In this stirring whodunit by writer J. J. Clarke, a young woman flees from an evil-minded stalker and finds herself in an underground of female supporters who know how to protect her.
Kate Anderson is tough – tough enough to work in law enforcement and use a gun if she has to, but she is being pursued by a man named O’Dell who has her number – and may have her cornered. O’Dell is crafty, determined, and never loses sight of his prey.
Only a few people know about Kate’s dilemma – a former workmate, her new boss, and the grandfather who took her in (and taught her to stand up for herself) after the accidental death of her parents long ago. With some unusual advice and training from a women’s consortium that includes Dennis/Denise and a big, protective dog named Sic’em, Kate feels safe most of the day but knows that at night, her stalker is out there somewhere, watching and waiting. When her grandfather is threatened, all her strategies fall apart. O’Dell is found dead, and she has no choice but to flee. Luckily she now has the backup of experienced, similarly maltreated women who work in tandem to whisk her out of the state, give her a new name, new home, and new purpose. It is only when an old friend passes away that Kate realizes she has to go back home, no matter what the consequences.
Clarke writes this thriller novel like she was born to the task, inventively including in her lively cast of characters a cadre of Dolly Parton lookalikes and some very fierce nuns. She allows her heroine to be both a dead-on shootist and a first-rate pie chef. The men in her wildly twisting story are equally complex, from Dennis/Denise to the kindly granddad who may have a few scurrilous skeletons in his closet. All these freaks, friends, and feisty females will show Kate their true colors when push comes to shove.
With action on every page and a gift for conveying disturbing realities, Clarke quickly sweeps the reader into Kate’s perils, showing her leading lady’s strengths, bravado, and resilience. In fact, Clarke’s professional background in law enforcement gives her work extra punch, from inside knowledge of police procedure to the punchy dialogue. Readers will surely enjoy all members of the ensemble, from nuns to hard-boiled cops.
Dared to Run is the first book in the Kate Anderson Mystery series, Dared to Return is the second. Clarke weaves her magic in this new must-read series for women seeking to be, as Kate’s grandfather says, “fiercer and smarter” – and for anyone who likes gritty mysteries with a keep-you-guessing-until-the-very-end. Dared to Run is currently a CIBA 2019 CLUE FINALIST for Suspense/Thriller Fiction. Recommended!
Welcome to our SPOTLIGHT on LARAMIE Book Awards, the stories that stick!
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the Americana / Western, Pioneer, Civil War, Frontier, and First Nations Novels. The Laramie Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.
Charles M. Russell painted the cowboy scene on Chanticleer’s very own Laramie Book Awards badge. It is one of many such paintings he did that encompassed the Old American Wild West. He was an advocate for the Northern Plains Indians. Charles M. Russell also helped establish a reservation in Montana for the Chippewa people.
*More interesting facts about Laramie, Wyoming, and its historical icons are immediately after the Laramie Hall of Fame listing below. A fun read!
The Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction Hall of Fame First Place and Grand Prize winners!
Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the 2020 Laramie awards is July 31, 2020. Enter here!
Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced during our Virtual Conference in early September 2020.
Any entries received on or after July 31, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Laramie Book Awards. The Grand Prize and First Place for 2020 CIBA winners will be held on April 17, 2021.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your American Western readers deserve! Enter today!
The LARAMIE Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.
The 2020 winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony, which will take place during the 2020 Live/Online Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first place winners will be virtually whisked up on “stage” to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. Covid19 has made our celebrations a bit different this year, but we still will celebrate!
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with questions, concerns, or suggestions at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com
[20] McDougall, Walt, “Pictures in the Papers,” American Mercury, 6:21 (September 1925), 72.
What’s a Laramie?
We thought you’d never ask!
We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for Western American Fiction and all things that gather around the campfire singing a lonesome tune, the Laramie Awards, after the county and city in Wyoming. You know the one, tucked into the lower right-hand corner of the state between the Snowy Mountain Range and the Laramie Mountain Range.
Yes, but why Laramie?
The small outpost was changed almost overnight when the Union Pacific Railroad moved their “Hell on Wheels” tent town from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Laramie after building the rails over the Sherman Summit at an elevation of 8,200 feet all the way to Laramie on May 4, 1868. Lawlessness and the Wild West ruled in Laramie. Luckily, “Hell on Wheels” moved on West as more track was laid down.
