Volume XXVI, Issue One | March 2025
Tough Luck, as I noted in the last issue of Piecework, is a book I wrote a long time ago, maybe 12 years back, so I don’t remember the details of why and when and how. I do recall how much I enjoyed writing it, however, because the book is in first person. I think that’s my favorite way of structuring a book.
My first novel, Buster Midnight’s Café, was written in first person. It never occurred to me to write it any other way. My next books were written in first person, too. At some point, I switched to third person. Maybe I thought that was more professional or more sophisticated. But it’s not as much fun. With first person, I can immerse myself in the character. I understand how she thinks, what pleases and annoys her, what she likes and dislikes. I write in the voice she’s given me, using poor or quirky grammar. I even understand her when she’s politically incorrect. I like first person because I become that character when I’m writing. I understand her better than when I’m standing off telling that story in third person, because it’s happening to me.
The narrator of Tough Luck is Haidie, who has a quirky way of speaking—and thinking. She’s not especially likeable at first. After all, are you really crazy about somebody who tells you right off that she’s a liar? Later on, when you understand why Haidie is the way she is, I hope you’ll like her as much as I do.
I think Haidie’s way of talking is why she’s been compared to Mattie in True Grit, although I don’t believe I patterned Haidie after Mattie. When you write in first person, you find that character takes over on the first page, and you just go along with her.
Writers tell you their characters become real people to them. That’s especially true with first -person characters. When I’m writing in that voice, I’ve found myself actually quoting my characters, as in, “Somebody said once…” and find that somebody is my character.
Even after 12 or so years away from Haidie, I found when I rewrote and edited the manuscript, that I slipped right back into Haidie’s voice. So I hope you like Haidie. Or if you don’t, you keep it to yourself. After all, as somebody said, if you don’t like my character, you don’t like me.
This is how St. Martin’s Press describes Tough Luck:
In this homage to True Grit, a young woman makes a perilous journey west in 1863 in search of her gold-mining father.
After their mother dies, Haidie Richards and her younger brother, Boots, are put to work in an orphanage. Their father left four years earlier to find a gold mine in Colorado Territory, and since then, he’s sent only three letters. Still, Haidie is certain that he is alive, has struck gold, and will soon send for them.
But patience is not one of Haidie’s virtues, and soon she and her brother make a break for it. Boots and Haidie, disguised as a boy, embark on a dangerous journal deep into Western territory. Along the way, Haidie learns first not only how to handle mules, oxen, and greedy men, but also that you are better off in a community. Hers includes a card sharp, independent “spinster” sisters, and a very fierce dog. Once she arrives in Colorado and finds out the truth about her father, Haidie will need all her new friends for a get-even plot worth of “The Sting.”
Filled with vivid period detail, colorful characters, and the irreverent vice of our scrappy heroine, Tough Luck celebrates both the tenacity of youth and the persistence of the heart in the great American West.
From Library Journal
You’re probably tired of hearing me talk about Tough Luck, but I have to add the starred review from Library Journal.
Library Journal,*Starred review*
Dallas’s 24th novel (after Where Coyotes Howl) is historical fiction that features familiar elements from her oeuvre: a family focus, a Western setting, and a determined woman lead.
In 1863, Haidie Richards and her younger brother Boots are left in an orphanage by their older brother when their mother dies. Their father headed west to search for gold two years before, and Haidie is sure that he has since struck it rich and is waiting for his children to find him. She breaks them out of the orphanage and goes west, dressed as a boy for safety. She’s so convincing as a young man that even readers may forget she’s actually a girl. Haidie discovers the importance of a supportive community as she and Boots travel. They connect with an honest trail driver, befriend two tough spinster sisters, and encounter a loyal gambler—all of whose help they’ll need once they arrive in Colorado and realize that their father is alive but down on his luck.
VERDICT
Full of humor, heart, and hope, this novel is a delight for anyone looking for a Western with a little less grit and a little more gentleness. Readers who like happy endings to their adventures will be drawn in by evocative period details, engaging characters, and strong narrative voice.
