I’ve always believed every story begins with a quiet moment. Mine often starts on my family’s centennial farm in Central Georgia, beside still water, under wide sunsets, or near the warmth of a hilltop fire. Those peaceful places shape the way I see life, faith, family, and second chances.
My voice as a Southern Fiction author comes from the heart. My stories are drawn from the land, recalled from memory, and informed by the people and places that remain in our minds long after the day. Chasing Sunsets is a journey of love, loss, strength, contemplation, and a love of hope that’s so real it’s beautiful.
Some stories begin long before a pen ever touches the page. For me, they began in quiet farm mornings, golden sunsets, family roots, and the kind of silence that teaches a man to listen closely. Those moments made my heart and helped me write from a place of honesty, love, and purpose.
I carry those memories into every page. As Author John Derek Ruffin, I write with a deep love for faith, land, family, and reflection, bringing the heart of a Southern Historical Fiction writer to every story. Through Chasing Sunsets, I hope readers feel the beauty of second chances and the comfort of a story that feels lived.
“Some endings are simply the beginning of a softer light.”
I write because some feelings are too deep to leave unspoken. Life on the farm, quiet sunsets, family memories, and moments of faith have all given me stories worth sharing. I want readers to feel seen, comforted, and gently reminded that hope can return.
“Some stories never fade because the people behind them keep living in the hearts they changed.”
For me, writing Chasing Sunsets was never just about telling a story. It was about honoring love, loss, resilience, and the beauty of starting again. As a Southern Family Saga writer, I write for readers who believe the heart can heal, even after life changes everything.
I wrote Chasing Sunsets from the places that shaped me most: the farm, the lake, the firelight, and the quiet hours when memories speak the loudest. This book grew from my love for family, faith, history, and the moments that remind us life still holds grace.
At its heart, this story is my tribute to love that lasts, roots that hold, and second chances that arrive when we least expect them. In my work as a Scottish Heritage Fiction writer, I blend the pull of the past, the warmth of Southern family, and the hope hidden inside every sunset.
Author John Derek Ruffin is a Central Georgia, family, faith, farming and nature influenced, quiet storyteller. His writing is warm, aching, beautiful and full of second chances and the stories he tells feel personal, emotional and lived.
His writing was inspired by quiet farm mornings, Lake Blackshear sunsets, family memories and spiritual reflection. It was during these times that he was able to develop stories that were rich in emotion, heart and hope.
In John’s story, there’s a little of southern charm, a bit of family legacy, a touch of spirituality and a great deal of emotional depth. He tells tales that are intimate, vivid, and lived; readers will feel his world.
Yes. Southern Fiction author John Derek writes books that speak to the Southern land, family, tradition and emotional truth, giving readers comfort, connection and meaningful escape.
He looks at sunsets as a time for contemplation, serenity, conclusion and fresh beginnings. They resonate across the emotional center of Chasing Sunsets, where grief often comes before beauty. In this image, readers are asked to stop, to feel profoundly, and to believe that light still can be found in every end.
