Paul Hanson will be joining us at the Chanticleer Authors Conference!
We are delighted to welcome Paul Hanson to #VCAC21! He often can be found running our Book Fair almost single-handedly, Paul is a force to be reckoned with!
Paul is one of three co-owners of Village Books in Fairhaven and Lynden. As a writer, a publisher, and former President of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, he’s been an advocate for independent bookstores and independent publishers and authors. He programs the Chuckanut Writers Workshops and Classes and has been one of the Chuckanut Writers Conference planners since 2012. Village Books’ Publishing Division has helped hundreds of local writers to publish their works.
Author Event at Village BooksVillage Books, a corner stone of the Writing Community here in Bellingham and Lynden, Wash.
Paul’s VCAC 21 Conference Sessions
WORKSHOP – Wednesday Morning at 9:10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. April 21, 2021
How to get Your Books on Independent Booksellers Shelves across North America – The WHY, WHAT, and HOWwith Paul Hanson, Village Books
If you want to register for Paul’s WORKSHOP but are not registered for VCAC 21, Click here to register
Village Books and Paper Dreams is a community-based, independent bookstore and gift shop located in the Historic Fairhaven Village on the southside of Bellingham and in the iconic Waples Mercantile Building on Front Street in Lynden, Washington. Since 1980, we have been “building community one book at a time.” Village Books and Paper Dreams is a place to meet your friends, talk books, or just while away an hour or two among our shelves or at Evolve Chocolate + Cafe deliciously perched on the mezzanine of Village Books in Fairhaven, overlooking the Village Green. If you’re in the neighborhood come on in to explore!
Click here for more information about the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference and Int’l Book Awards Banquet and Ceremony.
The inimitable, always-in-demand, Jessica Morrell will be joining us at the Chanticleer Authors Conference
Jessica Page Morrell – Editor Extraordinaire!
We are delighted to welcome Jessica Morrell to VCAC21! One of the primary contributors to the Chanticleer writing blog, Jessica’s tips and advice are invaluable lessons that benefit all authors.
Each year we offer writing craft sessions from the best editors and authors in the publishing industry. This year we are excited to announce that we haveJessica Page Morrellas a teacher of theMaster Writing Class Sessions.
It sometimesdoestake a village to bring a story to life. With that in mind, we’ll discuss the many roles for your story people from protagonist to minor characters, and delineate their impact on the plots and protagonist. However, we’ll also cover the outliers in fiction and the chaos, conflict, zest, and realism they add to your story world. So we’ll be covering anti-heroes, oddballs, wretches, naughty, pain-in-the-butt types, innocents, along with villains and bad and bad ass women.
We’ll touch on other topics—how to differentiate characters via voice, creating characters based on backstories and main traits, and the importance of secondary characters to make things happen. Because living, breathing characters come from readers experiencing them through a specific emotional lens supplied by viewpoint, voice, and a character’s observations.
To further expand our discussion we’ll also cover immersive, intimate viewpoint and narrative distance. Please bring your favorite imaginary folks to the workshop.
If you are not registered for VCAC21, but would like to take Jessica’s Master Writing Class,please click here.
Conference Session: Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 10:15 a.m.
Power Writing, Word by word, sentence by sentence using language to create tension, emotion, action and resonance.
Jessica understands both sides of the editorial desk–as a highly-sought after developmental editor and author. Her work also appears in multiple anthologies andThe WriterandWriter’s Digestmagazines. She is known for explainingthe hows and whysof what makes for excellent writing and for sharing very clear examples that examines the technical aspects of writing that emphases layering and subtext. Her books on writing craft are considered “a must have” for any serious writer’s toolkit. Read some of Jessica’s writing here.
Click here for more information about the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference and Int’l Book Awards Banquet and Ceremony.