But where did that name Laramie come from?
Laramie was named after Jacque LaRamie, a French or French-Canadian trapper who disappeared in the mountain range that was later named for him in the early 1810s. LaRamie was one of the first Europeans to visit the area. Laramie is a French name much like DuBois, Wyoming. And, yes, it is pronounced Doo – Boys (and NOT Du Bwai).
There are several reasons we chose Laramie for our iconic Americana Book Awards. For us, and those in the know, Laramie, Wyoming immediately calls to mind the image of a Wild West town filled with rough-and-tumble cowboys. At one point, the only law in Laramie was “lawlessness. Wild Bill Hickok was even known to visit from time to time.
Here’s a picture of the man, himself, on the left with his friends, Texas Jack Omohundro (center), and Buffalo Bill Cody on the right.
Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch robbed trains and passengers with the first recorded train robbery taking place on June 2, 1899 in Wyoming. Butch was known to be very polite and dislike violence.
But that’s not the only reason we chose Laramie.
And, yes, there is yet one more reason we love Laramie!
The WOMEN!
Calamity Jane hails from Laramie, Wyoming – a skilled sharpshooter who was born to a gambler and a prostitute. She cared for her five younger siblings in Utah before traveling on to Wyoming in search of a better life. There she found work as a dance hall girl and then as a prostitute at Fort Laramie. It was there that she reinvented herself by wearing buckskins and dressing like a man. She was also known for her swearing and hard-drinking ways, but Calamity Jane was also known even more for her kind heart and helping folks out of calamities–thus her nickname.
Calamity Jane — She was the inspiration for Michelle Rene’s HOURGLASS novel.
While the men were wrestling in the streets and shooting up the place, it was really the women who brought civilization to Laramie and Wyoming Territory. They established the first school in 1869, served on a formal jury in the Spring of 1870, and were the first to gain the vote; which is exactly what Louisa Swain and 92 of her friends did on September 6, 1870 –150 years ago!
Louisa Swain, the first woman to cast a ballot and she did it in Laramie, Wyoming!
Louisa Swain – she was made of stern stuff!
Early in the morning on September 6, 1870 in Laramie, Wyoming Louisa Swain became the first woman in the world to cast a ballot under democratically enacted laws granting women equal political rights with men. In the fall of 2008, 138 years later, the U.S. Congress passes a resolution proclaiming September 6th as “Louisa Swain Day” in recognition of this historic event.The Louisa Swain Foundation
In 1870, Esther Hobart Morris (59 years old) became the first female Justice of the Peace. She served in South Pass City, Wyoming, which is to the northwest of Laramie.
Esther Morris, first female Justice of the Peace — Wyoming
Esther Morris “to pettifoggers she showed no mercy.” Wyoming Tribune
The Union’s first all-female jury was assembled in Wyoming in 1870.
Later, in 1894, Estelle Reel Meyer became Superintendent of Public Instruction, the country’s first female statewide elected official.
And the grand coup d’etat was when in 1889 when Wyoming vied for statehood—and refused to join the Union if the laws giving equality to women were not upheld, telling Congress (which wanted the suffrage law rescinded) via telegram,
“We will remain out of the Union 100 years rather than come in without the women.”
Wyoming is also the first state in the USA to allow women to own property and sign legal documents.
In 1910, Mary Godat Bellamy became the first woman to be elected to the Wyoming Legislature. Two other western states, Colorado and Idaho, elected women legislators in 1895 and 1899, respectively. Wyoming was third in the nation.
Quotes are from the Smithsonian Magazine
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/women-voting-wyoming-150-years-here-how-state-celebrating-180971263/#6UKzMfMeCQsmbIIQ.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
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The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary, Contemporary, and Satire 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, satire, humor, magic realism or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. The best will advance. Which titles will be declared as winners of the prestigious Somerset Book Awards?
Editor’s Note: Some works have been moved to the new 2020 Mark Twain Book Awards for Satirical and Allegorical Fiction. This new division is in response to the request from the Chanticleer International Book Awards judges to acknowledge the many outstanding works that were entered into the Somerset Book Awards that should have their own division in which to compete. The Mark Twain Book Awards recognize outstanding Satire, Humor, Political Ideology, Parody, Allegory/Fable works.
