Coming Soon from the Pen, Please Welcome Historical Fiction Author Murray Pura!
So here’s a great interview that was caught up in my drafts folder from all the time with the family illnesses and such, but it’s too good to miss, and now as of August we have another new release to be excited about! Murray Pura is just pouring out the historicals these days! And from what I hear, they’re all pretty good too. So sit back and here about a an earlier release, and then get excited about the new ones too!
What made you interested in writing Christian Historical Fiction? Do you write any other genres?
Historical fiction is ordinary people’s lives played out against the vast canvas of history. I like to think about what men and women did when they were caught up in dramatic and historic events. I like history, always have, and I think that leads to a writer wanting to put people in the midst of historical occurrences and have them live out their story in that dramatic setting. Bringing the Christian aspect in gives it more depth because then you can talk about prayer and faith and good and evil and God.
Romance is in all my genres. I write contemporary as well – for instance my book A Road Called Love is a modern day thriller-suspense-romance set in modern day America. I also write Amish fiction. This spring I published a western and a fantasy set in medieval times with swords and horses and castles. The story is the thing.
Are there any other Christian Historical Fiction authors that you think your readers would enjoy?
Try BJ Hoff, Jerry Eicher, and Lori Copeland.
Are there bits and pieces that were cut in editing that you might ever share with your readers?
I researched the candy of 1875 a lot because there are two children in the story. Some of that detail was kept in and some wasn’t. One item that was cut was an ad they had for some of the first chewing gum. It might have been Adams that was the gum company that ran the ad but it went like this: Our gum is the gum that SNAPS and STRETCHES!
Is A Bride’s Flight from Virginia City, Montana for those who loved romantic comedy?
Humor is a big part of life and there’s a generous dose of it in Virginia City. For instance, two deputy US marshals named Doede and Dunning provide comic relief early on in the story. But Virginia City is not a romantic comedy. It is romance and drama.
What is your favorite scene from A Bride’s Flight from Virginia City, Montana?
My favorite scene in Virginia City is a confrontation at the Gettysburg battlefield, which in 1875 is a national park. The male and female protagonists are up against a group of outlaws, real hard cases, and the hero has to go above and beyond to save his lady’s life.
How would you relate your writing experience and research to some Creative Madness?
For me the research and writing is always intense, the writing more so than the preparatory research. Meals are skipped, bills left unpaid, the idea of eight hours of sleep is gone with the wind. The creation of the story becomes the main thing after God and family. That’s some of my creative madness.
What is something that you have never told anyone in an author interview?
If I want to totally relax and clear my head I will sit down and watch ten or twelve hours of 24 or West Wing at a sitting.
What is the one thing that you want to leave readers of A Bride’s Flight from Virginia City, Montana pondering over?
In the book you have people who won’t resist violence, the Amish, as well as other Christians that worship the same God who wear a badge and are sworn to protect others, even to the point of resorting to violence to do it. Is one stance more right than the other or do both have an honorable place in our society and in the Christian churches?
Tell us about your blog and participation in other blogs…
Feel free to friend me on Facebook and to “Like” my author’s page, Murray Pura Writing. My website, that includes a blog, is www.murraypura.com. I also blog at AmishReader.com which can be found with a regular Google search, as well as on Facebook (Author Page). I write about all sorts of things in a Christian’s life, not only books and stories, but on every topic imaginable. Please drop in!
New for August!
Beneath the Dover Sky (The Danforths of Lancashire, #2)
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Pages: 384 Trade Paperback
Date Published: August 2013
Publisher: Harvest House
For fans of the hugely popular Downton Abbey television series and lovers of British historical sagas, award-winning author Murray Pura continues the enthralling story of the Danforths of Lancashire.
The second book in the series (following Ashton Park) transports the reader back in time to 1924 as Sir William—recently named Lord Preston—celebrates his sixtieth birthday at the Danforth summer home in Dover.
Although the ravages of World War I are in the past, new threats loom as a man named Adoph Hitler publishes a book calledMein Kampf. Is he a danger to Europe? And what of Lord Preston’s growing friendship with an up and coming political leader named Winston Churchill?
On the home front, one of the Danforth daughters, the recently widowed Catherine, sells her home in Belfast to spend more time at Dover—where she finds herself annoyed at the impertinent German theologian her father has befriended.
The entire Danforth family faces many changes as illness and tragedy strike. Young Edward finally makes his move into the political arena while Michael and Libby welcome a new family member.
Readers will be captivated by the upstairs/downstairs interplay as they once again savor this compelling saga of the well-loved Danforth family overcoming obstacles by placing their trust in the God who has always been faithful.
Are there bits and pieces that were cut in editing that you might ever share with your readers?
I’ve never seen huge sections cut just sentences or paragraphs altered from time to time. Not much to share – the book is pretty much everything I wrote.
Is the Danforths of Lancashire Series for those who love romantic comedy?
Ashton Park, Book One of The Danforths of Lancashire, has humorous moments but it’s not a romantic comedy.
What is your favorite scene from Ashton Park?
Ashton Park is Book One; Under The Dover Sky is Book Two and covers 1924-1933 in the family saga. Book Three, tentatively London Dawn which would take the series into the Second World War. Hopefully the series would find completion with a Book Four and the crowning of Elizabeth II as queen. As far as favorite scenes go, I love all the flying sequences best, whether in war or peace. But certainly one of my true favorites is when Ben Whitecross comes literally out of the blue in his biplane to save his squadron from enemy aircraft during World War One.
How would you relate your writing experience and research to some Creative Madness?
Ashton Park was challenging to write because it has multiple plots and multiple characters. That made for an intense writing experience – sleep was lost, meals were skipped, shaving was infrequent. I don’t know whether the writer goes more mad at such times or the family.
What is something that you have never told anyone in an author interview?
It would be great to see some of my characters come to life and go out for coffee with them.
What is the one thing that you want to leave readers of Ashton Park pondering over?
Whether the relationship between England and Ireland could have been better handled over the centuries with proper prayer and Christian grace. Sir William, head of the family and an MP, Member of Parliament, certainly thought so. Instead there was a great deal of bloodshed and that bloodshed, as the world knows only too well, carried on between rival Irish factions long after England was gone.
Please please tell us about your next planned project…
Book Two of the series, Under The Dover Sky, is set to come out this summer. Another historical fiction piece is Seven Oaks which takes place on a Virginia plantation during the Civil War. Seven Oaks begins at the end of January, published as an eBook with a new chapter every month. Another project, published in a similar fashion, is Go Tell It On The Mountain, a story that takes place in New Mexico during the days of the Old West. That comes out in spring.
BOOKS
ABOUT
Murray Pura earned his Master of Divinity degree from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and his ThM degree in theology and interdisciplinary studies from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. For more than 25 years, in addition to his writing, he has pastored churches in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Alberta. Murray’s writings have been shortlisted for the Dartmouth Book Award, the John Spencer Hill Literary Award, the Paraclete Fiction Award, and Toronto’s Kobzar Literary Award. His novels for Harvest House include Face of Heaven, The Wings of Morning, and Ashton Park. Murray pastors and writes in southern Alberta near the Rocky Mountains. He and his wife, Linda, have a son and a daughter.
(No spam, I promise. Just creative madness ramblings, reviews and life-stories, with quilting and cross stitch inspiration in between!)
One Comment
CherryBlossomMJ
thanks Diana!