Author: chanti

  • An October Spotlight on the 2021 Global Thriller Awards

    An October Spotlight on the 2021 Global Thriller Awards

    Time is running out! The 2021 Global Thriller Awards are due in October!

     

    You’re working the puzzle, the patterns you see that no one else pays attention to. You’ve been at it for days, your eyes are burning, your throat dry, when a message notification beeps on your smartphone.  You tap to open:

    “We know who you are and your time is running out.”

    The smartphone beeps again. This time, the message reads:

    “You have until October 31, 2021, 11.59 p.m. to turn in your Global Thriller, or you will have no chance of winning…” 

    Don’t let this happen to you!

    Turn in your High-Stakes Thriller, your Chillers, your multiple Killers for a chance at the prize! But one thing is certain, if you don’t enter, you won’t have a chance of winning!

    The Global Thriller Awards Spotlight

    The clock is ticking… you’re working on a deadline while your spouse is across town, picking up the kids. You’ve taken the day off and gone to the cabin. You have to write that last chapter… the one that will get your work noticed, like J.D. Barker or Stephen King kind of noticed.

    The Chanticleer Global Thriller Awards recognizes High Stake Thrillers on an International Scale, including Lab Lit. While Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series might be the first thing that comes to mind, there is a wide variety of espionage and mystery that can fit into the Global Thriller genre. One thing is for sure, it will keep you up late, and, if you can sleep, it’ll be with one eye open.

    The only certainty is that the competition for this CIBA Division Awards is steep. Let’s take a look at some of our favorites.

    The Bucharest Dossier, a Novel by William Maz

    Chanticleer Review is forth coming.

    Blue and Gold Badge for the Global Thriller Grand Prize for High Stakes Thrillers The Bucharest Dossier by William MazCover of William Maz's The Bucharest Dossier, Chanticleer Grand Prize Global Thrillers Winner 2020

     

     

    Doubt and Debt
    By John Feist

    Doubt and Debt Book Cover

    Pipelines—large industrial pipelines through which pour oil, gas, and other natural elements—are not the usual stuff that writers tackle for intelligent, sophisticated international high-stakes spy novels. But then again, most writers aren’t John Feist, whose lawyering background in, yes, global pipelines and related industries such as steel, coal, and shipping companies make him the perfect choice to turn these typically pedestrian subjects into absorbing books. His work introduces us to complex issues involving international trade at the highest level, greed, murder, and above all, the intricacies and rewards of multinational, prominent, and sometimes multiracial families.

    Read More here! 

     

    The Kurdish Connection (Book 1 in the Bedlam Series)
    By Randall Krzak
    Semi-Finalist in Global Thrillers

    A Girl looking down. Largely taupe colors with a badge for the Chanticleer Semi-finalist position

    International writer Randall Krzak addresses one of the world’s saddest ongoing tragedies in The Kurdish Connection, a thriller about the plight of the Kurdish people and a desperate plan to free them from their fate.

    In a world awash with refugees, perhaps no greater tragedy exists than the ongoing fate of the Kurds of the Middle East, roughly 30 million sect members spread between Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Connected by language, religion, and history, this group has no country to call their own. The Kurds have been the subject of several attempts by international agreements to help them create a haven, the most recent in northern Iraq’s no-fly zone. Meanwhile, all four host countries have ruthlessly suppressed Kurdish hopes and dreams politically and especially militarily.

    Read More here!

    Execute Order
    By Jett Ward
    First Place Winner in Global Thrillers

    On a military base outside Las Vegas, Lieutenant Brent Parker sits in a bunker in a darkened room looking to an outsider to be playing a sophisticated aerial combat video game. But this is no game. People live and die with Parker in control of a lethal drone nicknamed the Reaper flying over forbidden Syrian air space in 2011, striking American enemies on the ground with killer missiles from several miles in the air.

    Enemies are one issue, but collateral damage—men, women, children, whole families who die in a missile attack as a side effect of bringing down a terrorist—weighs heavily on Parker’s conscience. It doesn’t help when his ultra-sensitive cameras see the face of a woman who his missile will obliterate as a side effect of bringing down a military-mandated target, a face that haunts him as he leaves the bunker for the clean, and safe, American desert air of Nevada.

    Read More here! 

