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Ever meet a person that inspires – really inspires, Janine K. Spendlove is one of those. She writes. She publishes other people work when she has time. But that isn’t all. I mean, that stuff is cool. But there is more; sky’s the limit for her.
Janine K. Spendlove is a KC-130 pilot in the United States Marines. More than that, she is an officer. She has been a liaison in Washington DC and overseen squadrons. Some of her story is shared on Whattpad in Earning My Wings: A Mormon Woman’s Journey to a Marine Corps Aviator.
And should you think that the hardening to be Marine Pilot and Officer would stop her from having fun, she also loves knitting, making costumes, and playing guitar.
With most of her time consumed by the Corps and random stationing for her and her husband around the world, her few times at a keyboard are focused on short stories; her published works have appeared in Time Traveled Tales, Athena’s Daughters, and Dogs of War – to name a few. She even managed to kick out a four-book YA fantasy series – War of the Seasons. Many of her stories focus on the military or military thinking (go figure), but they also hold a lot of diverse characters.
Some of my friends shared a Facebook post she made after viewing Captain Marvel. In it, she opened up her heart about being a female military pilot. She shared about her geek love of all things Marvel from the Avengers to the Black Panther. She told us about how some of her experiences paralleled Carol Davners, including being told to leave the Man’s Branch, as well as called out scenes she loved in the movie.
What hit home the hardest for me though is the following:
“But Captain Marvel gave me something no other film has truly managed to before now: I felt represented on screen as the big movie hero.
I look at Carol and take away all her superhero powers and what is she? A woman who volunteered to serve her nation…”
“I sat back afterward and was like ‘is this how every single male peer of mine feels after watching war movies with prominent heroic military characters?’ Because, y’all, it was an amazing feeling.”
Think about picking up some of her works – the shorts stories, novels, or non-fiction. The full list can be found on her website: https://www.ailionora.com/works/