Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

NaNoWriMo or Not, here comes November!
Time to start your engines because, NaNoWriMo or not, you’re a writer and ideas are key to jump-starting your writing!

Inspired by Editor and Friend of Chanticleer, Jessica Morrell, let’s dive in!

For those who may not know, NaNoWriMo is a community effort where people around the world join together, each trying to write 50,000 words of a story in the month of November. For some, 50,000 words is a pittance of what they can normally create in a month; for others, it’s an impossibility.

No matter where you fall, NaNoWriMo is a great tool to put words on the page and to write with a community rather than all alone.

It’s a myth that writers are solitary creatures

In the week before you get started, take care of all the basic necessities – i.e. finish your procrastination tasks. Clean your house, stock up on brain food for the upcoming month and write down easy meal ideas. Don’t forget to make sure you have all the coffee and tea you need to fuel you, and then please be sure your laundry is done.

Ready? Set. WriMo!

The point of a first draft is to exist. As Stephen King says, the first time you write something down, you’re telling the story to yourself. One of the best ways to motivate your story is to know your characters well. Studying modern characters is a great way to start off.

Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel

Kirsten Raymonde reading the titular Station 11 comic book, played by MacKenzie Davis

Child actor Kirsten Raymonde’s life is forever changed when she witnesses the death of actor Arthur Leander, sending her world into chaos hours before the world is decimated by the Georgia Flu. With the collapse of civilization and the death of her parents and little brother, Kirsten holds on tight to her passion for acting as she grows up, joining the Traveling Symphony and protecting the players and musicians there as if they were her own flesh and blood.

The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime, based on The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) almost shares a romantic moment with Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi)

Arondir is an elf responsible for the safety of a large swath of human lands in the aftermath of the battles with Morgoth. However, most elves regard the humans with a suspicion that engenders deep distrust between the two races. This prevents him from gathering crucial information about a recent poisoning. On top of that, neither the human inhabitants nor his elven companion approves of the close connection he has with the local healer Bronwyn, who seems quite taken with the handsome Arondir.

What do we notice?

Both these characters are firmly set in their backstory, which shows us the goals they have in the status quo at the start. Once the status quo is disrupted, you have the character’s motivation to return to a state of equilibrium, because they are now frustrated in meeting their goals.

Consider questions from Mastering Suspense Structure & Plot by Jane K. Cleland:
- What does this character keep secret?
- What does this character fear?
- How does this character respond when their secret is in danger of being exposed?
- How does this character act when afraid?
The Roost’s Writing Craft Book Group for November

Understanding these elements of your character under pressure will help create believable and compelling people for your readers to want to watch and study.

Remember, even for NaNoWriMo, you need an engine to start!

Conflict is the engine of your story. What is the conflict in yours? For Station 11, it’s the looming threat of the mysterious Prophet who is terrorizing the communities who are the audience and friends of the Traveling Symphony. In Rings of Power, it’s the growing strength of Sauron, Morgoth’s most loyal disciple. How does this conflict put pressure directly on your main characters?

HANDY REMINDERS

If you are NOT participating in NaNoWriMo, then we hope that this post will spur you on as write your work-in-progress (w-i-p) or your next work.

RULE # 1

WRITE FAST!

EDIT SLOW!

Don’t edit your first draft as you write it!

Writing your first draft should be a mad dash to get your story out of your brain. Don’t hinder it by worrying about each little detail. There will be time for that later. NaNoWriMo or not.

Not taking our word for that piece of advice?

Chelsea Cain, a bestselling thriller author (with a TV series to her credit), gives this piece of advice:

Write the bare-bones version of the scene first using mostly dialogue, and then move on and in the second draft flesh out the scenes with description and action.

“Action is dialogue. Dialogue is action.” – Robert Dugoni, Amazon Bestselling Author

What is YOUR STORY?

Story is essentially a problem that needs solving for the protagonist. – Jessica Morrell
- What is your protagonist’s problem that must be solved—or else?
- What is the worst thing that can happen next to your protagonist?
- Remember that it is not your problem. It is your protagonist’s problem, obstacle, impossible dream.
- Start at least one subplot. This subplot(s) should also complicate the protagonist’s goals.
No matter when the problem begins (it’s always in Act One) the problem is weighty and vexing, perhaps insurmountable. If the problem is not immediately personal, it should become so that it will create a bond (connection) between the protagonist and antagonist. Classic examples are the connection between Sherlock Holmes and Jim Moriarty and Harry Potter and Voldemort.