     

    The Kafir Project
    By Lee Burvine
    First Place Winner in Global Thriller Awards

    From page one, things are not going as planned on The Kafir Project, and author Lee Burvine has many more surprises in store before this undertaking ends. The action leaps off the page from beginning to the grand finale in this thought-provoking thriller. The villains are well-organized and highly motivated to stop the Project dead, as well as anyone who gets in their way.

    Gevin Rees is a television science communicator, a celebrity who explains complex scientific discoveries and theories to television audiences. He interviews guests on specific topics and is surprised the world’s most celebrated and reclusive physicist, Edward Fischer, wants to meet with him. It’s even more curious because Fischer’s death in an explosion had been broadly reported. However, he stands before Gevin Rees and begins to tell a story of intrigue about a secret project on a pier along San Francisco Bay. The story is interrupted with gunfire. This time there is no doubt that Fischer is dead. Now on the run, Gevin Rees is a new target.

    Read More here!

     

    Hong Kong Central (Book 3)
    By Marilyn Larew

    Former CIA agent and all around badass, Lee Carruthers, returns for the thrilling third book in the series, Hong Kong Central by Marilynn Larew.

    Lee is looking forward to some well-earned downtime, so when her ex-boss and mentor, Sidney Worthington calls with another job, Lee is not amused. During her previous mission, people tried to kill her—multiple times. All she really wants right now is some serious R&R. However, she is the gal who will never say “no” to a job. And besides, Worthington swears it’s an easy gig.

    Read More here! 

     

    Bishop’s Law
    By Rafael Amadeus Hines
    First Place Winner in Global Thriller Awards

    Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. This is the code that John Bishop, one of America’s most decorated military heroes, teaches his men to follow whether they’re on a mission in the heat of the Middle East or in the jungle that is New York’s Lower East Side in Rafael Amadeus Hines’ novel, Bishop’s Law.

    To say his life is complicated is putting it mildly. In this second volume of the John Bishop series, several high-level assassins are hell-bent on killing him for his actions as a soldier. At the same time, he’s deep in his crime family’s military-style battles against various opponents’ groups. All these forces are closing in on him simultaneously, even as the United States government had hired him and his family to protect the country from bad guys using whatever means necessary.

    Read More here! 

     


    Have a great Global Thriller? Submit before the end of October for the 2021 CIBAs! 

    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 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, with more information available here.

    And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.  

    If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Review here or to one of our Chanticleer International Awards here.

    Also remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today!  CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!

  • Alex Sirotkin — Author of The Long Desert Road

    Alex Sirotkin — Author of The Long Desert Road

    Alex is wearing glasses and a white short-sleeved henley shirt with a very cute dogI wanted you to know how much I appreciated what you wrote – especially concerning the notion of perspective to which you referred at the end.

    It was one of the main points of my book, and you totally got it, although most do not. I thought I was being clear enough, even redundant.  

    But even professional reviewers who like the book, just don’t pick up on this. You did, and that gave me a bit more confidence. So thanks!

  • The 2021 GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle Grade Fiction – The Long List – CIBAs 2021

    The Boxcar Children from the famed series by Gertrude Warner

    The Gertrude Warner Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Middle Grade Fiction.  The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

    The Gertrude Warner Book Awards competition is named for Gertrude Chandler Warner, the wonderful author of The Boxcar Children.

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Contemporary Middle Grade, SFF & Paranormal Middle Grade, Mystery Middle Grade, Historical Middle Grade, Adventure Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards here and for Children’s Literature see our Little Peeps Awards here.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade  Fiction entries to the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Gertrude Warner Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the FINALIST positions. Finalists will be selected from the Short List.  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–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person. 

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards novel competition for Middle Grade Fiction!

