The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Science fiction is having a moment, and these incredible books prove it. From climate catastrophes to galactic adventures, from AI consciousness to time-bending mysteries, this year’s Cygnus Long List showcases the full spectrum of speculative imagination that authors are bringing to life.
Each of these authors is already winning with their books are now featured on our high-traffic website, shared across our social media, and promoted to our newsletter subscribers. But this is just the beginning of their CIBA journey.
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 CYGNUS Science Fiction entries to the 2025 Cygnus Book Awards Long List. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Cygnus Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. Finalists will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
A.T. Balsara – The Great and the Small
AA Dasilva – The Bleed-Through Effect
Ansel Kohn – Betaterrestrial
Aspry Jones – Protectors of the Light Crown
Augustus Cileone – Galloper’s Quests
B. Lynn Carter – The Eyes Have It
Brett Lawrence – Shadow Seers
Carrie Kwiatkowski – The Bindery Guild
Celia Seupel – Girl with the Silver Hair
Charles Weindorf – Comets of Omen the Presser Arc
Chris Coward – Perpendicular Women: Adventures in the Multiverse
Claudia Leboeuf – Fields of Prosperis
Corey Frazier – Orion Heavenfall
D.J. Darcey – Kingdoms and Empires Dark Rage
David M. Pearce – The Holovid Hero
David Tenenbaum – Survival Andromeda
Deborah Mistina – Imber
Dheepa R. Maturi – 108 an Eco-Thriller
Georg Koszulinski – Future X
Noah Kaplan – The Last Book. the Diary of the Last Earthling
James Azinheira – Alphamind the Collective Consciousness
James R Wells – The Eternal Moment
Jeremy Clift – Space Vault the Seed Eclipse
Joanne Hatfield – Ghost of Nostalgia
Joshua A.H. Harris – Eyes of Iris
Joshua Dyer – Avitron Ephemeris
Kevin D. Miller – Taquoma
L. Galuppo – Eco Reign Warning the Barriers Burn
L.R. O’Brien – Tomorrow Is the Day
Lawrence Brown – Black Phantom Dogs Book 1 Unrestricted Climb
Lloyd Jeffries – Embers of Shadow Ages of Malice Book III
Lou Dischler – In the Time of False Gods
Lynn Yvonne Moon – Journey’s Travels – Mirrors
M. E. Schuman – The Catalyst
Matthew Marullo – Welcome To Opine
Maxime Trencavel – The Matriarch Messiah
Michael C Bland – The Price of Freedom
Michael Gorton – Tachyon Tunnel 2: The Daklin Empire
Michael Grigsby – Rescue in Time
Michael W Hickman – Richard War Erupts
Mickey Dubrow – Always Agnes
Pa Vasey – Homo Machina
Philip Carlisle – Mellisya
Philroy A. Hinds – Humanity at Fault
Q Turner – Blood Sacrifice
Robert C Littlewood – Equilibrium (The Balance Wars Book 3)
Russ Colson – A People Joined Asunder
Russ Colson – Future’s Soul
Russ Colson – The Vast Empty
S. W. Lawrence Md – Cloud Dragon
S.G. Blaise – Eldryan Elders
Sarena Straus – DeInception
Sean Kennedy – The Fire Within
Spaulding Taylor – Last Star Standing
Stephen A Salaka – Elysium Rising
Stephen Eric Johnson – The Man From Rock Bottom
Steve Sterling – Black Cliff Chronicles
Tak Salmastyan – The Accelerates Forty Days To Dust
Thomas Lapham – Beyond the Signal
Thomas Sundberg – Bending Light
Tim Rees – Tim Rees Original Earth
Tom Mayer – Ithaca! The Warrior Queen of Aslon!
William X. Adams – Attic Polters
Wilson Kincaid – The Murder Algorithm
Y S Pascal – The Zygan Emprise
πnag Ual – How the World Gets Done
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bluesky pages. We try to tag all authors listed here on Facebook. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed @ChantiReviews on these platforms.
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We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!
