Little Sharpshooter

End Notes

If you loved this story and want it for yourself, the edited and cleaned up version is available on Amazon now. http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Little-Sharpshooter-K-D-Kinney-ebook/dp/B012RHIGH2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438100288&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Legend+of+Little+Sharpshooter&pebp=1438100294590&perid=0NJ23FA8SF0S91AK3YT4

I apologize if my inabilty to use a comma correctly drove you nuts. It is my biggest issue and the one thing I'm still struggling to master.

I need to give Bookey some credit. Without all the votes and comments to keep posting, I might have taken much longer to get this whole thing posted. If you've read through the whole story, thank you very much. This was the most fun I've had writing a novel ever so I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

It is a little over the top, but legends usually are. Johnny Appleseed, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, and Billy the Kid have some stories that are pretty far fetched depending on where you look up tales about them. The Legend of Little Sharpshooter was written as if there was a lost legend of a young lady sharpshooter that everyone had forgotten had existed. Annie Oakley was one fantastic lady sharpshooter which was becoming all the rage when this story was set. I used a lot of her history as inspiration. I was able to incorporate her real life story into this one. The Virginia City showdown was fictitous but everything Annie shared with Randy and the things she shot during a performance were true.

Roy Parker, or best known as Butch Cassidy, has his own bit of history that had a lot to do with how this story ended. Quite the legend of his own, there is some mystery as to whether or not he actually died in a shoot out in Mexico. Years later his sister claimed he was still alive, that he staged his death and went to Europe and had plastic surgery to alter his appearance-didn't know they had that back then. His sister said he came to visit her several times years after his alleged death. He was a fun character to incorporate into the story.

The only other character I can say is inspired by a real life person is Bronson. He is modeled a lot after my crazy old New Mexico cowboy grandpa. I hear my grandpa whenever Bronson has anything to say. He is a tough old man that will call you a sissy if you're a guy wearing those short knickers. He's not a fan of men in shorts. He's done the rodeo circut riding some mean bulls, been a boxer, and tried to make his young son stitch his ear when he got in a bar fight once.  My grandpa is still alive by the way.  

I had recently traveled across the country by car just before I wrote this story so the scenery was fresh in my mind. I've lived and traveled all across the American West most of life. With family in New Mexico, and my first job at the Gold Hill Hotel just below Virginia City, Nevada, I tried my best to transport you there.

There isn't much more I can say except I hope you don't hate me and Randy the way my 16-year-old did when she got to the end. She loved the story, but was ticked for days because of what Randy did to Trevor.

Please feel free to leave me comments. Just don't hate on me too much if you do. ;)  

By the way, I always knew that The Legend of Little Sharpshooter would end the way it did before I ever started writing it. Once I wrote the last chapter I started second guessing myself and I wrote an alternate last chapter. It started the same but ended somewhat differently. I decided to post it here. I didn't check if it needed editing so I apologize if it seems a little rough.

Alternate ending:

Trevor paced the room. "I need some air." He walked the streets for hours contemplating what to do. Randy wanted him to love again. Maybe the name Mimi was a sign that the girl was meant for him. Otherwise it was just downright mean. 

 Trevor waited another day before he made his decision. There was no way. She might have told him to love again but he couldn't do it. At least not until he could let her go.