FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRO-GUN NOVELIST WINS LITERARY AWARD Science fiction author L. NEIL SMITH learned Monday that his latest novel, _PALLAS_, has been selected to receive the most prestigious honor in his field, the PROMETHEUS AWARD, to be made later this week at the World Science Fiction Convention in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since he cannot be present to receive his award, it will be accepted for him by his friend, aspiring Canadian author David Thompson Anderson. _Pallas_ is L. Neil Smith's 18th novel; this is his second Prometheus Award. His first was for his first novel, _The Probability Broach_ (Del Rey, 1980), scheduled to be reissued by Tor Books later this year. Some of his other works include _Henry Martyn_ (Tor, 1989), _The Crystal Empire_ (Tor, 1986), and _The Lando Calrissian Adventures_, an omnibus edition of three _Star Wars_ novels written in 1983 for Del Rey Books and LucasFilm, Ltd. The Prometheus Award is given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society to the year's best libertarian science fiction novel. Award Chairman Bill Ritch can be reached through the WorldCon committee at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Winnipeg. The closest spokesperson for the Libertarian Futurist Society is former _Prometheus_ newsletter editor Lenda R. Jackson, of Louisville, Colorado. She can be reached at (303) 665-3413. L. Neil Smith, 48, has been a Fort Collins resident since 1964. He lives with his wife Cathy, a CSU employee, their daughter Rylla, her cat Eris, and Sedrich, an African Grey parrot. He has been a Libertarian Party candidate for the Colorado House of Representatives, Director (Political Action) of the Colorado Libertarian Party, and a member of the Libertarian Party National Platform Committee. He was keynote speaker at last September's Libertarian Party National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, and keynoted the Colorado Libertarian Party convention in Sedalia and the Arizona Libertarian Party convention in Phoenix earlier this year. He is the founder and principal spokesman for the Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus and editor of its online information service, Lever Action BBS at (303) 493-6674. In his spare time, L. Neil Smith shoots competitively (NRA Hunter's Pistol) at the High Plains Shooting Range in Weld County. He is presently at work on _Bretta Martyn_, a sequel to his 1989 space pirate epic _Henry Martyn_, and another "North American Confederacy" adventure, _The American Zone_.