We are so excited to welcome Dr. Janice Ellis back to the Chanticleer Authors Conference
Dr. Ellis is one of our favorite authors—and truly a joy to get to know. She reminds us that the pen is mightier than the sword! See her at #VCAC21
VCAC 21 Conference Session:
4/24, 4:30 p.m. The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
Dr. Janice Ellis has written columns for newspapers, magazines, radio commentary, presented internationally across the U.S., and now online. For the past 30 years she analyzes educational, political, social and economic issues across race, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status. She continues her important work in these challenging times.
We are honored that Dr. Ellis presented The Critical Role Authors Play in Fostering a Better Society at Chanticleer’s first virtual conference, VCAC20. Her presentation was inspirational and thought provoking. Janice S. Ellis has been an author for over 30 years and has written a column for newspapers and radio throughout her career about education, politics, race and socioeconomics. Janice Ellis holds a Ph.D. in Communication Arts, and two Master of Arts degrees, one in Communications Arts and a second in Political Science, all from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Ellis is the author of two award-winning books, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream (2018); Shaping Public Opinion: How Real Advocacy Journalism™ Should Be Practiced (2021).
Check out this excerpt of Chanticleer’s review for her book From Liberty to Magnolia:
As a black woman on a cotton farm in Mississippi in the 1960s, Janice Ellis could have resigned herself to a life full of status quo: never speaking up for herself, never speaking out against injustice or racism. Instead, she never let unsettling times define her or hold her back, even as a witness to some of the ugliest racial violence this country has seen. In her candid and thought-provoking memoir, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream, Ellis vividly depicts her life in the South during the height of the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements.
Through fluid and skillful writing, Ellis recounts the battles she encountered due to her skin color or due to her gender: an abusive husband, discouragement to further her education, sexual and racial discrimination in the workplace, a lack of support from friends and family when she runs for election. Despite these mounting obstacles, she goes on to earn her Ph.D., lands leadership roles and furthers her career, and even runs for mayor in a major US city. Her faith in God and her unwavering belief that the American Dream should be accessible and attainable to everyone are what lead her.
Thinking of submitting to the Chanticleer International Book Awards for Earth Day? While we don’t have a specific category for environmental work, you can find all sorts of eco-focused work in our Global Thriller Awards, Journey Awards, Little Peeps Awards, and our Cygnus Awards.
The origins of Earth Day…
Can be traced back to Rachel Caron’s book Silent Spring which caused people to sit up and begin taking seriously the concerns that had been brought up for centuries about how the land was treated by imperialist powers. Carson’s book is cited as inspiration for the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Nixon administration. After the book’s publication, she was hounded by those who promoted pesticides like DDT who said Carson’s would return us to an era where insects and vermin ruled the world.
Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring
Earth Day’s foundation was a bipartisan venture in the United States, supported by both major political parties at the time of founding. By 1990, it became an international holiday around the world for all people to celebrate! It is now the largest non-secular holiday celebrated worldwide.
What is considered environmental writing?
Environmental writing or eco-fiction is most often described as a sub genre. Some people will claim that it just doesn’t exist, probably because of how nebulous it can be, but there definitely is a market for any book that examines the environment at large. From Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Terry Tempest Williams, to Annie Dillard and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the variety of people and forms for writing about the environment is endless.
So What is Eco-Fiction?
Eco-Fiction, at a minimum, needs to highlight the environment in some way. With that definition, something like Moby Dick could even count as eco-fiction because it features a whale and lots of time at sea, including the impact of whaling at large. What almost all eco-fiction does though is look at the world through a syncretic lens.
What we mean by syncretic is that it crosses borders. For a long time, the unrecognized leaders of environmental writing have been Indigenous thinkers and writers. This, by necessity, ties up the question of environmentalism with economic policy, racism, and colonialism in fascinating and important ways that draw in readers.
While Non-Fiction Environmental work often looks at the questions of where we are and what can we do, Eco-Fiction will ask what is happening and what will the world look like when we continue on this path? Work like that of Octavia Butler and NK Jemisin (renowned scifi writers) show us, using cross-cultural syncretism, the worst paths our current choices could lead us down.
