Welcome friend! Did you know this week marks the 113th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic?Let’s join the rememberance with author Ann K. Simpson, whose novel,The Titanic Test: A Love Story is set on the ship. Let’s welcome Ann and learn more.
Get to know the author: Ann K. Simpson
Welcome to Armed with A Book. Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
Hi, everyone. I’m excited to be here to share my debut novel, The Titanic Test: A Love Story, with you all. I’ve been writing for a long time, even getting an advanced degree in journalism, but I’ve just gotten brave enough to share a novel-length work with the world. I live in Washington, DC, with my two cats who like to “help” me with my work! When I’m not writing, I’m traveling, often to the UK, going to museums (DC and London are great for this!), or eating way too much chocolate while reading or binging my favorite flicks. I’m a sucker for good romance, action, or intrigue!
What inspired you to write this book?
The idea for this book struck me like lightning, and once it was in my head, it took on a life of its own. I’ve long been a fan of the Titanic movie, and I’m obsessed with the idea of being able to go back in time. Put those two together, along with a high school in California and some juicy romance, and the result was The Titanic Test: A Love Story. The characters still exist in my head, even though they’ve escaped onto the page.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
I’m not sure – time between the pandemic and post-pandemic is all a blur. But I’d guess two and a half years. I learned a LOT about the Titanic during my research. But as much as the story is about the Titanic, it has a contemporary feel and, in my mind, real meaning.
What makes your story unique?
The Titanic Test: A Love Story is a mix of contemporary and historical, with a pinch of sci-fi/fantasy, a friends to lovers trope, and a lot of action. I hope everyone will find something to enjoy in it…and will also find some kind of reflection of themselves. Ultimately, Charlie, the strong female lead, and the male protagonist, Quinn, have to struggle with their own personal ethics, something we all have to do, especially today.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
The book is young adult fiction, but as an adult who reads YA myself, I hope that everyone will enjoy it. There is a really strong community of Titanic lovers out there, but there are also tons of people who enjoy a really good romance/action/adventure. One of my early readers was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. I was worried that she wouldn’t enjoy a young adult book or a romance, but she loved it! So, I’m optimistic that it’ll have broad appeal.
Did you bring any of your experiences into this book?
There’s a scene where Charlie describes how much she hates public restrooms. Yep – all me!
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
We live in a very polarized world right now. I hope readers will be reminded that when survival is at stake, and even when it isn’t, we all truly care about each other and humanity.
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
I love the scenes between Charlie and Quinn, but I always come back to the ending. It gets me every time.
What is something you have learned on your author journey so far?
I love the writing community and the reading community. There is so much support and goodness – and so much to learn about the whole process of publishing a book!
What’s the best piece of advice you have received related to writing?
It takes a village to write! Thank goodness for that village.
If you could give a shout out to someone(s) who has helped in your writer journey, please feel free to mention them below!
My best friend, Sandra, dove into this project as a thought partner and early reader, and was as excited as I was the whole way through. My daughter read the book and called me when she finished, crying. Her loving it made me know it’s good because she has been an early stage reader for well-known authors. And I’ve had great support from James, who lives in London, who worked magic on technical things like the website and file formats, etc. I am so lucky to have these people, and many others like them, in my camp.
Where can readers find you on the Internet?
Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, and Goodreads
The Titanic Test: A Love Story
YA Romance, SciFi/Fantasy, Time Travel, 2024
Charlie is a seventeen-year-old Malibu surfer who lives in the moment and is so not into time travel. Now she’s facing Windline Academy’s dreaded Junior Year Test, a trip in time designed to mold her into the girl her parents and school want her to be. The rules are clear: no changing history and no interfering with the senior who’ll be sent to report any infractions.
When Charlie learns her test is to sail on the Titanic, she vows to hide out in her cabin. But soon she meets the ship’s colorful passengers and has to choose between her conscience and passing the test. To make matters worse, Quinn, her childhood best friend turned annoying and super popular senior, shows up to keep her on track.
Sparks fly when she and Quinn clash, but soon their perspectives—and their hearts—meld under the Titanic’s stars. Time, they learn, is a tough adversary, and in the end, the Titanic changes Charlie’s future . . . forever.
