Haverhill Ohio is a speck on the map, if you blink once while driving through you’ll miss the entire town. There is no stop light, only a post office and a church situated in a wide place in the road. It’s a flat rural town located on the banks of the Ohio River. A two-lane road divides the town. On each side of the road is flat farmland, often dotted with a lone John Deere tractor driven by a local farmer hoping for a decent planting season. The town’s economy is poor, only driven by a local coke plant, and a chemical plant that has recently announced that it will close in a matter of months.

I grew up in this town. I often wonder why I stayed when there is so much more in any direction over the county line. I live here because I was raised in this town with strong family values, and I have the desire to raise my son in the same atmosphere. The only problem is that sometimes I feel as if the world is moving on without me.

Most people who live here view life outside the town on a TV screen, and we all know how skewed that vision can be. With reality shows setting the precedence in the Neilson Ratings, people have a warped view of the world and reality.

I can remember the first eye roll I received when I told someone I was writing a book. I’ve discovered it was the first but definitely not the last. The majority of my friends and family know I am a writer. They have always been supportive of my writing, but I’ve found a select few beyond that circle, who think I’m wasting my time. They think I have a very weird hobby. I don’t have a problem with this line of thinking; life is too short to be hung up on perceptions.

My ambition is to connect with people in small towns just like mine. I want to make a difference in their lives by allowing them to relate to the characters that I create. Isn’t writing about transformation? We develop characters who overcome conflicts throughout the course of our stories.

If we can fix a character, can’t we fix a reader too?

Can we give a reader hope that if they make a different choice, their life can be better? Can we help them see that even in extenuating circumstances love can persevere? Can we show them through words that they aren’t alone, that people in this world are hurting just as they are, and sometimes for the same reasons? Sometimes the only happy ending a person receives is the one they experience through reading.

I want to provide a happy ending for someone struggling to find a light at the end of a dark tunnel. I want to give the gift of an escape after a long stressful day. I want to whisk someone away from a loveless marriage and give him or her hope that love is still alive in the hearts of those willing to take a risk. But most important, I want them to enjoy the journey.

I know I’m highly optimistic, but isn’t that part of the foundation for a successful writer? It’s always been my nature to fix a person, which explains my present career. However, this time it’s different. Instead of fixing individuals through the science of medicine, I want to make a difference through words in a story.

I may have a rural existence, but my vision stretches far beyond the confines of a small town.