Cathy Gohlke uses the fertile ground of this tragedy for the start of her critically acclaimed story Promise Me This. The novel follows a young man and woman whose lives are forever changed and bound together by the events that unfolded on that April 15, 101 years ago. Annie Allen never imagined that the day she watched her brother, Owen, sail on Titanic would be the last day she’d see him, but when tragedy strikes, one man’s promise and another’s sacrifice will forever change her life.

“Gohlke tells a gripping tale of sacrifice, loss, love, and hope against the setting of familiar historical events.” Publishers Weekly

“This dramatic and heart-wrenching interpretation . . . will enthrall fans of character-driven [Christian fiction] and readers who enjoy Francine Rivers.” Library Journal, starred review

“This grabs the reader from the first sentence. The characters are well defined. . . . Readers will come away with a fresh understanding of that horrible day.” Romantic Times, 4 ½-star Top Pick review

To find out more about Promise Me This,read the first chapter here.

For more on Cathy Gohlke and her writing, visit her online:

At her website:

http://www.cathygohlke.com

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CathyGohlkeBooks

Thanks for reading!

]]> http://www.tyndale.com/blog/index.php/2013/04/15/when-fact-and-fiction-collide-promise-me-this-and-the-sinking-of-the-titanic/feed/ 0 http://www.tyndale.com/blog/index.php/2012/04/15/titanics-centennial-guest-post-by-cathy-gohlke/ http://www.tyndale.com/blog/index.php/2012/04/15/titanics-centennial-guest-post-by-cathy-gohlke/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:00:49 +0000 Christy Stroud http://www.tyndale.com/blog/?p=2016 *Update 4/23/12: The winners of this giveaway have been notified by email. Thank you all for participating!*

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic‘s sinking. In remembrance of that fateful day, we bring you a guest post by Cathy Gohlke, author of the poignant and powerful novel Promise Me This, which begins on the majestic Titanic. Look for your chance to win a copy of Promise Me Thisat the end of this post!

Also, click here to download a free copy of Promise Me This in e-book format.

Cathy at the Titanic Memorial in NYC

I’ve long been fascinated by Titanic—the romance of the Edwardian era, the magnificent “ship of dreams,” the pre-World War I distinctions between the classes—in life and aboard ship.

But what intrigued me most was the people—the passengers and crew—those who died that fateful night, but especially those who lived.  How did they go on living, knowing that hundreds had died, screaming, around them?  How did they respond—immediately and over the years—to having received such an unmerited gift of grace?

The first time I saw a copy of the ship’s manifest I found details of a young man, Owen George Allum, a London gardener who’d sailed third class from Southampton, England—a gardener who reminded me enough of my great grandfather (who’d emigrated from England a few years before and became a gardener for a wealthy American family) to charge my imagination and make me dig deeper into history.

Later, through a Titanicexhibit, I learned that Owen had drowned. A little research led me to his family, his intended destination, even the items found in his pockets once his body was recovered and sent to Halifax.

Cathy's great-grandfather, Robert William Dubock, whom Cathy also modeled Owen after.

From all of this I wove a fictional short story, The Legacy of Owen Allen—a story, which after sitting many years in my desk drawer, begged a longer telling.

But the journey from short story to novel is long and requires much research.

One of my burning questions was, what was it like for those left behind—families, friends, fiancées?  When I learned that the real Owen had had a sister, it set me to imagining what life was like for her after losing her beloved brother.  My breath caught to imagine how I would feel if I’d lost one of mine.

I traveled to London and Southampton, England, to trace the last days and hours of Titanic’s passengers and crew before they set sail. I learned that a six-week coal strike (resulting in no work or pay for crewmen or dock workers) ended just as Titanic was being outfitted.  Thankful for the prospect of work and earnings for bread, men and women of Southampton flocked to the docks to sign aboard.  As a result, nearly every family lost or knew someone who died when Titanic foundered, most often the breadwinner for a large family or aged parents.

Devastation for the people of Southampton and surrounding areas lasted years beyond April 15, 1912.  I could only try to imagine how very much they’d lost—how very much Owen’s sister lost—and I knew those stories had not been told.

Every bit of history poured into the lives of my characters—from the way the people of Southampton learned of the sinking, and belatedly of the names of survivors, to the very men who’d outfitted the ship with palms and plants before she’d sailed.

Words like “untimely death—gift—unmerited grace—sacrifice—love” all melded into a story that created an echo—a parallel—of Christ’s sacrificial love story to the world, and our response to His amazing, unmerited gift.  That story became Promise Me This.

Titanic Museum in Southhampton, England

It seems fitting that Titanic’s Centennial Anniversary—a day that marks human tragedy and consequential gifts of unmerited grace—should closely follow our celebration of  Good Friday and Easter Sunday—days that seal Christ’s redemption of fallen humanity, and usher us, not into lifeboats on a glassy sea, but into hope and eternity.

*Giveaway* We’re giving away 5 copies of Promise Me This! To enter, please fill out the form below. Winners will be notified on Friday, April 20, 2012.

Cathy Gohlke’s Facebook page

Tyndale’s Facebook page

Tweet this: Win Cathy Gohlke’s “Promise Me This” in @TyndaleHouse’s #Titanic Centennial giveaway http://www.tyndale.com/blog/?p=2016

One blogger at Busy Biz Blogs writes, “Cathy’s passion for her characters is exposed in each page of this book. The depth of their emotions and the continual ebb and flow of this book pulled me in so deep that I could picture the sinking Titanic, the graphic war scenes, and the characters in a context all their own. My heart felt each emotion as though it were personal.”

Cathy makes the characters in Promise Me This come alive, which is why we want to share this recipe from Cathy for scones Annie Allen made for her brother Owen in the novel.

Owen’s Favorite Orange and Currant Scones

Ingredients:

¼ cup sugar (raw or white)
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp.) cold butter, cut into pieces
¾ cup currants
1 egg
½ cup heavy cream
Zest of two oranges
Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease bottom of 8 or 9 inch square or round baking pan or sheet.

Mix flour, sugar baking powder and salt together with fork (or pulse in a food processor) to combine.  Cut butter pieces into mixture (or pulse in processor) until the mixture looks like pea-sized crumbs.  In a large bowl combine this mixture with currants.  Separately, whisk together egg, heavy cream and orange zest.  Combine with the flour mixture.  Stir until moist and large clumps of dough form.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead only until the dough forms one ball.  Roll (flouring as needed) into a 9 inch square or round (depending on desired shape of scones), about ¾ inch thick.

Either cut the dough into small rounds (using a cutter), or cut the rounded or squared dough into eighths for large scones (or sixteenths for small scones) with a knife, and place on cookie sheet or in baking pan.  If using a round cake pan, you can even leave the dough in one large piece and score the top into sections, breaking or cutting when ready to serve.

Sprinkle each scone lightly with raw sugar.  Bake about 25 minutes or until the scones are slightly golden.

Remove from pan and cool on rack at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with butter or Devonshire cream, and orange marmalade

*Piping hot tea is the only essential accompaniment

***Served warm, the melt in your mouth goodness of scones is part of British tea-time ritual—

The moment Owen stepped into the boarding school kitchen, Annie pulled him to the table and sat him down across from her.  Carefully she set a pot of steaming tea and her plate of warm orange and currant scones, with pots of marmalade and Devonshire cream between them.

We hope you enjoy these scones, and pick up a copy of Promise Me This to read as you munch on them!