Drake, Iowa is a quiet, midwestern town with a beautiful town square marked by the Old Oak, a heritage oak tree with a sign at its feet proclaiming that spot as the Middle of the World.

The thinking behind this grand proclamation is that it stands in the center of the park in the center of town in the center of Iowa which is the center of the United States. (Not actually, but don't tell them.)

Drake is also an ideal place for a fresh start, which is why Lucy Price landed here, and why Mia Ellis, after leaving Chicago, decided to stay. (Her girlfriend might have had something to do with that.)

There are more stories here than I have time or energy to tell, but I'll leave my readers with six. One for each letter in SPIRIT.

For the next couple of years (gosh, I hope it doesn't take that long) I will be working on letter I, a story about Nora Winterfield, a high school teacher at Drake High who, like her predecessors, deserves a second chance.