Elizabeth Rose: Published Author.

"My book! It's the book I published."

"Well, don't sit there shaking like a leaf — open it."

— Anne and Marilla in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

Shaking like a leaf is probably the closest description for how I feel at this moment. Although, unlike Anne, I am not physically holding a hard copy of my book. No, I am sitting at the computer with this image before my eyes:

Rather surreal, is it not? All this time, I thought I would be jumping up and down when this moment arrived, but now that it is here, I am in shock. I think this emotion that everything is going to fade at a moment's notice, like a puff of blue-tinged smoke, will take some time to wear away. It has been an amazing journey, and as the cliche (but true) phrase goes, I couldn't have done it with each of you. If the excerpts I have posted here and on Unsinkable have peaked your interest or inspired you in some way, then you now have the opportunity to read my book in its entirety.

Click here to purchase a copy of Violets Are Blue.

"I never liked the water very much, at least not the water I knew. It was dark, dense, and deep. I much preferred dry land. There was something firm about dry land—I could trust it. Water changed all the time, lapping against the shore, pulling back again, rising and falling with the tide. Water was fickle and uncertain." — First paragraph of Violets Are Blue

VAB Update #3

Patience. It's a virtue I have not yet mastered, and think it will be some time before I do. For example, proof #2 of Violets Are Blue arrived on Wednesday! *insert excited squeals* We assumed that, since the corrections on the first proof were made, we would be all set and ready to release the book on Amazon sometime in the next few days. 

Fortunately, Create Space understood that even though we submitted the book in one format, we really wanted them to shrink the font and widen the margins, thus lessening the professional feel. I hated to ask for it, and I am ever so glad the great and wonderful Amazon.com took it into their hands to enlighten us in the world of book publishing. I don't know what we would have done without their infinite wisdom.

I hope you understand that that was all sarcasm. ;)

We're trying to make the changes as quickly and efficiently as possible, but it is proving to be a bigger to-do than we originally thought. So, I am here now, letting y'all know that it may be a while before we're finished. I feel horrible about asking y'all to wait longer, especially after we all thought it would be done by April 14th, but I know God has a plan for all this, and I am trusting in Him.

I'll still be posting occasional updates on Unsinkable whenever I have more news.

It's A Fact #98, #99, & #100

100 random facts about the Titanic.

 

98. Lord Pirrie did not sail on the maiden voyage of Titanic as planned as he was too ill to travel.

99. Titanic had a Turkish Bath, Gymnasium and a Squash Court.

100. There is a book about the Titanic being released very soon. 

Wow, hard to believe we've gone through all 100 of those! Care to comment with your favorites? :) 

Winner of Violets Are Blue

First of all, to answer your questions, no, this post is not late. :D I scheduled it to publish at 11:40 P.M. — the exact minute the Titanic hit the iceberg 100 years ago. However, since I'm sure most of y'all don't stay up that late o' nights, you're probably seeing this post on the morning of April 15th. Which is actually all very well and good, because the Titanic went under all the way on April 15th, 1912. And while I may have some qualms about everyone being in bed by 11:40, I am positive no one was up until 2:20. ;)

In all honesty, I think I'm still recovering from the shock that this event has been going on a whole year. How can it be? It seems like just yesterday I was getting all excited at the prospect of beginning Unsinkable . . . and at the same time, I can't recall a season when I wasn't publishing giveaway posts, contacting winners, releasing excerpts, or reminding Bree to post a few It's A Facts ever so often. 

All that to say, it's been a wonderful voyage, and I want to thank all of you from the depths of my heart for joining me on this adventure. We have hit a few minature icebergs throughout the course of our odyssey when giveaways were not ready on time, but never any so big that would sink this ship (and anyway, I brought enough lifeboats for everyone :)).

Drawing the winner for the final giveaway on Unsinkable was incredibly exciting. We had to manually count the comments — Blogger's new "reply" system in the comments inhibits comment numbering — and I am so glad the winner was not comment number 100 or something, which would have been directly in the middle and taken a long time to count whether you started at the bottom or top. :P 

And the winner is . . . 

Commenter #38, Näna!!! Congratulations, dear friend! (The foundation of our house may or may not have shaken when your name was drawn — I think it's just a rumor :D). E-mail me your mailing address, and I'll get your copy of Violets Are Blue sent out as soon as possible.

This was supposed to be the moment where I said, "Disappointed you didn't win? Well, never fear, because Violets Are Blue is now available on Amazon.com for a very affordable price!" However, some unforseen delays have come into our path (remember what I was saying earlier about icebergs?), and it appears that VAB will not be released for another week or so. :/ But don't fret! I will be publishing one last post on this site when it is up for purchase, as well as an announcement on my main blog.

Until then . . . "let us not say goodbye, but as the French would have it, au revoir!"

The Giveaway Is Closed!

As of now, the final giveaway on Unsinkable for a signed copy of Violets Are Blue is closed, and no new entries will be accepted. 

Thank you so much for entering! I confess I am quite eager to find out which comment random.org will pick. ;) Check back on the 14th for the winner!

It's A Fact #93, #94, #95, #96 & #97

100 random facts about the Titanic.

93. The rudder weighed 101 tons and was made from six separate parts

94. All children in First and Second class were saved (5 first and 24 second class, per Board of Trade report.)* See Below

95. Of the 73 children in Third Class only 23 were saved

96. Titanic had a crew of 898 of which only 210 were saved

97. Third class passengers were not locked in their accommodation during the sinking

It's A Fact #88, #89, #90, #91 & #92

100 random facts about the Titanic.

88. The Titanic came from No 3 slip Queens Shipyard

89. The Thompson dry-dock was designed to accommodate the Olympic class vessels

90. The hull shell plating on Titanic was 1" thick

91. The anchors weighed 31 tons in Total.

92. Over three million rivets were used in the construction of Titanic