Local authors show o talents in Littleton

Literary talent shines

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Littleton’s literary talent shines through in two recently published books by local authors. Released this winter, these books show imagination, tenacity and skill, giving a reason to look local for your next page-turner.

The Procedure

Elea Plotkin’s childhood near a ski area in Washington state partially inspired her novel, e Procedure , which follows a world class extreme free skier as she trains for the world championships.

“I want it to be an adventure book that just sweeps people up into its story and brings them into this world of the alpine splendor and thrills,” Plotkin said. “ at’s always been my salvation -- the alpine, the high alpine. at’s where I get my strength and my fortitude, is through the mountains.” e book takes readers from Crested Butte to Chile, Alaska and the Alps as the main character, Whitney Olson, trains on some of the most dangerous peaks in the world. In addition to being a professional skier, Olson is the single mother of a child with a seizure disorder.

“She’s dealing with deathdefying skiing every single time she goes out there,” Plotkin said. “However, the one real con ict she has in her psyche is that she has a daughter who is six years old and she’s a single parent and her daughter has a medical disability. And so she is always having to leave her daughter behind in Crested Butte with her grandparents.”

Plotkin said she hopes Olson’s story helps readers to see the unique challenges that female athletes, especially those who are or want to be parents, face in their careers.

“Even though the protagonist is a female… I’m really hoping that men read the book and enjoy the story and also take away and have a better understanding of what women may in fact be experiencing in their inner world as working par- ents, too, not just skiing,” she said, “ e skiing is obviously the focus of this book, but I think that the ideas and the general idea also spills over into a lot of the real world.” e book takes a psychological twist when Olson’s coach sends her to get a secret operation to remove the part of her brain that senses fear. is aspect of the plot forces readers ponder the ethics and implications of altering athletes’ emotional states.

In addition to the drama, adventure and thrill of the novel, Plotkin hopes it helps people understand the power of nature.

“I see this come up a lot in writing and stories about climbers and extreme skiers, and sometimes people say, ‘Well, why do they go out and risk their lives to do something like that?’” Plotkin said. “And I hope that when people read this story, what they begin to understand is that being up in the mountains and in that kind of amazing and beautiful terrain is so life-a rming for people.... It’s like going to church, you know, it’s the cathedral.” e self-published book is available online at Amazon, Walmart, Target and Barnes and Noble.

Screenwriters Molly Orr Rosenberg and Sara Page recently purchased rights to adapt e Procedure . into a feature-length screenplay.

Plotkin will have a book signing 1-4 p.m. on April 1 at the Dakota Lodge at 14422 W Ken Caryl Ave. in Littleton. She will accept cash or personal check for book purchases.

Society, Suspicious e pseudonymous author Freeman Smith explores the Jan. 6 insurrection in his new satirical book, Society, Suspicous

“ e plot is a little bit di erent,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of short stories and poetry that may seem unconnected to the overall plot, but everything deals with the people that were, in my opinion, very much responsible for trying to destroy our democracy on January 6 and before that.”

Smith, who has written a couple of books and blogs in the past, said he was never an “overly political” person, but has always paid attention to politics. When demonstra- tors protesting the results of the 2020 presidential election stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, he developed a stronger political opinion.

“It was just time, in my opinion, to choose a side,” he said. “You’re either for democracy or you’re not.”

Smith felt writing a novel was a creative way to take a stance.

“At that point, I needed to not complain, not sit in front of the TV and wring my hands and make comments about people and about what was going on -- it was just time to do something,” he said. “I wasn’t going to go to Washington and march. I wasn’t going to start phoning congressmen and yelling at them. I just thought this was a di erent way, in a di erent method.” e book, which is ctional, uses short stories and poems to follow QAnon leader Jim Morrison (yes, the singer). QAnon is a far-right political movement rooted in a conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump is working to save the world from Satanworshipping pedophiles in government, business and the media. roughout the book, Smith examines narcissism, social media and the psychology of cults and conspiracies.

Smith said he hopes the book helps readers to understand the signi cance of Jan. 6 and what it meant for American democracy.

“I want (readers) to understand that something really bad happened,” he said. “Something really bad could have happened had things gone just a little bit di erently that day.”

In addition, he hopes the book is genuinely enjoyable for readers.

“It’s also done in a way that’s humorous and I think a little bit clever and different and unique,” he said. “Even if you don’t look at it even politically, a lot of the stories are just stories… I just want people to be amused. I want them to understand what happened in a different way instead of reading a journalist’s account or a factual account, to look at this in a different way.”

He said he thinks some readers might be o ended by the content, but he is ready for that.

Society, Suspicious was published by Atmosphere Press. e book can be purchased online at freemansmith.com, Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Castle Rock

Castle Rock Interfaith Community Prayers. A Space for Spiritual Reflections and Conversations

March Topic: Compassion

Sunday, March 26th | 10:30am - Noon

Philip S. Miller LibraryJames H. LaRue Meeting Room castlerockbahais@gmail.com castlerock.local.bahai.us/