Whether we decide to accept Eco-Fiction as real or not, no one can say that environmental fiction and non-fiction can’t be marketed.
Join us in looking at some of the wonderful books that draw inspiration from our Earth and environmental themes.
The Suburban Micro-Farm: Modern Solutions for Busy People by Amy Stross
5-Star Book Review
1st Place Winner in the Instructional & Insightful Awards
Author, educator, and urban farmer Amy Stross offers a comprehensive look at how to repurpose a small yard in the city for basic sustenance and so much more.
Award-winning writer Stross has composed a thoroughly practical guide to everything a reader would need to know to do what she did: transform a yard into a farm. Acknowledging that the ground surrounding a town dwelling is hardly what one thinks of when one thinks farmland, Stross draws from her personal experience to show precisely how the transformation can take shape. Her colorfully illustrated manual gives the basics for managing an ample garden space, or micro-farm, almost down to the minute (in fact, seven minutes twice a day).
Genetic engineering, murder, corporate-conglomerate profiteering, Interpol, and a plot to control humanity make Dark Seed, by Lawrence Verigin, a suspenseful thriller novel.
When jaded journalist Nick Barnes learns that Dr. Carl Elles has contacted him to say that Barnes’ recent article about the positive contributions of Naintosa Corporation is all wrong, Barnes feels compelled to educate the scientist about information laundering—the strategic planting of false information in the media so the planting organization can quote the media later for their own benefit. “It makes total sense,” Dr. Elles replies. “Naintosa employs that strategy on a regular basis.” Nick was about to explain to the scientist why he needed to check Dr. Elles’ information, when the scientist soon proves to Nick that the journalist is the lazy dupe who just published Naintosa’s propaganda in a complimentary article.
WANDERS FAR by David Fitz-Gerald
5-Star Book Review
First Place Winner in the Laramie Awards
In the early 1100s, in a region now known to us as the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, a small band of tribal people is living in longhouses, growing crops, fishing, hunting, and enjoying certain rituals such as face and body painting, occasional migration for food survival, and even seasonal “vacations,” all while willingly obeying a simple form of governance with elements of basic democracy. In this tribe, we meet Wanders Far, a child who earns his nickname after showing a propensity to disappear and explore since he could walk. His mother, Bear Fat, is the recognized chieftainess of their group, mother of a large brood, one of whom is stolen as the book opens. Wanders Far would be considered an unusual child in any society, gifted with a highly accurate memory and the ability to visualize future events. He can also run like the wind, and with his love for travel, he is often the first to see and warn his people of danger, such as a cadre of warriors from a hostile tribe heading towards his home settlement.
BLOSSOM — The Wild Ambassador of Tewksbury (Audiobook Review) by Anna Carner
5-Star Book Review
Author Anna Carner lived in a horse-friendly farming area of New Jersey in 1999, when she encountered a newborn fawn, barely breathing, near her home. The animal seemed to be communicating its need to her, and, with some experience of animal and human care, Carner set out to revive the fawn. She took the baby deer into her house and nursed her back to health. When she and her husband, Pino, saw the fawn curled up asleep with the family dog, the couple knew they had a new pet. Her name, Blossom, seemed suited to her sweetness and soft, gentle beauty.
The ONLY ONE LEFT (The Neema Mysteries, Book 3)
by Pamela Beason
First Place Winner in the Clue Awards
While spending some time with his sweetheart, animal behavior scientist Grace McKenna and her adopted family of gorillas, Detective Matthew Finn finally endures a kiss from Neema while keeping an eye on the huge silverback Gumu. He accepts a ‘toy’ from their baby, Kanoni. But upon further inspection, Matt and Grace believe the object might be part of a human finger bone. Where did it come from? How did it get in the gorillas’ remodeled barn? The homicide detective knows he’ll need to investigate, but just then, his cell phone chirps.
