My new motto is “Fearless and Faithful; Women Who Dare”. And dare I have – by releasing an ebook, WAGES OF SIN, a 94,000 word saga that was written for a very special lady – Me. Anyone who is published will identify with that claim.
It all started years back when, on one of our many trips all over the US, we happened to stop in New Mexico where local skirmishes dubbed the “Lincoln County War” took place. Talk about fascinating! Not only were the lines between sides blurred, the good guys and the bad guys were sometimes interchangeable, depending on which judge happened to be in power and how mad he was at various ranchers – and sheepmen. Gotta remember them. It was the murder of one of the sheep raisers that supposedly started the gunplay. Don’t let anybody tell you Tunstall was a cattleman and store owner. The guy started with sheep, so you know how popular that made him, no matter what else he tried to do later.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we have to figure out how schoolteacher Ruby McKay is going to rescue her late sister Emma’s baby from the cruel husband who beat Emma to death, ostensibly the chastise her, shortly after she gave birth to their son. Even if pious, pompous Judge Caleb Stone had not purposely killed his young wife, what kind of a father will he be to the innocent babe? Ruby has experienced his cruelty firsthand and knows what she must do. She has friends who have promised to help her get out ofKansas, until she’s forced to shoot Caleb, maiming him and unwittingly branding herself as an escaping criminal.
I like to think I would be as brave and resourceful as Ruby but being on the run with a newborn in the late 1870s is far different than simply fleeing as an individual. She’ll continue to need outside help and will get it from some very strange folks, like Billy the Kid and wealthy rancher John Chisum.
To quote part of the Author Disclaimer in the front of WAGES OF SIN, “… this is more gritty in tone and language than what you’re used to from Valerie Hansen. I had a strong reason for writing the story this way; I wanted to show that just because a person may be able to quote scripture like an orator, that does not mean that he is spiritual. In my view, one of the most heinous crimes possible is using the Bible for anything but good. Yet it happens. And, as in this story, “the wages of sin is death.” (Sometimes it just takes longer than we think it should.) Don’t worry, readers; remember, the rougher the road, the sweeter the arrival!”
Which brings me to the end of this visit. There is a long excerpt on Amazon that will give you a good idea about this ebook and it is my fondest wish that you will take the time to look it over.
I’ll be offering copies of WAGES OF SIN to two lucky readers who post here. It will be in the form of an Amazon email gift certificate
and delivered to be read on your computer or Kindle if the winner lives in theUSA. If a winner happens to live in another country, I’ll substitute one of my
previously published novels in paperback.
