Titanic, ships and dreams, oh my! 

Explore Titanic is like opening the door to OZ on the high seas. With text by Peter Chrisp and illustrations by Somchith Vongprachanh, for the first time you can take a tour of the ship using the black and white images of Titanic we know so well and see them in color. 

And in 3-D.

Explore Titanic is a fascinating look at the ship of dreams that offers a different presentation than other books on the subject. Written as a “dramatic pictorial history” for young readers, the historical information presented is concise and includes well-researched facts that are interesting to read and arranged in an artistic design that stays true to the Edwardian era.

I was a lucky winner of Explore Titanic in a recent contest run by Erin Klein on her Kleinspiration blog. Click here to read all about Erin and her important work as an educator. As one of the three winners, I want to thank Eric at Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. for sending me a copy of the book.

Here are my thoughts:

The writer and researcher in me would like to have a table of contents that would make it easy to find specific information; there is a list of picture credits, but the book has no page numbers.

The Titanic enthusiast in me was like a kid with a box of Titanic chocolate bars—I couldn’t get enough (Yes, Virginia, there are Titanic Belgian chocolate bars from a company in the U.K.). I’d open a page and sit there fascinated by the pictures and info displayed in the book, then I inserted the CD and took a 3-D tour of the ship on my computer.

An illustration of the ship is your guide to the “360 tour.” I think it would add to the viewer’s enjoyment if the “360” icon lit up with the destination when you hover your mouse over it; I liked the idea of clicking on the White Star red flag to change your viewing position.

Navigating the controls can be dizzying if you lose control of your mouse and end up looking at the ceiling of the first class dining saloon like I did, but that is a minor point. The ride is worth it. Sit back and enjoy a stunning view of Titanic like you’re really there. 

I would have loved narration and music to accompany the 3-D tour. Voices of the Titanic—the captain, ship’s officers, designer, first class, second class and steerage passengers, stewards and stewardesses and crew. For my own enjoyment, I played my “Back to the Titanic” album in the background. 

(Retail for Explore Titanic is $17.99 including the 3-D tour CD). 

On a personal note: I had so much fun “walking the decks” on the 3-D tour with my heroine, Katie O’Reilly, in Titanic Rhapsody and her handsome hero, Captain Lord Jack Blackthorn. I imagined them standing at the rail together…looking up at the starry night overhead. In the first class dining saloon…or admiring the Grand staircase. 

A grand adventure it is, as Katie would say.

Explore Titanic is a 32-page picture book filled with facts and beautiful pictures recreated with digital technology that transports you there. It’s recommended for grade level 4 and up. This is a book you can pick up again and again and discover something new each time. 

The dream plays on…

© Corey A. Ford | Dreamstime.com

The year 2012 is the Year of Titanic.

No doubt the world will focus attention on all things Titanic. According to The Independent in the UK, you can take a commemorative cruise where you can follow the route of the Titanic. You can also shell out $59,000 to explore the wreckage of the ship up and personal.

Titanic Belfast , the biggest Titanic visitor attraction in the world, will open March 31st (experts predict 400,000 people will descend upon the center during its first year with more than 35,000 tickets already sold). The city of Cobh (known as Queenstown in 1912) will observe the centenary with the Titanic 100 Event series.

Halifax, Nova Scotia has a special connection to Titanic with the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and Titanic sites. Among them are three cemeteries where the Titanic dead are buried, their gravestones all cut from the same granite, all with the same date: April 15, 1912.

In Washington D.C. every year, you can attend the ringing of the bell at the Titanic Memorial  to honor the brave gentlemen who died that night so women and children could be saved.

We can’t forget the Titanic exhibitions here is the U.S.: Mystic Titanic Aquarium Exhibit in Mystic, Connecticut will feature interaction touch screens to enhance the visitor’s Titanic experience.

What if you’re unable to travel to Ireland or Nova Scotia or here in the U.S. for these events?

No reason to miss out on all things Titanic. You’d be surprised how you can participate as well as honor Titanic victims this year without leaving home or your computer.

