I write . . . NOVELS to delve into authentic details, explore character depths and ultimately create an enthralling story that will involve the reader for 400 pages in a balanced structure of Beginning, Middle, Ending, SHORT STORIES to concisely create character, setting, and the conflict of one pivotal event in a complex life in the demanding ,cohesive structure of Beginning, Middle, Ending and CHILDREN’S STORIES to use simple though vivid words that will relate to the targeted age without speaking down.
NOTE: Sally will start 2019 with a new publisher who is re-issuing these previously published titles and releasing several new ones. They will be available in print (both trade paperback and hardcover), eBook, and audiobook . . . at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and available for order from your local bookstore.
PUBLISHED WORKS
LETTING GO OF SACRED THINGS
Mainstream/Literary
Shy, unassuming Opal grows ever stronger through trial, love, and loss experienced between 1910 and 1981. This poignant saga depicts family dynamics and ten life-stages in the 20th Century’s era of changing values. Opal demonstrates that life’s knocks teach us to let go of material things and cherish our own spirit and our loved ones. If greatness lies in survival of each challenge with personal integrity intact, this woman is great.
Letting Go of Sacred Things is more than mainstream; it’s finely crafted literature. So subtle is the writing that the first time you read it, you want more: more pages, more about the characters. But as you reflect and think about the story, you realize there was more already; what first seems sparse becomes rich. Layers seeped into the subconscious that only rise with reflection, perhaps discussion and definitely another reading (or two).”—Midwest Review
DESERT TIME
Western Romance
Naïve but full of dreams, Matilda Beaumont marries a virtual stranger, a man more focused on the call of the New Mexico Territory than the realities of life in 1857 St. Louis. Only her prideful dignity and an all-consuming self-confidence gives Tildy the courage to endure, even when her husband abandons her in the midst of an influenza epidemic.
Meeting People
For Adult Challenged Readers
MEETING PEOPLE is a book of seven fiction stories for adults reading at the Third and Fourth Grade levels. They include a story from 1810 England, two stories of the Old West, a modern mystery that’s kind of spooky, and three love stories of life in the 1930’s, a modern special care home, and a modern fairy tale of love-at-first sight in a mall.
– Go to “Merry Old England” of 1810 & learn about the good heart of a little girl.
– Share the very real lessons taught to a young man when he left home.
– Ride along on a cattle drive and see a boy become a man.
– Share a woman’s painful loss, the caring of a deputy, and a spirit’s signs of real danger.
– Watch a woman alone in the 1930’s as she finds her hobo gardener is much more.
– See how a brother of a handicapped young man reacts to a stranger visiting the nursing home.
– Learn how a tired store clerk finds her Prince Charming during Christmas in a mall.
Coming in 2020:
Bikes and Badges
Romantic Suspense
A principled NE State Trooper discovers a FBI undercover biker babe tracking drugs and murder in his territory.
Love, Guns, or Grace
Western Romance
An insecure vicar defies a violent past only to confront vengeance and love threatening his beliefs in 1870’s Wyoming.
Coming in 2021
Please Believe, A talented Chicago reporter and an intellectual schoolteacher butt heads over NE baseball and Chicago crime in 1894.
Until the Horsewhisperer, Haunted by vengeance, a gifted Scottish horseman helps a self-reliantly defiant girl hunt wild horses for the Army in 1874 Nebraska.
JUVENILE FICTION
Coming soon . . .
The Legend of the Golden Rose, a children’s illustrated read-aloud of a Scottish fairy tale.
The Littlest Piper, a children’s illustrated read-aloud of a precocious and determined little boy discovering the bagpipes.
Lily is Scottish, a children’s illustrated read-aloud of a little girl learning Highland Dancing as part of her heritage.
Beat the Drum, a children’s illustrated read-aloud of a youngster learning about all types of drums and finding his niche in Scottish Highland Drumming.
Fiddling is Fun, a children’s illustrated read-aloud about a young boy learning the rudiments of the violin then discovering his knack for the magic of Celtic music.
Running in a Kilt, a children’s illustrated read-aloud about a young boy learning about the many forms of Scottish athletics handed down by a warrior culture.
The Thread Girl, a children’s illustrated read-aloud about a young girl who can magically weave and sew better than anyone else in Scotland.
My Scottish Tree, a children’s illustrated read-aloud about a young boy learning the stories of the Scottish ancestors in his family tree.
The Greatest Storyteller, a children’s illustrated read-aloud about a Highland girl who so enthralls listeners with her tales of clan heroes and mystical beings that the King of Scotland invites her to his castle.
The Bishops Buy a Horse, an illustrated read-aloud about a contemporary urban family who support their daughter’s obsession with all things equine.
Stories of Christmas Past, a collection of ten stories of children’s unique Yuletide experiences, including Bethlehem, a 900’s Viking strong hold, 1453 Florence, a 1600’s Spanish home in Mexico, 1790’s Canadan trappers, an 1818 German village, an English Victorian manor, an 1880’s Rocky Mountain cabin, 1900 Boston, and missionaries in 1930’s China. (One has been adapted into a seasonal screenplay.)
The Ethnic Festival Mystery, a collection of ten stories of diverse children working together to solve the theft of items from their family displays as they experience their own cultures of Scottish, Japanese, German, Nigerian, Mexican, Native American. Arabic, Italian and Norwegian.
And in 2021 . . .
The Volunteers, four very diverse HS seniors finding their vocations in nursing. This is the first in the 10-part YA series “The Caregiver Chronicles,” about young people going into nursing and discovering specialties.