So without further ado, please join us in cheering on the following authors whose works have advanced to the premier FINALIST Level of Achievement in the Somerset Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and of the I & I Book Awards for Instructional and Insightful Non-Fiction.
Congratulations to the Somerset Book Awards Finalists!
Beth Burgmeyer –The Broken Road
Judith Kirscht –End of the Race
R. Barber Anderson –The Sunken Forest, Where the Forest Came out of the Earth
Domenick Venezia –Liberator Legacy Book 1
Donna LeClair –The Proprietor of the Theatre of Life
Bob Holt –Firebird
Dd Jaseron –Wheelboys
Santiago Xaman –After Olympus
Sara Stamey –Pause
Patricia Averbach –Resurrecting Rain
Maggie St. Claire –Martha
Lisa Reddick –The Same River
Nick Mancuso –Fever
Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg –The Nine
Claire Fullerton –Little Tea
Linda Bledsoe –Through the Needle’s Eye
Carl Roberts–The Trial of Connor Padget
Patrick Finegan –Cooperative Lives
Mike Murphey –Section Road
Jamie Zerndt –Jerkwater
Prue Batten –Passage
Joanne Jaytanie –Salvaging Truth, Hunters & Seekers, Book 1
Congratulations to all! Good Luck to all as your works compete for the First Place Category positions.
The I & I Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in non-fiction for instruction, guidance, self-help, how-to, and insight. 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.
Editor’s Note: Some works have been moved to the new non-fiction division titled the Nellie Bly Book Awards. This new division is in response to the request from the Chanticleer International Book Awards judges to acknowledge the many outstanding works that were entered into the Instruction & Insight Book Awards and the Journey Book Awards for Narrative Non-fiction. The Nellie Bly Book Awards recognize outstanding journalistic works and investigative pieces. After reviewing the comments from the judges along with their suggestions, we decided to recognize these works and create a more fitting division in the CIBAs — the Nellie Bly Book Awards. We will also transition a works of the spiritual nature into another new division for the 2020’s titled the Mind & Spirit Book Awards.
So without further ado, please join us in cheering on the following authors whose works comprise the FINALISTS of the I & I Book Awards for Instructional and Insightful Non-Fiction.
Congratulations to the I & I Book Awards Finalists!
Marcus Kirsch –The Wicked Company
Rob Davis –What Goes Around Comes Around – A Guide To How Life REALLY Works
Corinne Miller Schaff –Art For All Ages: Reignite Your Artistic Self
Jennifer R. Karchmer –A Proofreading Companion: Tips, Tools & Strategies for the Professional Proofreader
Donald M. Rattner –My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation, 48 Science-based Techniques
Donna Cameron –A Year of Living Kindly: Choices That Will Change Your Life and the World Around You
Carole Bumpus –Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, Book One, Savoring the Olde Ways Series
Margaret A Hellyer –A Home on the South Fork
Ellen Notbohm –Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew
Nancy J. Cohen — A Bad Hair Day Cookbook
Lisa Boucher –Raising The Bottom: Making Mindful Choices in a Drinking Culture
Tikiri Herath –Your Rebel Dreams: Discover Your Purpose and Passions to Power Up Your Life
Brad Borkan and David Hirzel –When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic
Ryan M. Chukuske – Bigfoot 200: Because, You Know, Why the #@&% Not?
David A. Bossert – Kem Weber: Mid-Century Furniture Designs for The Disney Studios Design
The judges are going to have some tough choices to make with these powerhouse entries!
Good luck to all as these works compete to for the First Place Category Positions for the I & I Book Awards!
The coveted First Place Category Winners of the 2019 I & I Book Awards will be selected from the Finalists in the final rounds of judging. The First Place Category Winners will be announced at the VIRTUAL Chanticleer Awards Ceremonies, which is hosted by the Chanticleer Authors Conference.
The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the I & I GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition. The 17 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Ceremonies that will be held VIRTUALLY during the six days of Tuesday, Sept. 8 – Sunday, Sept. 13th, 2020. Hosted by theChanticleer Authors Conference.
Sometimes we all need reminders to keep us on track and focused while writing. We hope that you will find these tips handy.