What is the inciting event or threat?

The inciting incident might lead to the problem. This event will disrupt the status quo, demand response, and set actions in motion. It’s a threat that unbalances the story world and creates dilemmas that must be dealt with.

To name a few:
- The tornado incident in the Wizard of OZ
- Katniss’s little sister selected for the Hunger Games
- Luke Skywalker ‘seeing’ and hearing Princess Leia calling for help in Star Wars
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 These excerpts above are from The Inciting Incident blogpost
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Environment (internal and external)

These are great tips to get your creativity groove on!
- Remember you want to send your protagonist into new emotional territory with new challenges and pressures.
- And at the same time, she will need to deal with new physical territories such as a new school (Footloose) or a different culture (Dances with Wolves) or a different legal society with different norms (Handmaid’s Tale) or a new environment (Deadwood) or a different time ( Outlander) or galaxy (Farscape).
- Don’t be afraid to stage danger in benign or lovely settings or conversely gentle scenes in dangerous and gruesome settings.
Kiffer’s Note: I just saw this bucolic scene while watching The Wheel of Time first episode. All white coats and white tents. And then, bam! We learn that the guys in white are not the “good guys” —at all—even if their name is Children of the Light.

Bucolic looking camp scene in Wheel of Time inhabited by these characters all in white.

Atmosphere
- Allow the overall atmosphere and mood to imbue your writing from the get-go.
- The atmosphere lends itself to the overall tone and mood of a work. Allow it to permeate your work as you write.
The atmosphere in Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo

Or Sex in the City by Carrie Bradshaw

Why use atmosphere in your first draft? (or during NaNoWriMo)?
- - Because it will affect your mood and approach to your story.
  - It will make you focus on creating unease–a necessary ingredient not always considered in early drafts.
  - Unease contributes to writing a page-turner.
  - Atmosphere underlines themes–even if you don’t have your themes nailed down yet.
Here is the link to our Writer’s Toolbox article on Atmosphere

Emotional Baggage
- Know your protagonist’s main emotional wound, sometimes called baggage in real life. How is it going to affect his or her ability to solve the story problem? (See the questions below to jumpstart creativity.)
Remember that Writers (that is you) should carry a notebook everywhere you go. You never know when a brilliant solution is going to appear. Jessica Morrell
If I could offer a single piece of advice about creating characters it would be this (Jessica Morrell):
- Take risks with your main characters.
- Make them stand out from the myriads of fiction published each year.
- And don’t be afraid to allow eccentricities, quirks, and oddball ways of seeing reality.
More questions for your protagonist from Jessica Morrell—these are guaranteed to get your creative wheels turning:

First, ask yourself these questions and then “ask” your protagonist. Have your protagonist go into depth. Find out what your protagonist’s iceberg under the waterline is all about.

Photo taken in Greenland’s waters.

Kiffer suggests that you take a walk when you are considering these questions. Be sure to either take notes or record your thoughts on your smartphone while you explore your protagonist’s emotional baggage. Walk a mile in your protagonist’s shoes.
- What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
- What is your biggest regret?
- What is your superpower?
- Who do you cherish most in the world?
- If you could change one thing about your world, what would it be?
- What is your average day or schedule?
- What 5-6 words sum up your values?
- What do you do after a really bad day?
- How do you celebrate?
- The secret you’d never tell your significant other? Your mother? Your sibling?
- What reminds you of home?
- What item must you always take along when traveling?
- Favorite drink?
- Secret vice?
- Pizza or tacos? Cookies or tequila?
- Favorite climate?
- Reading or television to unwind?
- Breakfast or coffee only?
We hope that we helping you, Dear Writer, to arm and prep yourself to get down to the writing of your next work—the reckoning.

Ernest Hemingway: There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.

Chanticleer Editorial Services

When you’re ready…

Did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services? We do and have been doing so since 2011.

Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).

If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or David at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or DBeaumier@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.

We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top editors on an ongoing basis. Contact us today!

Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions are being held.

