Fancy Series

 

See exciting new announcement below.

The Fancy series is the story of a fourteen year-old girl orphaned by the civil war who must make her own way in the world. In Fancy Vol 1, she takes over running her family’s farm while caring for her four year-old sister.Watch her fight through various obstacles thrown in her way as she gets on her feet.

In Fancy Vol 2: The Search she and her friend and mentor, Phyllis Compton, chase after bank robbers who have kidnapped her little sister. Follow along with Fancy as she tracks these people through several states in search of her sister.

Fancy Vol 3: Louisville begins with Fancy giving up on an exhaustive search for her sister. Follow her to Louisville, where she joins Phyllis Compton in operating Fancy’s Place, a saloon they own jointly. Watch her grow from the young girl who left her home in volume 1 to become an astute businesswoman.

Fancy Vol 4: Following the Rails takes us on a journey as Fancy’s mobile saloon follows the progress of the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha across Nebraska, Wyoming, and part of Utah toward its meeting with the Central Pacific.

Fancy Vol 5: Thomas P. Greene finds Fancy’s father still alive despite the army’s report that he was killed in battle. Nursing untreated war injuries, he must make his way home to northern Alabama from Delaware. When he gets there, he finds his girls gone, and the neighbor who stole his farm tries to kill him. Follow him as he tries to rebuild his life and find his daughters.

In Fancy Vol 6: Virginia City, Fancy builds a hotel-restaurant-saloon, talks her friend Bob Gentry into co-owning a bank with her, and discovers she has been her own worst enemy in a highly emotional matter.

In Fancy Vol 7: The Final Chapter, Fancy and her new husband move to the village of Seattle to build their lives together. On a vacation in San Francisco, she fears she has lost her entire family. Meanwhile her long-lost sister Danni, having lost her adoptive father, leaves her home in the Smokies and moves west little by little. See whether or not their paths will finally cross.

Although the original inspiration for Fancy came from the song written by Bobbie Gentry and popularized by Reba McEntire, it has changed greatly since then. If you’re a Country & Western fan, you know that in the song, Fancy’s dying mother made her a red dress and told her to keep the men happy and they would take care of her. The story presumably took place at about the time it was written.

My first change was to place it back in history, beginning at the onset of the Civil War and covering the next couple of decades. I had her start out as a prostitute, as in the song, but then I had her become a gambler and give up the prostitution.

After a rewrite or two, I decided to drop the prostitution part. I never really liked the idea of having her start out making her way in life by selling her body. I think the current Fancy makes her a much more likable, maybe even admirable, character.

You can order any of the Fancy series in paperback by clicking CreateSpace and searching for David N. Walker. You can also order Kindle or Nook or any e-version from Smashwords – when you get to the site, enter my name in their search blank. You can order Kindle and Nook versions directly from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, respectively, but the price is lower on Smashwords.

Ten per cent of all proceeds goes to help Compassion International support needy children in South America and Africa, to help Teen Challenge turn drug addicts into solid, drug-free citizens, and for other similar works.

EXCITING NEW ANNOUNCEMENT: Since novellas contain only about half the words of a novel, I’ve felt for some time that the prices I had to charge were a bit on the high side. I have now dealt with that problem by combining volumes 1 & 2 into one book, 3-5 into another, and 6 & 7 into a third. Whereas the entire set of seven novellas priced separately cost $56.65, the set of three books combining them costs only $38.77, a savings of $17.88.

The seven individual e-versions cost $13.23 on Smashwords and $20.65 on Amazon.com, the new three-book combination series costs only $10.97 – a savings of $2.26 from the Smashwords price and $9.68 from the Amazon.com price. BUY THESE COMBINATION books, whether in e-books or paperback for substantial savings.

Barb Estinson rated Fancy four stars on Goodreads and wrote the following: I really enjoyed reading “Fancy.”  Fancy is a young girl who not only has survived great hardship, but has also developed strength and resilience to meet new challenges.  I’m anxious for the next in the series of novellas about Fancy to become available.  I especially liked the character development in this book.

Tales rated Fancy four stars on Amazon.com and said:

I was disappointed in the end because I wanted more. There are two kind of people in Fancy’s world, those who wear white hats and those who wear black which makes for an enjoyable read. Looking forward to the next one – Mr. Walker get to writing!

Diablo rated Fancy five stars on Amazon.com and said:

Even my being a poor student of history did not discourage me from this novella.
An interesting insight into the life and times of the relatively small town of Florence, Alabama in very early days. The courage of the folks facing hardship and their solutions to the problems makes for a fascinating read. In a very real sense I felt I was living with the characters.