Here are my top 5 Titanic Events for 2012 without leaving home:

1. Not one but two TV mini-series are scheduled for 2012:

“Titanic” from Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes will debut on April 12, 2012 and will air in the U.S. on ABC and around the world (57 countries) for four nights. The mini-series creator promises a “fresh approach” as seen through the eyes of different characters (the cast includes 89 characters) including the oft neglected second class passengers.

Titanic: “Blood & Steel” is a 12-part BBC mini-series which focuses on the origin of the Titanic and the ship’s construction in Belfast, Ireland circa 1907. This emotional story is seen through the eyes of the wealthy men who backed and designed the ship as well as the laborers who fit together the nuts and bolts (14,000 workers). As of this writing, the U.S. network is TBA (keep you posted!).

2. James Cameron’s 1997 $2 billion-grossing Titanic film hits the IMAX theaters in 3-D on April 6, 2012 at the cost $18 million.

Mr. Cameron will also host a National Geographic special, Titanic: Final Word with James Cameron, which will share the spotlight Dr. Robert Ballard’s Save the Titanic. An amazing duo of documentaries I can’t wait to see along with Titanic in 3-D.

3. The Titanic First Class Dinner menu included a thirteen course meal from scallops to cream of barley soup to filet mignon to mint sorbet. You could travel to a hotel in Southampton or outside Philadelphia to enjoy a sumptuous Titanic dinner emulating the first class fare hotel.

There’s also a good chance a local restaurant in your city is planning such an event. Or plan your own Titanic dinner. This wonderful article by Rachel Cooke in the Guardian in the UK offers excellent information on Titanic fare. Or check out Last Dinner on the Titanic by Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley for the delicious details.

4. From the heroism of the Titanic musicians led by Wallace Hartley to the hymn Nearer, My God, To Thee that Titanic survivors reported hearing from the lifeboats, music has played a major part in the Titanic story. In 2012 a four-night concert will be beamed globally that will tell the story of Titanic.

Also scheduled is an album from Robin Gibbs (Bee Gees) entitled “The Titanic Requiem” with a special track about a young girl on one of the lifeboats singing about her father who died on the liner.

I’m really looking forward to the concert from The Spirit of Titanic who will perform music from the movie and the period with the Titanic Choristers and National Symphony Orchestra. According to my tweets with Spirit of Titanic, they’re planning to release a DVD of the concert. Can’t wait.

5. Without the wireless sending distress signals from the Titanic, most likely there would have been no survivors. These chilling messages will be rebroadcast in real time on April 14th and 15th by the Nova Scotia Museum on Twitter: “…the same wireless messages operators received in 1912.”

This is a must-do event for all Titanic enthusiasts. I participated in the event last year and I can still feel the strong pull of those messages sent out across the Atlantic on that bitterly cold, starry night.

Seeing the words “It’s CQD, old man” (distress call) pop up on your computer screen is akin to a time machine putting you back there at that precise moment.

I’m proud to be a part of Titanic with my novel, TITANIC RHAPSODY. My story is a romance about an Irish emigrant named Katie O’Reilly who believed so hard in the American Dream she risked it all to sail on the Titanic.

The ship of dreams.

Cover art by Dar Albert

Katie’s grand adventure begins when she boards the Titanic with the law at her heels and runs straight into the arms of the handsomest man she’s ever seen—

“Now if you’ll be pointing me in the right direction to the third class deck,” Katie said, showing him her ticket, “I’ll be on me way.”

“And right into the hands of the law.”

She took in a deep breath. So he did know.

He continued, “You have no choice but to allow me to offer you my protection.”

“And who are you, sir?”

He bowed slightly. “Captain Lord Jack Blackthorn, at your service.”

What are you waiting for, girl? Look at the man, will you?

He was tall, muscular and possessed an arrogance that intrigued her. Not to mention a building heat inside her that warmed her down to her toes. He seemed more alive to her than any man she’d ever seen. A man who knew his charm and savored it.

“And why would you be helping the likes of me?” Katie wanted to know with a proud air.