Desk Sergeant Greer of the Evansburg, Washington, Police Department tells Matt to get back on duty and head directly to the Gorge Amphitheatre, where the Sasquatch Festival has just ended. A car belonging to a 17-year-old girl, last seen by her parents in Bellingham, Washington, three days earlier, has been found abandoned next to a tent in the Amphitheatre campground.
In this engaging children’s tale by author Gloria Two-Feathers, a young colt named Buck will learn how to obey, how to defend, and how to strike out on his own.
The scene is set in the Great Plains, where a river named Minisose divides a sea of tall green prairie grass. Many animals call that grassland their home, and the most magnificent is the herd of wild horses led by a dark stallion named Plenty Coups and his chosen mate, the lovely cream-colored mare, Cloud. By tradition and instinct, Plenty Coups protects the herd from attackers, while Cloud leads them to safety.
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.
Conchobar wakes, barely alive and in a world he does not know.
When he’s found by the tribes who call this land home, he’ll become caught by the ties of family, violence, and love, none of which he’s ready to face.
Conchobar lives in the house of Spits Teeth, the patriarch of his adoptive family. He struggles to learn their way of life, still tied by memory and longing to his home at the monastery of Skellig Michael. But he must learn to hunt, fish, and fight if he wants to survive and belong.
Despite his struggles and the language barrier itself, Conchobar begins to care for the new family around him. But an endless cycle of battle and bloodshed roars between his new tribe and their neighbors. Soon, events will rise and test his peaceful nature and put his beloved family in great peril. Beyond the threat of warclubs and arrows, a dark curse threatens to swallow all the good that he might find in this new world.
Conchobar’s life amongst the tribe of Spits Teeth is defined by his distance from them, his sense of being a fish out of water.
No matter how much he learns to live as the people around him do, he never quite understands them, always somehow on the outside looking in or yearning for his past life. He spends much of his time in his own head, musing on the world around him as he faces new and strange things. The world is interesting and alive through his eyes. The dynamic villagers show their place in the world with every word and action; as Conchobar grows close to them, they show more of who they are, what they want, and what they fear. Conchobar offers his love to his new family and his grave concern as he realizes the danger they’re in.
Fitz-Gerald takes time and great care with Conchobar, sitting with his thoughts and sorrows and joys.
His growing sense of doom becomes one with the story, as cruel twists of fate begin to unfold upon his new family. But between this dread, the people of the village open up as Conchobar learns their language, and the action of their battles and hunts together flows smoothly across the page. Their material world slowly mingles with the supernatural and mystical, spurred by Conchobar’s strange place between the two. But he doesn’t have the time to unravel his curse and his connection to the natural world, as the longer he stays in the midst of battle, the more personal it becomes to him.
The Curse of Conchobar is a tale of violence begetting violence, of the perseverance of faith and hope in the face of grief and fear. Conchobar’s dreamlike connection to nature becomes a religious experience, showing him wonders of the world, cut off by the approach of a people who never needed to be enemies.
Throughout the story, Conchobar’s voice remains strong. Fitz-Gerald breathes life into his Spits Teeth characters. In love, loss, and anger, the emotion is palpable to the reader and will remain long after the book is read. The Curse of the Conchobar – A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series scratches the itch for rich character exploration, historical fiction in a time and place often underrepresented, and a love story marked by tragedy and transcendence. In other words, Fitz-Gerald delivers a worthy prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series.
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Hearten Book Awards is a NEW genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Due to an unprecedented number of 2020 Journey Book Awards, we split off the entries that we found Heartwarming, Inspirational, Heartening, Humorous, and Happiness and developed the HEARTEN Book Awards. Think of Chicken Soup for the Soul.
We also are now offering the following CIBA Non-Fiction Divisions:
The Journey Awards for Narrative Nonfiction
The Mind & Spirit Book Awards for Mindfulness and Well-being
The Nellie Bly Book Awards for Investigative and Long Form Journalism
The I & I Book Awards for Insight and Instruction for How-To, Guide Books, Self-Help, Cook Books, etc.
