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There is nothing wrong with being different; that is the message that a Winchester businessman-turned-author wants the world to know.

Wes Cartwright, the owner of Cartwright Designs, recently celebrated the release of his debut children’s book, “The Hairy Scary Mouse.”

“The book talks about being different, and the Hairy Scary Mouse is a lot hairier than the other mice and is different from them,” Cartwright said. “He gets kind of poked at and excluded from everybody else because of how different he is. Then the other mice encounter a conflict, and the Hairy Scary Mouse, the things that make him different, ends up helping save the colony and rescue everybody.”

Cartwright hopes the mouse’s story will illustrate an important lesson for young readers.

“It’s a story about how our differences can be used for God’s purpose,” he said. “Basically, you don’t know why God made you different and that he has a plan for your life.”

The idea for the book came to Cartwright in the months before the birth of his daughter, Presley.

“Six years ago, my wife was pregnant with my daughter, and I got to thinking about how she was going to be different than anybody else who is currently on Earth and how her life would impact the world,” Cartwright.

Cartwright was inspired by the writings and illustrations of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.

“It all rhythms and has that kind of feel to it,” he said.

Cartwright wrote the story in a notebook but only revisited it last year when he saw an advertisement on television.

“I saw a commercial for Newman Springs Publishing, and it was free to submit your story. So I submitted it to them, and they accepted it for publication. We’ve been working on it for a little over a year now,” Cartwright said.

Someone at the publishing company illustrated the book for Cartwright but he was involved in the design process.

“The author is always involved in every single aspect of the illustrations down to how the characters look,” Cartwright said.

The entire publication process was a long process, even for a short children’s book, Cartwright explained.

“For instance, you will give them all the character descriptions, and then four weeks later, they will get back to you with the illustrations of the characters,” Cartwright said. “Each step of it, it feels like you are giving your input as the author as to what you want everything to look like, and then it is two to four weeks for them to get back to you with the next phase.”

He hopes this will not be his last book either.

“I’m going to see how this one pans out, and I am hoping that it is going to catch on,” Cartwright said.

“The Hairy Scary Mouse” is currently available for purchase on Amazon and other online retailers.