Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

CYBER MONDAY 2022! Only 2 Days Left of Chanticleer’s Annual Cyber Sale!
This Cyber Monday — Don’t Miss Out on these Once-A-Year Deals!

ONLY CYBER SALE of the YEAR

CHANTICLEER says

“THANK GOODNESS, I am a ROOSTER!”

CYBER SALE

We can’t save the turkey,

but we can save you $$$

Check out these T.G.I.A.N.A.T. SPECIALS

(Thank Goodness I am Not a Turkey)

Time’s running out!

SALE PRICES ARE VALID until midnight PST Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2022

CYBER SALE – LIMITED TIME

Check out these awesome sales!

Chanticleer Editorial Book Review Package for $370

Purchase the book review package now and you can redeem it anytime in the future.

Use this code upon checkout to receive the discount the unprecedented discount of $100: BKRVWTGZANAT

***** There are only a few left of these Editorial Book Review Packages available at this extremely discounted rate. *****

Applies to:
Our Book Review Package (Regularly $470) includes SEO, Meta-Data, Tagging, Social Media Promotion, and Publication in the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine. Don’t delay! Be one of the lucky few to get in on this incredible rate.

Click here to purchase a Chanticleer Book Review Package for only $370.

Receive a $100 discount off CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023).

Note: This is our 11th Anniversary Conference and you do not want to miss out!
Seating is limited, so Register Today!

Receive a $100 discount off EARLY BIRD CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023). USE THIS CODE CACTGZANAT23

Learn from the Best at CAC23

Past Presenters include: Cathy Ace, Robert Dugoni, Chris Humphreys, Scott Steindorff, and other insightful and exciting presenters.

Sessions on Fundraising for Authors, Audio Book Creation, Multi-Selling Platforms, Digital Marketing, Expanding Readership, Advanced Writing Craft and Content Creation, Social Media Efficacy, Increasing Sales on Amazon, SEO and Why Authors need Alphabet Soup, BISAC Codes, and much more.

Multichannel Marketing

and the Business of Being a Writer

The New Era of Content Creation in All Its Forms

Take Your Writing Craft to the Next Level

Register here!

Gift Cards? You betcha!

Holiday Gift Cards for ANY AMOUNT 10% OFF

Valid for any Chanticleer Product or Service

Use this code upon checkout to receive the 15% discount: GCTGIANAT

We will ship the gift card out in a wrapped gift box to anywhere in the USA or APO addresses — compliments of Chanticleer!

Click here for more info and to checkout.

And REMEMBER, PAYPAL Offers 6 Months Same as Cash!

Don’t Delay! Take advantage of this Once A Year CYBER SALE!

This sale ends firmly at midnight PST Wednesday, November 30, 2021.

As always, please contact us at info@ChantiReviews.com for any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

We wish you and yours a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for you, Dear Chanticleerians!

Be well. Stay safe. Keep on Writing Because We Need Good Books More Than Ever!

Kiffer, Sharon, David, Argus, Scott, and the Entire Chanticleer Team!
November 26, 2022
BLACK FRIDAY 2022! Chanticleer T.G. I. A. N. A.T. CYBER SALE! It only comes once a year!
This Black Friday — Don’t Miss Out on these Once-A-Year Deals!

ONLY CYBER SALE of the YEAR

CHANTICLEER says

“THANK GOODNESS, I am a ROOSTER!”

CYBER SALE

We can’t save the turkey,

but we can save you $$$

Check out these T.G.I.A.N.A.T. SPECIALS

(Thank Goodness I am Not a Turkey)

SALE PRICES ARE VALID Wednesday, November 23rd until midnight PST Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2022

CYBER SALE – LIMITED TIME

Check out these awesome sales!

Chanticleer Editorial Book Review Package for $370

Purchase the book review package now and you can redeem it anytime in the future.

Use this code upon checkout to receive the discount the unprecedented discount of $100: BKRVWTGZANAT

***** There are only a few left of these Editorial Book Review Packages available at this extremely discounted rate. *****

Applies to:
- Standard Editorial Book Review Package
- Audiobook Reviews
- Expedited Reviews
Our Book Review Package (Regularly $470) includes SEO, Meta-Data, Tagging, Social Media Promotion, and Publication in the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine. Don’t delay! Be one of the lucky few to get in on this incredible rate.

Click here to purchase a Chanticleer Book Review Package for only $370.

Receive a $100 discount off CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023).

Note: This is our 11th Anniversary Conference and you do not want to miss out!
Seating is limited, so Register Today!

Receive a $100 discount off EARLY BIRD CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023). USE THIS CODE CACTGZANAT23

Learn from the Best at CAC23

Past Presenters include: Cathy Ace, Robert Dugoni, Chris Humphreys, Scott Steindorff, and other insightful and exciting presenters.

