Kent Haruf, Beth Groundwater, Grace Best-Page featured
Local authors Kent Haruf, Beth Groundwater and Grace Best-Page have learned a thing or two about writing over the years. They will be sharing their books and personal stories during a Local Author Series starting in September and hosted by Colorado Mountain College’s campus in Leadville.
“We want people to interact with authors in their community,” said Sarah Smith, library director at the Leadville campus. “It’s a great way for both CMC students and the public to be exposed to published authors and their books.”
Smith said she wanted to represent a wide range of authors so she’s bringing both relatively new and nationally known writers.
“The authors have three different perspectives,” Smith said. “Their books cover everything from 19th century London to the fictional town of Holt, Colo., to murder mysteries on the Arkansas River.”
Award-winning writer launches series
Haruf, a Salida resident, is a bestselling author. His honors include a Whiting Foundation Award, a Stegner Award, a Frank Waters Award and a special citation from the PEN/Hemingway Foundation. His novel “Plainsong” won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award, the “Los Angeles Times” Book Prize and “The New Yorker” Book Award.
In 2006, he was a recipient of the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. All of his novels are set in the fictional town of Holt, which is loosely based on Yuma, Colo., where Haruf lived in the 1980s. He will speak about his newest novel, “Benediction,” at noon on Thursday, Sept. 19, in the Pinnacle Resource Center, which is the campus’s library building, in Room 317.
Lauded mystery writer speaks in October
Groundwater, who lives in Breckenridge, was a 2007 finalist for the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, one of mystery writing’s greatest honors, for her book “A Real Basket Case.” Also, “Wicked Eddies,” the second book in her RM Outdoor Adventures series, was a finalist for the Rocky Award, for the best mystery set in western North America.
Groundwater writes two series: the RM Outdoor Adventures series starring whitewater river ranger Mandy Tanner, and the Claire Hanover gift basket designer series.
Groundwater said her series have two very different protagonists. Tanner is in her 20s, working as a river ranger and participating on police investigations on the Arkansas River, while Hanover is an older, amateur sleuth living in Colorado Springs.
The author’s books are set mainly in Colorado, whether in Chaffee County, Breckenridge or Colorado Springs.
“I live here for a reason,” she said. “I love the state.”
Groundwater, who got into writing after a career in software engineering, will speak about her own journey to becoming a published author during her talk at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 8, in meeting room 701 located inside the campus dining facility, the Coronado Café.
BV writer revisits Sherlock
Best-Page lives in Buena Vista and recently published her first novel, “The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes.” She said it’s hard to fit the book into a particular genre, but the plot begins when modern-day Jackie Bowman time travels to 1891. Bowman meets Holmes and they embark on a series of travel adventures during the three years when the famed detective was “missing” from Baker Street action.
Best-Page said her Holmes character stays as true as possible to the original detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but she used her imagination to flesh him out.
“It was interesting to match a character from the future with a character from the past,” Best-Page said. “I was able to put Holmes in unusual situations for him and write about how he would react.”
Best-Page will discuss the writing and research behind her book, as well as her own interpretation of the Holmes character, in a talk at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 5, in room 306 of the campus library.
The talks are free and open to the public. Community members and CMC students can pick up the featured books at the campus library in Leadville anytime from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays or 1 to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
This is the second year the campus has hosted a Local Author Series. Writers featured last year included Amy Frykholm, Lynda La Rocca, Laurel McHargue and Teresa Milbrodt.
For more information on this year’s author talks, visit library.coloradomtn.edu/2013localauthors.