HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:
Have you hear about HOVER? Anne Wilson’s debut novel from Forge Books is getting high-altitude buzz! And talk about air time. Here’s the incredibly cool cover.
Is it a thriller? Or woman’s fiction? Can it be both? That’s what the critics are saying in a raft of rave reviews!
Anne graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served nine years active duty as a navy helicopter pilot, which included deployment to the Persian Gulf. The Naval Helicopter Association named Anne and her crew Helicopter Aircrew of the Year, an award given for search and rescue.
Anyway, Femmes, this post made me cry. Welcome, Anne Wilson. And you totally rock.
Behind the Visor
Thank you, Hank and Femmes Fatales for hosting me on your site.
My debut novel, HOVER, features a female navy helicopter pilot, who is unaware she is being groomed to fly a highly classified Navy SEAL mission. Although she is well qualified, men higher in her chain of command hesitate to approve her selection because she is a woman.
Working women face discrimination like this all the time, of course. But I would have to say, female pilots have an advantage that many women who work in male-dominated environments don’t—they can demonstrate their competency when no one is looking.
I served as an active duty navy helicopter pilot for nine years, and I wore a big bulky helmet, equipped with a dark visor. With the visor in place, you can’t tell who’s under the helmet. And for a women looking to prove herself, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Yes, I ran into my fair share of men who staunchly believed that women didn’t belong in the military, and certainly not in the cockpit. And though I would never say this out loud, I had the sweet satisfaction of showing many of these men that I could competently do my job, even when they weren’t aware they were being shown. They would watch, not knowing who was landing on their ship to deliver supplies, not knowing who was rescuing them off the side of a mountain, or not knowing who was responding to an aircraft emergency, ensuring they and their fellow passengers were brought to safety.
We’ve seen it in the movies, of course—the woman who pulls off her helmet and flips her hair about, often in slow motion, and almost always overdone. That wasn’t me, but I did remove my helmet on many occasions, to be met with stunned expressions and that awkward hesitation, before a man would reach out to shake my hand.
It could get even more awkward, though. Like the times, say, during a brief with ground crews, prior to commencing an exercise, when men would indeed see me, but address their comments, concerns, and questions to the men in my crew only.
I’ll never forget the time we briefed with a local county sheriff’s search and rescue team prior to a joint training exercise. I used to fly search and rescue, when I was stationed in Fallon, Nevada, which is located about sixty miles east of Reno. We flew up and down the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and in the Lake Tahoe area, searching for lost skiers and snowboarders, rescuing injured climbers, and picking up stranded hikers. For the first two years I was there, I was the only woman in the squadron.
Anyhow, I was the aircraft commander for this training flight, and I had a brand new co-pilot with me, one who’d joined our squadron less than a week earlier. We flew to the training site, shut down the aircraft, and stepped out to meet the sheriff’s personnel—about ten men—to brief the plan of the day. However, during the course of the brief, the man in charge of the ground team only held eye contact with my copilot. He would occasionally glance at our three aircrewmen, but I was invisible.
My copilot—I’ll call him Bob—dutifully nodded his head throughout the brief. And towards the end, the man in charge asked Bob a rather involved question. Bob looked at me, then back at the man. He said, “I have no idea. I’ve only been in the squadron a week. You need to ask the aircraft commander.” And he pointed at me.
The man looked at me—a long look—then said simply, “Oh.”
There was a bit of foot scuffling from the sheriff’s personnel, but I didn’t want to make it any more weird than it already was. I just answered the question, briefed the plan of events, safety considerations, radio calls, etc., all to silent nods.
The training went off without a hitch, and the next time we worked together, it was far better. That was my guiding principle, by the way. Model competency one interaction at a time. It took patience, but eventually, not only that county sheriff group, but others, learned that I could do my job and do it well—no stealth performances behind the visor required.
Stories behind the photos
Orange and white helicopter – That’s me flying the H-1 Huey during an actual rescue in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. We had been doing a training exercise earlier in the morning and had a photographer with us. Then, during the training, we were called on an actual rescue. At the rescue site, we had no place to land, so we did a maneuver called a one-skid, where you hover one foot above and one foot over from where you’d like to drop people off. Our rescue crewman, paramedic, and the photographer jumped out of the aircraft. When we returned to retrieve our crew and the victim, the photographer took this shot.
Green helicopter – Again, me flying, but you would never know it. This is the H-46 helicopter, the same one you find in HOVER, and what you see here is something called VERTREP, or vertical replenishment. Our helicopter would fly from ship to ship in the battle group delivering supplies and this was one method for moving those supplies.
HANK: So, femmes, yay, Anne, huh? I remember when I worked on Capitol Hill in the 70’s as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate. I was in the office one day by myself, and a guy came to the door, looked at me, and asked: “Is anyone here?”
Femmes, how about you?
Helicopter pilot Lieutenant Sara Denning joins a US Navy battle group with little fanfare, and that’s just the way she likes it. Sara’s philosophy is simple—blend in, be competent, and above all, never do anything to stand out as a woman in a man’s world.
Somewhere along the way, Sara lost herself—her feminine, easygoing soul is now buried under so many defensive layers, she can’t reach it anymore.