Sessions on Fundraising for Authors, Audio Book Creation, Multi-Selling Platforms, Digital Marketing, Expanding Readership, Advanced Writing Craft and Content Creation, Social Media Efficacy, Increasing Sales on Amazon, SEO and Why Authors need Alphabet SOUP, BISAC Codes, and much more.

Multichannel Marketing

and the Business of Being a Writer

The New Era of Content Creation in All Its Forms

Take Your Writing Craft to the Next Level

Use this code upon checkout to receive this $100 discount – our deepest discount for the conference. CACTGZANAT23

Gift Cards? You betcha!

Click here for more info and checkout.

Holiday Gift Cards for ANY AMOUNT 10% OFF

Valid for any Chanticleer Product or Service

Use this code upon checkout to receive the 10% discount: GCTGIANAT

We will ship the gift card out in a wrapped gift box to anywhere in the USA or APO addresses — compliments of Chanticleer!

Click here for more info and to checkout.

And REMEMBER, PAYPAL Offers 6 Months Same as Cash!

Don’t Delay! Take advantage of this Once A Year CYBER SALE!

This sale ends firmly at midnight PST Wednesday, November 30, 2021.

As always, please contact us at info@ChantiReviews.com for any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

We wish you and yours a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for you, Dear Chanticleerians!

Be well. Stay safe. Keep on Writing Because We Need Good Books More Than Ever!

Kiffer, Sharon, David, Argus, Scott, and the Entire Chanticleer Team!
November 25, 2022
CYBER SALE 2022 – The Annual Chanticleer Thank Goodness I’m a Rooster Sale!

Time is Running Out — Don’t Miss Out on these Once-A-Year Deals!

ONLY CYBER SALE of the YEAR

CHANTICLEER says

“THANK GOODNESS, I am a ROOSTER!”

CYBER SALE

We can’t save the turkey,

but we can save you $$$

Check out these T.G.I.A.N.A.T. SPECIALS

(Thank Goodness I am Not a Turkey)

SALE PRICES ARE VALID Wednesday, November 23rd until midnight PST Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2022

CYBER SALE – LIMITED TIME

Check out these awesome sales!

Chanticleer Editorial Book Review Package for $370

Purchase the book review package now and you can redeem it anytime in the future.

Use this code upon checkout to receive the discount the unprecedented discount of $100: BKRVWTGZANAT

Audio Book Reviews are also eligible for Chanticleer’s only CYBER SALE of the YEAR!

Our Book Review Package (Regularly $470) includes SEO, Meta-Data, Tagging, Social Media Promotion, and Publication in the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine. Don’t delay! Be one of the lucky few to get in on this incredible rate.

Click here to purchase a Chanticleer Book Review Package for only $370.

Receive a $100 discount off CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023). USE THIS CODE CACTGZANAT23

Note: This is our 11th Anniversary Conference and you do not want to miss out!
Seating is limited, so Register Today!

Learn from the Best at CAC23

Past Presenters include: Cathy Ace, Robert Dugoni, Chris Humphreys, Scott Steindorff, and other insightful and exciting presenters.

Sessions on Fundraising for Authors, Audio Book Creation, Multi-Selling Platforms, Digital Marketing, Expanding Readership, Advanced Writing Craft and Content Creation, Social Media Efficacy, Increasing Sales on Amazon, SEO and Why Authors need Alphabet SOUP, BISAC Codes, and much more.

Multichannel Marketing

and the Business of Being a Writer

The New Era of Content Creation in All Its Forms

Take Your Writing Craft to the Next Level

Use this code upon checkout to receive this $100 discount – our deepest discount for the conference. CACTGZANAT23

Gift Cards? You betcha!

Click here for more info and checkout.

Holiday Gift Cards for ANY AMOUNT 10% OFF

Valid for any Chanticleer Product or Service

Use this code upon checkout to receive the 10% discount: GCTGIANAT

We will ship the gift card out in a wrapped gift box to anywhere in the USA or APO addresses — compliments of Chanticleer!

Click here for more info and to checkout.

And REMEMBER, PAYPAL Offers 6 Months Same as Cash!

Don’t Delay! Take advantage of this Once A Year CYBER SALE!

This sale ends firmly at midnight PST Wednesday, November 30, 2021.

As always, please contact us at info@ChantiReviews.com for any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

We wish you and yours a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for you, Dear Chanticleerians!

Be well. Stay safe. Keep on Writing Because We Need Good Books More Than Ever!

Kiffer, Sharon, David, Argus, Scott, and the Entire Chanticleer Team!

November 23, 2022
The Road So Far | November Deadline for Humor & Satire

Don’t let the joke be on you!

There’s still time to submit for the Humor and Satire Book Awards!

You can have the last laugh by submitting to the Humor and Satire Book Awards.