He smiled at that, continuing to stare at her, his eyes dark and searching. “Come with me and find out.”

2012 is going to be a momentous year for all things Titanic. I hope you’ll join me here on my Titanic Rhapsody blog as we count down to that fateful night.

© Nicola Zanichelli | Dreamstime.com

He rang the bell three times.

Three times.

“Iceberg right ahead.”

Frederick Fleet, one of six lookouts on watch that night of April 14, 1912, was the first to spot the iceberg along with Reginald Robinson Lee in the crow’s nest. Fleet rang the bell and sounded the alarm at 11:40 p.m.

A bronze Titanic bell was recovered and brought up from the ocean floor and has been part of the Titanic exhibition.

According to experts, the bell from the crow’s nest is most likely gone, but you can see a see a photo of the recovered bell here from the 2005 exhibition in a museum in Manchester, England.

The sound of the ship’s whistle has long been associated with the gala, hand-waving departure from Southampton then the final port of call at Queenstown. A welcome sound to my Titanic Rhapsody heroine, Katie O’Reilly:

Emerging cautiously from between two large sacks of mail, Katie popped her head up, looking around in a slow circle for any sign of the constable.

The coast was clear.

Gazing upward, she said a quick prayer. Then she stretched, raising her arms over her head. A fine nap she’d had, covered by an empty sack and lulled to sleep by the sounds of the sea until she heard the blast from the Titanic’s funnel, announcing she was dropping anchor at Roche’s Point two miles away.

Her heart rang with joy. She found a strange contentment in hearing the ship’s whistle, as if the great liner was out there waiting for her, Katie O’Reilly.

But it is the ringing of the bell that changed the course of the Titanic forever.

The bell photo posted here was taken by Nicola Zanichelli (© Zanico) and is a memorial to the Titanic.

Cast in stone to stand long and hard against the winds of time.

One hundred years since the sinking is nearly upon us.

2012 is the Year of Titanic.

The air will be filled with the sound of bells ringing to commemorate the maritime tragedy and the souls lost.

May they rest in peace.

© Mikle15 | Dreamstime.com and © Ateliersommerland | Dreamstime.com

With the holiday upon us, I’ve been wondering what Christmas 1911 was like for the Irish emigrants and passengers who would later board the Titanic in April 1912.

I remember a story I read in an Irish newspaper about a letter to Santa written in 1911 by children who hid their wish list in a chimney.

When it was discovered many years later, it was barely touched by time. As if nothing could douse the hopes and dreams of children adrift on their magical adventure of writing to the man in the North Pole.

Most likely the passengers who booked passage on the Titanic were just as excited about the ship’s upcoming maiden voyage.

It was an unusually cold winter in 1911. What was it like on that Christmas Day?

Did Irish widow Margaret Rice knit extra mittens for her five boys?

I wonder if Father Browne–then a theology student–received his new camera on that Christmas morning?

Imagine the joy in the heart of young Swede Dagmar Bryhl when her handsome fiancé presented her with a lovely watch.

Or the Irish holiday feast of turkey and ham and mince pie enjoyed by Nora Keane when she returned to Limerick to visit her mother.

When they raised their voices in O Holy Night on that Christmas Eve, they had no idea what part they would play on the ship of dreams when they set sail on the Titanic.

Father Browne sailed on the Titanic for two days and got off the ship at Queenstown on April 11, 1912.  A wealthy first class couple offered to pay his passage to New York, but his uncle, the Bishop of Cloyne, ordered him off the ship. The future Jesuit priest took the last pictures of the Titanic and her passengers.

Margaret Rice was a steerage passenger. She and her five sons never made it to a lifeboat and perished in the tragedy. A surviving photo of her and her boys was taken before she left and has only recently resurfaced.

Dagmar Bryhl was traveling to visit an uncle in America in second class. She survived, but her brother and fiancé both perished. She was wearing the watch her beloved gave her on a chain around her neck when she boarded the ship.