A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, a tried and true resource you can learn about here.
November 2, 2022
A PORTION OF MALICE by Lloyd Jeffries – Paranormal, Christian Thriller, Action, Suspense

God visits a punishment of immortality on three men in Lloyd Jeffries’ A Portion of Malice, the first in the Ages of Malice series. The leader of these immortals, Cain the first murderer, seeks to even the scales by taking all of God’s children away from Him.

In the modern day, Emery, a renowned journalist fallen on personal tragedy, was planning suicide before the immortal Roman Longinus found him. Longinus brings him to meet Thaddeus Drake, a man with the uncanny ability to make peace between warring nations. Drake reveals himself to be the biblical Cain and offers Emery all the money and luxury he could ever need if he simply tells Cain’s story. Emery agrees, and upon seeing the terrible mark on Cain’s hand, can’t deny the truth of his immortality.

Cain and Longinus introduce Emery to their fellow immortal, Igneus. While Emery learns more about these strange men and how Jesus rejected Cain’s begging for forgiveness, earning his eternal rage, he becomes pulled into their far-reaching conspiracy. Cain and his companions long ago formed the secret organization X’Chasei, and over two millennia have become the undisputed masters of the world. However, Cain is not content with this power alone, and as he begins to enact the prophecies of Revelations, Emery realizes how dangerous these people truly are.

The plots of X’Chasei catch Emery in a whirlwind of power, implication, and scripture.

While Cain holds a deep hatred for God, he also understands Him far better than anyone else could; he has walked with God, has heard His voice, and knows the true extent of His word. John the Apostle was also made immortal, given a sacred task by Jesus, and in retribution, Cain exiled him to Patmos and stole a record of divine visions given to John. Cain remains a mysterious figure throughout the story, keeping Emery guessing as to his true plans, and whether there could be any way to stop him.

Longinus and Igneus serve Cain’s plot, though both Emery and the reader only get to see the final, disconnected steps of it. This story becomes a mystery of biblical proportions, with disparate plotlines winding together for the climax.

Even as he orchestrates murder and revolts to get his way, Cain remains a sympathetic character. His companions share that humanity, making a fascinating cast of villains.

For millennia, Cain wandered the Earth as a vagabond, unable to settle in any one place, with the guilt of his brother’s death hanging around his neck. Even so, he sought forgiveness from the son of God. When he’s rebuked, the reader sees the extent of his despair, his suffering, and even some truth to his claim that “God prefers blood.” His fury mingles with a deep longing, a loneliness that defines him. While, two thousand years later, he rejects the idea of God’s forgiveness, he desperately wishes to make amends to his brother Abel.

While Longinus enjoys his place of power over the mortals of this world, he cows to Cain, showing a hint of vulnerability even as he kills for the sake of X’Chasei. However, Igneus is the only one of them who truly connects with Emery. Smaller and prone to fear, Igneus has spent his eternity dwelling on the cruelty he’s surrounded by and finds a kindred spirit in this mortal man brought into their circle.

Author Lloyd Jeffries offers beautiful and painful descriptions of both the modern world and biblical times.

The characters’ emotions become palpable, and they speak to each other with weight behind their words. The climax could have delivered more completely on the themes of Cain’s story, but A Portion of Malice holds a strong tension that will keep readers excited to follow all of these people – mortal and immortal – to the next part of this imaginative series.

November 2, 2022
Get Lit for Spooky Season! The Latest Halloween Reads from Chanticleer

Don’t be Scared of the Dark

Some say Yorick’s skull still rests on his TBR

Unless you need to be…

Fear often tells us where to use caution, to play it safe, and how to know what’s best. Our favorite way to get a scare is from the books we love to read.

What are the Spookiest Genres?

Knock knock…it’s the villain from the last book you read

Well, there can be plenty of honest debate on the subject. For us, we often find the Paranormal, Suspense, and High Stakes Thrillers are the creepiest stories.

And we can’t forget Southern Gothic—shudders and chills even in a hothouse environment! More on that tomorrow on All Hallows Eve!

Leading the pack is the modern masterpiece Dracul by J.D. Barker and Dacre Stoker featuring vampires including Dracul himself. Dracul is everything horror can and should be. It doesn’t rely on gore, but rather captivating storytelling; and yet, the terror and intrigue are unrelenting.