Congratulations once more to the 2024 Cygnus Grand Prize Winner
Submissions for the 2026 Cygnus Awards and other Speculative Fiction Divisions are open now! For other genres, we still have 25 divisions open for the 2025 CIBAs! Whether you write mystery, romance, historical fiction, or something entirely different, there’s likely a perfect fit for your work.
Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
April 17-19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!
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 14th annual conference and discover why!
The submissions for our newest division are underway, and The Collection & Anthology Awards close on July 31, 2025!
There’s something magical that happens when individual pieces are thoughtfully assembled into a unified whole—whether it’s a poet’s lifetime of work, a themed anthology exploring social justice, or a collection of short stories that illuminate the human condition. The Collection & Anthology Awards celebrate this unique art form, recognizing the literary excellence that emerges when curation meets creativity.
Branching off from our established SEA Shorts Awards, this exciting new division honors the publishers, authors, and editors who understand that the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts. From single-author poetry collections to multi-voice thematic anthologies, we celebrate works where exceptional writing combines with masterful organization and thematic coherence.
The Power of Thoughtful Assembly
What transforms a simple gathering of pieces into a truly compelling collection or anthology? It’s the invisible architecture that connects each work to the next, the thematic threads that weave individual voices into a larger conversation, and the careful curation that ensures every piece earns its place.
Whether you’re a poet who has spent years crafting a cohesive collection, an editor assembling diverse voices around a central theme, or a publisher investing in the literary community’s best collaborative works, the Collection & Anthology Awards recognize that quality writing is just the beginning. The real artistry lies in creating thematic coherence that resonates across every page.
Categories That Span the Literary Landscape
Our categories intentionally align with Chanticleer’s established award divisions, ensuring that collections and anthologies across every genre find their perfect home:
Narrative Non-Fiction Collections/Anthologies – Memoir collections, essay compilations, and themed non-fiction that tells powerful true stories
Essay Collections – Whether personal reflection, cultural criticism, or literary exploration, celebrating the essay as an art form
Poetry Collections – From debut collections to lifetime retrospectives, honoring the unique voice of poetry in all its forms
Speculative Fiction – Fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal collections that transport readers to other worlds
Celebrating Our Founding Excellence: Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro
We’re honored to highlight Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro, whose inspiring collection Dream Rut: Navigating Your Path Forward exemplifies the literary excellence we seek to recognize in this new division. This beautifully crafted work combines meditative prompts, poetic writing, and full-color illustrations to guide readers through transforming their relationship with their dreams—from dealing with estranged dreams to discovering unknown ones.
Shimabukuro’s achievement showcases how thoughtful curation creates something greater than individual pieces, offering readers both comfort and actionable insights for moving forward. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Dream Rut will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Dr. Shimabukuro will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview and receive continued recognition across our promotional platforms.
A Home for Every Voice, Every Vision
The Collection & Anthology Awards welcome submissions from diverse creators across the literary community:
Publishers showcasing their finest anthologies and themed collections
Individual Authors who have assembled their short fiction, essays, or poetry into cohesive collections
Anthology Editors who curate multi-author works around compelling themes
Literary Organizations producing collections that advance important conversations
Whether your collection features a single powerful voice or weaves together multiple perspectives, we celebrate the editorial vision that transforms individual works into something greater.
Check out some of these outstanding collections and anthologies we’ve celebrated recently!
Portrait of a Feminist: A Memoir in Essays
By Mariana Marlowe
Marianne Marlowe’s memoir, Portrait of a Feminist, reveals the evolution of her feminism through a collection of thought-provoking essays.
“I would say, if it were possible, I was born a feminist” is at the heart of Marlowe’s story. She relates to this defining identity throughout years spent in Peru, California, and Ecuador, where she navigates childhood, marriage, motherhood, and a professional career.
The section titles reflect periods in Marlowe’s life that correspond to nature’s rhythms— “Seeds Planted”, “The Growing Years”, “Maturation”, and “Harvesting”—and maintain strong connections between her thematically-linked experiences.
