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!

USA Today bestselling author RACHEL J. GOOD writes life-changing, heart-tugging novels of faith, hope, and forgiveness. She fell in love with the Wild West when her father bought a house in an abandoned ghost town. As a former librarian, she loved researching its history. That information, along with a huge writing assignment on Native American tribes, sparked ideas for her novels set during the Gold Rush. In addition, Rachel has written many award-winning Amish series, including Love & Promises, Amish Sisters & Friends, Unexpected Amish Blessings, Surprised by Love, Amish Detective Benuel Miller, and Amish Hometown Heroes as well as the Amish Quilts Coloring Books and stories in many anthologies. Find out more at www.racheljgood.com.

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?

My father retired to a ghost town in Arizona, which made me interested in the Wild West.

Can you tell us about your latest novel?

Declaring she’ll never marry, Emily Spenser leaves a comfortable life and a heartbroken fiancé to follow God’s call to the Wild West with her preacher father. Their mission in lawless Bodie, California, plunges them into peril. Greater danger awaits after Emily risks her safety and reputation to rescue outcast children.

Haunted by his inability to save his wife from a vigilante posse, Nathaniel Lockwood, a young widowed father, vows to protect the naïve preacher’s daughter from threats. Emily’s refusal to heed his warnings sets off sparks between them and jeopardizes her life as well as Nathaniel’s family. Will she survive a kidnapping, outlaws, and challenges to her faith?

Through it all, Emily learns that God’s plan for her life can bring unexpected joy even in the most troubling circumstances. But can Nathaniel, who is angry at God, find the same peace? Or is he destined to live his life heartbroken and alone?

Can they find the heart of joy together?

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

Bodie, CA — I love that the ghost town still exists and has been left in a state of arrested decay.

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

Bodie State Historic Park is a former gold-mining town located in California’s Bodie Hills, east of the Sierra Nevadas and near the Nevada border. It’s a 19th-century ghost town with many original buildings, along with the Standard Gold Mill, where you can see machinery and learn about gold extraction.

What research was required to set a book there?

I toured the town, pored over maps and insurance diagrams of original building interiors, read old census reports and cemetery documents, researched firsthand accounts of people who lived there, learned about gold extraction, checked fashion magazines and catalogues from the time period, looked at photos taken in the 1870s-1880s, and checked information both present day and past on the Kutzadika’a people who live around Mono Lake.

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

My main character, Emily, rises early to bake and make breakfast for her preacher father. She goes to the nearby creek to gather water for drinking and washing dishes. Her morning chores include shaking out the rag rugs, sweeping the dirt floor of their small shack, dusting all the debris that filters through the cracks in the walls, and walking to town for groceries. She also cares for a small girl she’s adopted. But in the book, her normal days are interrupted by danger, kidnapping, and intrigue — not to mention a handsome man.

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

It was easy (but time-consuming) because the town still exists, and many records have been kept. I find lots of intriguing information at the Smithsonian — old records, photographs, and documents. The Library of Congress is also helpful (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). And one resource I can’t write without: Merriam Webster. I spend a lot of time checking words and phrasing to be sure those words were in use during this time period. Merriam tells when each word was first used and how.

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

I was fascinated by the area in Bodie occupied by Chinese immigrants. I didn’t include it in the book, but according to the census, only adults lived there, no children. I wanted to do more research to find out why, but that’ll have to wait for another book.

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

I have another Gold Rush story about a father gambling away his daughter, along with several Amish novels, including Missing Her Amish Boyfriend (8/20), and two anthologies, Amish Christmas Gathering (9/20) and Amish Christmas Table (10/14).

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

In addition to writing historical and Amish romances, I also write contemporary romances and children’s books.