Welcome to Milford-Haven!

 

 

Happy June! Thank you for visiting! I like to think of my website as a place where land meets ocean, where ideas meet feelings, and where head meets heart. Journey with me to land’s end . . . where logic has done its best and can go no farther. Adventure with me to ocean’s beginning . . . where the heart rests in motion. Thanks for joining me on the journey!

from my heart to yours,

 

 

Did you know? Before there was Robyn Carr’s wonderful Virgin River series (2007), before there was Sherryl Woods beautiful Chesapeake Shores series (2003), before there was Debbie Macomber’s sweet Cedar Cove series (2001), there was Mara Purl’s ground-breaking Milford-Haven series! The novels made their debut in 1997! (The original radio drama became a BBC radio hit in 1992.) The Milford-Haven Novels were republished starting in 2011 and began to hit bestseller lists that very year.

 

 

TOP FEMALE AUTHOR

Mara has been named the
Top Female Author of Fiction for 2019
by The Authors Show!

 

Mara is a member of the Cambria, California Chamber of Commerce,
and supports local business in the beautiful town that inspired her series.
Click here to plan your visit!

Magnify Your Message with Cheryl HunterMara Purl Interview
From Page to Stage: The Transformative Power of Fiction
Magnify Your Message with Cheryl Hunter
YouTube Channel; Spotify; Apple
Inspiration Magnified
Facebook page
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO INTERVIEWMara Purl is Interviewed by media leader Cheryl Hunter. They dive deep into the art of storytelling, including how the power of lived experience, along with transparency and authenticity shapes the best fiction. Mara & Cheryl believe that stories should do more than just entertain—they should resonate. They have the power to make readers feel seen, understood, and maybe even challenge their perspectives.

 

 

American Voices with Senator Bill BradleyMara Purl Interview
American Voices with Senator Bill Bradley
SiriusXM Radio Channel 124
Link to American Voices site
American Voice Facebook page
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO INTERVIEWMara Purl is interviewed by Senator Bill Bradley on his program American Voices. They discuss writing, e-books versus print books, living a life in the arts in today’s economy, and living not only from the head, but from the heart.

 

 

Mara’s post on USA TODAY . . .
Click to read: Happy Ending ‘In Here’

Visit Mara’s Consulting Company
www.HavenBooks.us

 

 

from the blog

Anne R. Allen Writers Blog – Mara’s post “All About Novellas”

June 11, 2025 by Mara Purl

Do you know what George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, and H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds have in common?

They’re not novels.

They’re novellas.

Novellas went out of style in the mid-20th century, but now they’re back.

“Everything old is new again,” says the Peter Allen song. Novels, novellas, novelettes (and short stories and flash) have been around for decades. Make that centuries. In today’s publishing and authoring landscape there is less opportunity but more freedom.

Less Opportunity but More Freedom for Shorter Fiction

What I mean is there’s less opportunity to get your short fiction published in magazines—because so many great magazines have disappeared.

At the same time, there is more freedom—because, with e-books, […]

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Writers in the Storm – Mara’s post “Women’s Fiction versus Men’s Fiction”

June 11, 2025 by Mara Purl

“There’s no such thing as Men’s Fiction.” This was Andrew Klavan’s immediate response to my question about whether he’d want to debate this issue at the then-upcoming 2008 Ventura Book Festival.

More recently, fellow authors and readers alike have expressed surprise, saying they didn’t know Men’s Fiction was “a thing.” Is it? It seems to me, it’s been hiding in plain sight all along.

Good or Bad Fiction?

“Fiction” used to be the comprehensive name for all books that a weren’t non-fiction.

I remember a conversation with my father, an omnivorous reader. I described some of the sub-genres that were emerging at the time: mystery, thriller, romance, and several others. He pondered this for a moment then remarked, “But is it good fiction or […]

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Writers in the Storm – Mara’s post “Romance versus Women’s Fiction”

June 11, 2025 by Mara Purl

“What genre do you write?” This has become as ubiquitous a question as “What kind of books do you write?” and both questions often receive the same reply.

It should be an easy answer for an author to provide, but sometimes isn’t, as genres have grown more complex. The added “categories” were supposed to make specific kinds of books easier to find. Yet, to some extent, the added complexities have made finding what a reader of shopper or librarian wants harder. And, despite the added listings, there are times a book gets slotted into an ill-fitting box.

This business of being stuck in the wrong genre can be frustrating, and even damaging to a brand, a book, or an author.

Let’s talk about […]

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