As a Peruvian American woman, Marlowe navigates the concepts of gender, race, and culture from a personal and critical point of view.
A Good Day and Other Mostly Humorous Stories and Lists
By Radu Guiasu
Through the thirty-six diverse writing efforts of A Good Day and Other Mostly Humorous Stories and Lists, Radu Guiasu masterfully combines wit, whimsy, satire, and personal contemplation.
These vignettes cover a wide range of topics, styles, and techniques. While they often seem to be typical “slice-of-life” moments, Guiasu clearly has a knack for finding humor in even the most absurd situations.
As a native Romanian now residing and teaching in Canada, Guiasu writes from his own knowledge and experience. He often broaches serious and meaningful topics, such as the world of academia, growing up under a dictatorship, and a love of nature.
A Wild Region: Tales and Stories from the Heartland
By Robin Lee Lovelace
Includes a Chanticleer Short Stories Awards Grand Prize Winner!
A Wild Region: Tales and Stories from the Heartlandby Robin Lee Lovelace is a wonderful collection of Weird fiction (emphasis on Weird), showcasing the oddities and fantastic adventures which hide among the everyday people of the midwestern United States.
Lovelace opens with ‘Virgie’s Headless Chicken’, setting the tone for the full collection as Virgie attempts to reproduce a circus sideshow act. Lovelace shares her familial inspiration for this story in a fascinating preface.
From there she gifts readers with the award-winning novella,Savonne, Not Vonny, a coming-of-age story of a little girl involving brothels, voodoo, and displaced gods. Savonne faces trial after trial as she grows up in different environments, all while she tries to understand her place in the world. This setting is particularly well-developed, leaving readers wanting more from even the secondary characters. Readers who lovedAmerican Godswill enjoy every page of Savonne’s adventures.
Varying in emotion and impact, all of these tales will grab a reader’s attention. In every story ofA Wild Region, fully-realized characters deal with important problems, approaching them with their own strange solutions.
Tax MythBusters: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions,compiled by tax professional Lily Tran with essays by other financial, tax, and accounting professionals, gives valuable insight into the myths of what can and cannot be claimed as a deduction for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
This work provides tips and strategies to optimize tax planning and make the most of available deductions. As the foreword reminds the reader, “Knowledge is power when it comes to taxes,” adding that gaining a better understanding of the tax rules and regulations will allow you to “make smart financial decisions and protect yourself from unnecessary risks.”
The essays that make up this work are short, succinct, and to the point about the pitfalls and challenges that face small business owners, framing these dangers as “myths.”
These works demonstrate the range and power of well-curated collections across every genre and format.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
We’re excited about all the exceptional collections and anthologies we’ll receive in this inaugural year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!
This new division represents an unprecedented opportunity to gain recognition for the often-overlooked art of literary curation. From debut poetry collections to landmark anthologies, we’re committed to celebrating the publishers, authors, and editors who understand that bringing the right pieces together creates literary magic.
Be Among the First to Claim this Honor!
As our newest division, the Collection & Anthology Awards offer a unique opportunity to be among the first winners in this exciting category. Whether you’ve spent years perfecting a poetry collection, assembled a groundbreaking anthology, or published a thematic collection that deserves wider recognition, this is your moment.
The SEA Shorts Awards Honor Excellence in Shorter Works
The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and SEA Shorts closes on July 31, 2025!
In a world of sprawling epics and multi-volume series, there’s something uniquely powerful about a story that delivers maximum impact in minimal space. The SEA Shorts Awards celebrate this concentrated artistry. Recognizing novellas, short stories, and essays that prove great literature doesn’t require great length, just great skill.
Whether it’s a novella that captures a lifetime of emotion in 100 pages or a short story that delivers a profound revelation in just a few thousand words, the SEA Shorts Awards honor authors who understand that when space is limited, every sentence must earn its place.