The Humor and Satire Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Humor and Satire. The Humor and Satire Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring satire, humor, political ideology, parody, fantasy, and allegory or fable. The Deadline for the 2022 Humor and Satire Book Awards is the end of November.

Looking to learn more about the Humor and Satire Awards? Click here!

A Newer Division of the CIBAs, the Humor and Satire is quickly establishing itself as a book award program for humor, satire, lampoons, and allegory.

Let’s take a look at some of the 2021 winners from the 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Author’s Conference!

Binge

By Anne Pfeffer

Twenty-seven-year-old Sabrina “Bree” Hunter has the chance to grasp her dream of being a published author, but will her binge eating spell the end of that dream?

After years of working for a demanding B-list talent agent in Los Angeles, Bree earned a publishing deal with Fast Track Books. She should celebrate, thrilled that her life will finally go down the right path since her graduation from Dartmouth. However, Bree has a problem that isn’t easily fixed. Her publisher expects the skinny beauty on her webpage, a picture taken many years previously.

Since the days of the photo, Bree has become a compulsive eater. She spends every moment of her day obsessing over junk food. Bree turns to food to comfort her, console her, and to bring her joy. This addiction has caused her to gain forty pounds since college. Finding dieting on her own harder than she expected, Bree agrees to attend a support group meeting. Her sister, Lena’s, boyfriend has recently found success in breaking his addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Hot Air

By Charlie Suisman

Arnold Falls bristles with zany events, quirky locals, and colorful newbies. Above all, this memorable enclave buoys its people through heart, soul, wit, and a true sense of collective spirit.

Jeebie Walker returns as the story’s central narrator.

The successful voice-over artist stands as a solid fixture in the town, now in a loving relationship with his partner Will. A volunteer fireman, illustrator, and candidate for an MA in Conservation Biology, Will jokingly claims that Jeebie makes “bossing others around” a superpower.

The Kissing Rabbi: Lust, Betrayal, and a Community Turned Inside Out

By Andy Becker

Based on a true story, Andy Becker’s tale The Kissing Rabbi is a smart, witty, and engaging novel that takes readers into the heart of a Jewish community in the Pacific Northwest.

Here a young, self-serving rabbi sets a town on edge when his salacious desires and personal financial agenda are brought to light by the people he was brought there to serve.

Rabbi Mishegas Dreidel, a young orthodox leader, arrives in the quiet town of Destiny, Oregon. His intentions seem noble as he opens up a synagogue in his basement and establishes a flock of dedicated followers.

Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles

By Elizabeth Crowens

This book is still a manuscript, but we’re excited for it to come out!

A cute premise and a light-hearted beginning. Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles features humor, mystery, and action throughout that’s easy to read and follow.

An excellent book for older readers and Hollywood movie buffs that can catch the myriad of references. The lightheartedness storyline buoys the reader along naturally. A kindly read to escape into and keep your spirits afloat.

My Only Sunshine: Getting Straight with the Bomb

By Lou Dischler

Lou Dischler delivers an intricately woven story about one well-meaning boy who tries to make sense of the crazy he’s been born into. Get ready for one belly laugh of an adventure in My Only Sunshine.

Welcome to the Louisiana low country, home of 9-year-old Charlie Boone, a kid growing up in 1962. Charlie, a most unreliable narrator, concerns himself with giant wingless wasps and biting red velvet ants. Combine his critter-concerns with the legend of the giant slugs, the story of his mother taken up by a hurricane, and the episode of the puddle he and his brother dug that grew into a pond, then turned into a lake, and we have one wildly imaginative ride well-worth taking.

Dischler delivers an epic tale that shifts from Charlie’s first-person point-of-view with his youthful ignorance coloring his observations to his Uncle Dan’s and “Aunt” Lola’s in third-person point-of-view. While Charlie ages and grows in wisdom as the story progresses, his uncle never seems to gain a lick of sense. Dischler skillfully applies the laws of magic realism to Charlie’s wonderful way of viewing his world. Uncle Dan’s story, on the other hand, derives from an inept conman’s rap-sheet – from failed grifts to bank robbery bungles that succeed only by accident. Dischler guides us, normalizing the ridiculous to the point that the characters jump off the page and set up camp in your living room.

The Grand Prize Winner!

Certified

By Roger Wilson-Crane

Certified by Roger Wilson-Crane is a multi-award-winning comedy-drama, following one man down three sharp turns in his life trajectory.

Based on real-life events, Certified shows the narrator’s birth, marriage, and death, three of the most significant milestones in human life. The book is divided into three sections.

“One Unexpected Birth” explores his flawed string of relationships until he meets Dawn, the love of his life. However, a woman from the past makes a comeback, threatening to shatter his newly found happiness.

