Early praise for Minor Prophets, and tips to keep your holiday writing schedule
How to keep writing when it doesn't seem possible
I’m excited, touched, and embarrassed to share this early praise for my new novel, MINOR PROPHETS, out April 18, 2023 with Ig Publishing. First from writer and editor Lauren O’Neal:
An emotionally incisive story about survival, complicity, and the long shadow cast by family and faith. Blair Hurley's characters leap off the page, struggling, stumbling, and continuing to try; I believed in them fully and doubtlessly.
And from award-winning novelist Rachel Beanland:
In her second novel, Minor Prophets, Blair Hurley takes us deep into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where a small group of Pentecostal Christians, led by a charismatic preacher and his young daughter, have holed up in the woods, preparing for the end of the world. Seven years later, that same daughter must learn to live in a world that didn’t end according to plan. Hurley is a masterful writer, who is particularly gifted at examining our complicated relationship with faith, and in this novel, she doesn’t shy away from asking some of the biggest questions of our time. Where is the line between allegiance and blind belief? What happens when one person’s freedoms infringe on another person’s safety? When did politics and religion become so closely intertwined? Minor Prophets is a story for our times, but it’s also a timeless story about family and friendship, love and power, staying put and breaking free. It’ll keep you turning pages late into the night, and leave you hollowed out when you turn the last page. If you need a guide for the end times, Hurley’s who you want for the job.
I’m wildly grateful to both of these readers for giving such thoughtful takes on the book that has been living quietly inside my head and on my computer for so long. And if you’re intrigued, please consider pre-ordering the book. Pre-orders mean a tremendous amount for writers; they help bookstores gauge interest, raise a book’s rankings on online sites, and raise the book’s visibility for future consideration for prizes and best-of lists. Any time you can support an emerging writer with a pre-order, please consider it! I’d greatly appreciate the support as this books heads out into the storm-tossed waters of the market.
I’m thinking about writing at the end of the year. There’s still a month left of 2022, of course, but it’s funny how December has a way of eating itself up. Our time is scarcely our own this time of year. We have holidays and travel to plan, the last crunch for work, the emotional burdens of family, friends, loved ones, children, suddenly needing so much. There’s the turkey to baste and the decorations to put up and an aging parent needs our help and parent-teacher conferences and before you know it, the week, the month, has gone by without writing.
So my tips for this newsletter are all about making space and time, and keeping yourself accountable to yourself. The simple truth is that no one else is going to do it. There will be no direct consequences from not writing, not the way there will be for work, children, dentistry. No one is banging down your door demanding you write. And so if we aren’t careful, the writing slips away. Don’t let it!
Make a weekly goal that’s specific.
Don’t just make a vague plan. No “I should probably write today.” Instead, write down two scenes your novel needs, and make them your goal for the week. Daily goals can get derailed, but a weekly goal lets you consider and budget time, and make up for lost time if there’s a wild day you didn’t account for.
Look at a random page of the dictionary every day.
One of my favorite short stories that I’ve written resulted from this simplest of writing prompts: I opened the dictionary and picked a random word. In that case, the word I got was the delightful “telepathist”, and from the story the story practically wrote itself. It ended up being a Distinguished Story in this year’s Best American Short Stories, which has always been a dream of mine.
So this month, pick a random word every day and savor its meaning and story potential. You won’t always get a winner, but that little taste of random word-joy might spark a new story idea in you.
Read one short story over the holidays.
Writers of short stories don’t read enough of them! I’m currently reading a story collection called How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa, and it has completely revived my love for the form. Keep your story skills fresh and your appreciation of what the form can do by reading a new story.
The stakes are high for keeping writing alive in your life. I’m not joking! Because I know that for myself, if I’m not writing, then I don’t feel fully myself. The version of myself who is smart and thoughtful, who is capable of insight or compassion, begins to slip away a little with each day that passes without writing. I get a little duller, a little less sharp, a little less me.
What are your favorite tips for keeping the creative fire burning during the most difficult month of the year?
More News
• My story in New Letters, “The Telepathist”, was chosen as a Distinguished Story in the 2022 edition of Best American Short Stories. You can read the story here.
After a brief vacation, the Writerly Bites Podcast will be back with more episodes to keep you thinking about your writing in ways large and small. Stay tuned. And don’t worry about the story that won’t come; it’s a tough time to generate new ideas. Instead, think about becoming an observer again, soaking up the life around you like a sponge. Let the ideas come later, once you’ve mulled on them a bit more.
Recommendations
How to Pronounce Knife: Stories