Local author stretches his boundaries with wild tale

ELYRIA — Writers tend to write what they know. And that's what novelist and poet Mike Haszto did for many years. But with his 15th novel, available for purchase now, the writer explores a scenario unlike any he's encountered in real life and it's a wild tale. In "Crossing the Line," a romance and suspense thriller, Jimmy, a radio DJ in Saginaw, Michigan, deals with the death of his wife, who was killed while vacationing with friends in Jamaica. Not only was she killed, but her identity was stolen as well. "I'm a senior," Haszto said. "I'm 64. Along with the murder mystery, this story is also about how in this age of technology, you realize one day that life has just kind of passed you by and you think, 'Wow, I don't really fit into this world anymore.'" When his wife's identity is stolen, everything Jimmy had was stolen as well. He sets out to get answers and find out what happened to his wife. Along the way, he crosses the line between sanity and insanity. Hastzo, of North Ridgeville, has been writing poetry since he was a teen growing up on Long Island, New York. He moved to Ohio when he received a scholarship to the University of Akron in 1977, graduating with a degree in business. He met his wife, Joyce, originally from Maple Heights, while still in college and the couple eventually settled in North Ridgeville. They raised five children — a daughter, who attended St. Joseph Academy in Cleveland, and four sons, who attended Elyria Catholic High School. Hastzo was an assistant hockey coach at Elyria Catholic for 21 years and worked in the restaurant industry for 38 years. Although he was a longtime writer, it was his wife who persuaded him to write his first novel. "After many years of writing poetry, I put out a book in 2007," Hastzo said. "We were empty nesters by that time and I did it unbeknownst to my wife. I showed it to her and she looked at it and kind of snickered. She said, "I always knew you could write poetry, I would've expected you to write a novel." So, in 2009, that's what he did and he's been doing both ever since, evolving what he was taught and what he knows. "They always teach you to write what you know," he said. "I lived in Saginaw for a bit and I worked in radio many, many years ago, but other than that, there's no real-life connection whatsoever (between his life and his new book)." Hastzo, who is the general manager at AMF Medina Lanes, got away from that "write what you know" mentality a few years ago on a dare from his brother, as they sat in a bar scribbling thoughts and ideas. And it works for him. "It taught me to write outside what I know," he said. "It's outside the rules of what they teach you in college classes. When I'm writing, I sit down and take five minutes to reread where I left off and take five minutes to get back into character. I may plan on things going a certain way, but oftentimes they go a different way than I thought they were going to go." Still, the easiest part of writing a novel is actually writing it, Haszto said. The hardest part is marketing. "It's a full-time job," he said. With 21 books total in his catalogue, Haszto would know. "Crossing the Line," as well as Haszto's other works, are available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. Contact Christina Jolliffe at ctnews@chroniclet.com.