genre?

A. I believe in ghosts. How’s that for a down-to-earth straightforward answer?

Here’s my in-depth answer… I knew that if I were to write fiction I would have to honor cultural beliefs of Blood Memory. A spiritual concept in the Celtic cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England that stems from beliefs that we inherit intangible attributes from our ancestors along with the obvious tangible characteristics such as the color of hair, eyes, the physical build of bone structure, facial structure and so on.

Intangible attributes are the intuitive talents and intuitive intelligence passed on in blood DNA, but also (some believe) in the blood’s spirit. The Celtic culture calls this inherent gift, blood memory, but my no means is it unique to the Celtic people. Though in my experience I would say we are a bit more willing to talk about it. Once, one of my siblings questioned me as to why I am so determined and driven to write. My answer: I write to quiet the whispers of my ancestors. Writing and the written expression of a creative energy is their gift to me.

Technically, my novel series is classified as a paranormal mystery. Paranormal is what used to be called supernatural, and indeed I think of it as supernatural. I have ghosts in my stories and I treat them as characters, very real to the plot. Excuse the pun, but my ghost characters are never treated as mere novelties, they have a spectral-driven purpose to their involvement of each and every plot. So, all things considered, especially my ghost characters, the paranormal community has turned out to be a big part of my readership base.

And you’re right is saying that I make guest appearances in Paranormal Radio, not exclusively, but certainly the majority of my media appearances are in the paranormal sector. I am open to almost any category of media appearance. The paranormal community has invited me in and in doing so I have met dozens of wonderful and diverse people. People from all walks of life who have similar, if not kindred, feelings to my beliefs or at the very least are open to all sides of what the fascination and truth might be with paranormal phenomena.

Q. Have you ever experienced anything you would consider paranormal?

A. Yes, but I don’t usually discuss it. Let me phrase it this way. With all my heart I believe in spirit visitation and I also feel we should get to know our passed relatives because the love that they have for us, which is not unlike the love we have for everyone in our lives right now, does not die, it transcends death.

Q. I’ve heard that you were first published in the sixth grade. Is this true?

A. Yes. I wrote a radio play in a county school district contest and won for my age division. The local PBS radio station chose my play to cast, stage, and broadcast from my school. I was in sixth grade and the writing bug bit me!

Q. Can you discuss your experiences in publishing and how you ultimately became a novelist?

A. I touched on this in an aforementioned answer. So, to briefly give a summary: I started out writing articles for magazines, and at the same time I was writing publicity for corporations in the business sector. When one of the magazines went bust, I filed against them in a superior court and was a granted a return of all my author’s rights to the five-years of columns I had done. I took those columns and wrote a non-fiction book proposal, the fourth publisher liked it and I signed a contract to write two books based on the lesser-known facts and stories of California history. Those two books are now backlisted, which is why I do not promote them. That market went soft. So I decided to write a novels series in which I could use my expertise in history. BINGO…Shannon Delaney was born. And so far, the series is not capped, by the publisher or me.

Q. Your family goes way back in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Is it true that there are streets named after your family in California?

A. Yes, on my paternal side. My dad and grandfather were in Los Angeles in 1932 when they bought farm acreage in an area that is in southeast L.A. County and the northern tip of Orange County. The streets are named Eagan Drive and Corley Drive and they run north/south. At the northern-most end they T-bone with the cross street of Lanning, which is directly south of Lambert Street in the area of Whittier. From there Eagan Dr. and Corley Dr. run south into Orange County.

The streets are named for my great-grandparents, previously mentioned: James Eagan who came from Ireland in the 1840s and married Elizabeth Corley. My dad inherited the property and sometime in the mid-1940s (way before I was born) he sold it to purchase farm property in Moreno Valley, Riverside County. The L.A. County planning commission asked him to name the streets that would cross the property he once owned.

Q. Who inspires you?

A. People who make the most of their life from their first breath to their last breath. People who have personal integrity and live by that code. People who grace our lives with the simple and profound dignity of extending common courtesy to everyone they meet. Luckily, these people are everywhere in our ordinary lives, we need to appreciate them and let them know how valuable they are to society.

Q. What books are you reading right now?

Q. Are there any authors you feel deserve more attention than they currently receive?

A. That is the most unusual question I have ever been asked in a media interview! Honestly, I’m not sure how to answer it. I suppose I could name myself, I would love to have more attention given to my novels. But, all things considered, I doubt if that is what you are asking me. So, here’s my attempt to give you a serious answer and it comes more from my librarian experience:

Q. What’s next for Elizabeth Eagan-Cox?

Don't forget to subscribe to my emails and follow me on Twitter @LABooksExaminer for the latest updates on the site.