By Camera staff

Pinch Hitting

By >> Morris Hoffman

Book >> Fiction, 337 pages

Summary >> Joe Skelton has never written anything longer than a shopping list, but now his brain tumor is making him write a novel. It’s a baseball novel about a crippled janitor who cleans up at a forgotten minor league field and who is accidentally discovered to be a perfect, never-miss hitter. Will Joe die before we find out whether the Joltin’ Janitor makes it to the big leagues? An imagined Roger Angell leads an unforgettable ensemble of quirky characters on a gentle and poignant race to discover the meaning of baseball, fate, will and chance.

“Pinch Hitting” has been short-listed for the 2024 CASEY Award, a prestigious national award for baseball-related literature. The 42nd annual awards will be in Cincinnati, Ohio, in March 2025.

Author >> Morris Hoffman was a Colorado trial judge for 30 years, during which time he learned much about fate, chance and will. He played lots of baseball when he was younger, all glove and no stick. He is a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Law and Neuroscience, the author of a non-fiction book, “The Punisher’s Brain” and a co-author with four MacArthur colleagues of a second non-fiction book, “Brain Basics for Lawyers, Judges, and Policymakers.” He lives with his wife Kate in Denver. They have two grown sons, two growing granddaughters and two black dogs. This is his debut novel.

Fe: An Atom’s Tale

By >> Benjamin Bronte

Book >> Science fiction, 550 pages

Summary >> Cloud Atlas meets Forrest Gump meets Albert Einstein in this fast-paced, grippingly brilliant 8-billion-year biography of the universe’s most interesting iron atom. Born from a dying red giant, the atom Fe orbits the early solar system, trapped aboard an iron-nickel asteroid. Now, after billions of years of waiting, Fe is about to fall to Earth and into the clutches of vicious and clever Homo sapiens. Benjamin Bronte’s brilliant debut novel is an ingenious telling of humanity’s past, present and future, all through the quantum-scale perspective of a single atom.

Author >> Benjamin Bronte is a lifelong science-fiction nerd. He holds degrees in physics and science education from the University of Colorado and has worked as an instructor, train conductor, horticulturist and professional ghost writer. He is the author of the speculative-horror collection “The Endangered Species Act and Other Stories” (2023).

Under the Goddess of the Sky:A Journey Through Solitude, Bach and the Himalayas

By >> Judith Glyde

Book >> Memoir, 200 pages

Summary >> For a journey of enlightenment, the author spends three months in the splendor of the Khumbu with her cello. Witnessing the life of the Sherpa surviving the harsh environment of the Himalayas and with a visit to the “Goddess of the Sky” atop the highest mountain, her quest becomes clear. This memoir sets itself apart by placing Bach in the landscape of Nepal, the life of the Sherpa and the Khumbu — the Everest region of the Himalayas. New and surprising, this is an unlikely, or perhaps not, juxtaposition. This volume will speak to a large audience: the adventurer, the musician, the travel enthusiast, the lover of mountains and all those in search of a challenge.

Author >> Judith Glyde recently retired as a professor of cello and chamber music in the College of Music at the University of Colorado Boulder (1992-2014). From 1970 until 1992, she was the founding cellist of the Manhattan String Quartet in New York City.

Epilectra

By >> Sue Seserman

Book >> Graphic novel, 200 pages

Summary >> “Epilectra: Book 1” is the first in the graphic novel series about a team of modern superheroes with different disabilities they transform into superabilities to rehabilitate adversaries and make the world a better place.

Epilectra is the leader of the superhero team in the series, Team SEEZ, for Support & Empower Everyone Zealously. She has epilepsy and harnesses the seizure-causing electricity in her brain to shoot through her fingertips as lightning. The other heroes are Epilectra’s brother, Logan, who has paraplegia; her best friend, Insulator, who has type 1 diabetes; Aupticus, who has autism; C.P., who has cerebral palsy; and Endo-Girl, who has endometriosis.

Author >> Sue Seserman is the creator and author of “Epilectra.” She is a writer, memoirist and publicist. She resides in Denver and New York City with her husband, Doug, and their wonderdog, Scooter. Sue hopes “Epilectra” will provide senses of empowerment and possibility for anyone managing a disability.

— Interested local authors can submit new books to the Author Spotlight at bit.ly/BoulderCountyAuthors.