LITERARY AWARDS & PROFESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS
Pura's books have won or been finalists for various literary awards & have been the recipients of special merit from professional reviewers.
Awards include the Kobzar, the Dartmouth, the Rone and the Word Guild. Professional Reviewers include Readers Favorite, RT Book Reviews, Publishers Weekly and USA Today.
LITERARY AWARDS & PROFESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS
READERS FAVORITE
11 BOOKS BY MURRAY PURA HAVE RECEIVED "TOP PICK 5 STAR AWARDS" FROM RF READERS FAVORITE: Beautiful Skin/Petals/The Wings of Morning/All My Beautiful Tomorrows/Zo/Ashton Park/Ride the Sky/Grace Rider/The White Birds of Morning/A Sun Drenched Elsewhere/Abigail's Christmas Miracle
LITERARY AWARDS & PROFESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS
RT BOOK REVIEWS
TWO BOOKS BY MURRAY PURA HAVE RECEIVED STELLAR ENDORSEMENTS FROM RT REVIEWS - RT REVIEWS 4 1/2 stars = GOLD PHENOMENAL – IN A CLASS BY ITSELF: The Wings of Morning and Whispers of a New Dawn
LITERARY AWARDS & PROFESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS
KOBZAR LITERARY AWARD
Murray Pura has been a finalist for the Shevchenko Foundation's $25,000 Kobzar Literary Award for his novel ZO
DARTMOUTH BOOK AWARD
Dartmouth Book award finalist for novel MIZZLY FITCH
A lighthouse keeper looks back on his life by the sea. The novel is primarily set on the Atlantic Coast in the 1920s.
RONE AWARD
Rone Award Finalist for novel WHISPERS OF A NEW DAWN
A family rooted in non-violence and pacifism deals with the tragic events of December 7th, 1941 while living near Pearl Harbor.
WORD GUILD OF TORONTO LITERARY AWARDS
Word Guild Award Winner Best Historical Novel for The White Birds of Morning
A family struggles to survive the Nazi invasion of Russia and Ukraine in WW2 without losing their values or their humanity.
WHAT’S NEW
NOVEMBER 24th, 2019
Now it's Almost Thanksgiving in America & Almost Christmas everywhere else. But my mind is already in 2020 as I plan publications for the year ahead. Book 2 of the Amish in Montana series needs to happen, as Tabitha and Jacinda and the Amish families continue to make their ranch stable and healthy. Book 5 of the Zoya Septet needs to happen too. The series has moved on from a 20th century story into one that includes the 21st as well. I have about 20K written on that one. One of the pleasant surprises I want to share with you is a collection of stories written by six male Amish fiction writers (there aren't that many of us ha ha). This is a first anywhere because previously all such collections have been predominately female with maybe a guy author thrown in now and then. I am confident this volume will provide its readers with inspiring, thought-provoking and entertaining tales, as I've read 4 of them already. If you're into Amish stories, keep your eyes here to find out when it's being released. That's enough new news for now, I think. Have a great Thanksgiving, America. And to everyone else, have a great wrap-up to November 2019 in the week ahead. Cheers!
WHO I AM
and what I write
I was first published in my teens and I was already happily writing away prior to that major life event lol. Today I work with several different publishers, both indie and traditional, and I work in a number of fiction genres: romance, western, historical, Civil War, Amish, fantasy, action & adventure, literary fiction, inspirational and more. For me, the challenge is not only to entertain the reader within the genre they're engaging (like a romance) but to transcend the genre as well, so the story is more epic in scope, and touches on all sorts of aspects of the human experience. I invite you to pick up one of my novels today and immerse yourself in its unique and fascinating world.
You create life. That’s what happens whenever an author writes a good story.
