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Attention Book Illustrators and Cover Designers!

Colorado Authors League has long been about the business of storytelling, and now we’re opening our membership to include those who tell stories through art!


Book Illustrators and Cover designers, we invite you to apply for membership and take advantage of the rich benefits that CAL provides its members from friendship to promotion

to a chance to win your very own CAL award for Illustration or Cover Design!


We want to promote your work, click HERE to see just one of the ways.

Read CAL's Statement on AI

UPCOMING EVENTS


Dec. 1-Jan 31 CAL Awards is open for submissions


Dec. 2-3 Georgetown Christmas Market


Dec. 9-10 Georgetown Christmas Market


Dec. 17 Holiday Party


July 21 CAL Awards Celebration


Nov 22-24 Denver Christmas Show



Retail Opportunities Calendar




Colorado Conference Calendar


April 18-21, 2024 Readers Take Denver



April 19-20, 2024 American Christian Fiction Writers Conference


April 24-26, 2024 Pikes Peak Writers


May 19-20, 2024 Writing Heights Conference


Sept 27-29, 2024 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers


Sept 30, 2023 Castle Rock Writers

Introducing the CAL Speakers' Bureau


Are you searching for a speaker for your special event or book club? Look no further! Click HERE to find a Colorado author to fit your needs.

In the spotlight: Jo Fontana

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My journey as a writer has been an unusual one. I started writing when I was in junior high. Initially I wrote poems. Afterwards, I delved into short stories. I wanted to write horror but was surprised to learn that wouldn’t be my main focus. Instead, I discovered that I’m a genre-fluid, hybrid author.


As an adult, the urge to write was always there even though my college major was in another discipline. I began writing again while my daughter was still in elementary school after she begged me to make up stories about a stuffed green monkey I had bought her. After a while, I began putting the stories down on paper for her to read. Those stories developed into a limited-

run children’s book series published by a small local press.


Afterwards, I wrote more short stories and one of them, “The Plant Lady,” won first prize in a local contest. Later, I began developing what was to become my first novel. This was a story I had fermenting in my head for several years. Sometimes those stories become trunk stories. I had no idea then, that this would become my debut novel, Gods of the Bay. It was also a finalist in the 2021 CAL awards.


The craziest adventures I have been on come from journeys my characters must embark upon to heal themselves or their worlds, and they are ones that I would never have experienced on my own. Even though I plot my work, the characters usually begin to awaken and then tell me what the story should be. This happened when I created the world of the Bruised Lands which is the setting for my young adult fantasy series. The protagonist and I argued during most of the writing of the books because sometimes even though you want your characters to be better people than you are, they still have flaws. And some of those flaws can be something you’re not comfortable with, but since I was given the advice to write what scares me, in the end, the character won the argument.


Several years ago, I had to learn another language for my other profession. It was so important for me to be able to learn it or my performance would be woefully inadequate, that I finished an associate degree. In order not to regress too much, I’ve begun working on several bilingual projects. I’m grateful to have the ability to combine my skills with my passion to create

interesting stories.



Please visit www.jofontana.com for more information.

Did you miss our gift show appearances?

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You can still get great books by CAL authors!

Check out the online Holiday Boutique 

and the CAL Genre Pages for buy links and author websites.

2022 co-op booth, Robert, Tyler

The BigHorn Book Nook is Back!

As part of the Georgetown Christmas Market 2023


When: Two Weekends in December: Dec. 2, 3, 9, 10


Time: Open 9 am-4pm


Where: The Community Center, Georgetown CO


Authors:

Reserve your spot now as a book vendor.

Contact Jerry Fabyanic: jerry@jerryfabyanic.com for details


Shoppers:

Get thee to Georgetown in December and buy books for all the readers on your Christmas list!


The CAL Awards

The CAL Awards opens for submissions Dec. 1


The CAL Awards isn't just about books. We also have categories for published Poetry, Essays, Short Stories, Articles, Illustration, Plays, Screen Plays, and Cover Design!


