Sunday Dinner is a traditional (noon) meal served after church on Sundays. Whole families, including extended family, would gather over a large meal to celebrate a day of rest. Multiple cultures enjoy this Sunday Dinner tradition. In my experience, I know it from both my Midwestern farm family as well as my Italian-American family. Now, I’d like to bring Sunday Dinner virtually to you. So, pull up a chair as we invite various guests to join us each week!

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed writers.

Contemporary or Historical

Lots of Romance or No Romance

Lots of Danger or No Danger

Stand Alone or Series

Short Books or Long Books

What is something interesting readers would enjoy learning about you?

I am a Canadian by birth and an American by choice. Perhaps I love writing about mail order romance because I am an online-order bride.

Can you tell us about your latest novel?

Cecilia Hammond works for her aged grandparents, but longs to become a lawman—a law woman—like her sheriff father. She prefers riding a horse to sitting in a parlor, and she despises petticoats and such frippery, preferring dungarees.

Denver Jenkins rides into town, looking for a job and hiding a secret. He hires on with the Pony Express, and is assigned to train with a young man named Cec. Denver has good reasons to change his name. One that could get him killed if the wrong people found out. Hoping that riding with the Express will disguise his real reason for being in the Gothenburg area—cattle rustling—he’s also interested in the pretty gal he spots at the Midway Home Station—Cecilia. She’d be a good addition to his new persona. Then he spots her twin brother Cec elsewhere—in town, and, of course, on the Pony Express Trail. Could he use his friendship with her brother to gain her trust?

Cecilia and Denver strive to keep their individual secrets. Will they lower their defenses and enlist the help of the other? Or will they struggle on alone?

In what city is your story set and why did you choose to set your novel there?

Midway Station, Nebraska. I wanted to set it as close to Gothenburg, Nebraska as possible. And since Gothenburg never had a home station, I chose Miday.

Describe your setting. And, if it’s a real place, have you visited?

Midway Station is a real place, but because it’s on private property, I’ve not been there. However, I have visited Gothenburg several times. They have a wonderful Pony Express museum there.

What research was required to set a book there?

I visited Gothenburg several times, and I have traveled the Pony Express Trail from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Echo Canyon, Utah. This is my 4th book about the Pony Express.

What does a day in the life of one of your characters look like?

Cecilia, my heroine, rises early to do her chores, including milking a goat that likes to kick over the bucket. She helps out around her grandparents’ farm and ranch, visits her father, the sheriff, in Gothenburg, and occasionally dons trousers and a plaid shirt to ride a leg of the Pony Express, carrying mail to the next home station.

Were resources easy or difficult to find on these topics? Do you have a favorite resource?

There are many great books available, and even a few documentaries. I’ve done a lot of research over the years, so apart from learning about a station and its connecting points in each new book I write, I pretty much know what needs knowing.

What is one piece of your research that you couldn’t include in the book, but wish readers could know?

The station in Gothenburg that hosts the museum isn’t the original waystation. It was moved into the center of town a number of years ago.

Do you have another book in the works? What can you tell us about that book?

“A Sleigh Ride for Ruby” is set in Snowflake, Colorado, high up in the mountains. My heroine, Ruby, suspects somebody wants to close down the business she inherited from her father. When a Pinkerton Agent shows up, she isn’t sure who to trust. Releases November 25th.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?

I appreciate every reader, and thank them for stopping by, and for those who leave reviews online–you are golden!

Leave a comment with an occupation that used to be reserved almost exclusively for men, but that women can now enjoy, too.