Trent has said in a nutshell how I think of what I call Rural America.
I moved from a busy sub-suburban town in NJ to rural South Dakota 12 years ago. It was a move I have never regretted.
I came for the financial advantages (the low cost of living allowed me to retire early). I stay because of the culture. Living in rural Middle America is becoming unique. There is a culture here. A culture that once was coast to coast but has now been lost along the seaboards. There is a genteelness here not unlike the neighborly culture of the deep south (something else on the wane.).
It is in this environment where I began to write. Trent is correct, it is much easier to write here. To date I have penned (okay - typed) three novels. All my novels highlight the both the culture and the cost of living benefits from living on the High Plains.