The Harvey Chute Book Awards for Business, Finance, and Enterprise
The Hearten Book Awards for Inspiration and Happiness
New in Non-fiction Book Awards in 2021 will be the Military Veterans Non-Fiction works.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2020 HEARTEN Book Awards LONG LIST to the 2020 SHORT LIST and now have progressed to the 2020 SEMI-FINALISTS. The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the Finalists positions.
The following works have advanced in the 2020 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction
Terry A. Repak – What You Learn By Living Elsewhere
Annerose D. Watts – Blue Plate Journey
Mendek Rubin & Myra Goodman – Quest for Eternal Sunshine
Katherine Snow Smith – Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker, Missteps and Lessons Learned
Cerridwen Fallingstar – Broth from the Cauldron; A Wisdom Journey through Everyday Magic
Judy Gaman – Love, Life, and Lucille
Keturah Kendrick – No Thanks: Black, Female, And Living in the Martyr-Free Zone
Evelyn Kohl LaTorre – Between Inca Walls
Cindy Rasicot – Finding Venerable Mother: A Daughter’s Spiritual Quest to Thailand
Nan Sanders Pokerwinski – Mango Rash: Coming of Age in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta
Bill Pullen – It Started at The Savoy
Deborah Tobola – Hummingbird in Underworld: Teaching in a Men’s Prison
Suzanne Kamata – Squeaky Wheels: Travels with My Daughter by Train, Plane, Metro, Tuk-tuk and Wheelchair
T.D. Arkenberg – Trials & Truffles: Expats in Brussels
Frank Ball – Ball of Yarns
Carole Bumpus – Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, Book One, Savoring the Olde Ways Series
Michael M. Van Ness – GENERAL IN COMMAND: The Life of Major General John B. Anderson from Iowa Farm to Command of the Largest Combat Corps in World War II
Jennifer B. Monahan – Where To? How I Shed My Baggage and Learned to Live Free
Betty Theiler – Beyond Borders
Julie Tate Libby –The Good Way, a Himalayan Journey
Miguel A. Aguilo – Pencils in the Hand of God: Two Heavenly Adoption Stories
These titles are in the running for the First Prize Winners of the 2020 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction.
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2020 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction?
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the First Place Winner positions, and then all will be recognized in the evenings at VCAC21 April 22-24th from 6-8 p.m. PST.
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 23 CIBA divisions Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Division Winners the CIBAs Ceremonies June 5th, 2021 virtually (Free) and LIVE at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
The MIND & SPIRIT Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Enlightenment and Self-help Non-fiction. The Mind & Body 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 enlightenment, motivational/self-help, spirituality, mindfulness, well-being, meditation, and energy. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. The best will advance.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2020 Journey Book Awards LONG LIST to the 2020 SHORT LIST and now have progressed to the 2020 SEMI-FINALISTS. The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the Finalists positions.
FINALISTS will be announced at VCAC 21, April 21 – 24, 2021.
The 22 divisions of the 2020 CIBAs’Grand Prize Winners and the Five First Place Category Position award winners will be announced on June 6, 2021 at the Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Awards Ceremony that will be held in virtually (FREE) and LIVE in Bellingham, Wash.
The following works have advanced to the 2020 Semi-Finalists in the Mind & Spirit Book Awards for Spirituality and Enlightenment Non-fiction
Nina Nordstrom – Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall . . . Where Does My Self-Love Fall? A Journey Through Toxic Relationships
Cindy Rasicot – Finding Venerable Mother: A Daughter’s Spiritual Quest to Thailand
Nancy Pickard – Bigger Better Braver
Cathy Lynn Gregory – Into the Garden: Lessons on a Spiritual Journey
Dr. Donna Marks – Exit the Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure
Jennifer Ankele – Death Less: A Guide Through Grief
Andy Chaleff – The Wounded Healer – A journey in radical self-love
Jennie Lee – Spark Change: 108 Provocative Questions for Spiritual Evolution
Krista Nerestant – Indestructible: The Hidden Gifts of Trauma
Nina Norstrom – Not a Blueprint It’s the Shoe Prints that Matter
Esta G. Bernstein – Changing Horses
Mendek Rubin & Myra Goodman – Quest for Eternal Sunshine
Cindy Rasicot – Finding Venerable Mother: A Daughter’s Spiritual Quest to Thailand
Phoebe Walker – My Freedom Central
Thomas Wise – Why Can’t We Trust God?
