Don't Tell tackles issues of LGBT service members

Details: Category: LGBT Issues; Published on Sunday, 20 February 2011 00:17; Written by Lara Landis; Hits: 392

Don't Tell tells the story of two women who develop a relationship during Army Boot camp and the challenges they face while trying to keep the relationship alive while in the service. Kron informs readers that the book is not fluffy and deals with deeper issues including the Clinton administration policy which inspired the book’s title. The author describes her new book as sad, funny and suspenseful while it remains a love story at its core.

Don’t Tell started life as a screenplay. When she went over the manuscript she found the screenplay was too long and she decided to make the conversion to the novel format. She found switching from one form of writing to the other extremely difficult. Screen plays are mostly dialogue while novels focus more on a descriptive format. She describes the book as a mix of Brokeback Mountain, The Deer Hunter and Fried Green Tomatoes.

A number of agents turned down the manuscript before it wound up in the e-mail for the editor of Lethe Press. The print on demand publisher asked for the manuscript and took her through the process of publication. Lethe Press is a print-on-demand publisher specializing in gay and lesbian fiction.

Fran McDaniel, the former director of the LGBT office at Bucknell University helped her market the book and helped set up the first signing of her book at the Barnes and Noble location that serves as the university bookstore in downtown Lewisburg. Kron expects a larger turn out at her first book signing, which will run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m on February 21. McDaniel set up the event in Lewisburg, but Lethe Press plans to host additional book signings in larger cities. The next Don’t Tell signing will take place at Giovanni’s in Philadelphia.

Kron served in the army conducting aviation fleet operation for a Medevac unit and holding several other positions throughout her military career. An injury prevented her from finishing her career. When she served in the military, she saw the effects of the Army before the arrival of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. According to Kron, CID officers went to the parking lots of Gay bars to check for the military stickers on parked cars.

The author had mixed feelings about the recent repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The story line she chose was set before Clinton enacted the controversial policy that allowed Gays to serve in the military as long as gay and lesbian service members kept their orientation secret. She believes the change in the military’s policy does not reflect a change in its culture. According to Kron, no gay or lesbian service member is in a rush to get married.