Make certain that a major crisis, reversal or twist occurs at the midpoint to send the story skittering in a new direction and creating new motivation for the protagonist.
Kiffer: It doesn’t matter if you are writing a lighthearted romance or a thriller or middle-grade fiction, keeping your readers guessing will keep them entertained and turning the pages.
Make certain that your protagonist is struggling with internal conflict as well as external conflict.
Kiffer: Jessica has contributed some excellent posts on creating complicated protagonists. See links below.
The reader’s first glimpse of the protagonist should evoke sympathy.
Kiffer: Think of Celie of The Color Purple, Harry Potter, Tom Ripley in the The Talented Mr. Ripley, James Bond in Casino Royale, Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables, Dana of Kindred, Katniss in the Hunger Games, Bella Swan in Twilight.
The Cupboard Under the Stairs Artwork by Jim Kay, Illustrator for the Harry Potter series.
Base fiction around a single dramatic question.
Kiffer: This will become your log-line or pitch. See link below.
Remember always that you are a storyteller first. Stories are not merely about issues or themes. Fiction is about how threatening events affect fictional people.
While a storyline requires a series of crises, surprises and reversals, do not use violence, sex, sin, gore, or murder to enliven a sagging plot.
Kiffer: This is known as lazy writing in the publishing biz. Don’t ever let yourself get labeled as a “lazy writer” by taking the easy way out.
Don’t launch a story with too many characters for the readers to track in the opening.
Kiffer: This is something that we see often when evaluating manuscripts–too many story lines cramped into one work when they should be divided out into a series or other story arcs.
Keep dialect to a minimum and don’t write it without thorough research or intimate knowledge.
Dialogue immediately reveals a writer’s skills. Use it sparingly and effectively by understanding that it is inherently dramatic. Avoid long sections of endless dialogue. Also avoid long sections where there is no dialogue. Eliminate mundane exchanges and repetitions. Limit using dialogue to reveal backstory. Keep attributions short.
Remember that the opening has much to accomplish including establishing the voice, viewpoint, tone, and pacing.
Kiffer: Most readers will determine if they want to invest time in reading a work by the opening.
Characters are revealed while acting, talking, making choices and decisions. People are what they do.
Make certain that there is a visual element on every page.
Kiffer: Scenes that are void of sensory input have a writing craft problem known as “white room” syndrome. White room syndrome is where the characters float around the scene without visuals, noise, smells, atmosphere, or tactile experiences. There is nothing to anchor the reader into the scene.
Create a vibrant and quirky cast of secondary and minor characters to enliven the story and reveal several sides of the protagonist.
Don’t start major edits or rewrites until you finish your first draft.
Kiffer: As award-winning author Michelle Rene advises: “Pour your heart and soul into the rough draft with reckless abandon.” In other words, don’t start nitpicking and ripping into your work until you have a story idea that is fully formed. Let yourself be creative! Get the story down and then go back to fill in the blanks or to do research. Enjoy the creativity of following in love with your story and characters.
Head Over Heels in Love with Your Story Idea!
Each major character has an agenda and purpose.
Avoid problems being solved by another character or force of nature.
Kiffer: Avoid Deux Ex Machina (aka dragons, lottery winnings, Prince Charming, etc.). However, there are few times when it works (these tend to be in works that explore the human psyche) such as in the Wizard of Oz when it was all a dream for Dorothy or in Shakespearean works that tend incorporate human psyche archetypes.
Beware of digressions that follow your interests or research, not the story. Rein yourself in.
Kiffer: This means that you should not use all that research that you gathered. However, all that research could become subtext and subtle undercurrents of your story. Use research as you would spice—as needed. Just because you have it (research/spice) doesn’t mean that you should use it all. #justsaying
Nothing should happen at random, all fiction is causal. Fiction is storytelling.
Structure scenes around scene goals and opposition to these goals.
Kiffer: This is the story current—imagine that your story is a river. Does it flow straight at a constant speed? Or does it bend and twist so that the readers do not know what is just around the corner? Does it have eddies? Does it have turbulence caused by huge obstacles to overcome? Does it run deep? Or shallow? Or both? Shallows can be very dangerous…
Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart. Jessica
Keep creating magic! Kiffer
Chanticleer’s Writer’s Toolbox
Handy Links to More Chanticleer Writers Toolbox Series blog posts
Jessica Page Morrell is a top-tier developmental editor for books and screenplays. Her articles have appeared in Writer’s Digest and The Writer magazines. She is known for explaining the hows and whys of what makes for excellent writing and for sharing very clear examples that examine 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.