Tracee Dunblazier – Heal Your Soul History- Activate the True Power of Your Shadow
Tracee Dunblazier – Master Your Inner World- Embrace Your Power with Joy
Paula Forget – Guided to the Higher Realms: a Personal Journey of Ascension through Meditation
Marianne Ingheim – Out of Love: Finding Your Way Back to Self-Compassion
Jill Sherer Murray – Big Wild Love: The Unstoppable Power of Letting Go
These titles are in the running for the Finalists of the 2020 Mind & Spirit Book Awards for Spirituality and Enlightenment Non-fiction.
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2020 Mind & Spirit Book Awards for Spirituality and Enlightenment Non-fiction?
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the First Place Winner positions, and then all will be recognized in the evenings at VCAC21 April 22-24th from 6-8 p.m. PST.
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 23 CIBA divisions Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Division Winners the CIBAs Ceremonies June 5th, 2021 virtually (Free) and LIVE at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2021 Mind & Spirit Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is November 30th, 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2022.
The I & I Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in non-fiction that are self-help, how-to, guides, or instructional. In non-fiction works, the author assumes responsibility (in good faith) for the truth, accuracy, people, places, or information presented. The I & I Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring How-To, Guidance, Travel Guides, Cookbooks, Instruction, Insight, Self-Help, and more. This books have been put to the test and the best will advance to be declared winners of the prestigious I & I Book Awards.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2020 Journey Book Awards LONG LIST to the 2020 SHORT LIST and now have progressed to the 2020 SEMI-FINALISTS. The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the Finalists positions.
The 22 divisions of the 2020 CIBAs’Grand Prize Winners and the Five First Place Category Position award winners will be announced on Saturday & Sunday, June 5th and 6th at the ONLINE and FREE VIRTUAL Event for the 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Awards Ceremony,will be held in virtually and LIVE Bellingham, Wash.
The 2020 Instruction & Insight Book Awards Semi-Finalists:
Nancy Pickard – Bigger Better Braver
Dr. Donna Marks – Exit the Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure
Jennifer Ankele – Death Less: A Guide Through Grief
Krista Nerestant – Indestructible: The Hidden Gifts of Trauma
Nina Norstrom – Not a Blueprint It’s the Shoe Prints that Matter with guidebook
Tamra McAnally Bolton – The Art of Story Keeping
Wendela Whitcomb Marsh and Siobhan Marsh – Homeschooling, Autism Style: Reset for Success
Elmore, William “Mecca” & Simone, Susan – Prison From The Inside Out: One Man’s Journey from a Life Sentence to Freedom
Judy Taylor – Save That Rug! A How-To Guide for Repairing Hooked Rugs
Dennis J Kotchmar – The Joy Of Searching, Buying and Selling, Antiques and Home Decor from France and England
Kate Farrell – Story Power: Secrets to Creating, Crafting, and Telling Memorable Stories
Peggy Sullivan – Blissfully Single, A Single’s Guide to Finding Happiness
Wendela Whitcomb Marsh – Independent Living with Autism: Your Roadmap to Success
Carole Bumpus – Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, Book Two
Dr. Margit Gabriele Muller – Your Pet, Your Pill
Gigi Berardi – FoodWISE: A Whole Systems Guide to Sustainable and Delicious Food Choices
Leslie Bains – Let’s Take A Hike: 7 Family-Friendly Trails of Nantucket
Marianne Ingheim – Out of Love: Finding Your Way Back to Self-Compassion
Jill Sherer Murray – Big Wild Love: The Unstoppable Power of Letting Go
Carole Bumpus – Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, Book One, Savoring the Olde Ways
These titles are in the running for the Semi-Finalists of the 2020 I & I Book Awards for Instruction and Insight.
