Attitudes at Altitude May Hall of Fame Newsletter

Welcome to the May edition of Attitudes at Altitude, the voice of the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame. Here in the Rockies, we can feel and see spring coming forth. What I love is the sudden appearance of the new leaf greening that begins to encompass the naked branches.

In each edition, you will get updated news on happenings. Planning is moving forward for the next awarding of Aspiring Authors Scholarships. The Board won’t know until June who the judges recommend receiving the scholarships. Submissions for this year’s Aspiring Author Scholarships have been sent to the judges to select up to five recipients to be honored on September 16. Don’t miss the fun luncheon event. AND TELL OTHERS to come.

And of course, encouragement to let others know about the Hall … the first in the United States that only honors published authors exclusively. Planning is moving forward for the next awarding of Aspiring Authors Scholarships

Don’t miss out on the one-on-one Author Talk Happy Hour with author and 2023 inductee Kathleen O’Neal Gear on May 8th. I’m looking forward to visiting with epic historical fantasy fiction author with her PLUS other surprise revelations. Always a delight and fun. And you will get a replay if you can’t make the live session.

Dive into a celebration of the outstanding authors inducted into the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame. Check out the 2023 latest Inductees along with the photo gallery of the event HERE. https://coloradoauthorshalloffame.org/inductions

You will be introduced to individual Inductees each month and encouraged to add their books. This month, Abelardo “Lalo” Delgado and Bill Hamilton are featured. Both are 2023 Inductees.

In gratitude for you and your support of the Hall,

Abelardo “Lalo” Delgado

(1931 – 2004) was a university professor, community organizer, and prolific writer. Lalo is considered el abuelito (grandfather) of Chicano literature. His poetry, frequently anthologized, is part of the lexicon of Chicano Studies programs on college campuses and the basis for his posthumous appointment as Poet Laureate of Denver.

Upon his death, the Los Angeles Times declared Lalo Delgado a “seminal force” in the development of Chicano literature, and the New York Times hailed him as a writer of “vivid descriptions of the injustices suffered by many Mexican-Americans.”

He was the author of 14 books, most of them self-published because publishers failed to accept Chicano literature as a legitimate literary art form. Delgado wrote in Spanish, English, and a combination of the two. In so doing, he showed that Spanglish was “a legitimate form of communication.” He strived to make poetry available to his community by xeroxing his poems and selling them for 10 cents.

He recited his poems in a booming voice everywhere - protest marches, meetings, picket lines, rallies, college classrooms, and in the streets.

FEATURED BOOKS: Homenaje a Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado y Rodolfo "Corky" González, Here Lies Lalo,

Bill Hamilton

Military officer, Bill Hamilton, started in journalism delivering papers for his hometown Anadarko Daily News. He went on to spend 19 years as a featured columnist for USA Today, within an overall 40-year career writing his weekly "Central View" opinion column for newspapers across the Great Plains.

He is a laureate of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. In Colorado, with his wife, Penny, he co-authored four espionage novels, drawing largely on Bill's adventures as a Cold War "spook."

Bill is the author of War During Peace: a Strategy for Defeat, his revealing history of the Vietnam War based on two years of combat in Southeast Asia. He is a laureate of the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame. With Penny, he co-holds a World Aviation Speed Record.

He is a laureate of the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame and the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Military Foundation Hall of Fame and was awarded with over 20 Air Medals. His military career awarded him the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit, four Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart.

In 2020, Bill was named Grand County Citizen of the Year.

FEATURED BOOKS: The Wit and Wisdom of William Hamilton: The Sage of Sheepdog Hill,
The War During Peace: A strategy for Defeat.

USE this code for the live Zoom meeting on March 13 at 5 P.M. MT:
https://bit.ly/AuthorTalkHappyHour

Pass code is Hall

Who Is Kathy Gear?

Kathleen O'Neal Gear began writing full-time in 1986. Since then, she has published over 100 non-fiction publications in the fields of archaeology, history, and writing, and has authored or co-authored 57 novels, and 37 international bestsellers, which have been translated into 29 languages and become an international bestseller countless times. Over 18 million copies of her books are in print. Frequently, she co-authors with her husband W. Michael Gear on many of her books. Both weave in their archaeology DNA into rich storytelling that captures fans worldwide.

✔ She was honored by the United States Congress with a "Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition.”

✔ The State of California passed Joint Member Resolution #117 saying, "The contributions of Kathleen O'Neal Gear to the fields of history, archaeology, and writing have been invaluable in 2015.

✔ She won her first writing contest when she was 13.

✔ She is an authority on Bisons.

✔ She Western Writers of America awarded her with its prestigious Spur Award in 2023.

✔ She was inducted into the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame in 2023.

It's a great author stop and awe time with the Inductees of the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame. All sessions will be recorded, and registrants will receive the replay ... and they are FREE.

Listen in. Join in the conversation. Have fun. Ask Kathy your questions.

Two true masters of storytelling reveal their practices and tips to create a fictional world that comes alive and feels real to the reader. Read and chew on what Hall Inductees Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear do to create their epic fantasy historical fiction.