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

    • Didem Saracel – Story of Carbon
    • Didem Saracel – Story of Oxygen
    • Ryan O’Connor – Ting Ting, the Girl Who Saved China
    • Clayton Marshall Adams – The Mask
    • Mary K. Savarese – The Girl in the Toile Wallpaper
    • Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
    • McKemie Huston – Return of the Last Prism
    • M.L. Smith – Serious Business on Albatross Lane
    • B.L. Smith – Irritating Adventures on Albatross Lane
    • K.P. Boardman – The Falling Sisters
    • Murray Richter – Fishing for Luck
    • J. B. Spector – The Sunlit Curse, Book 1 of The Mer-Prince Adventures
    • J. B. Spector – The Amethyst Tower, Book 2 of The Mer-Prince Adventures
    • Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
    • Ronnie Swire Siegel – Displaced: A Story About Climate Change and How Displaced Animals Ring the Alarm
    • James Love – Max Voltage: Multiverse Mayhem
    • Ben Gartner – Sol Invictus
    • Esta Lemon – The Loser Blog
    • KS Mitchell – The Mystery of the Golden Ball: Pen & Quin International Agents of Intrigue
    • Emmett J Hall – RUNAWAY
    • Norman L. Johnson, MD – TR Tommy to the Rescue
    • Dane S. Skorup – Kid Kingmaker
    • Moira Siobhan – Dilly Cooper Hat-astrophe
    • Laurie Calkhoven – Roosevelt Banks, Good-Kid-in-Training
    • Peter Solomon – The Stardust Mystery
    • D. H. Timpko – The Firma Twins and the Flute of Enchantment
    • Susan McCormick – The Antidote
    • Raea Gragg – Mup
    • Gloria Two-Feathers – Buck Keeper of the Meadow
    • Barbara Glazier-Robinson – Grace from Space: A Race to Save Earth(Dream Catcher Series, Book One)
    • Jay Spencer – The Phantom Airplane Mystery
    • Laura Gerhardt Schonberg – Joker

    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.

    Click here to see the 2020 Gertrude Warner Book Award Winners for Middle Grade Fiction.

    Cover of Kassy O'Roarke Cub Reporter by Kelly Oliver

    A blue and gold badge for the 2020 Grand Prize Winner for Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Readers Kassy O’Roarke, Cub Reporter by Kelly Oliver

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle Grade Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023. 

    Please click here for more information.

    For our other Youth Reader Fiction Awards, please see the following:

    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 Authors: Cathy Ace and  Robert Dugoni along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.

  • The 2021 GOETHE Book Awards for Post-1750s Historical Fiction – The Long List – CIBAs 2021

    The 2021 GOETHE Book Awards for Post-1750s Historical Fiction – The Long List – CIBAs 2021

    Goethe Post 1750s Historical Fiction Award

    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. For 20th century Wartime Fiction, see our new Hemingway Awards here. 

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Goethe Late Historical Fiction entries to the 2021 Goethe Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 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 (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–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person. 

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Goethe Book Awards novel competition for Post-1750s Historical Fiction!

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

    • Sandra Vasoli – The Masterpiece Pursuit
    • J.G. Schwartz – The Curious Spell of Madam Genova
    • Andrew Schafer, M.D. – Unclean Hands
    • Leah Angstman – Falcon in the Dive
    • Margaret Rodenberg – Finding Napoleon: A Novel
    • Anna Bullock – The Companion
    • Margaret Porter – The Limits of Limelight
    • Pamela Nowak – Never Let Go
    • Michael J. Coffino – Truth Is in the House
    • Georgia Nicolle – Maiden Scars
    • Paula Butterfield – The Goddesses of Tenth Street
    • Adele Holmes, M.D. – Winter’s Reckoning
    • Tammy Pasterick – Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash
    • Ron Singerton – The Refused
    • Alice McVeigh – Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel
    • Jodi Lea Stewart – Triumph, a Novel of the Human Spirit
    • S. Lee Fisher – Becoming Olive W. – The Women of Campbell County: Family Saga: Book 1
    • Victoria Laurienzo – Toolie
    • Drema Drudge – Victorine
    • Sophia Alexander – Silk: Caroline’s Story
    • Lorelei Brush – Chasing the American Dream
    • Lee Hutch – Molly’s Song
    • Julie Weary – Skeleton World
    • Orna Ross – After the Rising & Before the Fall
    • Alfred Nicols – Lost Love’s Return
    • Glen Craney – The Cotillion Brigade: A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History
    • Bryan Ney – Absaroka War Chief
    • Emmett J Hall – Runaway
    • Jenni L. Walsh – A Betting Woman: A Novel of Madame Moustache
    • Dana Mack – All Things That Deserve to Perish
    • Pamela Hamilton – Lady Be Good
    • Adriana Girolami – The Zamindar’s Bride
    • Lori McMullen – Among the Beautiful Beasts
    • Mike Jordan – The Freedom Song
    • Florence Reiss Kraut – How to Make a Life: a novel
    • Kathleen Williams Renk – Vindicated: A Novel of Mary Shelley
    • Michelle Rene – Maud’s Circus
    • J. E. Dyer – Barons
    • Judith Berlowitz – Home So Far Away

    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.