Of course, we’ve said before that the reasons we like to be scared range anywhere from wanting that rush of dopamine that fright can offer, to better understanding the terrors of modern-day society. What better way to do that than reading some hair-raising literature?

Recommended Reads to Scare you and Make you Think from Chanticleer!

Starting off strong, we have In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni.

First Place Winner of the Shorts Awards, the art in this is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, but the focus is much more on depression and anxiety, two of the most difficult things for us to confront in the world.

In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni is a memoir in graphic novel form, a thoughtful and gentle story about a young girl struggling with mental health issues, and learning how to keep them at bay as she grows up.

What if Alice’s adventures in the strange and fabulous Wonderland were the result of a mental health crisis instead of a story? In the Underwood draws metaphors inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and evokes the mood of Robert Frost’s classic poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Author Spadoni relates with a simple narrative and delicate art style how as a child she was prone to severe bouts of anxiety, leading to her crying uncontrollably in her classes and avoiding other children in social situations. Now that can be scary!

Next, we have The Insane God by Jay Hartlove.

A current Short Lister for the 2022 Cygnus Awards, Hartlove’s tale follows a trans woman’s experience fighting the eldritch beings of H.P. Lovecraft. The cover makes it clear! This book will give you the tingles! A great book for social commentary.

Sarah, a transgender schizophrenic teenager, has spent the past seven years in a psychiatric ward. When all her symptoms of schizophrenia disappear after receiving a special necklace from a nurse, she must learn to live in a world that moved on without her, in The Insane God by Jay Hartlove.

She receives strange visions of two opposing gods in battle with each other, which Sarah and her brother Nate work together to understand. The reality of these visions threatens to endanger the lives of everyone on Earth unless they change the course of an eternal battle.

The Insane God touches on topics such as mental illness, mental health, gender identity, and racism.

A little closer to home, we have Past This Point by Nicole Mabry

This Global Thriller First Place Winner was actually written before the COVID-19 pandemic, with eerie echoes into the future of a pandemic apocalypse that focuses on one woman’s mission to reunite with her family.

Nicole Mabry draws from her own life, the impact of a deadly snowstorm, and the subsequent shutting down of the subways to create Past This Point, an action-packed dystopian novel featuring a strong woman who seeks a way out of a world gone mad.

Karis Hylen is working in New York City a massive snowstorm shuts down the city. A total quarantine of the city becomes quarantine for half of the nation.

Last, but not least, we have a classic psychological thriller in The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens

This suspenseful novel took home a Clue First Place Win for its intricate story where the killer and detective are already acquainted.

The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens centers on a game of cat and mouse, made sinister and horrifying by the intricate plots of a murderer.

When L.A. Police Detective Gabriel McRay arrests serial killer Victor Archwood, known as the Malibu Canyon Murderer, he has no idea that the killer has some serious vengeful plans directly involving him. Archwood is a most clever, resourceful “mouse” who confounds McRay, the Los Angeles Police department, the L.A. district attorney, and an entire jury through skillful lawyering and a commanding interpretation of the evidence. Despite what appears to be an airtight case against a mass murderer, a jury finds him not guilty.

Got a Spooky Read? Submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Today!

2022 CIBA DEADLINES FOR OCT 31
OZMA – Fantasy Fiction
Global Thrillers – High Stakes & Lab Lit
Paranormal – Supernatural Fiction

The only thing scarier is not entering!

Chanticleer Editorial Services – when you are ready

Did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services? We do and have been doing so since 2011.

Tools of the Editing Trade

Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).

If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.

We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis. Contact us today!

Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.

A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service. Here are some handy links about this tried and true service: https://test.chantireviews.com/manuscript-reviews/

And we do editorial consultations. for $75. https://test.chantireviews.com/services/Editorial-Services-p85337185

October 30, 2022
TWISTED by Steve Mullaney – Psychological Thriller, Internet Crime, Horror

In Twisted, Steve Mullaney gives readers a tale of fear, cruelty, and perversion, involving those who lurk in the darkest corners of the internet.

Readers are first introduced to Derek, a man who roofies women in order to record his sexual activities with them for profit on the dark web. He runs a complete operation to peddle his illegal media, including ways to cover his identity and launder the money as well as maximize his profits through technical skills and better equipment to up his production quality.