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2020 I & I Book Awards for Instruction and Insight?
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the First Place Winner positions, and then all will be recognized in the evenings at VCAC21 April 22-24th from 6-8 p.m. PST.
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 23 CIBA divisions Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Division Winners the CIBAs Ceremonies June 5th, 2021 virtually (Free) and LIVE at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2021 I & I Awards Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is November 30thth, 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2022.
Jade of House Sol has the chance to save her father from the Isle of Dragons, but land, sea, and the guards of her homeland stand between them. Will, her new friends, prove loyal and capable enough to see her journey through, and what will they find on the elusive island?
Carison Sol, betrayed by his fellow nobles, disappears across the sea in the dark of night. Meanwhile, Jade flees the guards chasing her, the leader whom is Kaylen, a former friend. Just as her pursuers close in, a young witch named Miria saves her and offers shelter, but Jade can’t stay still long. Though she doesn’t know much about the Isle of Dragons, Miria and her brother Dan must find their parents, and they offer to join Jade in her quest. Together, the three of them find a dragon who can take them to the magical island. Their journey is full of friends and enemies – and situations that test their mettle and their connection to one another.
Isle of Dragons starts off running, with a tense scene of Jade evading the guards who want to drag her back to the capital. From there, scenes after scenes flow quickly into one another, leading the characters to new and exciting challenges. As they run and struggle, Jade and her companions gradually uncover a dangerous conspiracy that’s shifting the very forces of their world out of balance. They rarely have a chance to rest, constantly on the chase, which relaxes only long enough to prepare the next rising tension point.
Author L. A. Thompson develops her coming-of-age young adult novel with characters that will resonate with today’s audience.
Her characters showcase their personalities and the dynamics they’ll share with those around them, which makes the cast unique and compelling. The journey develops and expands with charming, friendly people who bring Isle of Dragons’ worldto life, alongside the callous villains. Kaylen, the hunt’s leader, makes for a villain both relentless, and in her uncertainties, sympathetic. She becomes a strong foil for Jade as the story continues, drawing on their shared past.
Jade’s heart is bare in the prose, showing the strength of her desire to save Carison, as well as her fear of being a burden on her friends, of putting them in danger with her very presence. The relationships and conflicts between Jade, Miria, and Dan remain at the heart of the story, even as Jade and Miria’s determination borders on obsession and threatens to destroy them.
Thompson sets scenes with efficiency and care, with landscapes of fully realized Steampunk, full of color, heat, cold, and history.
The sense of mystery and adventure is vital as the heroes find something new to learn about every place they visit. Their travels begin with fantastic descriptions of fighting, riding, and befriending dragons. They master impressive feats of magic and the mechanical vehicles which roam the land, driven by Jade, Dan, and their pursuing guards. Their flight through these extraordinary settings becomes grander and more complex with every close escape, action scenes growing more intense to match the stakes they hold.
To finish her journey, Jade must learn the importance of not facing the world alone but embracing the community and kindness to save the lost and frightened. She finds that good people are struggling under their corrupt, power-hungry leaders and that the only way to go on is to accept help and offer it to those she meets. Kaylen’s villainy is thrown into stark reality by the unjust law she serves and the cruelty that those above her inflict. Betrayal offers intoxicating power; will Jade resist it and keep her loyalty to those who care for her, or will her old world of scheming nobles drag her back into their fold?
Isle of Dragons is an excellent fit for fans of fantasy and adventure, and those who love to see creative Steampunk mechanical devices, magical fights, and well-developed characters whose story is worthy of reading the next book in the series.
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books for our Journey Awards featuring true stories about survival, overcoming issues, trauma, and threatening life events, along with turbulent personal journeys.