    Click here to see the 2020 Goethe Book Award Winners for Late Historical Fiction.

    Cover of The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 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 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 Authors: Cathy Ace and  Robert Dugoni along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.

  • The 2021 CHATELAINE Book Awards for Romantic Fiction – The Long List – CIBAs 2021

    The 2021 CHATELAINE Book Awards for Romantic Fiction – The Long List – CIBAs 2021

    Romance Fiction Chatelaine Award

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

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best new books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, perhaps a little steamy romance, and stories that appeal especially to fans of affairs of the heart to compete in the Chatelaine Book Awards (the CIBAs). 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 Chatelaine Romantic Fiction entries to the 2021 Chatelaine Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Chatelaine Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the Finalist positions.  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–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person. 

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Chatelaine Book Awards novel competition for Romantic Fiction!

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

    • Jayne Castel – Highlander Deceived
    • Anna Gomez and Kristoffer Polaha – Moments Like This
    • Valerie Taylor – What’s Not Said — A Novel
    • Lindy Miller – Aloha With Love
    • Alex Sirotkin – The Long Desert Road
    • Evie Alexander – Highland Games
    • Jared Morrison – Of Dreams and Angels
    • M. C. Bunn – Where Your Treasure Is
    • A.D. Brazeau – Love Between the Lines
    • Chera Thompson & NF Johnson – A Time to Wander
    • A. L. Cleven – Running Into Mountains
    • Meredith Pechta – Political Theatre
    • Brooke Skipstone – Crystal’s House of Queers
    • Bobbi Groover – Inside the Grey 
    • Pierre G. Porter – 49 So Fine
    • Liz Whitehurst – Messenger
    • Elizabeth St. Michel – Surrender the Storm
    • Susan Faw – Bone Dragon
    • Kelle Z. Riley – Read My Lips
    • Kana Wu – No Secrets Allowed
    • John W. Feist – The Color of Rain
    • Chris Karlsen – The Ack Ack Girl
    • Edie Cay – The Boxer and the Blacksmith
    • Emily A. Myers – The Truth About Unspeakable Things
    • Frannie James – The Sylvan Hotel, A Seattle Story
    • Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Breath, Book One in the Desert Hills Trilogy
    • Adriana Girolami – The Zamindar’s Bride
    • Phillip Vega – Searching for Sarah
    • Emma Lombard – Discerning Grace
    • F. E. Greene – In the Sweet Midwinter
    • HK Jacobs – Wilde Type

    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.

    Click here to see the 2020 Chatelaine Book Award Winners for Romantic Fiction.

    Cover of When the Wind Chimes by Mary Ting

    Blue and Gold Grand Prize 2020 Chatelaine Badge for When the Wind Chimes by Mary Ting

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Chatelaine Book Awards for Romance 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 Authors: Cathy Ace and  Robert Dugoni along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.

  • Genre as Glue for Your Story | A Chanticleer Writers Toolbox Article

    Genre as Glue for Your Story | A Chanticleer Writers Toolbox Article

    What’s My Genre?

    or

    A Primer On Genre

    One of the most frequent questions we hear at Chanticleer is “What division should I submit my story to?” All our divisions are divided by genre and sub-genres. Some can be pretty tricky to parse. For example, is your mystery novel a Not-So-Cozy Mystery, a Thriller, or a Global Thriller?

    First a breakdown on our Awards program genres, and then let’s talk about why it’s important for authors to understand their own genre.

    The Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards (CIBAs)

    We currently have 24 different divisions! Six of those are Non-Fiction, and the other 18 are some flavor of Fiction. You can see all of our Awards Divisions here. We’ll start with a focus more on the general sections on our website which are as follows:

    • Speculative Fiction
    • Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
    • Young Adult or Children’s Literature
    • Historical Fiction
    • Literary and Contemporary
    • Romantic Fiction
    • And, of course, Non-Fiction

    Remember we have the Shorts and Series Awards, too, but both of those focus within these genres above. There’s a huge swath of other genres, hence each of the above categories being broken into at least three different genres, but that’s a good place to start.