When she meets the strong, self-assured Lieutenant Eric Marxen, those defenses start to falter. Eric coordinates flight operations for a Navy SEAL Team that requests Sara more than any other pilot. This blatant show of favoritism causes conflict with her colleagues; Sara’s sexist boss seems intent on making her life miserable, and her roommate and best friend—the only other woman on the ship—is avoiding her. It doesn’t help that Sara’s interactions with Eric leave her reeling.
The endgame of the SEAL’s mission is so secret, even Sara doesn’t know the reason behind her mandated participation. When Sara’s life is on the line, can she find her true self again and follow the orders of her heart before it is too late?
Sounds like a great story. And Behind the Visor - it takes a special person to do such demanding work, and to maintain your professionalism and prove yourself by action rather than loud words. So very admirable.
I remember more often than not only being addressed by my first name, whether working Civil Service for the military or in strictly civilian jobs, and whether working as a secretary or an engineer. Kind of irksome when the meeting leader goes around the table and introduces the team: "Roger Rabbit, Tom Jones, and Sally."
Can't wait to read this!
Posted by: Sally Schmidt | June 16, 2015 at 07:04 AM
Thanks for your nice words and your comments, Sally. I appreciate - as you can imagine - your story about team introductions. [Insert author shaking head with a knowing smile on her face]. So glad you're going to read the book. I hope you enjoy it!
Posted by: Anne A. Wilson | June 16, 2015 at 08:35 AM
So true!
And how about this--it's in all realms. A pal of mine's very intellectual parents were dabbling in socialism/communism in the 1950's--and actually had a party meeting at their apt in New York somewhere.
I was fascinated. I said to the Mom--REALLY? Were you plotting against the government? How was that? What did everyone say? And she told me: "Well, dear, the women mostly made coffee."
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | June 16, 2015 at 09:38 AM
Ha! Great story, Hank!
Posted by: Anne A. Wilson | June 16, 2015 at 10:01 AM
Wonderful! (I kind of love "Bob".)
Posted by: catriona | June 16, 2015 at 12:17 PM
Yeah, Bob rules.
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | June 16, 2015 at 12:23 PM
I bought this book on a whim and absolutely loved it. It's my perfect combination of adventure, mystery and romance!
Posted by: Alyssa | June 16, 2015 at 02:14 PM
Alyssa, that is GREAT to hear. You have made my day and then some. Thank you for reading HOVER. So thrilled that you enjoyed it!
Posted by: Anne A. Wilson | June 16, 2015 at 03:15 PM
Grace under pressure! I never knew helmets could be so useful. I do want to read more!
First women in previously male bastions have interesting challenges. In a tamer field, I was the first woman agent in the Minneapolis Prudential office, causing a vocabulary change from "men" for agents and "girls" for secretarial staff. I especially enjoyed calling a home and hearing the young child announce, "Mom, it's the insurance man, and he's a girl." I was happy when teaching jobs became available, but it was an educational and useful endeavor.
Posted by: Storyteller Mary | June 16, 2015 at 07:43 PM
It's the insurance man, and he's a girl! CLASSIC! xoo
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | June 16, 2015 at 07:45 PM
That's a great story, Mary! A nice laugh to finish off the night.
Posted by: Anne A. Wilson | June 16, 2015 at 10:07 PM
This post fascinated me since I live in Fallon, Nevada and my late husband worked on the Electronic Warfare Range for over 20 years. I will purchase the book and alert all my friends to look for it!
Posted by: Ellie Enos | June 17, 2015 at 05:30 PM
Hi Ellie,
How great that you live in Fallon! I absolutely loved being stationed there. This first novel, HOVER, is set in a U.S. Navy battle group in the Pacific Ocean. However, my second novel, which will release in Jun 2016, is set in Fallon and is a story about search and rescue! I think you would like both books and I do appreciate you telling your friends. I hope you enjoy HOVER and I would love to hear your feedback! Thanks for reading!
Posted by: Anne A. Wilson | June 19, 2015 at 11:50 AM
I still know many people that work on the EW Range. They keep in touch with me. After my husband retired, they used to come take him out to lunch when I was at work. I'm sure we will all enjoy the books. I will actually let my favorite librarians know about ordering the book as well. After travelling with my husband during his 20+ years in the Air Force, I developed strategies including getting to know the librarians on base and in the local town/city!
Posted by: Ellie Enos | June 19, 2015 at 04:50 PM
How nice of the EW folks to come take your husband out to lunch! It doesn't surprise me, though, as everyone we met in Fallon was quite welcoming. Thanks for spreading the word among your librarian network. That's a hugely supportive thing of you to do and greatly appreciated!
Posted by: Anne A. Wilson | June 20, 2015 at 04:18 PM
Anne, I found that they have a hard back copy of your book at the Churchill County Library. It's checked out (of course). I bought mine on Kindle and finished reading it last night. I definitely rated it 5 stars. I've encouraged my son to read it now. The characters and the action are very compelling. I enjoyed the relationships that developed as well. Thank you.
Posted by: Ellie Enos | June 20, 2015 at 05:57 PM
You finished reading it! How wonderful! Thanks for the 5-star rating. Most appreciated. And that's neat to hear that the book was checked out at the library. Awesome. I hope your son enjoys it. Thank you for reading and also for your nice words!
Posted by: Anne A. Wilson | June 20, 2015 at 08:17 PM