About SunLit
At The Colorado Sun, our journalism seeks to capture the issues and essence of what it means to be a Coloradan.
But through the words of local writers, fiction and non-fiction books also reveal essential truths about what it means to live and work here — at greater length and sometimes more artfully than we can express in our reportage.
Read some of The Sun’s award-winning journalism here.
Through a feature we call SunLit, we will present new excerpts from some of the best Colorado authors that not only spin engaging narratives but also illuminate who we are as a community. We offer these literary appetizers as part of our mission to reinforce that sense of community as well as to provide ways for readers to experience different points of view — and maybe discover a writer whose work resonates with them.
By partnering with Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book, SunLit each Friday will offer selections from that organization’s Colorado Book Award finalists and others for readers to sample — always for free. Those will be accompanied by a Q&A with the featured author to lend context and background to the selection, as well as its place in the writer’s larger catalog.
We hope that this is just the beginning for SunLit.
We’re starting with some basics, but as circumstances allow, we’d love to expand our offerings to showcase more of Colorado’s vibrant fiction and non-fiction writers before a statewide audience — whether through feature articles, reviews or other means.
So kick back, relax and give these Colorado-connected writers a read. Then let us hear your thoughts at SunLit@coloradosun.com.
— Kevin Simpson, Staff Writer
Read the latest SunLit features
- How an iconic Hitchcock film inspired a young adult novel about reality in the internet age
- Harmless fun at a sleepover leads to life-altering consequences via the internet
- None of his 25 novels made it into print. Fellow writers so respected him that they became his publisher.
- A hit-and-run, a dim bar, a drink and a decision sketch the inner landscape of one man’s world
- True crime planted the seed for Colorado author Carter Wilson’s psychological thriller
- Paranoia, a dark past and a face on a dating app add new twists to a tale inspired by a real-life crime
- How Zooey Deschanel and a 90-year-old grandmother inspired a musical passion — and a murder mystery
- Touring a women’s camp, journalist Viva encounters the bald and mysterious Marisol
- Melding fantasy with Greek mythology proved challenging — but also a lot of fun
- Pointed toward the underworld and told to use his instincts, freshly tattooed Ty begins his adventure
- An image, an old cookbook and a writer’s instinct inspired a novel of compelling family dynamics
- A 1984 flashback reveals family dynamics forged in a trying political campaign
- A chance visit to two historic grave sites set in motion the author’s wish to cast Billy the Kid in her fiction
- An intimate bilingual encounter draws a storied gunfighter to a conflicted young woman
- From a dream job that was not without its risks came the inspiration for outdoor thrillers
- Rhinos, wild horses, politics — and dead bodies — set a frenetic pace from D.C. to Kenya
- How a discarded title for her previous book became a Colorado author’s inspiration for the next one
- A K-9 detective does his job well, which means Deputy Mattie Cobb has another mystery on her hands
- Filling out an online dating profile can be tricky. Is honesty always the best policy?
- From Cyclops to a woman literally disappearing in the mist, a Colorado author explores the meaning of home