    The Complete Aubrey set of novels that cross genre boundaries
    The Complete Aubrey – Maturin Novels Set – 21 complete novels – Kiffer likes how the covers create a scene. And, yes, she has read the complete series.

    Patrick O’Brien’s Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin series crosses many genres: Historical fiction, action/adventure fiction, romance (yes, romance), military fiction, etc.

    The series starts in 1800 with the Napoleonic Wars and carries through to the Battle of Waterloo in late 1815.

    Some say Aubrey and Maturin are the inspiration for “inseparable fictional duos” such as Kirk and Spock of the original Star Trek TV series (79 episodes) by Gene Roddenberry, Holmes and Watson sixty stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the award-winning Navajo Nation mystery series by Tony Hillerman, and Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear of the Longmire novel series.

    Understanding Genre:

    When writing in general, it helps to think of your work in terms of different points of view. Often English teachers will refer to this as the Rhetorical Situation of your writing, which comes in the following parts:

    • Audience: Who will be reading it? This is more than people who buy your book, but also your writing group, beta readers, professional editors you pay, agents, publishing editors, bookstore employees, and then the specific people to who your book will appeal.
    • Medium: Quite literally what is it written on and how it is delivered. Paper, ebook, audiobook, graphic novels, hybrid.
    • Message: What it says
    • Genre: The conventions and context regarding how this information is typically presented
    • Purpose: The intention of the writing

    Naturally, we’re going to focus on Genre here.

    Take a moment and consider this question: What is Genre? It may even be worth pausing to write down your thoughts before continuing.

    Two hands, one holding an apple, and one holding an orange
    It’s a little more complicated than “Apples and Oranges”

    In “Dukes, Deaths, and Dragons: Editing Genre Fiction” from What Editors Do, Tor Executive Editor Diana Gill Diana Gill asks the same question, and she provides her own answer:

    “What is genre? Merriam-Webster defines it as ‘a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.’ Genres of fiction include mystery, science fiction, romance, fantasy, westerns, erotica, and horror. Genre fiction can be commercial, it can be literary—and it can be both.”

    A quick internet search shows that there are typical standards for most genres when it comes to word count, which can help when plotting or editing your work. Let’s look at that genre list from before, but add in word counts:

    You can read up on some more of the general rules of genre in this older, but still worthwhile blog from Ruth Harris here.

    Standard word counts for different genres are important to keep in mind as knowing how long your novel is affects your storytelling!

    • Speculative Fiction 90,000-120,000
    • Mystery 70,000-90,000
    • Young Adult 50,000-80,000 (much shorter for Early Readers and Middle Grade)
    • History 100,000
    • Literary  100,000
    • Romance, 50,000 + (shorter is usually better for romance)

    Non-Fiction is a little too varied to put a fine point on it. George Saunders tells his reader in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain that he received “the Cornfeld Principle” from movie producer Stuart Cornfeld, which states:

    “[E]very structural unit needs to do two things: (1) be entertaining in its own right and (2) advance the story in a non-trivial way.”

    George Saunders on Politics and the Future | The New Yorker
    George Saunders

    If your story is excessively long, it may be worth it to look at entire chapters and ask yourself that question. At best, you may find out you have two books, or as we have seen here at Chanticleer, three books instead of one, but no matter what happens your story will probably be stronger for it.

    A reminder from Kiffer: Remember each chapter should have its own story arc and should end in such a way that the reader can’t wait to indulge in the next chapter as the story develops its overall arc.

    Each story within a series should contain a portion of the overall arc of the series.

    This works for whatever genre or genre’s you are working in—even those with fractured time-lines.

    What is the point of genre, or, put another way, who uses genre?

    This goes back to the question of Audience when we consider a book. Remember who we said might be reading this with an eye toward genre:

    • Your Writing Circle
    • Beta Readers
    • Professional Editors
    • Agents
    • Publishing Editors
    • Bookstore employees
    • Distributors (the gauntlet of a successful sales strategy)
    • ISBN – & Cataloging
    • Library of Congress
    • Copyright
    • Your Readers!

