A former Austinite is drawing from his experiences in his book, “The Pinedale Incident.”

Larry Nemitz, former co-owner of Nemitz Cigar & Book Store, released the book in December. “The Pinedale Incident” takes place in fictional Pinedale, Wis., where two friends navigate faith and self-worth while the town struggles with its identity.

“One has a change of heart … he comes to know the lord and the other one doesn’t,” Nemitz said.

Yet toubles are around the corner as the town struggles with wealth on one side and poverty on the other. In addition, John, the born again friend starts witnessing to the community but doesn’t know proper scripture, according to Nemitz.

“He’s turning people off left and right,” Nemitz said.

It’s only through an illness and a miraculous event that John manages to change the town in a meaningful way.

Nemitz first started working on the book in the mid-90s, when he dealt with a bout of cancer. A devout Christian, Nemitz wrote the book based on experiences he had and people he met while growing up in Austin, though no character in the book is a mirror of someone in real life.

Yet Nemitz put it aside after a while, eventually moving out of Austin and into Iowa in 1999. It wasn’t until about a year ago that Nemitz picked the book up.

“I just thought that maybe this book would help some people understand what is really going on in the world,” he said.

The book is available at Coffee House on Main, ChristianDiscountStore.com (Nemitz’s business), and Amazon.