Nora Keane decided to stay longer in Ireland than planned, but she had trepidations about traveling on Titanic’s maiden voyage. Her brother convinced her to book passage as a second class passenger. She survived the sinking, thanks to a ship’s officer who banged on their door and ordered her and Edwinna Troutt up on top. Nora was shocked when four hundred people showed up at the train station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to welcome her home.

These are a few Titanic stories from that Christmas of 1911.

As Katie O’Reilly, my heroine in TITANIC RHAPSODY, would say, “May the hand of an angel be upon your shoulder to guide you in your dreams.”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I’m so excited to present my TITANIC RHAPSODY cover from Ellora’s Cave (artwork by Dar Albert (Wicked Smart Designs).

It’s Katie and Jack and the Ship of Dreams on a starry, starry night…

Cover Art by Dar Albert

© Photowitch | Dreamstime.com

What if you found yourself on the Titanic today?

The ship sinking…seawater coming higher and higher on each deck. What would you do?

Grab your cell phone. Call or text for help.

If wasn’t that simple back in 1912.

The wireless was the only means of long distance communication between Titanic and other ships (the Morse lamp was used for ships within visual range as well as rockets) as well as land.

Much has been written about the Marconi wireless and how novel it was to the passengers on the ship.

Who can forget the scene when operator Jack Phillips “yells” back to the operator on the nearby Californian, “Shut up, shut up! I’m working Cape Race.” (Cape Race was the first wireless station in Newfoundland and the only land station to receive the Titanic’s distress signal.)

Frustrated, the operator shuts down his wireless and goes to bed. No further communication with him was possible that night.

He didn’t hear the “CQD” or the “SOS” after the Titanic hit the iceberg.

The Californian didn’t know until it was late the ship was sinking.

According to newspaper reports at that time, CQD was the British landline operators’ signal (“CQ” for “all stations”) with the addition of “D” by the Marconi company for added emphasis (danger).

“SOS” was adapted because of its distinctive Morse Code pattern of three dots…three dashes…three dots.

According to an in-depth article by Frances Williams at Suite 101: “Only five months before the disaster, New York had received the first wireless transmission from Italy and for many years Marconi had been working to improve the range of his transmissions.”

The Titanic had a first rate wireless room and could receive signals as far as 400 miles during the day and seemingly unlimited range at night.

Which meant they weren’t the only ones sending messages back and forth (the Titanic had sent 250 messages during the voyage).

According to the NY Herald, April 18, 1912, something had to be done to regulate the wireless lest more disasters at sea take place because their distress signal wasn’t heard. “Wireless meddlers” crowded the airwaves with messages and a Senate bill was drawn up to set up to regulate operators with a license.

No post about Titanic and the wireless would be complete without mentioning the two Marconi operators and their dedication to duty.

J.G. Phillips, 25 years old, was the chief operator and had served on the Mauretania and the Lusitania. He had been with the company for seven years and did not survive.

Harold Sydney Bride, 22 years old, had only been with the company twelve months and did survive. (He was on the same overturned lifeboat along with the hero in my romance novel,  “Titanic Rhapsody,” Captain Lord Jack Blackthorn.)

It was Phillips who sent the famous wireless message to Harold Thomas Cottam, the sole wireless operator on the Carpathia:

“It’s CQD, old man. Distress call.”

Mr. Cottam was off duty and had not gone to bed when he heard the distress call. He insisted on waking up Captain Rostron. Because of his actions, 705 people survived that cold, bitter night.  

Why was Mr. Cottam listening to the wireless if he was off duty?

He was hoping to catch the Saturday night football scores broadcast from Cape Race. 

His alertness was a touchdown.

Guess what?

I won a copy of Explore Titanic: Breathtaking New Pictures, Recreated with Digital Technology by Peter Chrisp on the Kleinspiration “Explore Titanic” website  page. This fabulous website was created by educator Erin Klein.

Mrs. Klein showcased her 7th grade students’ Titanic projects in an April 2011 post with a terrific video!

I’m excited to be one of the three lucky winners of this fabulous book!