Jessica will teach theMaster Craft Writing Classesat theChanticleer Authors Conference VIRTUAL Conference that will be held from Tuesday, Sept 8 – Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. She will present sessions and Master Classes during the conference. She and Kiffer will also host a fun kaffeeklatch for Word Nerds at CAC20.
Did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
And that our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in theChicago Manual of Style.They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, Macmillan, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, etc.) and award-winning independent presses. If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com.
The Nellie Bly Book Awards is a new division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards for Non-Fiction Works. The Nellie Bly Book Awards recognizes journalistic works and investigative pieces.
Nellie Bly is the the pseudonym of Elizabeth Cochran. She was born May 5, 1864 at the end of the American Civil War and the beginning of the cross-country railway systems. She died January 27, 1922. She was an American journalist who was known for her ingenuity and concern for others. She was instrumental in the Suffragist Movement in the U.S.A. reporting on the events and the vagaries that women suffered in their struggle for the right to vote.
Women were finally granted the right to vote after decades of protest, civil disobedience, marches, lectures, and lobbying on August 18, 1920—only one hundred years ago. And Bly was there to report on it and interview prominent individuals who lead the movement such as Susan B. Anthony and others.
Nellie Bly began her career by responding to a newspaper article titled ” What Girls Are Good For” (apparently not much from the article). The editor was impressed by her angry rebuttal that he gave her her first job at a newspaper.
Bly then began writing articles exposing the working girls of Pittsburgh, the living conditions of slums, sweatshops, the immigrant experience, and more stories on the human condition in the US during the “Robber Baron” era of the late 1800s. She also traveled to Mexico in 1886-1887 where she reported on the corruption of the Mexican government and the horrible conditions of the poor. Her sharply critical articles of Mexican officials caused her expulsion from the country.
What Nellie Bly is most famous for is her expose on the deplorable conditions and the horrific treatment of patients at an insane asylum by feigning insanity and having herself committed. This 23-year-old was institutionalized for 10 days. It took quite a posse of layers from the New York World paper to have her released. Her exposé lead to vast improvements in the asylums. An added note, is that many of the “patients” were there because they were immigrants and could not understand what was being said and could not communicate.
However, we should not forget how incredibly difficult it was for Bly to find work. She had to rely on her wits and had to take chances with her very life and limb and her reputation to pursue a journalistic career. Bly is known to be a pioneer in her field and she is credited with launching what is now known as investigative journalism and undercover journalism.
So without further ado, please join us in cheering on the following authors whose works comprise the FINALISTS of the first Nellie Bly Book Awards for Journalistic Non-Fiction.
Congratulations to the Nellie Bly Book Awards Finalists!
T.S. Lewis – The Why of War: An Unorthodox Soldier’s Memoirs
Maya Castro – The Bubble: Everything I Learned as a Target of the Political, and Often Corrupt, World of Youth Sports
Judy Bebelaar and Ron Cabral – And Then They Were Gone: Teenagers of Peoples Temple from High School to Jonestown
Ted Neill – Two Years of Wonder
Anthony Suarez – Politically Indicted: The Real Story Behind the Jersey Sting
Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D. – Shaping Public Opinion: How Real Advocacy Journalism Should Be Practiced
John Egenes – Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America
Patrick Hogan – Silent Spring – Deadly Autumn of the Vietnam War
Gordon Cross, Robert Fowler, Ted Neill – Finding St. Lo: A Memoir of War & Family
John Hoyte – Persistence of Light
This new division is in response to the request from the Chanticleer International Book Awards judges to acknowledge the many outstanding works that were entered into the Instruction & Insight Book Awards and the Journey Book Awards for Narrative Non-fiction. After reviewing the comments from the judges along with their suggestions, we decided to recognize these works and create a more fitting division in the CIBAs that recognizes investigative and long form journalism.
Congratulations to the Semi-finalists whose works have advanced to the Premier Finalists Level of Achievement in the 2019 CIBAs!