    While understanding the genre can help you with narrative conventions and writing decisions, writing in a genre also establishes an unspoken contract between you and the reader. If you break the contract, your readers might be a little frustrated with you. That said, common forms of genre blending can be found in Young Adult Fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, and Romance Fiction.

    You might be asking why on earth you would need to even bother with a genre when all you want to do is reach your readers directly. Well, there’s a simple answer…

    Marketing! Marketing! Marketing!

    EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
    What will you do to help your book be discovered?

    Knowing your genre not only helps you understand the conventions (like length) for what you are writing, but it also helps readers find your book. Think about when you go into a bookstore. Is there a section you automatically beeline for? Do you look to see if they’ve separated out Horror from SciFi and Fantasy instead of putting it all in Speculative Fiction? Are you a frequent peruser of the Local Author shelves? Having clear sections and genres (even more abstract ones like Local Authors) helps to orient your reader to best find your book!

    Author Platform = Discoverability

    In spite of how having a clear genre can help book sales, we often hear is that someone’s book defies genre, or it can only be described as the most literary fiction around, or it just doesn’t fit one of the 24 Awards divisions we offer. Well, those authors aren’t alone in that feeling.

    An interesting example of this is Kazuo Ishiguro’s book The Buried Giant. Ishiguro seemed to be reluctant to call the book fantasy, and indeed you’ll find it in the general fiction section of most book stores. (The same is true for his book Klara and the Sun, which is narrated by a robot, but somehow not science fiction.) Ursula K. LeGuin, a fervent champion of genre fiction, had this to say:

    “Familiar folktale and legendary ‘surface elements’ in Mr Ishiguro’s novel are too obvious to blink away, but since he is a very famous novelist, I am sure reviewers who share his prejudice will never suggest that he has polluted his authorial gravitas with the childish whims of fantasy.” (Read the full Guardian article detailing this here)

    Ursula K. Le Guin
    The Brilliant Ursula K. Le Guin

    So What Does Genre Do?

    Genre is a form of categorization that helps people sell your books. Ishiguro, as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature can sell work on his name alone. And using a genre isn’t so bad! Think about times that you’ve queried for your manuscripts or even when you see people pitching their work on Twitter’s #pitmad event. You see books advertised saying:

    • The next Harry Potter!
    • Jack Reacher fans have found their new series!
    • Friends of Tolkien fantasy will be happy here!
    • Perfect for Star Trek and Star Wars fans alike!

    While these claims may be less original than agents and publishers would like, they get the idea of genre across, and if you’re familiar with those titles you know exactly the kinds of books being described without even reading a summary.

    Then there is the advice of J.D. Barker, Master of Suspense

    CROSSING GENRES and WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT! 

    J.D. Barker asked his attendees at his presentation at a Chanticleer Authors Conference session, “What do you write? Thrillers? Mysteries? Paranormal?”

    Hands were flying up. Then he asked, “Horror?” Sharon Anderson’s hand flew up. He looked at her for a couple of seconds and said, “I guess you’ll be happy with not making much money, then.”

    Say What?

    He went on to explain how authors limit their audiences when they use certain words. Horror, it turns out, is one of those words. Many people read thrillers, quite a few read mystery novels, and who doesn’t like a good paranormal? But when you say “horror,” people tend to shy away. Sure, you’ll get your fans. But, as Barker adroitly pointed out, you may not get those readers who love the other genres – and would most likely love what you have to offer, too.

    This is important because your horror novel may contain elements of a thriller – why wouldn’t it? Likewise, your novel probably has a storyline that needs solving. The point J.D. was making is this – don’t scare away your readers by telling them your novel is only one thing. Think carefully about your marketing and promote your work in such a way as to garner the largest appeal. (Read the full interview with J.D. in our magazine.)

    JD Barker presents at CACs and VCACs.

    Having a flexible genre that fits into a more popular one (consider paranormal and horror or paranormal and romance) has the potential to greatly expand your readership.

    If you’re having trouble identifying your genre and need another pair of eyes on your work, you can always sign up for one of our Manuscript Overviews here.

    Keep an eye out!

    Did you enjoy this article? We’re planning on doing a series breaking down the ins and outs of different genres in a series of Genre Deep Dives to help you know if your work is a police procedural or a cozy mystery – or whatever else you might be writing!

