Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

The 2021 Paranormal Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction – CIBAs FINALISTS 2021
The Paranormal Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Supernatural Fiction. The Paranormal Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs) is looking for the best books Paranormal books featuring magic, the supernatural, weird otherworldly stories, superhumans (ex. Jessica Jones, Wonder Woman), magical beings & supernatural entities (ex. Harry Potter), vampires & werewolves (ex. Twilight), angels & demons, fairies & mythological beings, magical systems and elements. These books have advanced to the Long List Level of Achievement in the 2021 CIBAs.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Paranormal Supernatural Fiction Short List to the 2021 Paranormal Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Congratulations to the 2021 Paranormal Book Awards FINALISTS!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
- Avanti Centrae – The Doomsday Medallion
- Robert Herold – Moonlight Becomes You
- Rebecca Kightlinger – Megge of Bury Down: The Bury Down Chronicles, Book One
- Catori Sarmiento – But the Wicked Shall Perish
- Elizabeth Crowens – The Time Traveler Professor – Book Three: A War in Too Many Worlds
- J. W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls The Strings
- Kaylin McFarren – Annihilation
- K.T. Anglehart – The Wise One
- JP McLean – Blood Mark
- J.G. Schwartz – The Curious Spell of Madam Genova
- Henry Anderson – Cape Misfortune
- Miki Mitayn – The Conscious Virus
- John Stafford – A Hand of Vengeance
- Daniela Valenti – Sentinel 10: The Crystal Skull
- T.K. Conklin – Outlaw’s Redemption
- Jonathan Floyd – Lost on the Edge of Eternity
- David Fitz-Gerald – The Curse of Conchobar
- Nola Nash – Crescent City Moon
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE WINNERS of the 2021 Paranormal Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction!

Note: If you are an author who entered sequential titles into a division, we may have moved the latest book into next year’s CIBAs so that it would not be in competition with the earlier book in the series. We also suggest that you check out our Series Book Awards.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the 2020 PARANORMAL Awards was Kaylin McFarren for Soul Seeker

Click here to see the 2020 Paranormal Book Award Winners for Supernatural Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Paranormal Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Save the Dates! June 23 – 26, 2022! 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 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
March 2, 2022
The 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards for High Stakes Suspense – CIBAs Finalists
The Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in High Stakes Thriller Fiction. The Global Thriller Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Global Thriller High Stakes Fiction Short List to the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the FINALISTS of the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for International Suspense and Intrigue

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
- Avanti Centrae – The Doomsday Medallion
- E. R. Barr – Gods In The Ruins: A Vatican Archives Thriller
- Randall Krzak – Mission: Angola (Xavier Sear Thriller Book 1)
- Stu Jones & Gareth Worthington – Condition Black
- Norman M. Jacobs, MD, – A Divine Wind
- J Lawrence Matthews – One Must Tell The Bees
- Andrew Kaplan – Blue Madagascar
- Ron McManus – The Chameleon
- John Stafford – A Hand of Vengeance
- Roberta Seret – Treasure Seekers
- Kristie Clark – Killing Dragons
- Timothy S. Johnston – Fatal Depth
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE WINNERS of the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for High Stakes Fiction!

First Place and Grand Prize 2021 Global Thriller award winners will be announce at the CIBA Awards Ceremony and Banquet on Saturday, June 25, 2022. The CIBA Awards gala is hosted by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging for the First Place Positions and Grand Prize Winner of the 2021 Global Thrillers, a division of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards.

The Grand Prize Winner for the 2020 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards was William Maz for The Bucharest Dossier

Click here to see the 2020 Global Thriller Book Award Winners for High Stakes Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Global Thriller Book Awards for High Stakes Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.

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 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
March 2, 2022
MYSTERY in HARARE: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa by M.J. Simms-Maddox – Terrorism Thriller, Historical African Fiction, Travel Adventure Thriller

In M.J. Simms-Maddox’s atmospheric thriller, Mystery in Harare: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa, a former legislative aide’s wedding day turns deadly.

As the second installment of The Priscilla Trilogy opens, Priscilla J. readies to walk down the aisle in an American church to marry Jonathan. Not the man of her dreams, but the man she believes may be right for her. Love isn’t exactly on the table, but Priscilla hopes it will be in the future.

Before she can even take her vows, her soon-to-be husband is murdered in cold blood in front of her and those in attendance. Priscilla catches a glimpse of the murderer before succumbing to unconsciousness. She’s been drugged, and the kidnappers will confound and surprise readers.

