Sue Ellen Learns to Dance and Other Stories by Judy Alter "The collection Sue Ellen Learns to Dance and Other Stories grew out of my lifelong interest in writing about the experiences of women in the American West. Some of the stories sprang from incidents I heard about, such as "The Art of Candle Dipping." I actually visited the cabin where a mother hid her children in the attic and sat with hot tallow to pour on the Indians below should they try to get to the attic. Others, such as "An Old Woman’s Lament," came solely from my imagination--in that case, a friend asked me to contribute a story about Texas during WWII and the story idea just came. For me, short stories are hard--I either have sort of a sudden idea of what will work or I don’t. I can’t just sit down to write a short story, unless that idea is there first" Two of these stories--"Sue Ellen" and "Fool Girl"-- won Western Heritage (Wrangler) Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame; "Sue Ellen" also won a Spur from Western Writers of America, and "The Art of Candle Dipping" was a Spur finalist.

About the author: Judy Alter considers herself a woman of the American West by adoption. Born in Illinois, she has lived in Texas for over thirty years and traveled widely in the West. She is the author of nearly sixty books, fiction and nonfiction for both adults and young readers, many dealing with women of the West. Luke and the Van Zandt County War was named the Best Juvenile Novel of 1984 by the Texas Institute of Letters. Mattie won a Spur Award as the Best Western Novel from Western Writers of America. Sundance, Butch and Me is her most recent adult novel, and Sam Houston Is My Hero is her most recent young-adult novel. In June 2005 she will receive the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement from Western Writers of America, Inc. Judy holds a Ph.D. in English from TCU, with a special interest in the literature of the American West. She joined the TCU Press as editor in 1982 and was named director in 1987. The mother of four grown children and the grandmother of four, she shares her Fort Worth, Texas, home with a wild Australian shepherd named Scooby and a placid, fuzzy cat named Wynona. click here to learn more about the author ISBN 0-9771797-3-7 Short Fiction / $18.95