John Derek Ruffin met for an interview at his house on Lake Blackshear, where he wrote much of his book Chasing Sunsets. The elevated screened porch overlooked the water, catching the lake breezes. Small cypresses dotted the shallows of the lake, and a neighbor cleaned fish caught off the dock. It was this feeling Ruffin aimed to capture in his book, along with the sense of place he has inherited from his family’s centennial farm in Monroe County.

Ruffin started writing his book after a back injury. “In September 2023 I had pretty major back surgery, and I was out of work for three months.” Ruffin wanted to find a use for his time while he recovered. “I’m not the kind of person that really enjoys hours on end of watching TV.” He used the difficulties of recovery as an opportunity to write. He was surprised how real the characters began to feel. “I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

The story he crafted chronicles a fictional family, The Campbells, starting with a Scottish ancestor who moves to the area in the twentieth century where he finds love, marries, and builds a life for himself. The book jumps from the family’s origin story to modern life, where his descendants run a brewery on Lake Early, inspired by Lake Blackshear. Ruffin chose the name as a nod to Fort Early.

Most of the locales in the book are imaginary, with some inspiration from real life. However, the book has one place that was taken straight from the real world. “The only real place in the book is Booger Bottom. It’s one of my favorite places down here. I love the owners.”

While he initially started writing as a way to make use of his time after recovery, the story has a deep significance for Ruffin. Many of the fictional struggles of the Campbells mirror his own family’s struggles to maintain the family farm and preserve nature on their land.

Many of the wildlife preservation practices used by the characters on their land are employed by Ruffin and his brother on their farm. One theme woven throughout the book is a lesson he and his siblings have learned through their experiences as care takers for the farm. “To preserve this farm, you’re going to have to die to yourself sometime and your own selfish needs and wants.”

Ruffin does describe the book as being a little gritty, with the main character, John Campbell, losing his wife Maddie in the first chapter. He aimed to make the story feel real, and deal with believable hardships. “I didn’t want it to be too saccharine sweet.” In addition to the hardships, he also wanted to recreate the same close knit, loving relationships he and his own family share that were forged from learning to care sacrificially for each other. In the story, Campbell’s children rise to the occasion, taking on responsibilities to help their father.

The book is available on Amazon. Ruffin has a final message for readers. “I hope people enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.”