When Priscilla gains consciousness, she is no longer in the United States but in the hinterland of Zimbabwe, Africa.

Priscilla is plunged into the murky and precarious world of the oppressive Apartheid regime in South Africa. How and why are the questions readers must discover for themselves. Suffice it to say, her endurance is tested repeatedly, she must learn how to look out for herself even as she struggles to find out the reasons behind the bloodshed in the church.

M.J. Simms-Maddox presents a thoughtful and compulsively readable story complete with a beguiling beginning. The tale spins into several twists and turns that readers will not see coming. The author aptly displays the toughness of the Southern part of Africa and its vibrancy and fluidity. Capturing this duality and melding it with the political atmosphere in America during the 1980s is the summit of this novel. Further, the book has obvious relevance to actual historical events.

Mystery in Harare comes with exceptionally well-drawn characters and a creatively imagined plot that gives it a resonant and all-embracing echo.

The beautifully evoked African settings and accompanying descriptions make this a real stand-out in cerebral mysteries. Simms-Maddox brings the reader along, making us feel a part of the story, careening down the path with Priscilla in all her experiences. Indeed, the author creates in Priscilla an individual with a formidable spirit and charisma that will appeal to many readers. The book concludes with a satisfying ending, but this is not the end of the series. One more title will complete the Priscilla trilogy.

Mystery In Harare is undoubtedly a successful terrorism thriller novel and a good place to start understanding the underbelly of the period of Apartheid in South Africa and its implications on all of its citizenry.

Mystery in Harare: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa by M.J. Simms-Maddox won First Place in the CIBAs 2019 Mystery and Mayhem Book Awards and comes highly recommended.

March 2, 2022
The PRICE For GLORY by M.N. Snitz – 20th Century Wartime Historical Fiction, Family Saga, Wartime Fiction

In The Price for Glory, author M.N. Snitz delivers a compelling multi-generational epic tale of warfare and passion with roots in ancient lore.

Abraham Steinnermann grows up in a family dwelling in the same German Black Forest where the great Teutonic warrior, Arminius, held off the incursion of Roman soldiers in the first century. This legacy of war and triumph infuse his destiny, sending him down paths that even he, a somewhat narcissistic young man, could never imagine – until forced to live it.

Bright and handsome, Steinnermann makes up only a few Jews who are accepted at the notably antisemitic Heidelberg University.

As he studies high finance, his talent for numbers becomes evident, landing him a job in Germany’s banking community as Hitler rises to power. Steinnermann admires Hitler’s determination to recoup his nation’s esteem. For several years, even as the war heats up and Jews become the obvious target, the intelligent young banker continues to excel without harm.

Steinnermann’s luck, however, cannot hold in Hitler’s Germany.

One day, two Nazi soldiers come for him. Soon, he struggles to stay alive in the hell of a concentration camp. But Fortune or Fate smiles once again on the young man when a camp guard notices his talent. Steinnermann is offered a job that will lead to his being one of the few survivors.

As the Allies move in, so does the Red Cross.

Steinnermann meets the beautiful Merriam, a Red Cross volunteer, and falls in love. The attraction is mutual. The two maintain a long-distance correspondence when Steinnermann relocates to America. Once there, his perspicacity in finance will land him in a selected, fated role. He sends for and marries the woman he adores. His memories of the war and the many times he dodged death are transmuted to the next generation, within the mind of his son Jack, who must serve in Vietnam.

Snitz, who served in the US Military in Vietnam and was an observer of the Israeli Yom Kippur War, draws together many threads to create his vast tapestry of a multi-generational tale in The Price for Glory.

He successfully creates in his central character a man the reader may “love to hate” – someone whose skills and intelligence are admirable but whose arrogance and boastfulness seem a colossal deficit. As the story progresses though, Snitz’s protagonist wins the reader over by surviving the deep sorrows and immense perils he faces along the way.

Wordsmith Snitz seems at home within his story.

A student of classical literature, who avows writing his first novel in fifth grade, Snitz aptly portrays the feelings of women like Merriam embroiled in a long-distance romance. He depicts the emotions of men like Steinnermann, who are tortured by an insane enemy, and showcases the young Jack who is enmeshed in the terrible duties of warfare.

The Price for Glory is a lengthy saga taking place on three continents and within the minds of those – young and brash, and old and wise – who carry the understanding of that price all too heavily. This novel is highly recommended.

February 25, 2022
The 2021 CLUE Book Awards for Suspense/Thrillers – CIBAs Semi-Finalists 2021
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards).

