{"id":491983,"date":"2026-01-04T15:10:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491983\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T15:10:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:10:25","slug":"sandra-dallas-book-emerged-from-manuscript-cast-aside-long-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491983\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandra Dallas’ book emerged from manuscript cast aside long ago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sandra Dallas <\/strong>is a New York Times bestselling author of nearly 20 adult novels, several children\u2019s novels, and numerous works of nonfiction about Western subjects. Her work has won numerous awards and prizes including the Colorado Book Award and, in 2021, she was inducted into the Colorado Authors\u2019 Hall of Fame. A former bureau chief for Business Week magazine, Sandra lives in Denver and Georgetown, Colorado, with her husband.<\/p>\n

SunLit: Tell us this book\u2019s backstory \u2013 what\u2019s it about and what inspired you to write it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sandra Dallas: <\/strong>I don\u2019t remember why I wrote \u201cTough Luck\u201d (the working title was \u201cFinding Pa\u201d), because I wrote it a dozen years ago or more.\u00a0 I was unsure about the ending, and my agent had questions.\u00a0 While we were talking, she suggested I write a Christmas quilt story, so I moved on to write \u201cA Quilt for Christmas.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

UNDERWRITTEN BY<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at\u00a0coloradosun.com\/sunlit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We both forgot about \u201cTough Luck,\u201d until her assistant came across the manuscript, loved it, and asked why we hadn\u2019t done anything with it.\u00a0 My agent said, \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d then called me and asked, and I said, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 I reread it, and to my surprise, I couldn\u2019t remember how it ended.\u00a0 It was like reading somebody else\u2019s manuscript.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My agent submitted the manuscript to St. Martin\u2019s, and they picked it up. \u201cTough Luck\u201d is the story of two orphans who go west to find their father, who left home in 1859 to find a gold mine in Colorado.<\/p>\n

SunLit: Place the excerpt you selected in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole and why did you select it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dallas: <\/strong>The excerpt is the beginning of the book.\u00a0 It sets the stage for the story. I ended the selection with the remark, \u201cTough luck,\u201d which sets the tone of the book.<\/p>\n

SunLit: What influences and\/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dallas: <\/strong>I don\u2019t know, because I really can\u2019t remember. I know I always liked reading (and writing) Overland Trail accounts, and I love the settings of early Denver and the mining towns.\u00a0 Most of my books are set in Colorado, because I love our state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cTough Luck\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

>> Read an excerpt <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Where to find it<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

SunLit<\/strong> present new excerpts from some of the best Colorado authors that not only spin engaging narratives but also illuminate who we are as a community. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n

SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and\/or the subject matter?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dallas:<\/strong> Research always adds to my knowledge of the West.\u00a0 I can\u2019t recall anything specific that it added to my knowledge of writing, except that everything you write makes you progress.\u00a0 That old saw \u201cyou learn to write by writing\u201d is certainly true in my case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is book number 19 in my adult fiction, and I\u2019ve learned with every one of them.\u00a0 That\u2019s underscored when I reread my early books and think I would have written them differently in places if I were writing them now.<\/p>\n

SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dallas:<\/strong> Bringing it out of hiding.<\/p>\n

SunLit: What do you want readers to take from this book?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dallas: <\/strong>I want readers to say at the finish that they enjoyed themselves and that they learned a little bit of Colorado history.<\/p>\n

SunLit: Why do you always write about Colorado?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dallas:<\/strong> I moved to Colorado in 1945 when I was 6 years old.\u00a0 I love this state, and I love its history. Mom and Dad took us to see the historic sites. I worked for Business Week magazine for 35 years, as Denver bureau chief and covered the Mountain States, mostly Colorado. As a reporter, I learned the state\u2019s economy and politics, as well as its history.\u00a0 If you were me, wouldn\u2019t you write about Colorado?<\/p>\n

SunLit: Tell us about your next project.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dallas: My 20th adult novel, \u201cThe Hired Man\u201d, is set in the Dust Bowl and is about a stranger who shows up in a small Colorado town.\u00a0 It explores the prejudice and fear in a farm community when a murder occurs and the outsider is blamed.\u00a0 My books usually don\u2019t have moral themes to them \u2014 or at least, I don\u2019t set out that way \u2014 but in this case, the book explores the question of whether it\u2019s right to seek justice when the law can\u2019t do so.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few more quick items<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently on your nightstand for recreational reading:<\/strong> I write a couple of columns for The Denver Post, one on books of regional interest, the other on mysteries. So I read all the time.\u00a0 I usually have a mystery as well as a book by a local author on my nightstand.\u00a0 But I\u2019m also doing research for another book, so right now I\u2019m reading \u201cBachelor Bess: The Homesteading Letters of Elizabeth Corey, 1909-1919.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

First book you remember really making an impression on you as a kid:<\/strong> \u201cSmiling Hill Farm\u201d (I can\u2019t remember the author) and \u201cThe Little House in the Big Woods\u201d (Laura Ingalls Wilder.)\u00a0 Both are about history.<\/p>\n

Best writing advice you\u2019ve ever received:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cJust do it.\u201d\u00a0 And the advice from Ann Lamott\u2019s \u201cBird By Bird.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Favorite fictional literary character:<\/strong> Laura Ingalls Wilder and Dave Robicheaux\u00a0 (James Lee Burke.)<\/p>\n

Literary guilty pleasure (title or genre):<\/strong> Mysteries<\/p>\n

Digital, print or audio \u2013 favorite medium to consume literature:<\/strong>\u00a0 Print, definitely.\u00a0 I use an e-reader only when I travel.<\/p>\n

One book you\u2019ve read multiple times: <\/strong>\u00a0\u201dThe Tenmile Range\u201d (the poetry of Belle Turnbull). I knew Belle, who was an old woman when I moved to Breckenridge as a bride in 1963.\u00a0 She had been a teacher in Colorado Springs, before she left for Breckenridge in the 1940s, with her roommate, novelist Helen Turnbull.<\/p>\n

Other than writing utensils, one thing you must have within reach when you write: <\/strong>Family photographs<\/p>\n

Best antidote for writer\u2019s block:<\/strong> Writing<\/p>\n

Type of Story: Q&A<\/p>\n

An interview to provide a relevant perspective, edited for clarity and not fully fact-checked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sandra Dallas is a New York Times bestselling author of nearly 20 adult novels, several children\u2019s novels, and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":491984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,3607,221705,358,63331,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-491983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-fiction","11":"tag-historical-novel","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-the-west","14":"tag-tx","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115837470407198025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}