Honoring Sharon E. Anderson: From Winner to Champion
The SEA Shorts Awards carry special meaning as they honor Sharon E. Anderson, whose own literary journey exemplified the transformative power of the Chanticleer community. Sharon first came to our attention as a contest winner herself for her dark fantasy short story “Stone God’s Wife” which won the Grand Prize in an earlier iteration of this award.
As our judges noted: “This short story is an exceptional example of the dark fantasy genre. Desperate to save her sister, Cilla does the unthinkable…and the unforgivable. ‘The Stone God’s Wife’ is compellingly written, well characterized, fast-paced, and engaging.”
But Sharon’s story with Chanticleer was just beginning. She joined our team as Chief Reviews Editor, where for years she created and edited content, wrote reviews, and championed authors with unwavering dedication. An SPU graduate in Clothing Textiles & Design, Sharon brought design principles to every aspect of her work, understanding that presentation and content must work in harmony.
Sharon served on the board of the Skagit Valley Writers League and delighted when authors achieved success. Her core belief that authors deserve support and good books deserve recognition became the foundation of everything she did at Chanticleer. She believed in authors, worked tirelessly to promote their work, and championed literary excellence in all its forms.
When Sharon passed away, we lost not just a dear friend but a true advocate for the writing community. The SEA Shorts Awards, named in her honor, continue her legacy of discovering and celebrating exceptional writing. Every submission, every advancement through our tiers, every celebration of literary achievement carries forward Sharon’s unwavering commitment to supporting authors and promoting the books that deserve to be discovered.
Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!
We’re thrilled to honor Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi, whose novella Something About Lizzy claimed the 2024 SEA Shorts Grand Prize with a masterful adaptation that brings fresh life to beloved classic literature. This Pride and Prejudice spin-off demonstrates the exceptional skill required to honor original characters while creating an entirely new and compelling story.
Set in 1826 Derbyshire, Kobayashi’s work follows sixteen-year-old Sofia-Elisabete as she discovers the complexities of adult relationships and family secrets through her friendship with Elizabeth Darcy. Our judges praised the work’s “lively and meaningful” character dynamics, noting how “the blend of drama and love feels appropriate for a spin-off of Pride and Prejudice” while maintaining “well-done writing” and “consistent tone.”
The novella showcases what makes the short form so powerful—concentrated storytelling that captures the essence of complex relationships and family secrets within a focused narrative. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Something About Lizzy will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview and receive continued recognition across our promotional platforms.
Categories That Embrace Every Genre
The SEA Shorts Awards welcome shorter works across the entire literary spectrum:
Cygnus – SciFi, Speculative, Fantasy
Ozma – Fantasy Fiction
Paranormal – All types of Paranormal Fiction
Global Thriller – High Stakes
Clue – Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Mystery & Mayhem – Cozy and Not So Cozy Mystery
Rossetti – Young Adult & New Adult
Laramie – Americana, Western, Pioneer, & Civil War
From science fiction novellas to historical short stories, from personal essays to satirical pieces, every genre finds its home in the SEA Shorts Awards. With the recent creation of our Collection & Anthology Awards, SEA Shorts now provides focused attention on individual shorter works that stand powerfully on their own.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
We’re excited about all the exceptional shorter works we receive every year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!
The SEA Shorts Awards carry forward Sharon Anderson’s legacy of believing in authors and championing exceptional writing. Whether you’ve crafted a novella that captures a lifetime of experience, a short story that delivers a perfect moment of revelation, or an essay that illuminates truth through personal narrative, these awards provide the recognition that Sharon believed every excellent work deserves.
It is our honor to promote short works!
We continue to believe that great writing deserves great recognition, regardless of length. The SEA Shorts Awards honor her commitment to supporting authors and celebrating the books that deserve to be discovered.
SpruceHarbor Possibilities, the second book in David A. Stone’s Spruce Harbor series, pulls an independent bookstore owner and a savvy tech billionaire into an improbable whirlwind romance, but each with their own reasons to be guarded about love.
Romantic Maggie Bennett’s last breakup diminished her self-confidence, and she’s since put all her energy into running her cozy literary shop in the small community of Spruce Harbor, Washington. Her best friend and co-worker Bobby wants her to get back in the dating game, but for the moment Maggie contents herself with the solace of her bookstore and her Golden Retriever, Mr. Darcy.