Due to an unprecedented number of 2020 Journey Book Awards, we split off the Heartwarming, Inspirational, Heartwarming, Humorous, and Happiness. Think of Chicken Soup for the Soul.
We also are now offering the following CIBA Non-Fiction Divisions:
The Mind & Spirit Book Awards
The Nellie Bly Book Awards for Investigative and Long Form Journalism
The I & I Book Awards for Insight and Instruction for How-To, Guide Books, Self-Help, Cook Books, etc.
The Harvey Chute Book Awards for Business, Finance, and Enterprise
The Heartening Book Awards
New in 2021 will be the Military Veterans Non-Fiction works.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2020 Journey Book Awards LONG LIST to the 2020 SHORT LIST and now have progressed to the 2020 SEMI-FINALISTS. The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the Finalists positions.
The following works have advanced in the 2020 Journey Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction
Karen Keilt –The Parrot’s Perch
Susan E Casey –Rock On: Mining for Joy in the Deep River of Sibling Grief
Laila Tarraf –Strong Like Water: Lessons Learned from Leading with Love
Ashley Conner and Cierra Camper –Memoirs of Michael: The Hurricane Project
Patricia Eagle– Being Mean–A Memoir of Sexual Abuse and Survival
Susan E. Greisen –In Search of Pink Flamingos: A Woman’s Quest for Forgiveness & Unconditional Love
Mendek Rubin & Myra Goodman – Quest for Eternal Sunshine
Janice Morgan –Suspended Sentence
Marianne Ingheim –Out of Love: Finding Your Way Back to Self-Compassion
Sharon Dukett –No Rules
Judy Gaman –Love, Life, and Lucille
David Crow –The Pale-Faced Lie: A True Story
Christine Nicolette-Gonzalez –My Mother’s Curse: A Journey Beyond Childhood Trauma
Scott Hunter –And the Monkey Lets Go: Memoirs Through Illusion and Doubt
Mary Charity Kruger Stein –Fatherless, Fearless, Female: A Memoir
Ilene English –Hippie Chick
Barbara Clarke –The Red Kitchen
Amy Byer Shainman –Resurrection Lily: The BRCA Gene, Hereditary Cancer & Lifesaving Whispers from the Grandmother I Never Knew
Tamra McAnally Bolton –A Blessed Life: One World War II Seabee’s Story
Steve Mariotti –Goodbye Homeboy
Steve Rochinski –A Man of His Time: Secrets from a Halfway World
Barbara Clarke –The Red Kitchen
Tiffani Goff –Loving Tiara
Kathleen Pooler –Just the Way He Walked: A Mother’s Story of Healing and Hope
Isaac Alexis M.D. –The Seductive Pink Crystal
Renee Hodges –Saving Bobby: Heroes and Heroin in One Small Community
Ted Neill –Two Years of Wonder
Deborah Burns –Saturday’s Child
Stefanie Naumann –How Languages Saved Me: A Polish Story of Survival
Lydia Ola Taiwo –A Broken Childhood: How To Overcome Abuse: A Recovery Guide
Lilly A Gwilliam –Generations of Motherhood: A Changing Story
Marilea C. Rabasa –Stepping Stones: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Transformation
Christine Ristaino –All the Silent Spaces
These titles are in the running for the Finalists of the 2020 Journey Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction.
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2020 Journey Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction?
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
The Semi-Finalists’ works will compete for the First Place Winner positions, and then all will be recognized in the evenings at VCAC21 April 22-24th from 6-8 p.m. PST.
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 23 CIBA divisions Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Division Winners the CIBAs Ceremonies June 5th, 2021 virtually (Free) and LIVE at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2021 Journey Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is April 30th, 2021. The winners will be announced in April 2022.
The I & I Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in non-fiction that are self-help, how-to, guides, or instructional. In non-fiction works, the author assumes responsibility (in good faith) for the truth, accuracy, people, places, or information presented. The I & I Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