    Thank you for spending part of your writing day with Chanticleer Reviews! 


    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 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 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://www.chantireviews.com/manuscript-reviews/

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

    Writer’s Toolbox

    Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Writer’s Toolbox article.

    Writers Toolbox Helpful Links: 

    Five Essential Book Cover Elements by Kiffer Brown

    Know Your Genre: Tips and Secrets from the Experts for Writing Bestselling Genre Fiction

    Kazuo Ishiguro thinks his fantasy novel is not a fantasy novel. Are we bothered?

    The traditional publishing tool that indie authors can use to propel their writing careers to new levels?  https://www.chantireviews.com/2016/05/15/the-seven-must-haves-for-authors-unlocking-the-secrets-of-successful-publishing-series-by-kiffer-brown/

  • ANTONIUS: Son of Rome (The Antonius Trilogy Book 1) by Brook Allen – Ancient Roman Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction

    ANTONIUS: Son of Rome (The Antonius Trilogy Book 1) by Brook Allen – Ancient Roman Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction

     

     

    Blue and Gold Chaucer 1st Place BadgeAntonius: Son of Rome by Brook Allen focuses on one of history’s most vexing and perplexing figures, Marc Antony. It is also inevitably a prism on modern American politics, with its characters behaving duplicitously, greedily, and ignobly while spinning up service to the greater good.

    Historians often cite Antony as a controversial figure whose accomplishments and flaws have been noted by his enemies. Yet, he is as compelling as Richard III or Richard Nixon, with gaps in the accounts of his life that create grounds for curiosity and speculation as to how he became the pivotal figure in western history that he is. Allen weaves a wonderfully realistic and organic story of how a boy grows up desperate and bitter in a disgraced patrician family yet desperately transmutes mistake and tragedy into military achievement.

    Marcus Antonius was the eldest of three male children of his namesake father, Marcus Antonius, and Julia Antonia. Of noble birth in Republican Rome, the novel begins as eleven-year-old Marcus learns of his father’s fatal illness, a man who had failed in his duty to govern overseas provinces. His actions as provincial governor – extorting gold from those he should protect, then failing to commit suicide as a Roman general should when such disgrace is discovered – angered the Senate and left his widow and orphans to bear his dishonor.

    Young Antonius vows to restore honor to the family name.

    He commits to instruction in military practices and interacts with a cast of relatives and characters who aid him and provide additional problems with their political intrigues. His distant cousin, Gaius Julius Caesar, gifts him with a slave who becomes trainer and friend. But young Antonius also acquiesces to baser pursuits, becoming involved, with two other young Roman men of noble birth, in a brothel and gaming club where he indulges copiously. He begins to accrue gambling debts, which lead him to desperation as his moneylender demands repayment that the family’s modest wealth cannot meet. Roman proprieties and political savagery come together as his mother remarries. A plot to rebel against the Republican order includes his new stepfather, whom Antonius has come to esteem, and one of his brothel compatriots. The plot’s failure leads to his stepfather’s death and additional contempt for his family. Even his own joy sows horror; he frees and marries a family slave, only for her to be murdered by his usurious moneylender. Despondent and concerned for the others in his family, he is convinced by his cousin, Caesar, to study abroad in Greece, where his fortunes change.

    Allen makes historical Rome real.

    She brings to life areas readers might be familiar with, but she also takes us into the homes and less-pleasant places in mid-first-century BC Rome. From murder dungeons to strolls along the Palatine, receiving guests at a family Domus, and the daily interactions of Roman nobles and plebians and slaves, the perspective of young Antonius provides insight to a time two millennia distant and yet of human behavior not much different. As familiar names like Cicero and Caesar and Ptolemy plot and scheme and inveigle for personal glory with the lives of people they disregard in the balance, it’s difficult not to transfer young Antonius’s learning experience into our own era where the covetousness remains pervasive. The backstabbing is only slightly less literal.

    Indeed, the novel’s strength lies not in the admirable accuracy of its descriptions and accounts but in Allen’s ability to place the reader directly in the head of her hero. Perhaps it’s difficult to think of a man who drinks, fornicates, and wagers excessively as a hero but Marcus Antonius relies on honor in most instances, including when it may be to his detriment. As readers share his journey from the Domus Antonii to Alexandria, many will come to understand his philosophy and may be swayed.

