Shawn's blogging. www.shawnfury.blogspot.com. Check out the new FAQ page. NFL.com writer Gregg Easterbrook labels Keeping the Faith a "must read" sports book. Read more Booklist gives positive review to Keeping the Faith. Read more Publishers Weekly calls Keeping the Faith a "heartfelt tale." Read review Keeping the Faith is now available on Kindle. Read more. Shawn's story on Mike and Matt Fasnacht appears in the February issue of Minnesota Monthly, which can be read here. Shawn's essay on home-state memories appears in the current Sports Scoop. Read More Shawn's story on high school basketball is in the current issue of Minnesota Basketball News. Read More The Daily News of Iron Mountain, Michigan, reviews book. Read review New Ulm Journal story features Trinity football team, discusses impact of book on school, team. Read more

Former Forum copy editor to publish first book

By Eric Peterson

Shawn Fury was a copy editor at The Forum when he saw the lopsided score move across the wire – Rockford (Ill.) College 105, Trinity Bible College 0.

    Little did he know that score would be his ticket to authoring his first book.

    “I still remember being on the desk that day when they got beat 105-0,” Fury said of the Saturday in September 2003. “I didn’t think anything of it except for the fact the team was from North Dakota.”

    Later that September, Fury would write a story for The Forum, chronicling the football program at the small bible college (around 300 students) in Ellendale, N.D.

    “I got lucky being able to write that story a few years ago,” said Fury, who lives in Manhattan, N.Y.

    Now, Fury has a book about the Trinity football program on the way. “Keeping the Faith,” is scheduled for release on Sept. 1.

    “It’s bizarre,” Fury said, “just because how fast it happened. A year ago at this time, I had never even talked with the publisher.”

    Fury, 30, said he pitched the idea to about 10 publishers. The first reply he got back was from The Lyons Press, which was interested in publishing the story.

    “I got my rejections after I had secured a deal so those were easy to take,” Fury said.

    Fury spent the last part of the 2004 Trinity football season – in October and November – in Ellendale, N.D., to gather material for the book. He then had about five months to write.

    “Everything I had written before was like 15 (column) inches,” said Fury, whose previous experience was about six years in newspapers.

    Fury said the book focuses on the 2004 season, but also has background from the 2003 season, when Trinity was outscored 585-12.

    The book opens with the 105-0 loss against Rockford.

    Trinity has lost its last 30 games entering this season.

    “It’s a sports book that people will enjoy for the sports aspect of it, but the characters are really interesting people,” said Fury, a graduate of St. John’s (Minn.) University.

    Fury said there is a book signing at the St. John’s bookstore scheduled for Sept. 17. He is also scheduled to be in Ellendale on Sept. 24.

    “Mostly I’m nervous about what people will think about it,” Fury said. “I don’t want it to fail miserably, but even modest sales would be good for a first book where I didn’t know what I was doing.”