Find out more HERE


Finalists will be announced in June.


CAL Awards Celebration will be held in July.



Barb Lundy was the 2023 CAL Lifetime Achievement Award Winner


Watch Barb at the Awards

Watch past CAL Celebration videos


79th Annual CAL Awards, presented by Jodi & Kevin Bowersox


80th Annual CAL Awardss, presented by Jody Pritzl


81st Annual CAL Awards, presented by Jodi Bowersox, Laurie Marr Wasmund, and Claire Fishback



82nd Annual CAL Awards, presented by Jodi Bowersox, Laurie Marr Wasmund, and Kathryn Winograd

CAL Racks in Colorado Springs and Lakewood

Support these businesses that support CAL



5670 N. Academy Blvd

Colorado Springs

Third Space Rack
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Located in the

Colorado Mills Mall

14500 W. Colfax Avenue

Lakewood, CO


Perfect Gift book rack

Nowhere near our book racks?

You can still find great books by CAL authors. Check out our Genre Pages.

Autographed books make a great gift year-round. Contact authors directly to get signed copies.

CAL Authors Release New Books!

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A Witness Who Can’t Identify a Killer and a Killer Who Thinks She Can

Buy Your Copy Here



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Take a drive into the literary landscapes of Colorado.

Available on Amazon

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A gritty struggle to reclaim everything and everyone has has lost.

Available on Amazon


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The story of Charles Starkweather, considered to be the first mass killer in America

Buy Yours Now


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International kidnapping, drug addiction, poisoning and human trafficking.

Find it on Amazon

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Winter snows are coming, and Darkenwald Castle is under siege.

Buy Your Copy Here


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The conclusion to the award-winning psychological suspense series

Buy yours today!

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A historical re-imagining of the lives of poet Christina Rossetti and artist Elizabeth Siddal.

Find it on Amazon


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Adam must unravel the mystery of a powerful aircraft, an abandoned child, and why he risked so much to steal them both.

Buy Yours Now

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How many times does a genius have to die anyway?

Buy yours today!


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Some lies can’t be untold.

Buy yours today!

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Everyone must follow, even to the grave.

Buy Yours Now





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Katie has a rule to never get involved with a coworker until she meets August.

Find it on Amazon

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What happens when the US expels a state from the Union?

Buy Yours Now


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 The stakes are nothing less than life and death.

Available on Amazon

And Publish Plays, Essays, Articles, and Poems!

R. Gary Raham's article "Flower or Fungus? That is the Question." has been published in the Spring 2023 edition of Colorado Gardener.

Read it at https://www.coloradogardener.com/post/flower-or-fungus





An Interview with CAL poet and former Colorado Poet Laureate Joseph Hutchison can be found at:


Https://compulsivereader.com/2023/08/16/an-interview-with-joe-hutchison/


Gregory SETH Harris' poem "After the Flood" was published by Lightwood.



Kathryn Winograd's essay, "Mist Nets: After the Uvalde Shooting," is now posted at Terrain.org. Another essay, "Floating in the Riparian," can be read at Shanti Arts!

https://www.shantiarts.co

/SPAQ/SPAQ49/files/winograd.pdf

Art Goodtimes' poem has been published in the Colorado Times-Recorder. Read it at https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2023/05/poem-selling-you-a-phony-life-of-plunder/53518/. It is Art's fourth poem to be published in the newspaper.



Annie Dawid's story "Not Drinking the Kool-Aid" about the people who escaped Jonestown has been published in Half and One. Find it at https://halfandone.com/not-drinking-the-kool-aid/.



Recent Articles
CAL Member News

CAL Authors In Action

Helping Students

In 2020, CAL members joined together to create a book of writing prompts for students of all ages.


Paperback and Kindle versions available on Amazon


Download Options in English and Spanish






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Helping the Community


CAL authors often contribute to Little Free Libraries!


Slideshow
Little Library 2021

CAL Is A Proud Sponsor of

Colorado Sun