A five-time winner of the Colorado Book Award for fiction will participate in a panel discussion this month as part of the City of Aurora's third annual Power of One Perspective, a lecture series focusing on the theme of mystery.

Author Margaret Coel, who just won her fifth Colorado Book Award for fiction for her work "The Girl with the Braided Hair," will join four other mystery writers for the panel "Did You Ever Want to Write Mysteries?" at 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Aurora Central Library, 14949 E. Alameda Parkway.

The writers will discuss their craft and inspiration for exciting plots and dastardly characters with some lively readings from their books. The other writers slated to appear are:

Christine Goff
Goff, author of the "Birdwatcher's Mystery" series, was named the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' 2002 Writer of the Year. Two of her novels were chosen as finalists for the Willa Literary Award for Best Original Paperback fiction. Able to identify more than 212 Colorado bird species, Goff is an avid field-birding enthusiast.

Robert Greer
Greer, a native of Columbus, Ohio, is a professor of pathology, medicine, surgery and dentistry at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center where he specializes in head and neck pathology and cancer research. In addition to his degrees in dentistry, medicine and pathology, Greer holds a master's degree in creative writing from Boston University. His short stories have appeared in dozens of national literary magazines. He founded The High Plains Literary Review in 1986 and continues to serve as its editor-in-chief.

R.T. Lawton
Lawton has more than 50 published short stories in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, the "Who Died In Here?" anthology, the U-Solve-It mini-mysteries in Woman's World Magazine and other publications. With a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in criminal justice, Lawton is a Vietnam veteran and a retired federal law enforcement agent.

Manuel Ramos
Ramos, also a winner of the Colorado Book Award, is the author of several crime fiction novels that have garnered other recognition such as the Chicano/Latino Literary Award (University of California at Irvine) and the Edgar® nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. A native of Florence, Colo., Ramos is director of advocacy for Colorado Legal Services, the statewide legal aid program.

The Power of One Perspective is the final part in a year-long series of events designed to connect and inspire the community. For more information on The Power of One, call 303-739-6600 or visit auroragov.org/powerofone.

The Power of One is presented by the City of Aurora Library, Recreation & Cultural Services and sponsored by the Friends of the Aurora Public Library, in partnership with Barnes & Noble and the Colorado Film School at Lowry.