PURA
Quotes
SYNCHRONICITY
born on the 25th of january
because i was born on Bobby Burns Day (some say Robbie Burns or Rabbie Burns), the birth date of the famous Scottish poet ("Auld Lang Syne" and "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray") my parents gave me Scottish names (Murray & Andrew) . . . mom insisted my birth date was providential (what we'd now call synchronicity) and that i'd be a writer . . . and indeed the passion to write was there from the virtual beginning, for as soon as learned my letters, I began to hand print and publish my own books and stories, first for mom, but then for my peers . . . and wherever I've lived (Canada, USA, Scotland, the Middle East) the poet and novelist has always been a creative force in my life . . . my faith is in my stories and all my struggles and questions too, as well as my joys and the things that fill me with wonder . . . and i've always been blessed with the most wonderful readership and audiences . . . join us and enjoy the stories along with thousands of others around the world . . .
FAQ ABOUT MURRAY PURA
Things People Often Want To Know
WHAT PUBLISHERS DO YOU WORK WITH?
I'm grateful to be connected with Harper Collins, Zondervan, Baker, Barbour, MillerWords & Harvest House.
HOW MANY BOOKS DO YOU PUBLISH A YEAR?
It depends on the number of contracts I'm offered or what opportunities arise to produce a fiction or non-fiction work. Generally, however, I release 2-3 books every 12 months. The calendar year of 2018 will be different because a number of titles are being re-released in newly revised editions with different covers and different publishers.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING & HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR IDEAS FOR YOUR STORIES?
I guess it was always in the blood because I began writing stories for my mom when I was about 9 or 10, and then stories for my peers when I was in high school. I was first published when I was in my teens and I was paid for that story too (I still have the check stub). My first novel in print was Mizzly Fitch, coming out in a new edition in 2018, and my first novel released in the USA (though not my first book) was A Bride's Flight with Barbour. And my ideas? Well, at least 50% of fiction comes from real-life experience, so I write about what I've lived and what I've seen. Travel helps, meeting new people and getting to know old friends better contributes, reading, film, art, relationships - really all the stuff of all my days and dreams and nights, all my fears and my tragedies and my joys, all my hope and all my faith and all my struggles go into the stories I create, regardless of the genre.
stories that free
Toby Mac
Your story could be the key that unlocks someone else's prison. Don't be afraid to share it.
REVIEWS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
THE WINGS OF MORNING
“Pura has penned a meaty story dealing with complex issues as the impact of WWI and the Spanish influenza epidemic affect a Lapp Amish community in Lancaster, Pa., during 1917-1919. Pura masterfully balances depictions of simple Amish living with the harm that can be caused when religious ideology overrides compassion and understanding. Pura’s nearness to historical and Amish accuracies makes for a plausible and intriguing tale. Pura’s previous works have been shortlisted for several literary awards; this entry into historical fiction is noteworthy as well.”
POEMS
Murray Pura
Thanksgiving Day
If you look for the good things
You will find them.
If you keep on asking for what is better
You will get it.
If you knock on the gate of what is beautiful
In time, it shall swing open to you.
If you look for despair
You will find it.
If you cry out for darkness
It will descend and cover you.
If you knock on the gate of what drags you down
It will open and what is within will bury you.
If you look and ask and knock
You will find the things you can be thankful for.
Go there.
Stay there.
No matter what else breaks your heart.
Stay with what gives you hope
And gives you a new life every morning
And every night.
RECENT BOOKS
Expand Your Bookshelf
DECEMBER 2019
A SUN DRENCHED ELSEWHERE
The fourth novel in The Zoya Septet takes the reader from Chicago to Kyiv to Jerusalem as two young people not only deal with the Maidan and the Ukrainian Revolution, but a tangled family past of WW2 atrocities.
DECEMBER 2019
ISLANDS
Three men who embrace the Mennonite faith go to war in this first of three novels. One won't bear arms but the others will, breaking away from their roots and dealing with the consequences in order to defend their nation and families and the women they love.
DECEMBER 2019
GRACE RIDER
The sequel to A Road Called Love and a quest for healing and redemption along the highways and backroads of America.
SOME OF MY BOOKS & STORIES
judge a book by its cover
Here are some of the cover images of a number of my published works.