“One Hapless Wedding” careens about his well-planned wedding in Puglia, Italy, which is trampled by Justin Timberlake who wants the same venue. “One Bizarre Death”, on the other hand, follows the loss of the narrator’s loved one and the pain and confusion that surrounds an unexpected death. Certified is full of humor, heart, and unexpected gems that one might find in a trunk of well-lived memories.

Need more Humor in your life? Check out these books that won the 2020 Humor and Satire Awards!

The sky is the limit when it comes to Humor

Even Data from Star Trek likes Mark Twain

HOW DO YOU HAVE YOUR BOOKS RECOGNIZED? Submit them to the Chanticleer International Book Awards – Click here for more information about The CIBAs!

The last day to submit your work is November 30, 2022. We invite you to join us, to tell us your stories, and to find out who will take home the prize ribbons at CAC23 in April.

As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your novel deserves! Enter today!

The Humor and Satire Book Awards for Satirical and Allegorical fiction is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.

ENTER NOW!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

November 23, 2022
FRUIT Of The POISONOUS TREE: Spider Green Mystery Thriller Series Book 1 by Norm Harris – Global Thriller, International Mystery, Action Adventure

A string of riddles awaits Military heroes in Fruit of the Poisonous Tree – a mystery that unravels into an adventurous and jarring epic of divergent national issues by Norm Harris.

JAG officer Faydra “Fay” Green opens a new investigation when Marine war hero Simon Lee is charged with the murder of Navy SEAL Paul Charma. Fay tries to demonstrate her worth as an investigator and prove that she is more than just the daughter of a former United States President. As she works her way through this challenging case, she will reveal a shady picture of government and military intrigue.

Despite Fay’s duty restricting her investigation, she can’t leave any inscrutable stone unturned.

Fay, believing Linn to be a victim of circumstance, turns to a clandestine mission to discover the true murderer. Constant roadblocks prove that forces are pushing back against her questioning Simon’s guilt. Among other mysteries, Fay couldn’t get her hands on Charma’s autopsy records and his remains are released by a Navy personnel who does not appear in any records.

On another canvas of the thriller, the sinking of the frigate USS Jonathan Carr in North Korean sea territory shakes the peace between the two countries; one sailor died under questionable circumstances.

In the midst of unraveling the Charma case, Fay becomes embroiled in this other investigation. Several questions loom as she departs for Seoul to examine the “accidental” death of the sailor: what was that ship doing in North Korean waters? And how is this incident related to the escalation of biological warfare between multiple nations? As Fay struggles to make sense of two mind-boggling cases, the question arises: Are these cases somehow connected?

Across the sea, Egan Fetcher, Navy sailor and commander of Nalon Vet, the Navy’s ghost ship, is on sea trials for 28 days, unaware of the storm that awaits him. As Fetcher’s journey intersects with Fay’s, the hazy fate of the ghost ship becomes obvious. They embark on a voyage that will decide the peace of nations on the verge of war, among intrigue, shady politics, and death threats.

Fay is a modern-day heroine.

In her bearing, she displays strength and determination with a powerful independent streak that adds to her knowledge and confidence. Clever, charming, and lovable as well as professional, Fay strikes a personal balance. In advancing the book’s theme, she faces the dystopian elements of today’s world, where power triumphs over truth, and the daunting struggle against it.

Author Norm Harris offers a detailed picture of military personnel’s style and demeanor, reflecting his experience in military service.

This thriller’s tone is as exciting as it is serious. Its plot comprises a casual sequence of behind-the-scenes dark deals under an outwardly tranquil civilization, with complex politics, rackets, and black ops agreements. However, this mixture of mystery, political intrigue, and crime thriller does not obscure the plot’s humorous and romantic undertones. Fruit of the Poisonous Tree features the delicate romance between Petty Officer Pearce and Navy Captain Fletcher, as well as Fay’s delightful and hilarious relationship with her sister, offering refreshing and cheerful moments.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a nail-biting military thriller that will captivate enthusiasts of national conflicts and military operations. Its intricate plot resembles George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four in its themes of control of information and diabolic misuse of technology.

November 21, 2022
THE EXCURSION by T.O. Paine – Horror, Thriller, Suspense Action

The Excursion by T.O. Paine is a horror thriller with enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most jaded reader.

Two people tell this story. Charly, a woman in her 30s, faces her emotionally damaged family. Randall, meanwhile, works as an agent of Zaroff Excursions, a hunting club for the uber-wealthy with an interest in an extreme form of hunting where the prey is much more intelligent than a deer or bear.

On a cold Thanksgiving weekend, Charly and a few other members of her family travel to an isolated cabin in the mountains above Denver. Her car gets stuck in a snowdrift, leaving her stranded, but that’s only the start of her trouble. She finds that the cabin has been rented by Randall’s company for that same weekend, forcing her family to share the lodge with strangers.

Charly is there for a complicated family reunion.

