This book represents a departure from the Sharon Sala
material you have been accustomed to. It represents a
turning point for her in that she was not confined to the
formula she has been using for most of her writing career.
Ms. Sala's unique ability to tell a compelling story has
been directed mainly toward one kind of genre, which has
been the foundation of her writing career. No argument
about that. Just ask her loyal fans; they love her books
and she loves writing for them.
This book, though a complete departure for her, is a story
she wanted to share. Her problem was finding a publishing
house to produce it.
Loveland Press provided that place. A place where your
favorite authors can also stretch out with new and
different material for their readers. Our goal is to
provide published authors with an opportunity to produce
work that does not fit their usual mold. We ask the
authors to throw away the constraints of their normal
books. This is the place where their readers can find
them "off the leash" so to speak.
Your comments are always welcomed. Is there an author you
would like to see break away from his or her normal
subject matter and try something different? Let us know,
give us a call or mail a card.
We look forward to hearing from you, andin the meantime,
we hope you love this new book as much as Ms. Sala loved
writing it for you.
Whippoorwill is a new venture for me. I wanted to explain
that in advance so that you will not be taken unaware by
the change in my usual story line.
I am so excited to be sharing this with you and hope you
enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I've always
wanted to do more than the romance and
romantic/mystery/suspense stories, but couldn't seem to
convince my current publishers to let me "branch out" so
to speak.
However, persistence pays off and this wonderful book is
the result. Whippoorwill is not a romance, or a
historical, or a western, yet it has a little bit of all
of the above. I call it a funny, sometimes bawdy romp
through the old West and it all starts with the imminent
arrival of a "real" preacher from back East.
It's a wonderful, funny story about second chances. I hope
you enjoy the book and will recommend it to all your
friends.
Sleeping with men for money was not something Leticia
Murphy had planned on doing when she grew up, but then,
neither had she planned on being orphaned at twelve, or
winding up in a godforsaken place in the Kansas
Territories like Lizard Flats. But here she was, like most
of the other lost souls who'd come West, looking for
something better, and in her case, wishing for a second
chance. She knew the odds were against her, but it didn't
stop her from yearning.
There was a ritual from her childhood that she performed
each evening as the sun was going down. She would step out
onto the balcony off her bedroom above the saloon, lift
her face to the heavens to search for the Evening Star,
then stand quietly in the growing shadows and listen for
the call of the whippoorwill.
It came from a memory of her mother who had died when she
was ten. Always, she was sitting in her mother's lap
outside their clapboard house watching night fall across
the land. They would sit on the front step with their bare
feet planted firmly in the still warm dirt while enjoying
the first cool breezes of evening. As they sat, they would
search for the first star and wait for the call of the
whippoorwill. Her mother had told her the bird was
searching for its mate, but Letty had yet to meet a man
who was worth the call. However, the memory was one of the
few good ones she had left. Two years after her mother's
untimely death, her father was killed by a Comanche
hunting party. Letty survived by hiding in a hollowed out
badger hole. That was the last time fate showed her any
kindness. At twenty-seven, she was well past the marrying
age and nearly too used up to care. Yet she didn't stop
wishing, and she didn't stop dreaming about a different
sort of life.
Then one day, something happened in Lizard Flats that had
never happened before. Word began to spread throughout the
area that a real preacher from back East was coming to
perform a wedding. The news set off a whole series of
unforeseen events. Caught up in the excitement of the
occasion, Letty couldn't help but think that a change was
coming for her, too.
A gunshot sounded just outside Letty's window. It wasn't
the first time she'd heard that sound in Lizard Flats and
she would bet her next year's wages it wouldn't be the
last. When the sound of an argument followed, she didn't
even bother to get up and look out to see what was going
on. Chances were she'd see both of the stupid louts who'd
started the fuss before the night was out. Men were always
the same. Drink. Fight. Then celebrate their victories or
losses by paying for her pleasures. And since her friend,
Truly Fine's exit months earlier, Letty was the only woman
still working at the White Dove Saloon, which meant she
got more than her share of fools in her bed.
Refusing to think about the boredom of her life, she
pushed the coal oil lamp a little closer to the mirror and
then leaned forward, giving herself a final check before
going downstairs.
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