K. Lang-Slattery's Blog, page 14
April 3, 2015
Ask Me
Senoritas and Spies
March 28, 2015
The End of the Beginning
The violence and destruction of Kristallnacht lasted little more than 24 hours, but many historians consider it the event that marked the beginning of the Holocaust. It was, certainly, the culmination of the previous five years of Nazi propaganda and legal actions against German Jews. But how did the government’s response to Kristallnacht push Germany over the edge and send it pummeling down into the abyss?
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Who Was Vom Rath?
March 21, 2015
The Ugly Night of Broken Glass
CHAPTER 1
KRISTALLNACHT
THE QUIET OF THE EARLY November morning was shattered by loud voices and the screech of brakes. Herman peered through the crack in the stable door. A prickle of fear shot up his neck at the sight of a covered truck, two police motorcycles, and a black sedan in front of the homes across the street. Two brown-shirted SA officers, the Swastika symbols on their armbands blazing, pounded on his cousin’s front door.
* * *
So begins Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy.
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March 13, 2015
History 101
Over the years, as I was writing Immigrant Soldier, friends and acquaintances would ask me, “What is your book about?” I prepared what is called an “elevator pitch”—a synopsis short enough to recite on a ride between the stops on an elevator. Often, to set the stage, I would say, “It all begins on Kristallnacht in Germany.” Several times I was surprised when my listener would question, “But, what is Kristallnacht?”
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March 2, 2015
Launch Celebration
This weekend has been very exciting. Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy is now on sale, not only at Amazon but also at my local bookstore, Laguna Beach Books http://www.lagunabeachbooks.com This is a wonderful, independent purveyor of books, run by a literate and enthusiastic staff. They agreed to host my book launch on Sunday and it was an unbelievable afternoon.
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February 21, 2015
Celebrate
Boxes of books are stacked in the living room and bottles of Champagne chill in the refrigerator. Finger food and cut fruit are prepared. Friends, family, my writing group ladies, the “beta-readers,” and loyal supporters will soon arrive.
We will lift our glasses. They will say “Congratulations” and I will breathe a sigh of relief.
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February 14, 2015
A Grueling Search for Tiny Things
The proofreading is finished! It was a grueling and worthwhile task. My team of 3 (my editor, my eagle-eyed friend, Barbara, and myself) have combed proof copies of Immigrant Soldier.
My editor used a time honored method for checking a final proof of material seen too often—she read it backward. My friend read it for the first time, and her skill as a finder of errors was amazing. I sat down and read it as if I was simply your average recreational reader. Between us, we found close to 80 things that needed to be corrected—about 1 correction for every 5 pages of the book.
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February 8, 2015
Eight Notable Ritchie Boys
The Ritchie Boys, brought together by their proficiency in German, Italian or French, were trained in intelligence work by the US Army under whose command they helped defeat the Axis powers in WWII. After their service was completed, like veterans today, they had to find a place for themselves in civilian life. As a group, they did uncommonly well. The list of successful Ritchie Boys is long. You have already heard of some of them in previous posts—William Warfield and General Grombacher. In fact, the hero of Immigrant Soldier, Herman Lang, later earned 6 Emmys for his excellent camera work with CBS.
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