Book Excerpt from
The Titanic Test: A Love Story
Sometimes the expectation of something is more frightening than the thing itself. I hoped that would be the case for my Junior Year Test, but I seriously doubted it as I stood with the other juniors in the beehive-buzzing gym, lined up in rows. I saw classmates wearing armor, scuba gear, ball gowns, kilts, kimonos, extreme weather hiking gear, colorful saris, and military uniforms. Tiana stood next to me wearing a short orange skirt and a macramé vest that hung down below her skirt’s hem.
Since almost everyone had luggage of various sorts, each of us was ushered to an X made of blue painter’s tape, spaced about five feet from each other. Time pins were placed on the floor in front of each of us, checked and double-checked against a master list.
I could barely breathe, not just from nerves, but because I was wearing a corset—since I could hardly wear a modern bra in the early twentieth century. I also wore a heavy cotton day suit with a tie and high collar that covered me from neck to feet, with stockings underneath, secured to garters that hung from the bottom of the corset. A black, fur-trimmed wool overcoat, leather gloves with more buttons, and an ornate large-brimmed hat that sat atop a loose updo added to the weight of it all. Maybe if I pass out, they won’t make me go.
Ms. Featherwell stood in the front on a riser so we could all see her, her eyes sparkling with the adventure of it all. “Class,” she called out when the clock high on the wall behind her ticked over to 10:00 a.m., “the time has arrived for your departures. Remember the rules of the test, including those that prohibit intentionally impacting the time stream, and of course, place your safety above all else. Please do not take your time pins with you, since you risk losing them and do not need one to return. Open your minds to this adventure. I wish you all a safe journey, and now, you may go. Godspeed, everyone!” With that, people began to disappear around me. Somebody started wailing. Tiana had her arms crisscrossed in front of her chest like she was shielding herself. She and I stole one last BFF we-got-this look, and she was gone, too. Grabbing up my luggage, I sucked in a breath and touched my time pin. In an instant, as easy as walking into the next room, I was in 1912, in the port town of Southampton on England’s south coast.
A chilly fifty-something degree morning breeze stung my cheeks as I turned the corner from the side street where I had arrived near Queens Park. No roller bags here. I held a heavy embroidered bag and a trunk-like leather suitcase with straps I’d taken from the school’s supplies.
Using a map I found on the Internet, I started to make my way the short distance to the White Star Dock, specifically Berth 44. My long skirt was so narrow at the bottom that I shuffled instead of taking my usual long strides. My boarding pass, along with some money, was tucked in the top of my corset, in case I was robbed. In the movies, women in strange places always get mugged first thing and have to make their way with only their wits to rely on. I hadn’t spent too much time in the distant past by myself, so I wasn’t about to rely only on my wits, no matter how itchy my boobs were at that moment.
Every photograph I’d seen of this real place and time was in black and white, so the Technicolor spectacle in front of me was a minor shock, like thinking you’re taking a sip of an iced latte and getting hot chocolate instead. There was also a cacophony of unexpected sound, a mixture of horns and shouts and laughter. Men on bikes wearing bowlers, women with ribbon-adorned hats, and children in flat caps or curls bustled along, navigating around cars straight off a Hollywood lot. A horse-drawn carriage even moved slowly down the street. All appeared to be headed to the end of the rail line and the docks that created the hub of activity at the intersection of the River Test and the River Itchen.
I smelled the sea, the kind of salt-water-mixed-with-civilization, slightly pungent odor found at docks everywhere, with gulls circling overhead.
“Pardon me,” I said countless times as I weaved my way toward the so-called ship of dreams. The path became increasingly congested as passengers and well-wishers funneled down the docks toward the Titanic, sharing space with the long, low White Star Line building that ran for hundreds of feet. An idle crane was visible high above, having already done the work of lowering the ship’s cargo.
When the Titanic came into full view, in its ten-deck, seventeen-story-high majesty, I stopped moving, unable to take one more step toward it. It wasn’t as big as modern cruise ships, but it was a deep-charcoal-gray-and-white technological marvel against this backdrop of time, a ship for the ages. I felt like I had fallen into a movie, with the Titanic as a main character and all the actors in period costumes. All I’d have to do was play my part. If only Windline’s “Titanic test” were all cameras and lights and make-believe.
Interested?
Find The Titanic Test: A Love Story on Goodreads and Amazon. Stay tuned for a review on the blog!
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