Phil Hardin has dabbled in many activities throughout his life.

The local businessman owns the downtown Chevron in Russellville, is the former owner of the Raceway on top of Spruce Pine Mountain, and is also a chicken farmer.

Hardin has many irons in the fire, but he has managed to squeeze another title in front of his name: author.

This month, Hardin’s first book became available for purchase through the publishing company, Publish America, LLLP.

The book, a science fiction story entitled “Karunda’s Children: The Witch5s of Dillard Hollow,” is loosely based on people and places in Franklin County, according to Hardin.

“This book is totally fiction, but you can see the local influence when you read it,” he said. “You can see it in the street names, the place names and in other areas of the book.”

The story, set in the 1930s and the early 1940s, focuses on five sisters, which is the inspiration for the “5” located in the word “Witch5s” in the book’s title.

These five sisters are descendants of a Native American woman named Karunda, a Cherokee Indian with supernatural powers, and the book chronicles their adventures.

This seems to be an interesting storyline, especially for a story that is loosely based on local places and events. But Hardin said while there are many aspects about the book that are historically factual, the fictional elements did not have a concrete basis.

“This story came from my mind somewhere,” Hardin said. “I really can’t tell you where I got the inspiration. It is something that just sort of came to me.

“When I started writing it, I knew how the story would begin and I knew how it would end. What I couldn’t figure out was the middle part. But once I started writing, it just seemed to go together.”

Hardin said when he first started writing the story of Karunda’s five great-granddaughters, he never intended for it to be published. It was actually just a project he started working on at the prompting of his wife, Donna.

“My wife knows that I write because, during the course of the 40 years we’ve been married, I’ve probably written her around 500 poems,” Hardin said.

“I’ve also written several short stories for my four grandchildren, so one day my wife told me that I should write a book and I thought it was a good idea. I just started writing for the sake of writing because I enjoyed it.”

Hardin said that he was able to complete “The Witch5s of Dillard Hollow” over a six-month time period and got the idea to publish it after several people suggested it.

“My wife was instrumental in my decision to have the book published,” Hardin said. “I also had a friend who read the story and encouraged me to just throw it out there and see what a publisher thought about it.”

After some consideration, Hardin began to research different publishers on the Internet. There are many ways to get a book published if an author is willing to pay to have it done, but Hardin wanted to see if there were any publishers who were interested in buying the story from him first.

“The first thing you do is send in a four or five page synopsis of what the book is about,” he said. “Then if the company likes the story, they’ll contact you by e-mail and ask for the whole manuscript.”

Hardin jokingly said the book industry must have been going through a dry spell when he sent in his manuscript because he received word from them in just two days.

“It usually takes months or sometimes even years for a writer to hear back from a publishing company,” Hardin said.

“I sent my manuscript in on a Sunday afternoon by e-mail and a lady from the Publish American company called me on Tuesday saying they wanted to buy my book.”

Hardin said he was completely shocked at the news.

“I had to ask her to repeat what she said because I didn’t think I had heard her right,” he said. “I was just completely awe-struck and humbled. I felt very blessed.”

Hardin then jumped into the publishing process, making minor corrections here and there and making sure the book was polished and ready to go by the Oct. 1, 2010, deadline the publishing company had given him.

“I don’t know if they were just trying to hurry up and get rid of me or if they really meant what they said in their contract agreement with me, but they were able to have the book completely ready to be released on Jan. 10.”

The comments Hardin referred to in his contract agreement stated Publish America, LLLP considered Hardin’s book to be a “serious and professional work.”

“I was very flattered by what they said about my book,” he said, “and I would like to think that other people will feel the same way about it.

“I think this story has something for everyone. Even though it’s science fiction, it is also adventurous and humorous at times. There’s no foul language or anything vulgar. It’s just entertaining and fun and would be good for anyone from age eight to 80.”

As far as having images of appearing on Oprah’s Book Club show or topping the New York Times Best Seller list, Hardin says he’s just along for the ride.

“I am an optimist but I’m also a realist. I knew when they decided to publish this book that I could sell two copies: to myself and to my mother,” Hardin said with a smile.

“I just want people to enjoy the story more than anything else. I’m not looking for fame and fortune and I don’t need to sell the book to put my next meal on the table. I just enjoy writing.”

And Hardin says he plans to continue writing. “Karunda’s Children: The Witch5s of Dillard Hollow” is actually the first in a series of books, the second of which is already completed.

“I don’t know who I’ll pitch the second book to,” he said. “I’m just going to see how it goes with this first one and go from there. In the meantime, I’m going to continue working on the third book, which is what I’m doing now.”

People interested in purchasing Hardin’s book will need to search for a book written by p.Gale, the pen name Hardin has chosen to use for his written works.

“Most people decide to use a pen name because it gives the anonymity that most authors want to hold onto,” he said, “and I thought it was a good idea.”

Hardin said that he is very appreciative of his family who have been supportive of him and his efforts to have his book published.

He gives credit to his wife, Donna, who he calls his biggest fan and harshest critic; his daughter and son-in-law, Kristi and Ron Rose; his son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Dee Ann Hardin; and his grandchildren, Justin, Brittney and Bailey Rose and Sylas Hardin.

“They are all excited for me,” he said. “We got the books in the mail on Saturday and Bailey has already taken the book to school.”

“Karunda’s Children: The Witch5s of Dillard Hollow” is available in both regular and eBook forms and can be found on amazon.com, booksamillion.com, barnesandnoble.com, and on the Publish America, LLP website.