Meanwhile, Ned, a philandering family man, gets an offer to work remotely for three weeks each month away from his family. At his new job, he gives in to temptation and starts a romantic relationship with a woman named Gina. This relationship will lead him to cross paths with Derek, and become entwined in his horrific world.

Mullaney explores themes of depravity and assault, and the consequences of such activities through the eyes of both victims and offenders. Readers walk through the systems of rationalization that even the vilest characters assemble to justify their actions.

Ned, the character who holds the point of view for most of the story, starts as a narcissist who cares for no one but himself. His self-centered ways are put to the test when their consequences fester to the point where he must deal with them whether he wants to or not.

Mullaney does a great job painting a grim picture of how business in the dark web functions, as well as providing believable details of how a man can hide the fact that he has a family and kids in another state while dating single women. At times, the details can feel gratuitous, but they add a strong sense of realism that heightens the horror aspect of this story.

Overall, Twisted will give readers a feeling of grime, leaving them to wonder if and how characters like Ned will pay for their actions.

Anyone looking for a trip along the darker wires of the web will find just that in the pages of Twisted. Mullaney has penned a delightfully ‘twisted’ thriller with serious bite that will drive readers page by page to the end.

October 28, 2022
The M&M 2022 Short List for Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries – a Division of the CIBAs
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy and not-so-Cozy Mystery & Mayhem. The M&M Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards.)

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 M&M Long List to the 2022 M&M Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for 2022 M&M Semi-Finalists. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBAs divisions’ Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremonies on April, 27-30, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. at the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles have advanced to the SHORT LIST of the 2022 M&M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
- Scott Kauffman – Saving Thomas
- Miriam Verbeek – The Website
- Michelle Cox – A Spying Eye
- Gail Noble-Sanderson – The Book of Rules
- Lori Roberts Herbst – Frozen in Motion
- Kathleen Kaska – Murder at the Menger and Eagle Crossing
- Eileen Charbonneau – Missing at Harmony Festival
- Nancy J. Cohen – Styled for Murder
- Charlotte Stuart – Moonlight Can Be Deadly (A Discount Detective Mystery)
- Nicole Asselin – Concession Stand Crimes
- Tony Garritano – I Saw What I Saw: A Harmony Neighborhood Mystery
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight
- Elizabeth Crowens – Hollywood Holmes
- Lynn Slaughter – Deadly Setup
- Doug Dorsey – Kick Ball Slay: An Introduction To West Coast Swing…AND A Murder Mystery
- Cheryl Denise Bannerman – Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping
- Rima Ray – Ruby Roy and the Murder in the Falls
- Roxanne Dunn – Murder Undetected
- Susan Wingate – Gag Me: A Friday Harbor Novel
- Landis Wade – Deadly Declarations
- Judy L Murray – Murder in the Master
- Dime Sheppard – Crime Writer
- Betty Jean Craige – Life and Death at Zoo Arroyo
- Lori Robbins – Murder in Second Position
- Traci Andrighetti – Valpolicella Violet
- Gail Meath – Songbird
- Kathleen Rhoads Carpenter – Summer’s Cloud Over Berry
- E.E. Burke – Tom Sawyer Returns
- M. K Graff – The Evening’s Amethyst: A Nora Tierney English Mystery
- Carl and Jane Bock – Day of the Jaguar
- Elizabeth Woolsey – Horse Doctor Adventures Small Town Secrets
- M. K. Dean – An Embarrassment of Itches
- Ellen Butler – Pharaoh’s Forgery
Good Luck to All as Your Works Compete to Advance to the Next Level of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

Congratulations to Michael Scott Garvin whose work Ophelia’s Room took home the Grand Prize for the 2021 M&M Book Awards

“Michael Scott Garvin’s latest psychological thriller makes us question everything – and trust no one. Here’s one that will keep you up at night! Highly Recommended!” – Chanticleer Reviews

Here is the link to the 2021 M&M Book Award Winners!

Our next Chanticleer International Book Awards Ceremony will be held during CAC23 on April 27-30, 2023 for the 2022 CIBA winners.

Enter your book or manuscript in a contest today!

We are now accepting entries into the 2023 M&M Book Awards, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at info@ChantiReviews.com.
October 27, 2022
AFTER The RISING And BEFORE The FALL by Orna Ross – Historical Fiction, Irish Civil War, Family Saga

Award-winning Irish author Orna Ross has created a volume comprising the first two novels of The Irish Trilogy, drawing from her Irish birth and upbringing for a special grasp of the country’s history, how its wars and political strivings have affected its people directly, personally, over multiple generations.