That is until Jason Porter arrives in town.
Handsome and extremely wealthy, Jason was co-founder of the Lifestar Gaming Company, recently and unceremoniously sacked by the Board of Directors and his business partner.
Though they come from different worlds, there’s an undeniable attraction between Maggie and Jason.
Maggie has her suspicions about this enigmatic stranger. But as the emotional chemistry draws them closer, they each put aside their doubts to join forces and overcome the wrongs of big business takeovers, each relying on one another to overcome wounds of the past and find happiness in the future.
Spruce Harbor Possibilities gives readers an extremely well-rounded contemporary romance.
Though this novel is the second book in a four-book series, it can clearly stand on its own. Maggie’s small town quaintness contrasts Jason’s unrestrained lifestyle, and the mirrored themes of hard work and determination vs. corporate greed create a complex storyline. The joy found in emotional resilience and trusting your heart in pursuit of true love elevates the romance.
Stone weaves an engaging tale with two central characters who match each other’s intelligence despite their vastly different lives.
Maggie has always had the support and love of family and friends, while Jason struggles with an aloof set of parents whose only interests are money and status. While each has their own baggage, their compatibility in romance and business ignites a positive and heartwarming relationship—even if they didn’t expect it.
Maggie and Jason weather frequent outside dilemmas, giving their romance an active pace while showing their growing ability to work together.
Like most romances there are ups and downs that illuminate Maggie or Jason’s insecurities. But the comfort provided by those closest to them, whether family and friends, or in Jason’s case a caring assistant and a wise college professor, all help the two realize what really matters.
For those who enjoy an honest and comforting tale that taps into universal issues of trust, self-discovery, emotional growth, and the power of love, this second book in David Stone’s Spruce Harbor series should prove an ideal foray into romantic “Possibilities.”
The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Strider Klusman’s book, Luna will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design contest page year ’round!
The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!
Hannah Ballard’s most successful relationship: her career.
Her superpower is an uncanny ability to discover perfect movie settings while avoiding the limelight herself. She’s involved in pre-production for a film based on a bestselling historical novel when a chance meeting with an aristocratic landowner leads her to Somerset and his estate in picturesque Milver Vale—the ideal backdrop for a period drama. Martin Latimer, Marquess of Milverston, believes the release of a high-profile motion picture can increase tourism and bolster the local economy. And he hopes to spend more time with its intriguing location manager.
After Hannah suffers a professional setback, proximity and mutual passion propel the couple into an exhilarating affair. But Martin soon becomes a magnet for the scandal-hungry media, forcing Hannah into a painful and damaging decision.
Powering through heartbreak is hard. Especially when coping with unemployment—and dealing with members of her fractured family. For their protection, she must part from the nobleman asking her to stay with him. Who makes her believe that, at long last, she actually could be falling in love.
From New York Harbor to the battlefields of France, relive World War I through the eyes of an unknown soldier, as told through his diary. See how the 100-year-old diary brings a father and his estranged son back together by retracing his experiences fighting in the battlefields of France in 1917 – 1918 to his final resting place—the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
His diary was found next to his lifeless body by a young French girl who witnessed his death and bravery as he tried to protect his fellow soldiers. How the unknown soldier felt and what he experienced fighting on the Western Front in World War One —his day-to-day struggles and life as a private and then as an NCO. As he led his men into combat. The pride and fear he felt and the overwhelming stress he encountered, sometimes frozen with fear from the sheer brutality of modern warfare from all sides. His bravery in combat and leadership in training and on the battlefield. How he coped as he watched his fellow soldiers, battle buddies, and friends die one after another. Some from battlefield injuries from conventional weapons and gas attacks, but also diseases from the unsanitary conditions of trench warfare and influenza. His only wish was to come out alive, a wish that would never come true.
But return home, he did.