The 16 divisions of the 2019 CIBAs’ Grand Prize Winners, the First Place Category Position Award Winners, and all Finalists and Semi-Finalists will be recognized at the postponed (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Gala, now re-scheduled for September.
Join us at theChanticleer Authors Conferenceat the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. or VIRTUALLY via ZOOM (more info to come!)
Use our link above to register now for this exciting event!
We are now accepting submissions into the 2020 Nellie Bly Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is November 30, 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2021.
Welcome to the SPOTLIGHT on post-1750 Historical Fiction novels… in other words,
Welcome to the GOETHE Book Awards!
Why do we like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe so very much? It’s simple! He’s the guy who wrapped up everything we believe in with this simple sentence:
“Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” – Goethe
Of course, this was also said about Goethe (Super Goethe by Ferdinand Mount) that “…[his] company could be exhausting. One minute he would be reciting Scottish ballads, quoting long snatches from Voltaire, or declaiming a love poem he had just made up; the next, he would be smashing the crockery or climbing the Brocken mountain through the fog.”
So…, moving on… Goethe was also a very cool guy. In his lifetime, he saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750 through Mary Shelley’s publishing of Frankenstein in 1818 – and everything in between! Check out the list of what happened during those nearly seventy decades at the end of this post – you will be A-Mazed!
Now, Welcome to the GOETHE Hall of Fame!
We wish to congratulate 2018’s Goethe Book Awards Grand Prize Winner –
Billy Battles is as dear and fascinating a literary friend as I have ever encountered. I learned much about American and international history, and you will too if you read any or all of the books. Each is an independent work, but if read in relation to the others, the reader experiences that all too rare sense of complete transport to another world, one fully realized in these pages because the storytelling is so skillful and thoroughly captivating. Trust me; you’ll want to read all three volumes. Chanticleer Reviewer’s Note
Mr. Ronald Yates not only won Grand Prize in the CIBAs 2018 GOETHE Awards – he won OVERALL GRAND PRIZE!
To learn more about Ronald E. Yates, please click here.
Congratulations to the 2018 Goethe Book Awards First Place Category Winners!
Submit your manuscript or recently released Historical Fiction (post-1750s) to the Chanticleer International Book Awards!
Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the Goethe Awards is June 30, 2020.Enter here!
Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced during our 2020 conference, #CAC20.
The Grand Prize and First Place for 2020 CIBA winners will be held on April 17, 2021.
Any entries received on or after June 30, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Goethe Book Awards that will be announced in April 2022.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your historical fiction deserves! Enter today!
The GOETHE Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.
The 2020 winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony during #CAC20. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first-place winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations!
Goethe
Some events that occurred during Goethe’s lifetime:
1750 – The Industrial Revolution began in England
1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg Austria
1761 – The problem of calculating longitude while at sea was solved by John Harrison
1765 – James Watts perfects the steam engine
1770 – Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany
1774 – Goethe’s romantic novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, propels him into European fame
1774 – Goethe’s play Gotz von Berlichingen, a definitive work of Sturm und Drang premiers in Berlin
1776 – America’s 13 Colonies declare independence from England. Battles ensue.
1776 – Adam Smith publishes the Wealth of Nations (the foundation of the modern theory of economics)
1776 – The Boulton and Watt steam engines were put to use ushering in the Industrial Revolution
1783 – The Hot Air Balloon was invented by the Montgolfier brothers in France.
1786 – Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart premiered in Vienna
1789 – George Washington is elected the first president of the United States of America
1780 – Antoine Lavoisier discovers the Law of Conservation of Mass
1789 – The French Revolution started in Bastille
1791 – Thomas Paine publishes The Rights of Man 1792 – Napoleon begins his march to conquer Europe
1799 – Rosetta Stone discovered in Egypt
1802 – Beethoven created and performed The Moonlight Sonata 1802 – A child’s workday is limited to twelve hours per day by the British parliament when they pass their first Factory Act
1804 – Napoleon has himself proclaimed Emperor of France
1808 – Atomic Theory paper published by John Dalton
1811 – Italian chemist Amedeo Avogadro publishes a hypothesis, about the number of molecules in gases, that becomes known as Avogadro’s Law
1811 – Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility was published anonymously. It was critically well-received
1814 – Steam-driven printing press was invented which allowed newspapers to become more common
1818 – Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein 1832 – Goethe’s Faust, Parts 1 & 2 are published posthumously (March 22, 1832)
In 1830, Eugene Delacroix created Liberty Leading the People to epitomize the French Revolution. The movement officially began with the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, a day that is still celebrated in France. The French people were rebelling against the extreme wealth of the French royal family who overtaxed and underpaid the people of France to the point where they could not even feed themselves and had nothing to lose by going to battle. They were starving to death. The uprising of 1830 was featured in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (1862)
Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil’s (1980s) musical can look at Delacroix’sLiberty Leading the Peopleand hear the lyrics of the song that serves as a call to revolution:
Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people. Who will not be slaves again.
Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix, 1830. On display at the Lourve, Paris.
Do you have a Y/A Fiction manuscript or recently published novel?
Enter it today in the CIBA 2020 DANTE ROSSETTI Awards! Let us decipher the best of the best.
If you know anything about Chanticleer International Book Awards, you know that we never stop sharing the good news and accomplishments of our authors! Never!
What that means is we believe in book promotion, highlighting our winners, standing on our platforms, and telling the known world all about YOUR BOOK!
The Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult Fiction are named for the British painter and poet,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Chanticleer has chosen Dante Rossetti as the namesake of our young adult fiction awards, because of Rossetti’s strong connection to works of beauty and emotions as swift as the changing seasons. Both aspects embody what it means to be young. We feel that the sentiment expressed by the Pre-Raphaelite movement exemplifies what inspires many authors to pick up their proverbial pens to express their emotions and their observations of the visceral dynamics of living.
Besides, he was a rock star. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an exclusive group in the mid-nineteenth century which garnered as much fame and attention as equatable to the Game of Thrones cast today.
The Love Song by Sir Burne-Jones who was mentored and influenced by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
You won’t regret it – Just ask the following authors who did enter, and won!
The 2018 DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards GRAND PRIZE:
Whispers by Yvonne Moon
WHISPERSbyLynn Yvonne Moon
2018 Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction First in Category Winners
Here’s a little more about our Dante Rossetti … (can we claim him as our own?)
Rossetti’s paintings, in particular, were characterized by the long and wavy hair of young women. It is this youthful beauty that has been immortalized in his work and captures the immovable spirit of adolescence which is so fraught with changing emotions. These women he painted are often quite romantic. His wife would often model for the paintings or the wives of his friends in the Brotherhood. It was rumored that Rossetti had several lovers…
Visitors today can view Rossetti’s work at the Louvre or the Met. In addition to painting, he was also a writer. Several of his poems address emotions and feelings in all of their complexity, similar to his painted works.
La Viuda Romana, 1874 by our fav guy, Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Leon Martin and the Fantasy Girl by Andre Swartley
Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the Dante Rossetti Awards is June 30, 2020. Enter here!
Do your works have what it takes to make it through the CIBA judging rounds? Submit manuscripts and published works into the Chanticleer International Book Awards – Click here for more information about The CIBAs!
The last day to submit your work is June 30, 2020. We invite you to join us, to tell us your stories, and to find out who will take home the 2019 CIBA prizes at CAC20 in September.
The deadline for 2020 YA submissions is June 30, 2020.Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2020 will be announced on April 18, 2021.
Any entries received after June 30, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Dante Rossetti Book Awards Young Adult Fiction. The Grand Prize and First Place for 2021 CIBA winners will be held on April 2022.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your work deserves! Enter today!
The DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.
The winners will be announced at the 2019 CIBA Awards Ceremony in September 2020, which will take place during the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first-place winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of celebrations!
The OZMA Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Fantasy Fiction. The OZMA Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out of this world fiction, they will be put to the test and the best selected as winners of the prestigious CIBAs.
The 2019 CIBAs received an unprecedented number of entries making this book awards program even more competitive. More entries along with more competitive works make the final rounds of judging even more demanding. The judges have requesteda new level of achievementto be added to the rounds to acknowledge the entries that they deemed should receive a high level of recognition.
We decided that this was the time to incorporate the new level – The FINALISTS – as requested by the CIBA judges. This new level will be incorporated into the 2019 CIBAsLevels of Achievement. The FINALISTS were selected from the entries that advanced from the 2019 OZMA Book Awards Semi-Finalists.
