Titanic 100

Today is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Amidst the media circus and profiteering (selling personal items recovered from the wreck - I ask you!), I will of course be remembering the 1504 people lost that night. With every disaster one hopes something will be learned so that the events are not repeated, but the oceans are an unpredictable and sometimes violent environment and the best preparation may occasionally not be enough. Rest in peace Titanic.

On a happier note I attended the South West Ship Show yesterday. It was very interesting and well attended, although there was not much on passenger liners - more naval and other merchant shipping information, memorabilia and societies. Some of the models were fabulous and I was particularly taken with some suberb dioramas of canal barges.


We are now in the final stages of preparing the book on Oriana and Aurora for the publishers. This is the slogging bit really. The text and captions are largely complete so it is dotting the I’s and crossing the t’s time. Then we have a brief break while it is laid out before proofing. This is perfectly timed (by accident) while I will be cruising on Adonia. I am really looking forward to trying this ship for the first time. I love smaller cruise ships and i have been on a couple of day visits while we were working on the P&O Cruises 175 book, so I do know my way around a little, but it will be lovely to sail on her, and of course, say hello to the many ex-Artemis officers and crew now working on board. Below are pictures of the elegant library and the sun deck.

Next cruise, next book

Accepting the title of my blog is My Life in Ships, I suppose there haven't been that many ships in my life lately.  However, now the tickets have arrived for my next cruise, that will change soon ... and I cannot wait. I will be sailing on Adonia for the first time.  Whilst I have visited the ship twice in the course of our research for the P&O 175 book, I have't actually sailed on her before so am really looking forward to the experience. Many of her crew are ex-Artemis so it will be nice to see familiar faces. I do prefer smaller ships as I like the more personal experience you get on board.  It is to the Western Mediterranean, but her size means we will be visiting many places not reached by the mega cruise ships, such as Sete and Port Mahon.  I spotted an all-day excursion from Sete to Carcassonne, a place referred to with affection by my father who delivered ambulances in the Spanish Civil War, so am excited about seeing it for real. The other ports i think we will just wander ashore and explore independently, although in Rome, I am not sure I am brave enough to take the train from Civitavecchia!

And the other other part of today's title - my next book!  Aside from writing maritime history books with Andrew, I also write local history books about my home town. The first of these was way back in 1987, and since then I have produced another 14 or so. My latest one, due to hit the shops in April, is Weston-super-Mare Then & Now. This is a hardback with old photos (in sepia) paired with the same view today in full colour. I always find these fascinating to do, and can spend hours pouring over the old views and seeing what has changed - usually quite a lot, but occasionally suprisingly little!  I am looking forward to promoting this in local bookshops throughout April. Hopefully it will inspire a few people to see Weston in a new light.

Ruthless

Well, not that ruthless to be honest, but firm!  Andrew and I have just spent the day whittling down our shortlisted 550 images to around 200 for the next book. This is sooooo hard!  Obviously we have to work to publisher's guidelines - 20,000 words ish, 200 images ish. yet people have lent us so many wonderful pictures and ephemera it is really hard to whittle it all down to those that essentially add to the story. we had 7 hours together to get it done and the time just vanished like sand in an hourglass. Funny - it never goes that quickly in my day job! So - our apologies to those that lost out, well done to those that are in. Now we must refine it in all senses of the word.  Polishing text, editing pictures, writing informative captions - all the stuff the reader will probably never notice, but would if it wasn't done.  Nose to the grindstone time again!

Oriana and Aurora

The new book is coming along well. People are remarkably generous with lending material, time, photos etc and we have found some exciting pictures to include which have never before been published.


I have to admit I am finding it harder to create a coherent story, with this book being about two ships, but it is beginning to take shape now and I am enjoying the writing again. It was a struggle to pick up this one as it was half finished before the P&O Cruises 175 commission, so I think we both lost our impetus for a while.


It will be a great mixture of technical stuff and stories and interesting facts. Lots of "did you knows" have come to light which we will include. 


So, although I haven't written anything here for a while, I have been beavering away in other spheres!

This image is not one for inclusion but shows one of the long interior promenades on Oriana. A design feature taken from Canberra in the liner tradition.


PS: the decorating is all finished and I am now set up in a lovely library/study!

Decorating

Funny isn't it how a small re-working of a room can turn into a major redecoration project. This was not my intention to start with but one thing led to another. I sold my childhood piano - I was never very good, didn't practice enough and now don't have time to play it at all, besides which a piano in a flat isn't that neighbour-friendly! Great I thought - I can buy a couple of large bookcases and move all my books into one place- nearly! Before I fit them I'd better buy a new carpet though - the one in the room must be 40 years old - since it was too difficult to change with a piano in the room - but then there is no point having new carpet without giving the walls a fresh coat of paint...and so on and so on - so now - everything I am meant to be actually working on is spread all over my flat. I never realised how much a small (very small!) room can hold till I had to move it all out!

So I am typing this in my sitting room, while waiting for the gloss paint to dry. It's not condusive to a coherent thought process, but the talk is taking shape - and that is the more urgent of my list of tasks at the moment. After the day job tomorrow, I'll try and emulsion the walls and then the carpet should be able to go doqwn and I can get straight again. 

On the plus side it all made me have a really good declutter. I have weeded out two bin bags of paperwork and taken a car load to the charity shop, so that has to be a good thing. I always seem to be submerged under pieces of paper - notes, letters, research etc.  Hopefully my next post will be from my wodnerful new smart library!

And if you are wondering what decorating has to do with ships - I need a place to store my research, reference material, collections, as well as to sit and work on the next volume!

And to finish - a nice photo of my all-time favourite ship...so far
My beloved QE2 - her lines were just magnificent!

Great news

Yesterday we discovered that the P&O 175 book had sold out of its first print run. This is great news and we are really delighted.  After all the hard work it is good to know people are enjoying it so much as to recommend it to their friends.


The past weeks have been spent getting up to speed on the next publication - following research leads, gathering photos etc. I have a pile to scan from Mr W. who was so helpful with the 175 book. That, and preparing a talk, will keep me busy this weekend, not to mention the redesign and decoration of my office.  Having "made do" with the spare room, stuck between the piano, bureau and filing cabinet, I felt it was time I got sorted and comfortable.

Progress

I don't feel as if I have accomplished much at all since my last post, but I am getting back into the swing of the book. It took a while to re-read everything we had written so far - and then re-write huge chunks. Actually, if you have the time to do this, having a break from a book and then going back to it is a very good idea. When you are so close to something you can't see the wood from the trees very often, and see it in a new light after doing something else for a while.


We then set about creating a timeline and task list - it can be so encouraging to be able to tick stuff off a list! There is still a huge amount of work to do, but if it is all written down and listed you can at least establish some sort of ordered process.


As well as working full time in my "real" job, I have also been involved in some of the publicity surrounding the P&O Cruises 175 book. It was also extremely gratifying to see it reviewed in the Nautilus International Telegraph - a highly regarded publication in the maritime world.

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1vfpw/TelegraphFebruary201/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=