Would your book club or group be interested in hearing a presentation about one of Colorado’s important, but unheralded, pioneers?

My award-winning historical novel, Mariano’s Crossing, recounts the gripping struggle between a Mexican father, his Indian wife, and a young Scots-Irish suitor over the future of fifteen-year- old Lena, a young horseback riding prodigy. The book is based on real people who lived in post-gold rush Colorado. Mariano Medina, an historically significant figure, is best known for his rescue of a U.S. Army brigade trying to cross Colorado in the winter of 1857.

My slide presentation, “From Fact to Fiction,” includes historic photos of the characters in my book, along with an account of how gaps in the historical record led to compelling questions best answered by fiction.

• Why did Mariano Medina’s Indian wife steal her daughter’s body for a secret burial after the girl’s untimely death at age 15?
• Why did Medina send his daughter to an expensive boarding school in Denver, and why did she run away?
• How did Medina, the richest man in the Big Thompson valley, cope with anti- Mexican sentiment in the aftermath of the U.S.-Mexican war?

I also speak about the writing process, bringing characters to life, and how growing up on our family ranch in Colorado has influenced the setting for the book. My book presentation takes about 45 minutes.

Mariano’s Crossing has won multiple awards, including First Place in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Contest and Finalist for the Colorado Book Award.