Blog Tour: Titanic 2012 by Bill Walker (Review and Guest Blog)

Genre:
Fiction

Format:
EBook (also available in print)

Publisher:
Cemetery Dance Publications

Release Date:
January 2012




Mystery author, Trevor Hughes has no intentions of attending his 20th class reunion at Harvard until his girlfriend, Julia, convinces him to go. They have no idea how it will change their lives forever.

An old classmate of Trevor’s, Harlan Astor, tells him about his latest idea. He’s planning to rebuild the legendary ship, Titanic, and set sail with a select group of passengers on the 100th anniversary of Titanic’s tragic end. Trevor is concerned about his friends’ idea, but he’s also intrigued by it. Harlan invites him to travel on the ship and write a book about it.

Trevor convinces his editor to allow them to write the story, but Julia is less than pleased with the entire plan. Trevor and Julia break up, leaving Trevor to prepare to set sail on the Titanic.

Feeling as if he’s part of James Cameron’s hit movie, Trevor prepares to interview his fellow travelers and find out why they are all interested in making this trip. He learns that many were fans of the movie, others had relatives who died on the original Titanic, while some are suffering from a fatal illness and looking to make this their final wish.

Trevor is intrigued with all of it and then he meets Madeline. She changes his life in ways he never expected. They instantly fall in love. Maddy teaches him what true love is all about.

Then, Trevor learns the true reason Harlan rebuilt the ship and what the future holds in store for the 2012 version of Titanic.  It's not pretty. Trevor races against the clock to stop the craziness and finds himself fighting against his best friend and the woman he loves. If Trevor fails, the new Titanic will find itself facing the same tragic ending that took down the original Titanic.

This story is a blend of actual events with fiction. The characters are both realistic and tragic. Readers’ will find their hearts torn to shreds in this poignant drama. Titanic 2012 is guaranteed to be one of those books that you just can’t put down. Readers will anxiously be awaiting the fate of these people who become more and more lifelike as the story continues.  I loved every minute of this book and absolutely hated to see it come to an end.  I want more!


5 out of 5 kitties


FTC Disclosure: The author and Partners In Crime Tours provided me with a copy of this book to review. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

And now...a guest post from the author...

When it comes to mixing fact with fiction, the methods are as varied as there are writers and stories. For me, when writing Titanic 2012, it wasn't so much making my story dovetail with actual historic facts, so much as wanting to give my modern story the flavors of the past these characters were recreating.

That involved, first and foremost, having descriptions of the ship as accurate as possible. Now, for me, I find research to be a daunting experience. I mean, where does one start? And once one has started, how does one know they have enough? For me, it comes down to the facts serving the story. To some extent one can use dramatic license, but when it comes to describing the decor of a stateroom or the intricacies of the Marconi Wireless, it's best to use the facts. By doing so, a writer will give his or her story a much richer feel.

Now, I mention the Marconi Wireless for a good reason. When the first edition of Titanic 2012 was published in 1998, the Internet was in its infancy and there just wasn't as much access to or the volume of information there now is. And trying to find information in the library can be a long and involved process. Since I couldn't find that much information about the Marconi, I ended up making some assumptions that were wrong. The thermionic valve (vacuum tube) was invented in 1906 by Lee deForest, so I quite logically thought the Marconi had at least a couple of tubes somewhere in its workings and that removing one of them would disable the system. This was necessary for a key point in the plot. The problem was, as I later found out: the Marconi has no tubes.

Years later, when I was starting to gear up to revise and update the manuscript I was able to learn that the Marconi works on something called a "sparking coil." Removal or destruction of that coil would render it useless.

So, all things considered, one should never make assumptions about a fact without doing the research to back it up. That being said, some lessons are only learned the hard way.

Next stops on the blog tour...

Sunday: (04/29) Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews

Monday (04/30): Kathleen @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews