North Forty news writer and illustrator R. Gary Rahan, was just announced as a 2019 Finalists of the COLORADO AUTHORS’ LEAGUE for his ADULT NOVEL, A Once-Dead Genius in the Kennel of Master MorticueAmbergrand.
“I’ve loved science fiction since I was a kid and always wanted to write something that would fascinate others in the same way,” Gary Rahan says. “I wrote some SF earlier in my career, but only one other novel-length manuscript. The idea for a Once-Dead Genius suffered a couple of false starts, but once I found the voice of Rudy, the main character, and the humorous-ironic tone that seemed natural, the book almost wrote itself during the course of one year. It’s always gratifying to be recognized by your writing peers and, in this case, by a prestigious writing organization that has been in existence the better part of a century now.”
In 1931 authors in the Rocky Mountain area banded together to form Colorado Authors’ League (CAL). “The development of a center of authorship in Colorado,” Mr. Carhart, the president of the new league, “has been so swift, so amazing, that few people have realized that we have such a center here. Today there are perhaps 150 Colorado authors who appear in the columns of national publications.”
The goals of shared by the CAL writers of depression era America sound familiar. They sought to influence a new copyright law and wanted “our Rocky Mountain folk to know our Rocky Mountain authors.” Members saw shared contacts and addressing of other “practical needs” of writers provided the most significant benefit of membership.
CAL has partnered with the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library throughout its 80 years. CAL’s members have researched books and articles in Western History, and Western History has cataloged CAL members books over the decades.
No professional writer in the early 1930s could have predicted the sea change writers face in the first decades of the 21st century. The explosion of information, losing independent newspapers and the collapse of traditional publishing leave writers with both increased opportunity and decreased security. Incredibly, fiction and fact now vie for audience attention under the “news” heading.
CAL Award 2019 Finalists announced!
Colorado Author’s League
Best of 2018
List of Finalists (in alphabetical order)
1. POETRY, SINGLE POEM
- Art Elser, Four Massive Horses Stand Quietly
- Dan Guenther, Seventy Miles Outside of Denver
- Dan Guenther, The Whale Watcher’s Road, Moreton Bay
2. POETRY, COLLECTION
- Carolyn Evans Campbell, What Kind of Love Was That?
- Joseph Murphy, Having Lived
- RosemerryWatolaTrommer, Naked for Tea
4. ESSAYS
- Lou Dean, Work In Progress
- Patricia Raybon, Your Best Years Are Not Behind You
- Penny Rafferty Hamilton, A Pink Warrior Shares Insights from Her Oncology Odyssey
5. CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
- Aaron LaPedis, A Boy Named Penguin: Different is the New Perfect
- Lisa Reinicke, Football Flyboy
- Phyllis Perry, All About Julia Morgan
6. CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT: Chapter book, Fiction or Non-Fiction
- Phyllis Perry, Missing Bones
- Sarah Byrn Rickman, BJ Erickson: Wasp Pilot
- Virginia K. White, Glasses for Margie7.
7. ADULT NOVEL
- Category A: Romance
- Jodi Bowersox, Mars Madness
- Sheri Cobb South, The Desperate Duke
- Category B: Mystery, Crime, Suspense
- Cynthia Swanson, The Glass Forest
- J.A. Turley, The Hole Truth
- John E. Stith, Pushback
- Category C: Science Fiction, Fantasy
- Jane H. Bock & Carl E. Bock, Swamp Guide
- R. Gary Rahan, A Once Dead Genius in the Kennel of Master MorticueAmbergrand
- Todd Fahnestock, Charlie Fiction
- Category E: Western
- Ellen Kingsman Fisher, Hill’s Gold
- J.M. Mitchell, Killing Godiva’s Horse
- Category F: Literary
- Courtney Miller, Ghili, The Chief Named Dog
- Maralee McLean, Prosecuted But Not Silenced
- Sheldon Friedman, The Silk Swan
- 10. NON-FICTION
- Category A: Cookbooks, Travel, Self Help, Health and Fitness, etc.
- Aaron LaPedis, The Garage Sale Millionaire
- Kelly Robbins , Trust Your Next Step
- Michele Morris, Poco a Poco
- Category B: Historical
- Denny Dressman, Beyond the Camps
- Jeffrey B. Miller, WWI Crusaders
- Judi Buehrer, Two Years in Moscow
- Liz Morton Duckworth, Poker Alice Tubbs: The Straight Story
- Category A: Cookbooks, Travel, Self Help, Health and Fitness, etc.
- 11. E-BOOK
- Claudia Cangilla McAdam, Beckoning
- Lisa Reinicke, Football Flyboy
- Margaret Mizushima, Burning Ridge
- 13. SCREENPLAY/STAGEPLAY
- Bruce Leaf, Sea Change
- Jennie MacDonald, A Merry Widow or Two
- M.J. Evans & Jalynn Venis, Heart of a Mustang
- 15. COVER DESIGN
- Aaron LaPedis, A Boy Named Penguin: Different is the New Perfect
- K.M. Ecke, Moral Panic
- Lisa Reinicke, Bart’s Escape Out the Gate
Despite the changes, Colorado Authors’ League continues to draw ethical, professional writers to its membership. CAL still supports the earliest goals established in 1931. Members value receiving Colorado Authors’ League Awards. Members only compete for this annual recognition. The award enhances the reputation of every winner and opens doors for marketing opportunities.
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