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction Short List to the 2021 Clue Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Congratulations to the 2021 CLUE Book Awards Semi-Finalists!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
- Tom Galvin – The Auction
- Lynn Yvonne Moon – The Agency – Tablet of Destiny
- Alicia Dill – Beyond Sacrifice
- Jane Rosenthal – Del Rio
- James A. Ross – Coldwater Revenge
- John Stafford – Call of Vengeance Series, Book 4: A Hand of Vengeance
- T.L. Bequette – Good Lookin’: A Joe Turner Mystery
- Ernesto H Lee – Flawed Beauty
- Amy S. Peele – Match: A Medical Murder Mystery
- Leah Angstman – Falcon in the Dive
- Erik Foge – We Know Your Name
- Kevin G. Chapman – Fatal Infraction (Mike Stoneman Thriller #4)
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Unknown, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Emily A. Myers – The Truth About Unspeakable Things
- Rip Converse – Callie Awakens
- D. J. Adamson – Into The Storm
- Roberta Seret – Gift of Diamonds
- Lyle Howard – An Eye For An Eye
- Laurie Buchanan – Indelible: A Sean McPherson Novel, Book One
- Robert Honor – Bogart’s Hat
- Valerie J. Brooks – Tainted Times 2
- Shelley Nolden – The Vines
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Conspiracy: A Buck Taylor Novel
These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2021 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging for the Semi-Finalist Level.

The Grand Prize Winner for the 2020 CLUE Awards was Chris Karlsen for A Venomous Love

Click here to see the 2020 Clue Book Award Winners for Suspense/Thriller Mysteries.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Clue Book Awards for Suspense/Thriller Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.

Please click here for more information.

For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Save the Dates! June 23 – 26, 2022! 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.
February 22, 2022
The 2021 SERIES Book Awards for Genre Fiction – FINALISTS – CIBAs 2021
The CIBA FICTION SERIES Book Awards recognize outstanding series works in any of our 16 Divisions. The Fiction Series Book Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs) is seeking for the best book series in all of its fifteen fiction divisions: Mysteries, Suspense Thrillers, Espionage/High Stakes, Young Adult, Middle-Grade Readers, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural and Paranormal, Romance, Historical Fiction. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Series Book Awards entries to the 2021 Series Book Awards FINALISTS. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Series First Place Positions and the Overall SERIES Grand Prize. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 2021 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person.

These titles are FINALISTs in the 2021 Series Book Awards novel competition for Genre Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.

Speculative Fiction Divsions

CYGNUS Book Awards for SERIES – Science Fiction
- Black Mariah Author Collective – Black Mariah Series – Dystopian Sci-Fi Series
- Mike Murphey – Physics, Lust and Greed – Science Fiction Time Travel
OZMA Book Awards for SERIES – Fantasy Fiction
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque – Fantasy Young Adult series
- M. K. Wiseman – The Bookminder series – Fantasy Young Adult series
Varied Divisions

Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Series – Young Adult
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – Shadows of the Past – Middle-Grade Readers Series
- Pamela Beason – Run for Your Life Young Adult Trilogy
- Courtney Leigh Pahlke – Life Force Preserve – Young Adult series
Chatelaine Book Awards for Series – Romantic Fiction
- Lucinda Brant – Roxton Family Saga – Romantic Series
- Janet K. Shawgo – Look For Me Series – Action / Adventure Romance Series
Mystery Divisions

Global Thriller Book Awards for Series – High Stakes Fiction
- Randall Krzak – The Bedlam Thriller Series – Global Thrillers
- Domenick Venezia – Linc Malloy – Adventure series
CLUE Book Awards for Series – Thriller/Suspense
- Kaylin McFarren – Threads Thriller/Suspense series
- John W. Feist – The Three Heirs Thriller /Suspense series
- Mary Deal – Sara Mason Mysteries series – Thriller/Suspense
CLUE Book Awards for Series – Crime / Police Procedural
- Daniel J. Waters – Mickey Cleary: The Jersey Shore Series –
  Chuck Morgan – Buck Taylor Crime Series
Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards for Series – Mysteries / Cozy and Not-so-Cozy
- Suzi Weinert – Garage Sale Mystery Series
- Amy S. Peele – A Transplant Medical Murder Mystery series
- Carl and Jane Bock – Arizona Borderlands Mysteries series
- Betty Jean Craige – Witherston Murder Mystery series
Historical Divisions