From Chanticleer:
One of Four: World War One Through the Eyes of an Unknown Soldier by Travis Davis is a compassionate and intimate portrait of the tenuous and unforgiving First World War, as shown through the eyes of an American soldier on France’s front lines. Based on real people and events in 1918 France, One of Four begins with a young French girl, Camille, who stumbles upon a diary lying next to an unknown American soldier. He was killed among his comrades in a German ambush near the banks of the Aire River, as he tried to protect his fellow soldiers. When Camille comes of age, she leaves her hometown to seek a better life in Paris. There, she is killed after joining a German resistance group. But before her death, she tucked the soldier’s diary in her Bible and hid it in a local bookstore.
Decades later, a man by the name of Walter travels to France with his son, Alex, to whom he’d become estranged after the painful divorce from Alex’s mother. He hopes this will be a journey of healing and exploration and that their time together will revive their shaky relationship. While there, Alex purchases the Bible left by Camille many years ago. By reading the hidden diary entries of the soldier together, Alex and Walter’s relationships takes an unexpected turn.
Patricia Schuster acquires both independence and furniture polish after inheriting her grandmother’s house and antique business. Her new life in the Northern California town of Lakeville is in jeopardy, however, when she is falsely arrested for stealing a rare 1950’s Cadillac and is blackmailed by Jimmy, a toothpick-wielding used-car salesman. When the real car thief ends up dead, she turns to her grandmother’s friends—four women in their golden years who play fast and loose with the law. But how far over the line will Patricia have to go to find a killer and clear her name?
From Chanticleer:
Grand Theft Death is best read when you need a break from reality. Don’t read it if your two feet are firmly placed in all things serious. In fact, don’t read it if you areeven thinking of going to the serious side of life. This book is as realistic as a Saturday morning cartoon – and twice the fun.
The characters are delightfully quirky, the situation fun and surprising, and the action as snappy as popping corn. The heroine, Patty Schuster, is kind, sincere, wry, and unique, at the same time so easygoing that she can roll with the endless punches the plot throws at her and carry on with a good heart.
Good thing, since the plot treats Patty like a punching bag.
She starts out in jail, falsely arrested for car theft, then gets tangled up with thieves, spies, forgers, smugglers, bad cops, good cops, sleazy hoteliers, double-crossing gangsters, nosy neighbors, felonious grannies, and divorcing parents—not to mention murder of the friend in trouble she tried to help, which led to her arrest.
Colonist Benjamin Waite, a devoted husband, father, and skilled military scout in King Philip’s War, reluctantly obeys orders to guide a brutal attack against a camp of Algonquian Natives.
After the catastrophic event, Benjamin is burdened with guilt and longs for peace. But the Algonquians, led by the revered sachem Ashpelon, retaliate with vengeance upon Ben’s Massachusetts town of Hatfield, capturing over a dozen colonists, including his pregnant wife Martha and their three young daughters.
Hatfield 1677 is a tale of three interwoven yet diverging journeys of strength and survival. Benjamin is driven by love and remorse to rescue his family; Martha is forced into captivity and desperately striving to protect her children; and Ashpelon is willing to risk everything to ensure the safety and freedom of his people.
Based on the lives of the author’s ancestors, this riveting and unforgettable novel gives voice to three vastly different experiences in North America during a time before the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Then, the land was but a wilderness and a battleground; equality was not yet perceived as self-evident; and liberty and happiness were nothing more than dangerous pursuits.
For over three hundred years, that’s what the Hamilton family has called a shrinking swath of farmland in the Appalachian foothills of South Carolina.
Home.
That’s the failing tobacco farm where Walter and Maggie Hamilton choose to raise their three children. Walter has big plans to make the farm more profitable, but his plans are interrupted by World War II and family heartbreak. Walter returns from the war a changed man and finds Maggie, too, has changed, neither of them for the better. But at least their family is together again at…
Home.
More than anything, that’s where their eight-year-old son, Jimmy Hamilton, wants to be. However, after an unspeakable tragedy, he’s sent away from the only life he’s ever known to live with a kindly uncle in North Carolina.
