Twenty-one summers of the author's life in California placer gold country trying to make a living from dredging, sniping, or running a shovel and sluice box didn't quite make him the money that he had envisioned. Years of listening to miners and locals talk mining, history, and heritage helped inspire this tale of love, gold and the Devil. This story was inspired by speculation on what it would be like to be a lucky man. The main character, young Thomas Hendrick, desperately needs to be a lucky man. There is a little mining town from the Gold Rush days in California that has survived to this day, while so many others have folded up and blown away. Downieville has a rich history that will always provide fodder for serious historical writers. It is one of the best known 49'er mining towns. This small town story has more to do with the author's imagination than serious historical research, but he's not the only California dredger whose imagination could see something like this really happening. Funny thing about gold; you see a little bit, and then you see a lot. The little bit you have produced gets out of hand in your imagination.