Chaucer Book Awards for Series – Historical Fiction
- Alexander Geiger – The Ptolemaios Saga- Historical Fiction series
- Nicole Evelina – The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy Historical series
- N.L. Holmes – The Lord Hani Mysteries – Historical mystery series
- Lucinda Brant – Alec Halsey Mystery Series – Historical Detective series
Laramie Book Awards for Series – Americana / Western Fiction
- Will Astrike – The Knack and The Skills of Ezra Lacey – Western series
- T P Graf – The Life and Stories of Jaime Cruz – Western series
- E. Alan Fleischauer – JT Thomas’s Series – Western series
Good Luck as we move onto the next round of judging!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2020 Series Awards is The Devil’s Bookkeepers – Three Books by Mark Newhouse

The Noose, The Noose Tightens, & The Noose Closes

Click here to see the 2020 Series Book Award Winners for Genre Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Series Book Awards for Genre Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.

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 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
February 22, 2022
The 2021 SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction – The Short List – CIBAs 2021
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction Long List to the 2021 Somerset Book Awards SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist Positions. The Finalists will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
- Ben Sharpton – The Awakening of Jim Bishop: This Changes Things
- Adrian Spratt – Caroline
- Linda Stewart Henley – Waterbury Winter
- Daniel Pare – No Matter The Price
- Antonia Gavrihel – Back to One
- M. J. Simms-Maddox – The Mysterious Affair at the Met
- Anne Pfeffer – Binge
- Valerie Taylor – What’s Not Said
- E. A. Coe – The Other Side Of Good
- Margaret Ann Spence – Joyous Lies
- Suzanne Kamata – The Baseball Widow
- Vicki Volden – All the After
- Kent Politsch – Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
- Gary Lee Miller – Finding Grace
- Ruthie Stevens – You Can’t Blame the Flower
- V.N. Writer – Who Stole My Hula Hoop?
- Teng Rong – Brilliant White Peaks
- Natalie Symons – Lies in Bone
- Ruth Hull Chatlien – Katie, Bar the Door
- Patrick Garry – Through the Waves a Steady Path
- Dan Schorr – Final Table: A Novel
- Dawn Newton – The Remnants of Summer
- Douglas Green – A Dog of Many Names
- Robert Gwaltney – The Cicada Tree
- Sarah E Zilkowski – Beasts of War
- Vanessa Carlisle – Take Me With You
- Richard C. Brusca – In the Land of the Feathered Serpent
- Bob Siqveland – Lines Through a Prism
- Judy Keeslar Santamaria – Jetty Cat Palace Cafe
- Joanne Kukanza Easley – Just One Look
- Charlie Suisman – Hot Air
- Tom Glenn – Secretocracy
- Sandra Vasoli – The Masterpiece Pursuit
- Suzanne Simonetti – The Sound of Wings
- John Hansen – Old Water
- Robert Steven Goldstein – Cat’s Whisker
- Alex Sirotkin – The Long Desert Road
- John Hansen – Badger Creek
- Eric Lotke – Union Made
- Pamela Hamilton – Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale
- Sue Phillips – You Oughta Know
- Chera Thompson & NF Johnson – A Time to Wander
- Cara Sue Achterberg – Blind Turn
- K. – Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Dancing Backwards
- Debra Whiting Alexander – A River for Gemma
- Anne Moose – House of Fragile Dreams
- Jane Ward – In the Aftermath
- Linda Rosen – Sisters of the Vine
- Drema Drudge – Victorine
- Kathy Sechrist – Success Is The Best Revenge
- Rick Lenz – Hello, Rest of My Life
- Cinda K. Swalley – The Golden Hearts Club
- Shan Leah – Thieves, Beasts & Men
- Gene Helfman – Beyond the Human Realm
- Emily A. Myers – The Truth About Unspeakable Things
- Sarahlyn Bruck – Daytime Drama
- Roberta Seret – Love Odyssey
- Barbara Linn Probst – The Sound Between the Notes
- Lynn McLaughlin – Jackson
- Jenn Bouchard – First Course
- Florence Reiss Kraut – How to Make a Life: a novel
- Susannah Marren – A Palm Beach Scandal
- C. Victorya Grace – Julip Lullabies and Silent Cries
- Mekiya Walters – Ashes, Ashes
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2020 Somerset Awards is Gregory Erich Phillips for A Season in Lights

Click here to see the 2020 Somerset Book Award Winners for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.