FLYING SNAKES, SEEING HANDS, MAGICAL WEEPING EYES

WRITING HISTORICAL FANTASY FICTION

By Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear

The year is A.D. 1350. Can you name the largest city in America? Come on, you live here. It can’t be that hard. Okay, we’ll give you a hint: it dominated four states for nearly four hundred years—that’s one hundred years longer than New York City has been in existence. This city had economic ties to Canada in the north, Florida in the south, and Oklahoma in the west. For its first two hundred years a twenty-foot-tall wall with bastions every thirty yards surrounded it. After that, it was so powerful no enemies could mount a sufficient threat to challenge the great fortifications.

Still can’t name that city?

That’s why we write historical fiction. The goal is not merely to entertain, though we certainly try to do that, but it’s also to educate. We want people to know that a great civilization flourished in A.D. 1350 around what it today Moundville Alabama. Moundville wasn’t the only powerful city in the Southeast, but it survived the longest, was the most powerful, and built the largest monuments. While it’s a twenty-minute drive south of Tuscaloosa, you can no longer see the Great Wall or the multi-storied buildings that once stood there. What you will see are foundations, but even seven hundred years later, they remain impressive. Why, you might ask, are foundations all that are left? These people built with logs and roofed with thatch. Log buildings—no matter how large—don’t survive in humid forests for nearly seven hundred years.

How does a writer create a world that hasn’t existed in centuries? That’s what historical fantasy is all about.

Our first stop in the process is the archaeological record. Who were the extraordinary people who built this civilization? Archaeology tells us that it was probably the ancestral Chickasaw. They moved to the area around A.D. 1000, conquered the ancestral Alabama peoples, and built a city that would inherit part of the grand Cahokia legacy. Cahokia is a grand world heritage site near St. Louis. Archaeologists call these mound-building cultures “Mississippian.” For newcomers to archaeology, Mississippian describes a series of cultures that traded and warred, built earthworks, created stylistically unique artworks, charted the cycles of the sun, moon, and stars, and built similar houses.

By now, it probably sounds like we are writing pure historical fiction, but many readers of our books, People of the Weeping Eye and People of the Thunder, will call it epic fantasy, for this is a world at once familiar but ultimately foreign. We rely on the myths and legends of the great Southeastern tribes to help us interpret what we find in the archaeological record. Those people believed the world was divided into three realms: the sky, earth, and underworld. Each of these worlds was filled with powerful and dangerous spirit beings. The most powerful were those that incorporated two or three realms--like snakes with wings, birds that lived underwater, and flying fish with human hands. Only a very powerful holy person, like the Kala Hiki in Weeping Eye, could locate and pass through the holes that led from one realm to the next. Along the path, he might encounter the most dangerous spirit of all: a horned serpent. He had rainbow-colored scales, horns on his head, and great crystal eyes. Ancient Mississippians believed as firmly in the existence of their spirit beings as modern Americans do in any of their cherished religious figures.

So, it would be inaccurate for us to build a prehistoric world without including ancient religious concepts. Could an author write about European civilizations over the past seven centuries and leave out Christianity, Judaism, and Islam? Yes. It’s called alternate history, and it’s classified as science fiction. When we include ancient spiritual beliefs that brim with unfamiliar magic and mysticism, it’s generally categorized as fantasy.

And there you have it. The key to writing great historical fantasy is to start with the real places, people, and beliefs that existed at the time. Once you have the historical foundation you can weave fictional characters and supernatural elements into the framework to build a world that is believable and enjoyable for your reader.

Julie is a registered patent and intellectual property attorney who brings twenty-five years of experience to the table. Julie focuses her practice on US and international patents, US and international trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property portfolio strategy and management, transactions and licenses, and technology transfer. Julie provides balanced general, transactional, and intellectual property legal advice based on her significant experience and proven track record related to patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and the structuring and negotiation of licenses and other agreements.

Attitudes at Altitude’s promises to our readers…

We celebrate the outstanding authors inducted into the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame since 2019. They are the first in the United States with a connection to Colorado to have been honored as published authors, highlighting the impact and breadth of their work.

The next Induction will be on September 15, 2025. Put the date on your calendar. The venue is the DoubleTree Hilton Denver Tech Center in Greenwood Village.

• Each month, past Inductees are featured with their backgrounds and latest books.

• Past Inductees will offer their sage advice on “how they do it”–whatever “it” is.

• You will be the first to hear about planned Hall Events. Meet a favorite author ... or a new one that has delivered mega hours of reading enjoyment ... one that has made an impact on society or their field.

Support the Hall

The Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame celebrates the accomplishments of living and deceased authors who have been connected to Colorado—their words, wisdom, accomplishments, and the life-changing impact their works create. The result: their legacy lives on.

The Hall is an all-volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that honors and celebrates authors connected with Colorado by birth, residence, temporary residency for writing encouragement and support, writing about elements within Colorado, or placing storylines in or about Colorado.

Authors’ words have immense power and impact on changing others’ lives. They solve problems, bring awareness to a topic, and provide hours of pleasurable reading. It’s the power of their words.

Your financial assistance through donations and participation at events supports the bi-annual Induction Gala in odd-numbered years, the Aspiring Author Scholarships, and the general operation to bring these events to the public.

Please support the Hall for this year going forward.