Along with her autistic brother Jacob, whom Charly has taken care of all her life, she deals with two cousins: Amanda, who must win everything in her life at any cost, and Cal, who Charly fears might be a psychopath.

Randall has come for his “excursion,” well paid for his work, and confident that this weekend will prove his superiority to his boss. A self-styled alpha male, a hunter-cum-master-of-the-universe, he is in control of every detail of what happens in this ultimate form of hunting. Joining Randall in the cabin are Barry, the wealthy hunter who has signed on for this excursion, and Barry’s gaggle-headed girlfriend Kennedy.

But Randall brought one more person. Tyler sits caged in the boathouse near the cabin, kidnapped to serve as the designated prey. Randall didn’t expect his perfectly planned hunt would include Charly and her family, or Barry’s girlfriend, but he sees an opportunity in them. He has delicious, final plans for everyone at the cabin.

What can go wrong for the hunter who has everything perfectly under control?

A hidden pleasure here is the literary “Easter eggs” the writer has planted. For example, Charly’s last name is Highsmith, certainly a reference to celebrated mystery writer Patricia Highsmith. And Randall may well be related to Steven King’s protagonist in his best-selling The Stand. Does the unusual spelling of “Charly” have its roots in the science-fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon?

The Excursion grips you from the first page. Its march through dense snowdrifts and mountains will leave you yearning for waterproof boots, or, better, a blanket to hide under as you dig further into this twisty, unrelenting story. If you’re a fan of satisfying horror novels, this is one not to miss.

November 18, 2022
Navigating Narrative Non-Fiction | November Deadlines for the CIBAs
Demystify Your Non-Fiction with Chanticleer

In Fiction, genre boundaries can sometimes seem so clear, scifi has aliens and mysteries have a murder, but how do we organize Non-Fiction?

Chanticleer offers a wide variety of Non-Fiction Book Awards, and here we’ll focus on the Narrative Non-Fiction Divisions.

These Divisions are:
The Original*

The Journey Awards came first. These awards shine bright as the lodestar of quality for the others. As more Non-Fiction submissions came in, the number of Non-Fiction Divisions expanded to fill the need. Right now, the Journey Awards focuses primarily on stories Overcoming Adversity. Often tear-jerkers, these stories highlight the resiliency of being human.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Journey Awards was Better off Bald by Andrea Wilson Woods.

There exists a bond between sisters, and often that bond becomes a connection so strong that time cannot erase the love and the longing for the other. Andrea Wilson Woods defines such a bond in Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days.

Woods details the choreographed life she lives with her sister Adrienne, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Together they begin their dance, pirouetting around IV ports and long lists of medications. Sisters in life, love, and an all-out war against liver cancer.

Woods retells her story with compassion and a rational eye for detail while embracing all the deep emotions that ravage her as she records every one of the 147 days after the initial diagnosis.
Their confusion about how this could have happened and their hope that they can beat this “thing” growing inside Adrienne are present on each page. Woods makes note of the doctors by name, the nurses by nicknames, and the hospital visits by hours spent waiting, waiting, waiting for help to come and rescue them from the nightmare that cancer has made of their lives.

Read more here.

*Note: The Journey Awards deadline has already passed, but the 2023 Journey Awards are open now!

Putting in the Research

Following the Journey Awards, it became clear we needed Awards focused on Journalism and Reporting. Enter the Nellie Bly Awards, named for reporter Nellie Bly whose journey around the Earth inspired the story Around the World in 80 Days. These books can back up all their facts with hard dates and maybe even an appendix at the end. They tell the stories that call out for their place in history.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Nellie Bly Awards was America’s Forgotten Suffragists: Virginia and Francis Minor by Nicole Evelina.

After being forgotten for nearly 130 years, the “Mother of Suffrage in Missouri” and her husband are finally taking their rightful place in history.

St. Louisans Virginia and Francis Minor forever changed the direction of women’s rights by taking the issue to the Supreme Court for the first and only time in 1875, a feat never eclipsed even by their better-known peers Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Yet despite a myriad of accomplishments and gaining notoriety in their own time, the Minors’ names have largely faded from memory. In 1867, Virginia founded the nation’s first organization solely dedicated to women’s suffrage—two years before Anthony formed the National Woman’s Suffrage Association (NWSA). Virginia and Francis were also the brains behind the groundbreaking idea that women were given the right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment, a philosophy the NWSA adopted for nearly a decade.

Read more here.

