I also endorse the suggestion to look into getting a ham ticket.
Some knowlege about radios is helpful so you can understand why 12w SSB might not do the job.

Antennas are extremely important. Moreso than raw power.
And if there's a mountain between the two ends of that 12 miles- the problem gets a lot harder.

Of course not everyone wants to learn about radio. Firestarters might be more fun (until you learn about charging up electrolytic capacitors and tossing them to a buddy :-)