As per the publisher’s info on Amazon:

“Boys and girls will be enthralled by this dramatic pictorial history of the great ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic, and its fateful sinking in the North Atlantic.

“Approximately 125 photos and illustrations in color and black and white–including 12 astonishing 3D-rendered graphics–tell the Titanic’s story, from its 1911 launching at the Belfast shipyard to its tragic destruction on April 15, 1912 during its maiden Atlantic crossing.

“Young readers will see faithful reproductions of both exterior and interior ship’s details, from the Boiler Room and Engine Room far below decks to the luxury passengers’ cabins and the ship’s grand ballroom. Among the 3D-rendered artworks are two remarkable double-gatefold illustrations–

• “The Titanic under steam
• “A cutaway diagram of the ship”

I’ll be putting up a complete review of Explore Titanic in the future.

Look for it here on my Titanic blog!

And a bit o’mischief in her Irish eyes. 

© Mikle15 | Dreamstime.com

Can’t wait until TITANIC RHAPSODY comes out in 2012 from Ellora’s Cave!

I wanted to post a picture reflecting my thanks…I put together this poster of Katie O’Reilly, my heroine as I see her from an old illustration, along with Katie’s rosary.

© Mikle15 | Dreamstime.com © Michal Mrozek | Dreamstime.com

More news as it happens!
Best,
Jina  

Titanic Rhapsody rosary poster by Jina Bacarr with photos from Dreamstime.com

© Gorgios | Dreamstime.com

Imagine you’re on your honeymoon and you’re sailing home on the Titanic.

Four days–and four passionate nights–at sea with your man.

Cozy afternoons in the lounge reading a book…slipping your hand in his. Knowing that later you’ll be in each other’s arms.

Long strolls at night on the deck, looking at the starry sky overhead.

Forget the bitter cold. He has his arms around you to keep you warm.

On a drizzly Sunday morning, you attend services with your man, then look forward to an informal dinner and another night of passion–

Until 11:40 p.m.

It’s the night of April 14th, 1912.

Your honeymoon comes to an abrupt end when the Titanic hits an iceberg.

According to Titanic Story, there were thirteen couples aboard the ship of dreams celebrating their honeymoon, though some sources report the number was twelve. The new young bride of Col. John Jacob Astor, pregnant with their child, was among them and escaped in lifeboat No. 4 (along with Katie O’Reilly, the heroine of my Titanic novel).

Here’s what went through her head when Katie, an Irish emigrant, found herself in the company of these women:

Katie held her head in her gloved hands. It wasn’t just that the fear of death was all around her or so shocking, but that she was here in the lifeboat and not the grand gentlemen married to the ladies in this boat.

First cabin ladies.

Wearing fur coats and teardrop diamond earrings and big, feathered hats with silver hatpins. Smelling of lavender and not the salty sweat of steerage. Dressed in the pink of fashion, they looked as out of place in the lifeboat as perfect plump prawns tossed into a fisherman’s dirty pail. Bickering among themselves about keeping their part of the boat for their kind only. Making comments about the sailor at the tiller smoking. And generally being what they were.

First cabin ladies.

Col. Astor did not survive and unfortunately, several honeymoon couples met the same fate.

A couple who did survive, John and Nelle Snyder, had left from Southampton and were returning home toMinneapolis, Minnesota.

According to a story in the Daily Mail, Mr. Snyder said he owed his life to his wife’s insistence that he get out of bed and check to see what happened when they felt a “bump” on that fateful night.

They were among the first to get into the lifeboats (they were in lifeboat No. 7 along with three other newlywed couples, according to one news source) and were later photographed in the clothes they wore that night. They were quite an elegant couple, according to the photo in the Daily Mail story referenced above.

They lived for many years afterward (Mr. Snyder was 71 when he died and Mrs. Snyder was 94), but their letters and photos have only now surfaced, engaging us with their wondrous escape. 

The Titanic continues to fascinate us with its elegance and romance. It’s comforting to know that for the Snyders, their Titanic honeymoon had a happy ending.