Opening up Personal Narratives

As the Journey Awards began filling up, it became difficult to recognize both the uplifting and inspirational work as well as the work that looked at the darker side of what people overcome in their life. To try and highlight this warmer tone of writing, the Hearten Awards were introduced, so this “chicken soup for the soul” style of book could be brought to the forefront.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Hearten Awards was DAWGS: A True Story of Lost Animals and the Kids Who Rescued Them by Diane Trull & Meredith Wargo

We can all make a difference. Elementary-school teacher Diane Trull’s life-defining moment happened when her fourth-grade reading class saw a photo of a cardboard box overflowing with homeless puppies. Trull was no stranger to rescuing abandoned animals. She and her husband, Mark, had made it their mission to find permanent homes for stray dogs and cats. Now her young students were determined to save these lost pups and others like them. And in that moment, the Dalhart Animal Wellness Group and Sanctuary-known as DAWGS-was born. How Trull and her fourth graders started their own animal shelter is a story of dedication, commitment, and perseverance. In this eye-opening, deeply personal book, Trull describes the challenges they faced, from rescuing and caring for the animals to teaching children about compassion and responsibility, to facing local interests opposed to having a shelter in their town. She shares inspiring stories about animals and animal lovers of all ages in this moving story of hope and compassion. DAWGS is a testament to how love and a strong measure of determination can offer second chances-one animal, one child, and one day at a time.

Read more here!

The Newest Division from Chanticleer

The Military and Front Line Awards are close to our heart at Chanticleer. We’ve often wanted enough submissions for this to be its own Division as we all have family who has served in the military. However, we wanted these Awards to represent all walks of life that provide Service to Others like firefighters, teachers, medical workers, and the family of those who work to make our world a better place.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Military and Front Line Awards was Dear Bob by Martha Bolton with Linda Hope

For five decades, comedian, actor, singer, dancer, and entertainer Bob Hope (1903-2003) traveled the world performing before American and Allied troops and putting on morale-boosting USO shows. Dear Bob . . . : Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II tells the story of Hope’s remarkable service to the fighting men and women of World War II, collecting personal letters, postcards, packages, and more sent back and forth among Hope and the troops and their loved ones back home.

Soldiers, nurses, wives, and parents shared their innermost thoughts, swapped jokes, and commiserated with the “G.I.s’ best friend” about war, sacrifice, lonely days, and worrisome, silent nights. The Entertainer of the Century performed for millions of soldiers in person, in films, and over the radio. He visited them in the hospitals and became not just a pal but their link to home. This unforgettable collection of letters and images, many of which remained in Hope’s personal files throughout his life and now reside at the Library of Congress, capture a personal side of both writer and recipient in a very special and often-emotional way. This volume heralds the voices of those servicemen and women whom Hope entertained and who, it is clear, delighted and inspired him.

Read more here.

A huge thank you to these incredible authors.

Keep Writing. Truth matters now more than ever.

Have an excellent Non-Fiction Narrative that deserves recognition? Submit now to our Non-Fiction Book Awards by the end of November!*

Note: The Journey Awards Deadline has already passed

Your book could be next!

Looking to up your game? Check out the traditional publishing tool that indie authors can use to propel their writing careers to new levels.
November 17, 2022
FISHING For LUCK by Murray Richter – Middle Grade Fiction, Family & Friendships, Coming of Age

During the pre-internet era of 1980, Kevin and his friends just want to enjoy a good fishing adventure, but troubles from the past come back to complicate their carefree boyhood in Murray Richter’s novel, Fishing for Luck.

As the group prepares their fishing raft for its maiden voyage, Kevin tries to solve these problems himself before anyone else knows of them, but no matter what he tries, the situation only gets worse. His parents seem on the verge of a divorce, his mentor struggles to find his long-lost love, and his sister just wants her bike back already. As Kevin takes on more and more responsibility to avoid what seem to be inevitable consequences, will he be able to see that this is all too much for one kid to handle and ask those he trusts for help?

Fishing For Luck is a wild ride of pre-teen hijinks reminiscent of the golden age of coming-of-age comedies and sitcoms we all know and love. Our young main character gets into a situation where everything goes wrong, and scrambles to fix it before anyone notices. Kevin’s predicament becomes engrossing with an extra dose of danger.

Rudy and Preech, Kevin’s friends, make a close-knit group with him that loves fishing, pranking each other, and learning from their mentor, Preech’s uncle.

Kevin cares deeply about his friends and family, and part of his desire to solve his problems on his own comes from a wish to protect them. He faces the dilemma that if he tells anyone, then the people he cares about will face harm. During the parts of the story where he’s with Rudy and Preech, but can’t share what is going on, they still manage to cheer him up because they’re great friends who understand each other.

Fishing For Luck shows that we don’t always give kids enough credit.

They are smart and can have great ingenuity, yet they may not have thought fully about the consequences of their actions. However, Kevin and his loyal gang face the problem head-on and try to find a solution.

Author Murray Richter creates a funny and creative middle-grade story that people of all ages can enjoy. Kevin is a relatable character with a big heart and strong beliefs, dealing with a spiral of misfortune. Don’t miss out on this story of kids taking on the world in Fishing For Luck.

