Lisa London's Blog

Getting Ready for NC Public Radio's The State of Things

[image error] Frank Stazio of North Carolina Public Radio will be interviewing Hilde and I for the March 24th show. 
Hilde went right to work today, signing books for the local independent bookstores. And if that wasn't enough, I had her share more stories about her youth which I videotaped and will be uploading segments over the next few weeks. 

Launching Darker the Night

Monday morning, Susan Sipal, my editor, and I drove to Hilde's house to pick her up for the launch party. When I walked in the house, she showed me the framed photo of her and her late-husband John and held it close to her chest.

"Would it be all right for me to bring this? It is our engagement picture and I'd like John to be part of the event."

I had to blink back the tears. Though we had been working on the book for well over a year together, it wasn’t until that moment I realized how much this meant to Hilde.

Once at the Leon Mann Jr. Enrichment Center, the flurry of activity began. With over 65 gathered and waiting, Hilde’s daughter Marlena helped with the refreshments, a screen was set up to watch the book trailer, reporters from two television stations and the local paper arrived, and suddenly we were on stage.

After watching the trailer, I read the chapter of the book which describes how Hedy, the protagonist, spent the night after her 19th birthday. Then it was time to celebrate Hilde’s 90th birthday with singing and cookies. Time does fly. Hilde stood and thanked her friends and neighbors, and we answered questions.

We were whisked off to a small room for interviews. Beth Lawrence from Jacksonville Channel 12, Jaqueline Matters from Greenville Channel 9, and Megan Soult from The News Times in Morehead City did a wonderful job helping Hilde relax and asked good questions.
After a fun, but exhausting day, I dropped Hilde at her home. As I waved goodbye, she said, “I can’t believe it is really done.”
Neither can I, Hilde, neither can I!

Today's the Launch!

Getting everything ready for the launch this morning. The book is now live in all formats. If you are near Morehead City, come to the Leo Mann Jr. Enrichment Center at 11:00 am.  Look forward to seeing you.
And check out the book trailer designed by www.bookfrenzystudios.com. 

GoodReads Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to the five winners of the GoodReads Giveaway of Darker the Night:
Charlene from CT
Jake from NY
Jeremy from TN
Erika from WI
and Penny from WA
It was fun to see winners stretched across the whole country. I'm taking the books to Hilde to sign today and they will be in the mail tomorrow

Darker the Night Article in the Sanford Herald

Lovely article in the Sanford Herald today- Shedding Light on the Other Side  about Darker the Night.  If you don't have a subscription to the Sanford Herald, I've posted the article on the In The News page of my website.

Interesting Tidbits on Germany

On the Darker the Night Facebook page, I've posted a couple of interesting tidbits on life in Germany during World War II.

Here is todays:
Another interesting tidbit about WWII Germany:
To illuminate their targets at night, the Allies sent planes in advance of the bombers to drop green flares. The German civilians called them “Christmas Trees” and knew that they had a only few moments to get to a shelter.


Go to https://www.facebook.com/darkerthenight/ to read more.  I'll be posting more in a few days.

Goodreads Giveaway-Darker the Night

Click on the link below to enter for a chance to win one of five books signed by the author (me) and the woman who inspired the story (Hilde). .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: inline-block; color: #181818; background-color: #F6F6EE; border: 1px solid #9D8A78; border-radius: 3px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; outline: none; font-size: 13px; padding: 8px 12px; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { color: #181818; background-color: #F7F2ED; border: 1px solid #AFAFAF; text-decoration: none; } Goodreads Book Giveaway Darker the Night by Lisa London

Giveaway ends February 02, 2016.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Hitchhiking on a Panzer Tank

I can't imagine wandering around a war-torn country, but I guess if you need a ride, a tank might be useful. Check out the latest video on The Real Hedy page

Launch Celebration Scheduled!

In honor of Hilde's 90th Birthday, we have scheduled the launch of Darker The Night  for Monday, February 8 at the Leon Mann Jr. Enrichment Center in Morehead City NC at 11:00 am.  Hope to see you there!

What it is like to have tanks come into your town.

I've added a page on the DarkertheNight.com called The Real Hedy. I'll be posting interviews with Hilde Sensale, the woman who inspired the story and other things I have found interesting.

Having been fortunate enough to have never lived in a war zone, I wondered what it was like to see the tanks coming into your town. Here's what she said.