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 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
February 21, 2022
ACROSS the DISTANCE: Reflections on Loving and Where We Did & Did Not Find Each Other by Christina A. Kemp – Memoirs, Biographies of Women, Dysfunctional Families

In her nonfiction debut Across the Distance, Christina Kemp showcases a collection of eight personal stories that delve into the most poignant relationships throughout her life.

The well-crafted narratives encompass relationships with her parents, brother, childhood friends, boyfriends, and mentors as they moved in and out of her life. Themes of love, loss, distance, self-preservation, and healing rise to the surface.

Within the book, Kemp ponders the course of a romantic relationship as she realizes that love cannot make underlying differences disappear. At thirteen years old, her father died, and Kemp analyzes how she was able to come to terms with his death, reflecting on his kindness and heroic deeds. Several years later, she is diagnosed with the same condition that took her father; she feels as if she carries her father’s memory in the cells of her own body.

There is a clear distance between herself and her mother. Harmful and passive-aggressive tendencies placed the two at odds. While Kemp appreciated the Saturday morning conversations they often shared, her mother seemed more concerned with criticism than connection. The woman could shove her daughter across the room without reason. Regarding her rage, the author aptly describes it as “hot explosive sandbags that otherwise leaked at the seams.” Eventually, Kemp learned to accept the child/parent schisms.

With a background in counseling psychology, Christina A. Kemp delivers an in-depth assessment of her personal connections that will resonate with readers.

Examining these relationships brings clarity to familial ties and how they affect every other relationship in life. Indeed, Kemp better understands how to love on her own terms and realizes when to leave a relationship. One could spend a lifetime attempting to understand the landscape of relationships that make us who we are.

Each of the stories opens with a simple black & white photo.

The magpie cat, Lucy, stretches on hind legs, looking for an escape beyond the confines of her new island home. The model beauty of Kemp’s mother shows with full wavy hair and makeup, a scarf tied jauntily around her neck. A lone sailboat on distant waters captures the lingering loss of her father. Each image renders a stark, yet ethereal quality connected to Kemp’s life.

Kemp’s styling renders the beauty and harshness of significant moments in artful detail.

One day, the author overhears a lively conversation between a father and daughter about college plans; it is with shame and sorrow that Kemp realizes she’ll never share that experience. And then, amidst the rural surroundings of a northwest island, she considers the natural beauty of the changing seasons. The colorful descriptions and intimate detail throughout the text prove refreshing. Consider, “the island winds playing like a symphony.”

Across the Distance is most definitely a personal journal. However, even as the author finds catharsis in her stories, readers, too, will find meaning in the telling.

Readers are invited to take the book as a sequential whole or read one story portrait at a time. Either way, they will gain insight and understanding as they journey through this book and explore the intimate workings of relationships.

Across the Distance will appeal to those who seek to understand the connections and divisions we so often encounter in our lives.

February 21, 2022
Exciting News about the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2021 CIBAs
Yes! It is TRUE!

JOIN US for

Chanticleer’s 10th Annual Authors Conference!

and the

Annual Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Ceremony

Each one of our conferences have been very special,

but this one – but This One will be EXTRA SPECIAL!

June 23 – 26, 2022

We moved the 10th Chanticleer Authors Conference from the originally scheduled dates of April 7 – 10, 2022 to JUNE 23 – 26, 2022 so that more of you will be able to attend CAC22 In Real Life (IRL).

Because of the Covid Pandemic, the CAC 2020 and CAC 2021 had to be held virtually. We based the Zoomed operations out of the Hotel Bellwether with a few of local Chanticleerians joining us with safety protocols. It was starting to look as if CAC 2022 would also need to be held virtually also.

Additionally, crossing the border between Canada (Vancouver, B.C.) Canada and the U.S. (Bellingham, Wash.) was complicated and expensive for Canadians.

So, after doing some research, asking health experts, and tracking Covid numbers, we decided to ask the Hotel Bellwether if other dates were available to hold the conference. Fortunately, the last weekend of June was available. The rest of the summer was booked with weddings, which is wonderful! June 23 – 26, 2022!

And it is going to be our 10th Conference! We have plans to make it extra special!