Home.
That’s where Jimmy is finally going to be, unless fate has plans of its own…
A Song that Never Endsis the first installment of the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and beyond the gardens of stone at Arlington.
From Chanticleer:
A Song That Never Ends, the first volume of a two-part series by Mark A. Gibson, opens a dramatic fictional saga of the Hamilton family from the late 1930s Depression era, to 1967 and the Vietnam conflict. Here against the backdrop of a South Carolina tobacco farm, we come to witness a family in turmoil.
The calm and reserved Walter Hamilton and his rebellious, impulsive wife Maggie strive to build a life and raise a family. But the couple is tested by a series of misfortunes—miscarriages and stillbirths, and Walter’s enlistment during WWII leaving him with guilt-induced PTSD as he deals with the memory of fallen comrades.
At the center of this heartfelt story is James, the middle child, who at the tender age of eight is forced from his home due to a horrific accident and sent to live with a widower uncle.
Wales, 1946. In the beautiful seaside village of Mumbles, Drew Davies, a young Welsh woman, is determined to pursue a career in a profession that has been historically denied to women. Living with her grandparents in their charming stone cottage, Drew’s quiet life changes course suddenly when murder, espionage, and a cast of scoundrels and saints enter the picture, but not even murder can stop Drew in her tracks. This is the first historical cozy mystery in Gail’s new Drew Davies Railway Mysteries series.
Most bullies are hurting somewhere inside. This magical and heartwarming tale about an old giant sea turtle and a tiny little fish teaches us about BRAVERY, TRUST, FORGIVENESS, and HOPE. And to HELP others in need, no matter how different we are.
This is the story of an old sea turtle with a rusty fish hook stuck in his foot! He is quite crabby about his unfortunate situation, and likes to terrorize the little sea creatures. One day he catches little fishy, and plans to have him for dinner until little fishy tells the old turtle that if he will trust him and let him go, he will come back with his friend Mr. Swordfish, and he can saw that old rusty fish hook off so he will feel better!
A portion of the profits from this book are donated to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation center.
The Dream Collectorimmerses the reader into the exciting milieu of late 19th Century Paris when art and medicine were in the throes of revolution, art turning to Impressionism, medicine turning to psychology. In 1885, Julie Forette, a self-educated woman from Marseilles, finds employment at the infamous Salpêtrière, hospital and asylum to over five thousand disabled, demented and abandoned women, a walled city ruled by the famed neurologist and arrogant director, Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot.
Julie Forette forms a friendship with the young, visiting intern Sigmund Freud who introduces her to the altering-conscious power of cocaine. Together they pursue the hidden potential of hypnotism and dream interpretation. After Freud receives the baffling case of the star hysteric, Sabrine Weiss, he is encouraged by Julie to experiment with different modes of treatment, including “talking sessions.” Their urgent quest is to find a cure for Sabrine, Princess of the Hysterics, before Dr. Charcot resorts to the radical removal of her ovaries.
In Paris, Julie finds a passion for the new art emerging, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and forms friendships with the major artists of the period, including Pissarro, Monet, and Degas. Julie becomes intimately involved with the reclusive Cezanne only to be seduced by the “Peruvian Savage” Paul Gauguin. Julie is the eponymous ‘Dream Collector’ collecting the one unforgettable, soul-defining dream of the major historical figures of the period.
Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Breath, Book 1 of the Desert Hills Trilogy
A 2021 Chatelaine First Place Winner!
Emily Sweeney, MD, is a vibrant young trauma physician at a major Seattle medical center who is tragically taken from the comfort of her 21st Century life. Suddenly, dropped into the 1880s unforgiving frontier, she is determined to survive, or die all over again. Using her knowledge and skills as a physician, Emily struggles to save a stranger in the desert hills of the Arizona Territory. In the end, can she return to her previous life and leave behind the man she’s come to love?
