March Excerpt of Violets Are Blue

This is it — the final excerpt of Violets Are Blue. I have chosen one that I think will whet your interest quite a bit . . . enjoy!

I had been reading but ten minutes when I heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, and then Robert’s voice. 

“Mum!” he gasped. “There’s a big commotion down at the harbor! Something about the Titanic!”

My heart beat rapidly.

“Really?” Mum asked quizzically. “That’s strange. Now Vi, wait one minute—” 

But she was too late. I had already flown from the bedroom, through the kitchen, and out of the apartment door. My feet pounded down the stairs, my sides heaving. All I could think of was seeing Lilli.

The harbor had never seemed farther; my feet had never moved so slowly. The wind beat against me, holding me back. Despite the fact that it was April, the evening air was cool, but I paid no attention to the chilly breeze. I ran with lightning in my steps. People stared at me as I ran, but I moved right past them. 

Why were the roads so long tonight? Why couldn’t my feet move more rapidly? I couldn’t contain my excitement; this was the moment for which I had waited several months.

A large crowd had gathered around the harbor. I saw a ship docked, but it was somewhat smaller than the pictures of the Titanic Robert saved from the newspapers.

That’s odd, I thought.

But I was given no more time to speculate it. As people poured forth from this ship, I finally saw the name painted on the side: R.M.S. Carpathia.

How could that be? Was another ship to arrive; a ship of which I was not aware? Fear started to seep through my bones. What had happened to the Titanic?

It's A Fact #78, #79, #80, #81, & #82

100 random facts about the Titanic.

78. Titanic did not have it's name painted in the ship while it was on the slipway

79. Olympic and Titanic cost £3 million for the pair

80. Titanic has part of the Promenade Deck plated in to allow better passenger comfort

81. Alexander Carlisle was Chief Designer for Harland and Wolff when order was placed

82. Cunard Line purchased the White Star line

March - April Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED TOMMOROW.
It's here, y'all. The final giveaway . . . and the moment for which I've been waiting exactly 11 months. :) But before we get into all that we have a small matter to take care of — the winner of last month's giveaway. And that's not exactly a small matter. 

#29, Spicemuffin! Congratulations! You can e-mail Bree or fill out her order form here — whichever you prefer. I hope you enjoy your new ocean-themed blog design!

And as for this month's giveaway, the final Unsinkable giveaway . . . *wipes a quick sentimental tear* . . . We couldn't exactly end this year-long event without a bang, now could we? :)

The final Unsinkable giveaway winner will receive a free signed copy of my book, Violets Are Blue!

Oh, the Ways You Can Win!

*Since this is the last giveaway to be featured on Unsinkable, every entry's previous worth has been doubled.

mandatory entry: Follow Unsinkable and leave a comment saying you do.

+2 extra entries: Follow Elizabeth's blog, Living on Literary Lane, and leave a comment saying you do.

+2 extra entries: Follow Bree's blog, He Designs My Life, and leave a comment saying you do.

+2 extra entries: Put the giveaway button (found on the sidebar) on your blog's sidebar.

+2 extra entries: Put the Unsinkable button (found on the sidebar) on your blog's sidebar.

+6 extra entries: Post, tweet, or Facebook about this month's giveaway and leave a comment with the link (publish the comment 6 times so as to be entered the proper amount of times).

This giveaway will close on April 12th at 11:59 P.M. The winner and next month's giveaway will be posted on April 14th. 

Good luck, ladies!

The Giveaway Is Closed!

As of now, the February - March giveaway is closed, meaning from this point forward, no new entries will be accepted. 

Thank you so much to all who entered! The winner and next month's giveaway will both be up by the 14th, per our usual. And I'd stop by that day if I were you . . . methinks y'all will like the final (!!) giveaway. :)

Blessings!

It's a Fact #75, #76, & #77

100 random facts about the Titanic.

75. Titanic had three electric elevators for passenger use.

76. Steam whistles were fitted to the two forward funnels

77. No 4 funnel or the aftmost one was a dummy

February Excerpt of Violets Are Blue

And *cough* I do *cough* know that it's not technically February anymore. 

Here's this month's excerpt! I hope y'all enjoy it — it's one of my father's favorite scenes. :)

“Well, I’d best go take the children out,” I said quickly. “Come Grace.” I took her hand, and nodded for Henry to follow me.

“Watch out for automobiles as you cross the street!” Mum said.

“We will,” I promised. 

The street was crowded with the noisy automobiles, and it was quite dangerous, for they could easily run over a young child. Henry was fascinated with them, thinking it a wonder that people could travel from place to place without a horse and buggy, but I thought the whole business of them was silly. I much preferred riding a horse. Automobiles were one of the few things that always would bother me about the city; among others being the noise and the smells and the crowds.

“Watch out!” I cried, yanking Henry back by the collar of his shirt, to keep him from being hit by an automobile. The angry driver honked his horn at us as he screeched past us and on down the street.

“Take better care, Henry,” I scolded him, when we were safely on the sidewalk once more. 

“I wanted to see it…” he whined. “You never let me see automobiles up close.”

“That’s because they’re dangerous!” I snapped back. “Mum instructed me to take care of you, and I have no wish to repeat the incident that occurred with Helen and the harbor.”

“Do you have to bring that up again?” Henry asked, rolling his eyes. “It’s getting a little old. Helen fell into the harbor almost three months ago.”

“I don’t care—that doesn’t mean I’m going to be careless again!” I turned around and started walking backwards, facing Henry so that I could see his face.

“Violet…” Henry started to say.

“Listen to me,” I said. “You need to learn that it’s not good to run into—” 

“People?” 

I turned around instantly, realizing that I had just run into Ethan. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Ethan,” I stuttered, blushing. “I was just talking to Henry here about the seriousness of running into the street.”

“Ah,” Ethan said, leaning back on his heels with his hands in his pockets. “But it seems that, while you are giving excellent instruction to your brother about why you shouldn’t run into the street, you saw no harm in running into me.”

“It was an accident,” I protested quickly. “And I feel very remorseful of it.” 

“I know, Violet—I really am not that bothered.” He grinned. “Though… it was quite funny.”

I rolled my eyes. “For you, perhaps!” I retorted. 

“Fair enough,” he said quickly. “Now, where were you going?”

I love my brother's creative mind.

My seven year old brother, Ethan, loves creating things with Legos. From microwaves with spinning discs on the inside and a door that opens to a tour bus complete with bunk beds, he has one creative mind and a pair of very gifted hands. We all think he's going to be an engineer someday. :)

Here's one of his most recent creations, which especially made me smile . . . 

The R.M.S. Titanic {full view}

A lifeboat {please forgive the horrible quality!}

Propellors

Isn't that adorable? :)

It's A Fact #71, #72, #73, & #74

100 random facts about the Titanic.

71. Titanic had twelve water tight doors.

72. The doors would close automatically if water should reach them.

73. The doors could also be controlled electrically from the Bridge.

74. The time required to fully close the doors was between 25 and 30 seconds.