Judy Alter is a prolific writer of non-fiction, westerns and mysteries. I recently was fortunate enough to win a copy of her well written, extremely authentic western, A Ballad for Sallie.
The novel tells the story of orphan children who were growing up on their own until the widow Sallie McNutt came to town and changed their lives. I’ll let feisty orphan Lizzie tell you what it felt like to be one of the orphans when she fears that another orphan might be reduced to tears when he talks about his dead mother. And yet, Lizzie knows that July, a younger orphan, has not yet hardened to the point of never showing empathy.
“I hoped there hadn’t been any tears, because crying was something no Acre brat did. July was too young to make such fine distinctions, though, and she looked solemnly at him, then went quietly over and put her hand on his arm.”
I think these two beautifully written sentences show so much of the life and the times.
And since it is Tuesday, I will also share two sentences that I wrote recently. These are from Death Branches Out my second novel in the Read ‘Em and Eat series.
“He was dressed in his usual Florida work clothes, khakis and a golf shirt, this one was light green and I thought it made his brown eyes appear more hazel. He ran one hand over his sandy hair, a habit he’d had for as long as I’d known him, and then held out his i-Phone for all to see.”
And you?? What have you been reading or writing of late? Do you have two sentences you wish to share? We await with bated breath.
Terrie
The post A Ballad for Sallie by Judy Alter appeared first on Women of Mystery.