Her two books take on a span of time rooted in the early 1920s and delve deeply into the interlocking fate of the extended family and ancestry of Jo Devereux. Jo, the book’s central narrator, leaves Ireland in her twenties, only returning in her forties in 1995 when she learns that her mother is near death.

The journey back will draw her into the family’s complex relationships, and reacquaint her with Rory, her former, and perhaps only, true love.

Reading through old family papers, Jo will find out more about her mother, her grandmother, and some of the men from her past. These family secrets are compelling and often painful, driving Jo to discover more, eventually uncovering a murder with people she knew and cared for possibly at its center.

Underpinning the drama among her closest and most cherished people is her growing understanding of her home country. Ireland’s war for independence from England has always found most emphasis in its popular lore, but the far-less publicized conflict that followed, the Civil War, may have killed more people than the one that preceded it and lingers even today in bitter memory.

Jo will have to absorb all of these revelations about her forebears while she copes with the ever-changing modern culture in her new home of San Francisco.

The insider’s gaze at 1960s gay culture and feminism are significant sidebars in both past and present portions of Ross’s vibrant and varied narrative. The book ends with Jo contemplating her future, with some crucial questions yet unanswered, begging a sequel.

Ross is a highly practiced wordsmith; this series has already garnered recognition, awards, and the attention of the media.

She is able to mix, match and contrast evocative elements of romance, warfare, women’s rights, men’s feelings, historical nuance, and human-scale humor (especially highlighting that aspect of the Irish conversational flow), all in their appropriate historical niches, developed deftly to keep her story in full motion. This is a book for dedicated readers of any age or clime and will have them waiting attentively for the final installment.

After the Rising by Orna Ross won Grand Prize in the 2021 CIBA Goethe Awards for post-1750s Historical Fiction.

October 26, 2022
The CYGNUS 2022 Short List for Science Fiction Book Awards – a Division of the CIBAs
The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring space, time travel, life on other planets, parallel universes, alternate reality, and all the science, technology, major social or environmental changes of the future that author imaginations can dream up for the CYGNUS Book Awards division. Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Genetic Modification, Aliens, Super Humans, Interplanetary Travel, Climate-Fiction, and Settlers on the Galactic Frontier, Dystopian, our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 CYGNUS Science Fiction Long List to the 2022 Cygnus Book Awards Short List These entries are now in competition for the 2022 Cygnus Semi-Finalists. The Semi-Finalists will compete for the Finalist positions. FINALISTS will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC23.

Save the Date! CAC23 is April 27-30, 2023 at the Hotel Bellwether

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2022 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Jay Hartlove – The Insane God
- Timothy S. Johnston – An Island of Light
- Melissa Diyab – Crossing Over
- Charles Ross – The Future is a Memory
- J. N. Johnson – Pig
- Annie Williams – Maximized Entropy: Death of the Internet
- Dana Dargos, Said Al Bizri – Einstein in the Attic
- D. H. Ford – Rogue Reborn
- O.E. Tearmann – Deuces Are Wild
- Lou Dischler – Mona’s Odyssey
- Ash Bishop – Intergalactic Exterminators, Inc.
- S.G. Blaise – The Last Lumenian
- S.G. Blaise – True Teryn
- Michael Simon – Extinction
- Nik Frank-Lehrer – Future Show
- Sydney Raeburn-Power – The Sleepers
- Dimple Desai – The Lambda Factor
- Isaac Petrov – The Advent of Dreamtech
- PA Vasey – Harbinger
- John J. Spearman – Pike’s Passage
- E. R. Harris – Surf the Milky Way
- U.W. Leo – ARKO: The Dark Union (A Sci-fi Adventure Series)
- Fulmer/Proto Dagg – Terminus
- Kristopher Clewell – The Penrose Triangle
- Wilson Whitlow – Consent, Vol. 1: Erdos
- Joanna Evans – Sinai Unhinged
- Prescott Harvey – In Beta
- Bryn Smith – Magnus Nights: The Helios Incident
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

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The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 CYGNUS Awards is:

A War in Too Many Worlds

By Elizabeth Crowens

Click here to see the 2021 CYGNUS Book Award Winners for Science Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2022 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
October 25, 2022
Spotlight on the October Awards! Don’t be Afraid!
Adventure rises. Will you answer the call?

