Lindsay McKenna is a pseudonym of multiple-award winning writer Eileen Nauman. She writes military romances and romantic suspense.
She has had 182 books published under the McKenna name since 1981, most dealing with military or mercenary subjects, for several publishers: Simon and Schuester, Warner, Avon and Berkley, Harlequin/Silhouette. Another 9 books have been published under Eileen Nauman and Beth Brookes.
She has sold 23 million books worldwide. And she has books in 33 foreign languages.
She is known as the “Top Gun of Women’s Military Fiction.” She created the military romance in 1983 with the publication of “Captive of Fate,” Silhouette Special Edition under her Lindsay McKenna pseudonym. Since then, it has become a vital and vigorous genre in the romance world.
Was a featured author in the very first Christmas anthology in publishing: Silhouette Christmas Stories. Her novella, “Forever and Always,” helped this anthology climb to #5 on the New York Times best seller list.
Valkyrie/Danger Close, was her first electronic/print-on-demand book, set for release December 1, 1999. It became E-book of the year RT Reviews Magazine in 2000.
In a second Christmas anthology in 2000, Silhouette Christmas Anthology: Midnight Clear, she wrote the novella, “The Five Days of Christmas.” This three-author anthology also went on the New York Times best seller list.
She is the first best-selling author of women’s fiction to release a new book (Valkyrie/Danger Close) exclusively through an electronic medium.
McKenna originated the military adventure/romance genre in 1983 with Captive of Fate (Silhouette Special Edition/Simon and Schuster/Silhouette).
She is the originator and pioneer of the first 3-book series to be published in the romance industry. In 1999, LOVE and GLORY was published by Silhouette/Harlequin and it pioneered the concept that writers could create 3-books coming out in swift succession.
She is the creator of Morgan’s Mercenaries, now 45 books strong world-wide, and created a global phenomena and best selling series, which was spun off the original Love and Glory series.
She created SHADOW WARRIORS series, HQN, HRS, in 2013. This is about men and women in combat. Another innovative step in military romances.
Recognition and Awards
Romantic Times Award for Best Electronic Book for 2000 with Valkyrie.
She was nominated for “StoryTeller of the Year” at the prestigious “Romantic Times Career Achievement and Reviewers Choice Awards” in Houston, Texas November 9, 2000.
She is the only Women’s Military Fiction writer to sign autographs in the Pentagon bookstore.
She has one book under movie option contract: DANGER CLOSE, HQN, December 2013. The book was optioned by famous Hollywood screenwriter, Dorothy Fontana. The script will be complete by the end of 2013 and her agent will pitch it to Hollywood moguls.
McKenna has marketed her military adventure/romance books heavily in the burgeoning romance market, to great success. As a result, her awards include the following:
Romantic Times Career Achievement for Best Series Romantic Adventure, 1990-1991
Romantic Times Awards Best Military Romance Author, 1989-1990
Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Awards for Historical Romances 1987-1988, “Hostage Heart”
Romantic Times Magazine award, Best Continuing Romance Series, 1986-1987
Romantic Times Magazine, Best Harlequin Temptation, “Touch the Heavens,” November 1985
Romantic Times Magazine, Most Innovative Author, 1984
In the Military
She was a student pilot at 17 years old and had 39 hours upon high school graduation and joining the U.S. Navy.
McKenna served in the U.S. Navy, 1964-1967, and was an AG3, Aerographer’s Mate Third Class (meteorologist).
She comes from a U.S. Navy family tradition, and, as a result, has strong, positive patriotic feelings for the United States. Her father served during World War II on the destroyer, Fletcher, in the Pacific Theater of War.
Test Piloting and Training
She took high-altitude hyperbaric chamber training at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in order to fly in Air Force military planes (B-52 and T-38).
McKenna has flown an Air Force T-38 “chase plane” at Edwards Air Force Base, California to research a novel that featured test pilots. She has also flown two missions in an Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52 bomber out of K.I. Sawyer, Air Force Base, Michigan. And, she flew a 12-hour day mission and a five-hour night mission for research on a B-52 novel.
McKenna flew in a Falcon Coast Guard Jet out of the Coast Guard Miami Air Station, Florida for research on a novel. She flew in several search-and-rescue helicopters and training missions out of the Coast Guard Port Angeles, Washington during a seven-day interview and research for a book.
Being a Firefighter and EMT
She served as a volunteer firefighter from 1981-1983 with the West Point Volunteer Fire Department, West Point, Ohio. She pioneered women as firefighters and served with twenty male volunteers.
She was registered as an Emergency Medical Technician-Basic in Arizona for many years.