    Steeped in history, but more than fiction, Antonius: Son of Rome ultimately invites readers to visit another place and time.

    Allen presents a flawed but sympathetic character to an enigmatic two-dimensional historical figure that will appeal equally to those already inclined to Roman history and those who might be just as inclined to the modern singer. Antonius: Son of Rome took home 1st Place in the CIBA 2020 Chaucer Awards for Early Historical Fiction.

    Chanticleer Book Reviews 5 Star Best Book silver foil sticker

  • The 2021 CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction – The Long List – CIBAs 2021

    The 2021 CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction – The Long List – CIBAs 2021

    A picture of Geoffery Chaucer as a white man with a gray goatee with the words "Chaucer Awards" across the bottom

    The Chaucer Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in pre-1750s Historical Fiction.  The Chaucer Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

    The Chaucer Book Awards competition is named for Geoffrey Chaucer the author of the legendary Canterbury Tales. The work is considered to be one of the greatest works in the English language. It was among the first non-secular books written in Middle English to be printed in 1483.

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking for the best books featuring Pre-1750s Historical Fiction, including pre-history, ancient history, Classical, world history (non-western culture), Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Tudor, 1600s, 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 Chaucer Early Historical Fiction entries to the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Chaucer Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the Finalist positions.  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 17 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 in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards novel competition for Pre-1750s Early Historical Fiction!

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

    • John A. Martino and Michael P. O’Kane – Olympia: The Birth of the Games
    • B.L. Smith – The Last Golden Light
    • Alana White – Medici Man: The Hearts of All on Fire
    • Griffin Brady – The Heart of a Hussar
    • Leah Angstman – Out Front the Following Sea
    • James Conroyd Martin – Too Soon the Night: A Novel of Empress Theodora (The Theodora Duology Book 2)
    • David Martyn – The Epistle a Story of the Early Church
    • Vivienne Brereton – The House of the Red Duke. Book One: A Phoenix Rising
    • PJ Devlin – The Chamber
    • Virginia Crow – The Year We Lived
    • David Fitz-Gerald – The Curse of Conchobar: A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series
    • Seven Jane – The Isle of Gold
    • Janet Wertman – The Boy King
    • Wendy J. Dunn – Falling Pomegranate Seeds: All Manner of Things
    • Edward Rickford – The Bend of the River: Book Two in the Tenochtitlan Trilogy
    • Sherry V. Ostroff – Mannahatta, The Sequel
    • James Hutson-Wiley – The Travels of ibn Thomas
    • Tim Schooley – The Wool Translator
    • Patricia Bracewell – The Steel Beneath the Silk
    • Gail Meath – Countess Jacqueline
    • Ron Destro – The Starre, the Moone, the Sunne
    • Rebecca D’Harlingue – The Lines Between Us: A Novel
    • Amy Wolf – A Woman of the Road and Sea
    • Toni Kief – Saints, Strangers and Rosehip Tea
    • Kelly Nichols and Alyn Rockwood – Beyond the Dragonhead

    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.

    Click here to see the 2020 Chaucer Book Award Winners for Early Historical Fiction.

    Cover of Bird in a Snare by N.L. HolmesGold and blue Grand Prize badge for the 2020 Chaucer Awards won by N.L. Holmes' Bird in a Snare

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Early 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 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 Authors: Cathy Ace and  Robert Dugoni along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.

  • Brook Allen — Author of the Antonius Trilogy, and Chaucer Award First Place Winner

    Brook Allen — Author of the Antonius Trilogy, and Chaucer Award First Place Winner

    Brook AllenWow. Indeed, I was humbled by such a fantastic review of my book. In fact, thought I’ve had some excellent reviews, this one surpassed them all. I thank you so much for reading and recommending my work to others. I know my editor Jenny Quinlan, will be enthralled, as well. 

    Brook Allen, Author of the Antonius Trilogy, and Chaucer Award First Place Winner

  • Ryan Young

    Ryan Young

    Author of The Shepherd’s Burden, a First Place Winner in Paranormal Awards

    Your passion for storytelling and your dedication to those that tell them is second to none! Not even a global pandemic could stop you. Thank you for all that you do to promote and support independent authors, such as myself.