Tuesday morning @ 10am EST I will have the good fortune to host three authors on The G-ZONE. They are all men, and they all write Amish Fiction. Thus we are calling the show “The All Male Amish Fiction Writers Show”. Who are the three writers: Murray Pura, Will Carpenter & Patrick E. Craig. Below is the link for the show, and also a bit on each author:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gelatisscoop/2012/08/28/murray-pura-will-carpenter-patrick-e-craig
Murray Pura
Murray Andrew Pura was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and has traveled extensively throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Ordained as a Baptist minister in 1986, Pura has served five churches in Canada and headlined numerous speaking engagements in Canada and the United States. He has five books published, was a contributor to the Life With God Bible, has been a finalist for The Paraclete Fiction Award, The Dartmouth Book Award, and The John Spencer Hill Literary Award, and has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2010 Kobzar Literary Award of Canada.
The Face of Heaven:
Following on the heels of The Wings of Morning, the first book in Murray Pura's Snapshots in History series, comes this compelling saga of the Civil War.
In April 1861, Lyndel Keim discovers two runaway slaves in her family's barn. When the men are captured and returned to their plantation, Lyndel and her young Amish beau, Nathaniel King, find themselves at odds with their pacifist Amish colony
Nathaniel enlists in what will become the famous Iron Brigade of the Union Army. Lyndel enters the fray as a Brigade nurse on the battlefield, sticking close to Nathaniel as they both witness the horrors of war--including the battles at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Antietam. Despite the pair's heroic sacrifices, the Amish only see that Lyndel and Nathaniel have become part of the war effort, and both are banished.
And a severe battle wound at Gettysburg threatens Nathaniel's life. Lyndel must call upon her faith in God to endure the savage conflict and to face its painful aftermath, not knowing if Nathaniel is alive or dead. Will the momentous battle change her life forever, just as it will change the course of the war and the history of her country?
The Face of Heaven is a dramatic story that will release on the 150th anniversary of the historic battle of Antietam, September, 1862.
Will Carpenter
I am a faith filled family man, happily married for twenty-eight years. I believe in having a personal relationship with our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ and having him with me on a daily basis, not just Sundays. I am also a nurse recently retired with thirty years of experience in areas of emergency medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, and child and adolescent psychiatry.
I spent eleven years in the Army as a medical specialist, army recruiter, army scout medic and clinical specialist. My wife is a nurse educator. She presently teaches for a vocational technical school in Chester County. She is loved and admired by her students.
Our oldest son, Matthew, has completed his studies at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg where he has received his Masters in Divinity. He was married to Amanda Wills in June 2011 and has arrived at his first church in E. Tawes, Michigan as it's Pastor, where he has completed his first year. Our daughter, Lindsay, has recently completed her master's degree in special education, she lived and taught in Charleston, South Carolina. She married Eli Abner, in June 2012. Our youngest son, Mark, graduated from college, The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. He studied business administration. He graduated May of 2012. He was commissioned in the U.S. Army. His branch is Medical Service Corps. He will attend flight school in Jan. 2013. He will be a medevac pilot when he completed flight school. He has just completed studies in business for 4 weeks in China.
I enjoy reading, a variety of genre's. I began my love of reading novels with Janette Oke. I'm a country boy, and my wife and I recently purchased land up in North East Schuylkill County. We lovingly refer to this as the 'ranch', because of the vastness of its location and how it looks out over the mountains. Being a country boy I enjoy shooting, and often go out with my family. We are not hunters we just enjoy this kind of time together. I love the snow and all four seasons, the location of the ranch is ideal for this. I look forward to snowy days looking out over white open fields at the gray mountains. Lastly I most enjoy writing, it has the same effect on me as reading. The difference is, I control the outcome.
My family and I have always admired the Amish. We would frequently be in contact with them while camping near Honeybrook. We had an exchange student from Germany, Kathryn, she enjoyed speaking German with them, when they would come by. We frequently purchased baked goods from them at those times. Because of the proximity of Honey Brook to us we frequent a couple of shops owned by the Amish. There is one that we purchase baked goods and spices from, and the other jelly and produce. Since we are regulars we enjoy their friendship.
http://www.facebook.com/Will1953
http://www.authorwillardcarpenter.com/
Patrick E. Craig
Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next twenty-six years as a worship leader, seminar speaker and pastor in churches, and at retreats, seminars and conferences all across the Western United States. After ministering for a number of years in music and worship to a circuit of small churches in Northern California, he is now concentrating on writing and publishing both fiction and non-fiction books. He has recently signed a three book deal with Harvest House Publishers to publish his "Apple Creek Dreams" series. The books are historical Amish fiction and the first book, "A Quilt for Jenna," will be released January 1, 2013. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.
Patrick has an extensive background as a writer. Throughout his school years he edited high school and college newspapers. In 1964 he won a national editorial contest sponsored by the Wall Street Journal for an editorial he wrote on the death of President Kennedy, and, in the same year, acted as Senior Editor for a special issue of the University of Washington Evergreen during a summer internship for High School Editors. After a year at Whitman College, where he was a journalism major, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area where he became a fixture on the local music scene.
As a professional songwriter, he wrote with and for such artists as Bill Champlin (Chicago), David Jenkins (Pablo Cruise), Buddy Miles, The Tazmanian Devils, and many others in the secular music industry. His songs were recorded by such artists and music groups as West Coast Natural Gas, Indian Pudding and Pipe, Joey Covington's Fat Fandango, The Sons of Champlin, The Tazmanian Devils, Buddy Miles, David Jenkins, Laura Allen, The Fairfax Street Choir and in Europe by the Swedish Band Seid. He had two music albums released on Warner Brothers records, and contributed to best selling albums by artists such as Chris Isaak and others. Recently a compilation of his early work was released in Switzerland as a specialty music album.