Fishing for Luck by Murray Richter won Grand Prize in the 2021 CIBA Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle Grade Fiction, and the audiobook, performed by actor/narrator Kirby Heyborne is available now!

November 16, 2022
Understanding Prescriptive Non-Fiction | November Non-Fiction Deadlines!
Looking at the I&I, Harvey Chute, and Mind & Spirit Awards

There are two types of Non-Fiction that we commonly see: Narrative Non-Fiction and Prescriptive Non-Fiction.

Just what is the difference between types of Non-Fiction?

Narrative often makes the most sense, but that doesn’t mean that Prescriptive Non-Fiction deserves a bad rap. Let’s look at some definitions:

Narrative Non-Fiction:

The primary focus is story. Often a beginning, middle, and end, it stands strong with most fiction stories, with the notable difference that it is, in fact, Non-Fiction. Memoir is similar, though obviously focused on one person’s first person experience of their own life.

Prescriptive Non-Fiction:

The primary focus here is conveying a message. Narrative and writing style help convey this message in the same way it conveys theme in a Narrative Non-Fiction. The person writing must be an expert in the subject. How else do you make a full book of it?

While we’re going to focus on three different genres of Prescriptive Non-Fiction, you can always read more about it through resources like this one here.

Three Genres of the CIBAs for Prescriptive Non-Fiction

While you can see our full list of Non-Fiction Genres (including the newest for Military and Front Line Books) here, we consider our I&I, Harvey Chute, and Mind & Spirit Book Award Programs to be closest to Prescriptive Non-Fiction. The main focuses for these three Awards programs are How-To, Business & Finance, and Spirituality and Mindfulness.

There’s a good deal of overlap with the other Awards as sometimes the instructional side of a workbook takes over more than the part that looks directly at financial or spiritual welfare. However, the key here is that you learn while enjoying a book. Maybe the book is framed through someone’s personal experience, their clinical experience, or told in the form of a travelogue, but no matter what it brings you through to a new understanding by the end.

What Does Prescriptive Non-Fiction Look Like?

Examples are always best in these cases. Here are some of our favorite Non-Fiction books that we’ve reviewed recently focusing on How-To, Business & Finance, and Spirituality.

EMOTIONAL MAGNETISM: How to Communicate to Ignite Connection in Your Relationships

By Sandy Gerber

Emotional Magnetism: How to Communicate to Ignite Connection in Your Relationships is a self-help and marketing book in one—in fact, it’s a self-marketing book.

A seasoned marketing professional, author Sandy Gerber uses common elements in marketing theory to aid those who wish to enhance their communication skills and ability to get along with people around them. It’s easy to be misunderstood or unheard, and it’s even easier to be at cross-purposes, leading to frustration and animosity. But using Gerber’s SAVE technique, understanding what we mean and what we need becomes clear.

In this work, we learn what emotional magnetism is, and how well we can communicate when we learn how to harness it. We also learn about how emotional magnetism can be repelled when it’s not done right. But in order to use emotional magnetism, we must first learn what the emotional magnets are, using the acronym SAVE—short for safety (S), achievement (A), value (V), and experience (E)—and how they are reflected in our personalities.

Read more here!

HEALING OUT LOUD: How to Embrace God’s Love When You Don’t Like Yourself

By Sandi Brown & Michelle Caulk

Two writers – friends, and former counselor and client – combine forces to create Healing Out Loud, a dynamic book aimed at understanding and overcoming the deficits that life hands us.

Sandi Brown, a radio personality with more grit than she realizes, seeks professional help. Michelle Caulk’s therapeutic methodology perfectly suits this case. The two offer examples of wishing for and finding true mental health through the development of a remarkable communicative relationship.

Each chapter of the pair’s psychological explorations begins with a memory from Sandi, accompanied by her expanded view of incidents from childhood and beyond. These ruminations are then matched by counselor Michelle’s personal grasp of Sandi’s specific dilemmas, and well-constructed guidelines for a healing process that readers can incorporate into their own lives. Sandi, grappling with low self-esteem, was traumatized as a child when her father left her mother and brother, loudly and finally, with no explanation.

Read more here!

WELFARE CHEESE to FINE CAVIAR: How to Achieve Your Dreams Despite Your Upbringing

By Thomas Wideman, MBA, PMP

First Place Winner in the Harvey Chute Awards

Thomas Wideman, the author of this dynamic self-help manual, Welfare Cheese to Fine Caviar: How to Achieve Your Dreams Despite Your Upbringing, rose from poverty and dismay to a life of security and personal achievement through techniques he shares with readers who can incorporate them into their own life plans.

