Strong Women come in different sized packages

Hi there!! It's B. A. Binns again, here with the Genre-Istas for November, celebrating heroic women.



Up until Tuesday I was going to go into rhapsodies about two first ladies, Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton. Don't get me wrong, my hat is off to those women, both married to powerful men, both important and powerful in their own right. And both natives of the Chicago area, the place I also call home. Both women showcase the value of an education. They are mothers and political wives who have found their own places in the spotlight. Elegant speakers, graceful and thoughtful.

Secretary of State touts the use of "smart power" and making diplomacy the vanguard of US foreign policy.  And when one of the worst things someone could find to say about Michelle Obama is that she pulled a "three-peat" when celebrating her husband's re-election by wearing a dress she had been seen in not once but twice before, I say she understands economy, and had more important things on her mind that finding the perfect dress for the night.

But I am changeable. And a YA author. So I have decided to profile two strong young women (in one case extremely young) as women of power who are wonderful role-models for any age.


My first role model is Diane Tran, (click to see more) an honor student who loves school and takes AP and dual credit college courses, but was jailed for  excessive truancy after growing exhausted from her two (yes two jobs) that keep her up until 7 a.m. trying to do homework so she can keep up. She works to support two siblings after her parents divorced and moved away. (Yeah, no parents int he picture, just her and two siblings) Maybe I like her so much because she and the protagonist of my first novel, Pull, have that in common, family comes first. Only in her case, that led to a night in jail because she was so exhausted she missed too many days of school and the Texas judge lowered the boom, giving her a $100 fine, 24 hours in jail, and a potential police record that would shadow her hoped for future of being a doctor.

Fortunately for this real-life heroine, her story touched people's hearts in all fifty states and nineteen countries. She found assistance from the Louisiana Children's Education Alliance,who helped raise money to take care of her siblings and raised awareness until the public outcry led the judge to drop  the charge to clear her record, (although nothing can erase that night in jail).

Sam Gordon, (click to see a video) a.k.a. Samantha, 9-year-old gridiron star of the Gremlin football league in Salt Lake City Utah. She runs, tackle,and scores-- against the boys. Her teammates love her (she helped them get to the playoffs). And this isn't even her best sport - she wants to play professional soccer some day. While it helps that she has older brothers to play against and hone her skills, this young lady who loves her stuffed animals and has a cocky, one-sided smile, can be an example to anyone of any age told they can't do something, or that they don't belong.

These young ladies prove that anyone, at any age, can be a role model. They are willing to work hard for their dreams. My hat is off to the future Dr. Tran, and future soccer star Sam.

Where Are the Women? A Military Mystery

WANTED: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Needs Charismatic Heroine

Qualified applicants should be physically fit and battle tested with investigative- or intelligence-gathering experience and leadership abilities. Training in self-defense, survival skills, and weaponry a plus.

The muscled images of ex-military heroes—men trained as SEALS, Special Operatives, Rangers and Military Police—grace the covers of dozens of romantic suspense novels written by women. Male authors have been even busier penning novels with veteran heroes from Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer and John Macdonald’s Travis McGee to Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.

So where are the ex-military heroines?

Capable heroines populate many of today’s crime novels. They work as district attorneys, homicide detectives, medical examiners, and Secret Service and FBI agents. Yet only a handful of leading ladies list military experience on their resumes.

To be fair, if it weren’t for a lifelong friendship, I doubt I’d have been smart enough to cast a 52-year-old retired military intelligence officer as the star of my Marley Clark mystery series. Wanting a heroine with “thriller” qualifications, I immediately thought of Arlene, a friend since kindergarten and a retired military intelligence officer. Arlene graciously shared details to give Marley relevant career experiences and depth.

I’ve met a number of Arlene’s Army friends, and these ladies are smart, physically fit, witty, and often hold advanced college degrees. They also know how to use weapons and understand tactics. Excellent heroine material.

According to various sources, U.S. women military vets number between 1.8 and two million, with more than 214,000 women on active duty in all services—about 14 percent of the entire U.S. military. In 2011, West Point graduated 225 women. At the Naval Academy, female cadets make up about 17 percent of graduates. About 35,000 women serve as officers.

As a result of policy reforms, 91 percent of Army and 99 percent of Air Force occupations are open to women. Dozens of career paths provide women with the skill sets needed to unravel mysteries and combat deadly foes. A partial list might include military intelligence analysts, who assist in collecting information and then work to filter, assess and knit it together to identify enemy units, personnel and equipment; military intelligence officers specializing in operational, communications or physical security; lawyers with the Judge Advocate General; Military Police, members of the Criminal Investigative Division, who may even work undercover to investigate a variety of crimes such as dealers attempting to sell drugs to military personnel. 

Many are also battle-tested. Almost 41,000 women served in theater during the Persian Gulf War. More than 20,000 women served as peacekeepers in Bosnia and Kosovo, and about ten percent of U.S. Forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq are women.

 

Given the nature of warfare today, front-line combat units need support units nearby. That means the driver of an Army supply truck or a communications specialist must always be alert to ambush and attack. In every arm of the service, a person’s first job must be soldiering—specialties come second.

My conclusion? Marley Clark may soon share mystery/suspense bookshelves with many more ex-military heroines. There are too many heroic possibilities out there to ignore.

Do you know a vet who’d make a great heroine?

My Marley Clark Mysteries, DEAR KILLER & NO WAKE ZONE, are available as e-books and trade paperbacks. Visit my website for buy links.