October is the best month to step out into an adventure. We have three scintillating Programs to Submit to:
- Ozma Awards for Fantasy
- Paranormal Awards for Supernatural Fiction
- Global Thrillers for High Stakes Suspense
This spooky month feels like the best time for stories that inspire us to dream of realities beyond imagining, and threats to the world that leave us white-knuckled and waiting for the conclusion. What better place to find your next reads and submit your work than the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Here are the Awards that are hungrier for your work than a horde of zombies.

Ozma Awards

Fantasy is that special world where anything can happen. We often go beyond Earth for this, looking into swords and sorcery, chosen ones and villains awash with power.

Start out with our 2021 Fantasy Grand Prize Winner A Plague of Flies by Laurel Anne Hill.

Excellent prose & description with an effective mingling of historical and fantasy elements. The tension is gripping and the pace is good.

Follow that up with From Brick and Darkness by J.L. Sullivan, a great YA Urban Fantasy.

A new Teen Favorite, this Urban Fantasy delves down passages of mythology and more when Bax Allen unwittingly unleashes a demon into the world.

And then you can wrap everything up with the 2020 Ozma Grand Prize Winner, Divinity’s Twilight by Christopher Russell.

In the epic space opera a group of cadets must face the bloody past of their world, threatened by age-old conflict, and change the course of empires. Highly recommended!

See the full list of 2021 Ozma Winners for Fantasy Fiction here.

Paranormal Awards

What goes bump in the night and who are the superheroes who face them? The supernatural genre often involves vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and superheroes. The characters may begin as ordinary, but they soon discover they may be extraordinary or transformed to be more than human.

We would be remiss not to crow about J.W. Zarek’s The Devil Pulls the Strings. Reminiscent of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, this book took home the Overall Grand Prize Awards.

J. W. Zarek weaves magic on the page, developing an epic, urban fantasy – first in series – readers will want to stick with for a long time. Highly recommended.

The Insane God by Jay Hartlove brings back the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft in his mystery led by a trans woman.

Sarah is cured of schizophrenia, only to face a battle with The Insane God. Her story balances humor, social issues like gender identity, and cosmic horror. Recommended!

And, of course, it never hurts to remember Stoker’s Dracula with a book like Suburban Vampire Ragnarok by Franklin Posner that won First Place in the Paranormal Awards.

Scott Campbell must face his divorce, job, and thirst for human blood, while caught in his fellow vampires’ political infighting. Recommended!

See the full list of 2021 Paranormal Winners for Supernatural Fiction here.

Global Thriller Awards

When you write a Global Thriller, you write about global consequences. The stakes are higher than ever before, whether or not this is a meticulously researched disease or a terrorist attack of epic proportions, you’ll want to read each one of these stories in one sitting.

Ron McManus’ The Chameleon won the 2021 Global Thriller Awards

Delightful to read with great development of story and characters. Clearly researched with a healthy dash of personal experience. A story to relish.

Then you have First Place Winner Mission: Angola by the prolific Randall Krzak. Anyone who needs a series would be wise to check this one out.

Xavier Sear is caught between dangerous factions and outnumbered in the first book of a new action-packed, tension-filled thriller series. Highly recommended!

For those who prefer more of an environmental story, check out A Divine Wind by Norman M. Jacobs, another First Place Winner.

See the full list of 2021 Global Thriller Winners for High Stakes Fiction here.

You Can’t Win if you Don’t Submit!

Enter the CIBAs today! Your book deserves to be discovered.
October 19, 2022
IN The UNDERWOOD by Kourtney Spadoni – Graphic Novels, Mental Health, Coming of Age Memoirs

In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni is a memoir in graphic novel form, a thoughtful and gentle story about a young girl struggling with mental health issues, and learning how to keep them at bay as she grows up.

What if Alice’s adventures in the strange and fabulous Wonderland were the result of a mental health crisis instead of a story? In the Underwood draws metaphors inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and evokes the mood of Robert Frost’s classic poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Author Spadoni relates with a simple narrative and delicate art style how as a child she was prone to severe bouts of anxiety, leading to her crying uncontrollably in her classes and avoiding other children in social situations.