Wideman came from an impoverished African American family wracked by confusion, chaos, and, at times, criminality. His mother had three sons by three fathers, and he would come to know his own father only peripherally, eventually learning that the man murdered people and subsequently died in prison. The boy grew up in tough neighborhoods and ate “welfare cheese” (a block of pre-sliced heavy American cheese that supposedly melted well). Every month, making ends meet became more and more difficult. In an early chapter of this finely woven chronology, we see him taking food from trains parked along the railroad tracks and running from the authorities. In this, as in each new chapter, he speaks of confronting severe issues and finding ways to resolve them. In the case of the theft and other childhood incidents of fighting, experiencing bullies, and battling racism, he speaks of making up his mind that “my circumstances need not be my limitation.”

A math whiz, Wideman found his strengths through schoolwork, striving for A’s instead of merely accepting B’s.

Read more here!

GATHERING PEBBLES: Learning How to Make Your Own Chicken Soup

By David Okerlund

Inuit of the Canadian Arctic are known for creating stone structures used as navigational points and message centers for fellow travelers. Some of these directional monuments provide a spiritual connotation meant to enrich the journey.

Gathering Pebbles is David Okerlund’s own “inukshuk” of sorts, a book filled with stories, recollections, and memorable life events that have become part of his personal road map for living. Okerlund, a world-class inspirational speaker, shares his best stories to help you create your own life-path. He shares this collection of nuggets in the interest of helping others along their chosen path and hoping to encourage their own “gathering” and sharing of valuable knowledge.

Okerlund directs his writing in a casual, user-friendly style. Each of the book’s chapters is highlighted as a pebble gathered on his winding life’s path. Titles are effectively posed as questions to help draw readers into the topic at hand. Each chapter is formatted with a variable mixture of contemplative quotes, poetry, recaptured historical moments, and personal experiences, to showcase qualities such as perseverance, retaining a sense of childhood wonderment, the importance of faith, and following your dreams.

Read more here!

Each of these books does an excellent job navigating their genres (and their cover designs!), making it clear who they appeal to and how they can help the reader.

Have a How-To, Self-Help, or another great Non-Fiction Read that deserves recognition? Submit now to our Non-Fiction Book Awards by the end of November!

Celebrating the 2021 Winners for I&I, Harvey Chute, and the Mind & Spirit Awards!

Your book could be next!

Looking for more great reads?
Looking to up your game? Check out the traditional publishing tool that indie authors can use to propel their writing careers to new levels.
November 15, 2022
MAGGHIE: Big Horse Series by Barbara Salvatore – U.S. Historical Fiction, Women’s Historical Fiction, Horse Fiction

Award-winning author Barbara Salvatore brings human foibles, horse traits, and herbal lore together through a young teenage girl’s eyes in her historical fiction novel, Magghie.

Magghie Wilder has much to cope with, much to learn. She grows up as the only child of Hans and Maye, immigrants from Germany. They make a home in Pennsylvania, in the expanding United States. Hans talks too much, expounding on the simplest issues in grandiose German. He seems to have little time for listening to his curious but often distracted daughter.

But Hans does teach Magghie how to train and handle the big draft horses needed for heavy hauling and farm work. He encourages her to drive her own team and learn the habits of each one. Maye, by contrast, dreams in quiet and calm, and from her, Magghie learns by watching. Maye understands plant lore deeply and elicits in Magghie the revelation that every green growing thing can be helpful and significant.

The three live on a successful large farm in relative isolation. Neither religion nor socializing play a role in their routine.

Things change when Braun, a blacksmith, and his lanky adolescent son, Karl, appear and are kept on as help with horses and farm. Magghie learns a smattering of English from the more worldly-wise visitors. Then, the somewhat chaotic but friendly incursion of a Mormon family follows. Magghie meets the husband, children, and two wives, one of which is pregnant. Maye, recalling the sorrows of losing more than one infant, helps Dora in childbirth. Magghie will watch and come to comprehend why Maye has always seemed so self-enclosed. From the Mormons, Magghie learns something else her parents had resolved never to tell her – the existence of God and the place of religion in human lives.

Salvatore sets her scene, and the plotlines seem poised for positive outcomes. Until someone brings a life-threatening disease to the valley, creating havoc and despair.

Salvatore’s current work includes teaching and consulting in Plant Medicine and Horse Care. Since she was thirteen, she has kept a “Dream Journal” and envisions her Big Horse series as a set of four novels, with Magghie being the second book. Her own interests shine clearly through every page of her story, which she tells in a cozy mix of prose and poetry.

She has appended a lengthy section for her readers, offering further elucidation of the subject matter. This includes the history of Pennsylvania’s settlement, German language usages, extensive notations regarding the Percheron horses used on Wilder’s farm, and further facts about the Mormons’ epic cross-country pilgrimage.

Salvatore’s Magghie has definite cinematic potential. The story ends with an open invitation to the sequel, promised by the author. That’s good news!

Magghie by Barbara Salvatore placed as a Finalist in the CIBAs Laramie Book Awards honoring Americana Fiction, and comes highly recommended!

November 14, 2022