New York Times Bestselling Author
Tough Luck
BY SANDRA DALLAS
Publication Date April 28, 2025
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In this homage to True Grit, a young woman makes a perilous journey west in 1863 in search of her gold-mining father.
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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 journey deep into
western territory. Along the way, Haidie learns fast 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 worthy of “The Sting.”
Filled with vivid period detail, colorful characters, and the scrappy voice of our heroine, Tough Luck celebrates both the tenacity of youth and the persistence of the heart in the great American West.
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Author’s Note:
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I don’t remember why I wrote Tough Luck. I don’t even remember when I wrote it. I do remember I enjoyed the daily work, because I love writing in first voice, using period slang and politically incorrect language, such as “spinster.” As I recall, I wasn’t confident the manuscript worked, and I put it aside. My agent discovered it a couple of years ago and loved it and presented it to my editor at St. Martin’s. The book seemed like found treasure, because it was already written. As my friend and fellow writer Joanne Greenburg said, every now and then you get a freebie. I am thrilled Tough Luck is being published, because the book is lighter-hearted than the books I’ve written lately. In fact, with its quirky first-person narrator, Tough Luck reminds me of my very first book, Buster Midnight’s Café.