Author Plugs Women in Combat, A U.S. Reality

For Release November 9, 2000 - #00-001

AUTHOR PLUGS WOMEN IN COMBAT, A U.S. REALITY
Lindsay McKenna releases new e-book, Valkyrie; Sets stage for
public debate of women in military

   PHOENIX, AZ - November 9, 2000 - If the U.S. Military needs a reason to allow women in ground combat, the highly anticipated book Valkyrie, due December 1, will kick this issue into high gear.
   Jumping ship, best-selling author Lindsay McKenna is taking her military mainstream books along the path of such celebrity writers as Stephen King: e-book territory.
   "Lindsay is an author that believes in taking charge of her career," says Mary Wolf, owner of Hard Shell Word Factory, the award-winning e-publisher for Valkyrie at www.hardshell.com. "This format allows her to push the boundaries beyond the print venues she's had."
   And pushing is an understatement.
   Facing head on a controversial military subject, McKenna's pro-woman in combat stance brings her own military experience and exhaustive research into Valkyrie's fictional adventure that's so real it begs the question.
   WHEN will U.S. women be allowed in ground combat?
   "I'm pro-women in all job slots in the U.S. Military," says McKenna of the the pro-women-in-the-military global trend. "None should be closed to them - patriotism should be gender free."
   Having served herself in the U.S. Navy and during the Vietnam War, McKenna saw that there were certain types of women prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically for ground combat.
   "It's a time that's come, " states Richard Lee, an Apache helicopter chief pilot and Vietnam veteran.
   When it comes to conflict, he mentions, not all men can wage a war. Not all men can fight - and the same is true of women says Lee.
   "Given the right training and attitude, there is no reason why women can't be all but equal," emphasizes Lee.
   In fact, women-in-the-military advocate Captain Barbara Wilson, retired, states that many of the reasons given to exclude women in the combat roles are due to myths and legends.
   "I don't think the issue is women in combat but is, rather, equal opportunity," says Wilson.
   Currently, about 15 percent of military jobs are off limits to women: ground combat and submarine duty.
   Reviewers for the book call Valkyrie an "edge-of-the-seat" suspense, "richly drawn characters," and "absolutely fantastic."
   "She really took out all the stops," says Harriett Klausner, number one reviewer for Amazon.com and several other top-notch publications. "She's really one of the best writers I've seen."
   The military suspense, Valkyrie, - already movie optioned - sets up a ground combat trial for women, along with other U.S. Forces, into an erupting Southeast Asia hot-spot crisis. The all-woman task force tests political odds and physical danger in all-out ground combat.
   All to please a mainstream audience, the adventure offers intrigue, strategy, violence, and a love story. The book is available through Hard Shell Word Factory, www.hardshell,com, in two formats: electronic or paperback version. Local bookstores can also make special paperback orders for customers that do not have computers or Internet access.
   Lindsay McKenna (aka Eileen Nauman) is the best-selling author of Valkyrie and 50 fiction books in the last 20 years. Known as the "Top Gun of Women's Military Fiction," she created the sub-genre of military adventure/romance and covers a mainstream women's market having sold over 10 million books worldwide.
   More about McKenna, Valkyrie, and electronic publishing can be found on her website at www.lindsaymckenna.com.

Editor's Note: Additional interviews, quotes, information, and images are available through Therese Flores at 480-682-9030, by e-mail at gtflores@concentric.net, or
www.lindsaymckenna.com.
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