Congratulations to the 2019 OZMA Book Awards Finalists!
Porter Huddleston –EL on Earth
Benjamin Keyworth –Superworld
Susannah Dawn –Search for the Armor of God
Elana A. Mugdan –Dragon Blood
Dan Zangari & Robert Zangari –A Prince’s Errand
Tim Westover –The Winter Sisters: A Novel
KC Cowan & Sara Cole –The Hunt for Winter
S.J. Hartland –The 19th Bladesman
Joy Ross Davis –The Singer Sisters
Suzie Plakson – The Return of King Lillian
Alex Paul –The Valley of Death, Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals, Book 5
Mark S. Moore –Rise: Birth of a Revolution
Michelle Rene –Manufactured Witches
Susan Faw –Heart of Bastion
Timothy Vincent –Tower, Sword, Stone and Spell
Elizabeth Isaacs –The Scythian Trials
Noah Lemelson –The Sightless City
These titles are in the running for the limited number of First Place positions of the 2019 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction.
Good luck to all as your works move on to the final rounds of judging.
Congratulations to the Semi-finalists whose works have advanced to the Premier Finalists Level of Achievement in the 2019 CIBAs!
The 16 divisions of the 2019 CIBAs’ Grand Prize Winners, the First Place Category Position Award Winners, and all Finalists and Semi-Finalists will be recognized at the postponed (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Gala, now re-scheduled for Saturday, September 5th, 2020.
Join us at theChanticleer Authors Conferenceat the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. or VIRTUALLY via ZOOM (more info to come!)
Use our link above to register now for this exciting event!
We are now accepting submissions into the 2020 OZMA Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is August 31st, 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2021.
Do you have an early historical fiction manuscript or recently released novel? Submit your work to the CIBA 2019 CHAUCER Awards by
June 30, 2020, and see how your work stacks up against others.
We know you want to – because we never tire of promoting our authors’ achievements!
As in Chaucer’s words in the Nun’s Priest Tale of the Canterbury Tales,
“For crowing there was not his equal in all the land.”
We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction the Chaucer Awards, after the English poet and author of the Canterbury Tales, because #CHAUCER.
But seriously, did you know that The Canterbury Tales is considered one of the greatest works in the English language? In fact, it was among the first non-secular books written in Middle English to be printed. So, yeah, #Chaucer
A woodcut from William Caxton’s second edition 0f the Canterbury Tales printed in 1483
Some interesting tidbits about Geoffrey Chaucer
born c. 1342/43 probably in London. He died on October 25, 1400
his father was an important London vintner
His family’s finances were derived from wine and leather
Chaucer spoke Middle English and was fluent in French, Latin, and Italian
He guided diplomatic missions across the continent of Europe for ten years where he discovered the works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio whose The Decameron had a profound influence on Chaucer’s later works
He married well as his wife received an annuity from the queen consort of Edward III
His remains are interred in the Westminster Abbey
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your historical fiction deserves! Enter today!
Welcome to the CHAUCER BOOK AWARDS HALL OF FAME
Click on the links below to read the Chanticleer Review of the award-winning work!
Regency: Traitor’s Gate by David Chacko & Alexander Kulcsar
Women’s Fiction/WWII: Wait for Me by Janet K. Shawgo
Medieval/Dark Ages:Divine Vengeanceby David Koons
Women’s Fiction/World History: Daughters of India by Kavita Jade
What are you waiting for? Before long the CHAUCER Book Award deadline will be history.
Submit your manuscript or recently released Historical Fiction (pre-1750s) to the Chanticleer International Book Awards!
Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the Chaucer awards is June 30, 2020. Enter here!
Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced on September 5, 2020.
Any entries received on or after June 30, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards. The Grand Prize and First Place for 2020 CIBA winners will be held on April 17, 2021.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your historical fiction deserves! Enter today!
The CHAUCER Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.
The 2020 winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony on September 5, 2020, which will take place during the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first-place winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations!
In this stirring whodunit by writer J. J. Clarke, a young woman flees from an evil-minded stalker and finds herself in an underground of female supporters who know how to protect her.
What’s a Laramie?
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
The I & I Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in non-fiction for instruction, guidance, self-help, how-to, and insight. The I & I Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Women’s Fiction:
