Staying focused on a goal for years is not an easy task, but one that teacher Cindy Eppes tackled with pleasure when she spent four years writing her first novel, South of Reason. The book was published in 2002.

“The inspiration for the book was a sign I saw when driving through West Texas,” Eppes said. “I saw, Goat Milk Soap for Sale, and I began to wonder who would buy goat milk. Then Lou Jean showed up on the page.”

Eppes said it is not strange for her to find inspiration everywhere and anywhere. She is usually inspired by the small-town feel and the people who give it off.

“I have been inspired by things all around me,” Eppes said. “I am always inspired by the natural world. For the second book I wrote, Flying Horses, I was inspired by a blue jacket hanging on a post, and it inspired me to write again.”

She wanted the book to give off a small town feel, so she began to implement some ideas about how everyone knew everyone and lives of entire families often overlap.

Now, Kayla Sanders looks back on that sizzling summer of her childhood when the secrets of the past cast long shadows over two family’s lives – from South of Reason

Since releasing South of Reason, Eppes has written two more books which she has yet to publish. Flying Horses is with her publisher, and she is currently writing another story.

Because for the first time all summer and for the next fifteen minutes, I knew something that someone else didn’t. And there was no sadness in that. – from South of Reason