She describes episodes in which she withdraws and attempts to hide within herself. A cat, in Wonderland and in real life, appears and acts as an occasional guide through the fantasy land, where a mad queen in red tells her over and over again that she’s not good enough, that she’s weak, before she eventually learns to stand up to the queen.

Ultimately, she manages to tell herself that despite her fears, “it’s not the end of the world.” This phrase becomes her personal talisman. Through her ups and downs, she steps forward and through the darkness before coming out on the other side, addressing her fears and eventually conquering them.

In the long run, Spadoni comes out of her shell, gains friends, develops a group with whom to share similar interests, and learns how to control and deal with the anxiety that overwhelmed her when she was younger.

However, later on, depression comes for a visit, and she has to step up for another fight—a fight she is now better equipped to win.

The art and coloring of In the Underwood match the mood of the work, and like the Frost poem, they conjure the depth and even the darkness and stillness of the night. The words themselves seem to swirl in a mist, sometimes vivid and sometimes faint, reflecting the author’s mind, both when it’s at its lowest and darkest and when it’s at its strongest.

Kourtney Spadoni’s tale about battling mental illness as a youngster, told in vibrant graphic novel form, is a winning combination and should be a go-to for young people in crisis.

In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni won First Place in the 2021 CIBA Shorts Awards in the Graphic Stories category.

October 14, 2022
The Goethe 2022 Long List for Late Historical Fiction
The Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in post-1750s Historical Fiction. The Goethe Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

The Goethe Book Awards competition is named for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who was born at the dawn of the new era of enlightenment on August 28, 1749.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Late Period Historical Fiction. Regency, Victorian, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, World and other wars before the 20th century, history of non-western cultures, set after the 1750s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

The other three Historical Fiction Genres are the Laramie Awards for Americana Fiction, the Chaucer Awards for Early Historical Fiction, and the Hemingway Awards for 20th c. Wartime Fiction.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Goethe Late Historical Fiction entries to the 2022 Goethe Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Goethe Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2022 Goethe Book Awards novel competition for Post-1750s Historical Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Leah Angstman – Falcon in the Dive
- Fred Skolnik – A Woman of Valor
- Jenny Brav – The Unbroken Horizon
- Eric Schumacher Ramirez – Children of Kings
- Jeff Winstead – The Last Battle of the Revolution
- Josanna Thompson – A Maiden’s Journey
- Daniel V. Meier, Jr. – Blood Before Dawn
- Pat Benedict Jurgens – Falling Forward: A Woman’s Journey West
- Scott Kauffman – Saving Thomas
- Jody Hadlock – The Lives of Diamond Bessie
- Naomi Wark – Songs of Spring
- Rita Bozi – When I Was Better
- Judith F. Brenner – The Moments Between Dreams
- Brigitte Goldstein – Court of Miracles
- Kent Politsch – Beebe and Bostelmann
- Susanne Dunlap – The Portraitist
- Gail Hertzog – Crossing the Ford
- Lilianne Milgrom – L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece
- Robert W. Smith – Running with Cannibals
- Todd M. Johnson – The Barrister and the Letter of Marque
- Brett Savill – Lie of the Land
- Cathy A. Lewis – The Road We Took
- Alice McVeigh – Harriet: A Jane Austen Variation
- Jennifer Newbold – The Private Misadventures of Nell Nobody
- Tamar Anolic – Tales of the Romanov Empire
- Julieta Almeida Rodrigues, Ph.D. – Eleonora and Joseph. Passion, Tragedy, and Revolution in the Age of Enlightenment
- Leslie Johansen Nack – The Blue Butterfly, A Novel of Marion Davies
- James D. Nealon – Confederacy of Fenians
- Ashby Jones – The Crossing
- Sandra Vasoli – Pursuing A Masterpiece
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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Good luck to all as your works move onto the next rounds of judging.

Click here to see the 2021 Goethe Book Award Winners for Late Historical Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Goethe Book Awards for Post-1750s Historical Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.

Please click here for more information.

For our other Historical Fiction Awards, please see the following:
Winners will be announced at the 2022 CIBA Awards Ceremony sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 27 – 30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to participate in and attend in North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
October 13, 2022