American Preservationist
America lost a great architectural preservationist when Denver’s Dana Crowford died in January, at age 93. The Denver Post said in an obituary that she “single-handedly did more than anyone to save Denver’s historic architecture.
“Long before retro was cool and historic preservation hip, Crawford fought the prevailing tide that favored destroying older brick buildings to make room for modern skyscrapers of glass and steel. While raising four boys and juggling a career, her earliest and signature save was Larimer Square, which in the mid-1960s was considered a scruffy row of rowdy bars best trimmed with a bulldozer. Her work with Larimer Square broadened into the concept of Lower Downtown or LoDo, helping the area avoid the wrecking balls that wiped out so many blocks further east. In a newer city that lacked many historic buildings to begin with, her passion and foresight came at a critical time.
“Across her career, Crawford redeveloped more than 800,000 square feet of historic properties in Denver, including the Oxford Hotel, Acme Lofts, Flour Mill Lofts, Edbrooke Lofts and Cooper Flats Condominiums, according to Historic Denver, a group she helped found.
“From saving Larimer Square to redeveloping Union Station, Dana shaped the Denver we know today,” Historic Denver said in a statement. “It’s no understatement to say that without Dana Crawford’s influence and drive to reimagine and reuse historic buildings, our city would be a very different place.
“Crawford’s efforts extended beyond Colorado. She had a guiding hand in preserving neglected buildings, main streets and neighborhoods in more than 50 communities nationwide.”
Dana’s first accomplishment was the preservation and development of Larimer Square, the block where Denver was founded in 1858. One of my first books was a guidebook to Larimer Square. The restoration work was still being done when I photographed the block. I spent hours going through old city directories to find the names of businesses located on the block over more than a century. Denver’s first theater was there, Denver’s first cabin, its first drugstore. There was an elegant collection of buildings, but in 115 years, the block had become part of skid row. Dana read and approved my manuscript, with some suggestions.
I pulled out the guidebook, Gold and Gothic, today to check the date it was published (1967.) Flipping through it, I realize what a visionary Dana was, developing economic uses for old buildings that were adopted by other communities. Denver is a far better city because of her.
Appearances
We’re still working on setting up signings for Tough Luck. I’ll email the list later, and I’ll post it on Facebook, and on my events page. Meanwhile, here are a couple of Colorado signings that we’ve already scheduled:
Tuesday, April 29, 6 pm:
Hearthfire Books, Evergreen
Friday, May 2, 6:30 pm:
Highlands Ranch Library, Douglas County
Saturday, May 3, 12-2 pm:
Covered Treasures, Monument
Friday, May 16, 7 pm:
Old Firehouse Books, Ft. Collins
Sandra’s Picks
Murder in the Dressing Room
By Holly Stars Berkley Prime Crime
Since I write a column on mysteries for the Denver Post, I receive dozens of mysteries each year. Most are straight forward, generally who-done-its, and the detectives or would-be detectives are pretty traditional.
It’s not often that a mystery as quirky as Murder in the Dressing Room grabs my attention. It is absolutely delightful.
Here’s my Denver Post Review.
When Lady Lady, beloved owner of Lady’s Bar, is murdered by a poisoned chocolate, her favorite drag queen, Misty Divine, decides to solve the case. Misty is really Joe Brown, a meek hotel accountant, but after 30 minutes with makeup, a fantastic outfit, and big hair—Shazam!--they turn into a tiger. Joe might cower, but Misty faces all takers.
Of course, neither Misty or Joe is much of an investigator. A six-foot drag queen in full makeup and regalia isn’t exactly inconspicuous as they jump into a cab and order, “Follow that car.”
“Murder in the Dressing Room is a lot of fun.” But it’s also a look in the world of drag queens, who often refer to themselves as “they.” The relationship between Misty and their boyfriend, who does not do drag, is sweet. Misty is happy with who they are. There’s not a lot of delving into psychiatry. The book is insightful and happy and sad at the same time. Once they solves Lady Lady’s murder, Misty will be on to their next escapade, and we can hardly wait.