What makes the Chanticleer Author Conferences so special?
- Most importantly, the attendees! You are what makes this conference so special.
- Learning from the experts – Learn from the Best!
- Learning from each other
- Networking and making new friends and connections
- Our Keynote Speakers – CAC22 will feature CATHY ACE, international best-selling crime author with 2 TV shows in production.
And our SESSIONS on the Business and Marketing Side of Being an Author with the latest in Technology and Trends.
- KICKSTARTER for Publishing – Explore how writers and publishers are using Kickstarter to bring new literature, audiobooks, podcasts, and more to life.
- Writer’s Law School – Protecting Your Artistic Rights
- TikTok & BookTok – Intro for Authors and Publishers and How to Get Started
- Book to Film Sessions
- Pitches and Log-lines
- Alphabet Soup for Authors – SEO, AISEO, Meta Data, Keywords, & more
- Branding for Authors
- Long-tail Marketing for the Internet Age
- Amazon Love – How to Get More
- Selling Platforms – How to Reach a Global Market
- Increasing Your Email List – How To
- How to Hit the USA Today Bestseller List
- Audio-Books for Authors – Tried and True methods without breaking the bank
- How to Think like Amazon and Utilize Direct to Consumer Trends to Grow Your Audience
- Elements of Effective Book Covers that SELL Your Book
- and more to come!
Advanced Writing Sessions
- Using Film Techniques for Fiction Writers – Camera angles, method acting for getting into a character’s pov, and creating subtext and tight dialogue
- Your Brain on Writing
- World Settings and Atmosphere
- Creating Memorable Characters using Gert Hofstede’s Theory of Communication Dimensions
- Captivating Co-Stars that add depth to your work-in-progress
- Fractured Time Lines and Sustaining a Series
- Five Things You Need to Know about POV
- and more to come!
And this is just the start of the Sessions that CAC22 will offer.

The curriculum and quality of presenters at CACs is why the Chanticleer Authors Conference is considered to be one of the top conferences in the U.S. by Writer Magazine year after year!

Networking and Collaboration Opportunities
- CAC’s KaffeeKlatches round-table discussions
- Two Networking Cocktail Parties
- BOOK FAIR – open to the general public on Sunday
- ASK the PROs sessions – individual sign-up mini-sessions
- Two Luncheons with Keynote Speakers
- Live Music on Friday and Saturday Evenings with no-host bar
- Evening Banquets
- And much more!
And the Grand EVENING for the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards Banquet and Awards Gala!

Don’t delay! Register TODAY!

We have 3 options for these challenging times. Reserve your place at CAC22!
February 18, 2022
Jodé Millman to present a Session on “Protecting Your Artistic Rights” at Chanticleer Authors Conference | CAC22
We are delighted to welcome Jodé Millman to present “Protecting Your Artistic Rights” at CAC22!

Jodé Millman is a life long resident of Poughkeepsie, New York, which serves as the setting for her crime fiction. Her writing draws upon her many years as an attorney to capture the tensions that arise when a small community is rocked by tragedy.

Author of the best-selling SEATS: NEW YORK Theatre guidebook, her debut thriller, The Midnight Call was released by Immortal Works Publishing in 2019. The Midnight Call won the 2020 Bronze IPPY Award, the American Fiction Award for Legal Thriller, was short-listed for the 2019 Clue Award, and received the First Place Blue Ribbon as “Best Police Procedural” by Chantireviews.com.

Jode will present the following session at CAC 22: The Writer’s Law School: Protecting Your Artistic Rights
For writers, it’s difficult to obtain information about protecting your rights in your creative projects. And if you do, it’s difficult to decipher the “legalese.”

In this workshop designed for writers, we’ll cover the basics of copyrights, trademarks and key provisions of publishing contracts so that you’ll understand the fine print without having a law degree.

Details

In this session, you’ll learn:

The differences between Copyright, Trademarks, Patents and Service Marks

The Copyright Registration Process and the CASE law

What is the Public Domain?

What is the Fair Use Doctrine?

Which Business Entity is best for my writing career?

What are the Right of: Privacy, Libel and Slander?

The Anatomy of a Publishing Deal-Contract Basics

Resources to help you protect your rights
Read the review of The Midnight Call here!

Her new thriller, Hooker Avenue is being released by Level Best Books in April 2022.

Millman developed “The Writer’s Law School,” an educational program designed to inform writers and artists about how to protect their artistic rights. Jode has presented the program to international writing associations, arts organizations and libraries. The schedule for her session on Law and Writing is TBA.

Presently, she also co-hosts and co-produces Backstage with the Bardavon Podcast. The program invites the listener backstage for intimate conversations with musicians and performers appearing at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and UPAC in Kingston, NY. Find it wherever you listent o fine podcasts. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters In Crime, and Romance Writers of America.
February 18, 2022