Caleb Young, a once-prominent Boston attorney in 1880, is haunted by his past filled with lies and deception. Hoping to outrun his demons, he willingly leaves his privileged life behind. Heading straight into unforeseen trouble, he is shot for revenge and left to die in the desert hills. Now, dependent on a beautiful woman who appears out of nowhere using her hands and heart to save him, will he finally have a reason to live.
Two lives forged out of truth and trust, can their love survive, or will it take its last breath?
For a country kid, the odd styles and new-fangled contraptions of the steam era were beyond Rhone’s comfort zone, but he was here to do a job, if he managed to graduate from the OPR Academy.
Using his front as a nobleman’s son, Rhone and his unique partner, Stone, are sent to an easy first assignment, the little harbor town of Corgy. But he quickly discovers the mayor dislikes him and that pirates are hounding the shipping trade. With one disliking him, and he disliking them both, things weren’t starting off well. Unfortunately, it was his job to fix problems and he was glad he had Stone along to help.
Only when he met Bella, the fiery waitress at The Common House, and Captain Black, of The Backwater Mistress, did he find his answer and an entirely uplifting experience you won’t want to miss.
From Chanticleer:
Luna, the second book in Strider S.R. Klusman’s YA Rhone and Stone Series, follows Rhone and his alien partner Stone as they develop a ship that can sail through the air.
The two train to become agents for the Office of Public Recrimination, urged to join by their friend – and now boss – Aundrea. Rhone struggles through training with the help of his trusty partner, but a much more difficult test remains before them – their first assignment.
Aundrea sends them to Corgy, a port town, without explaining their mission. But it doesn’t take long for Rhone to encounter troubles from shore and sea alike.
He and Stone meet Mayor Dugan, who takes an instant dislike for Rhone, posing as a wealthy merchant’s son. But it’s his front, designed so by the ladies of the OPR, and commands a great deal of respect and authority from the locals, if not Bella. Sometimes it’s difficult not to forget his actual purpose for being at Corgy. As an agent of the OPR, he must solve the town’s greatest problem, a rash of pirate attacks on Corgy’s vital ocean-borne trade; if they continue, Corgy won’t survive.
Research adds so much to a story, but with so much great information available to us today finding the right information can sometimes become overwhelming.
Don’t let your research overtake your writing project! Create a clear and effective process to find the perfect tidbits to add validity and relatability to your story.
What’s the Benefit of Great Research
Facts gleaned from research adds a layer of authenticity to a story, juices up your storyline with real world complexities, and gives readers leads to chase when they want to find out more about the world your characters reside in. During the writing process, it helps inspire the author and pulls back the curtain on the mysteries behind the topic you want to add to your story. No matter what genre you write in, think of research like the border pieces of the puzzle. Good research gives context to your story and delivers a more satisfied experience to your readers.
Good research serves three essential purposes:
Builds trust with your readers
Fills in gaps in your own knowledge
Provides concrete examples to inspire or reinforce your narrative
Begin Your Research with Trusted Resources
The best start to any research project is to find the right resources. Make sure they are reliable, relevant, and relatable in some way to your story. If you’re writing a romantic scene with references to a specific type of cuisine don’t just rely on the last best meal you had. Find recipes or meal plans that give you the right words to describe the meal. If you are writing a western, look for reliable resources that will tell you the specifics about how to shoe a horse. Here are some good places to start when thinking about where you want to conduct your research—
Familiar Resources
Your own bookshelf
Podcasts on your particular subject
Articles you’ve saved
Experts you already know
Outside Resources
Your local library system
Professional associations for expert opinions
University research departments
Industry journals
News archives
YouTube videos
Online websites, such as the online encyclopedia Wikipedia
Search engines (But be careful—this is where most of my available time gets stuck as I start chasing research tidbits)
Research Tips
Check an author’s other work if you like their approach
Makes sure there are citations and references listed
Check the publication date to determine if the information is current
Take a look at the bibliographies of the books you read to find more sources
Avoid information that is part of an advertising pitch or contains extreme or vague information
Save everything that looks useful – you can sort it out later
Types of Data
One of the best things I found in my research about research is there are only three types of data:
Statistics and data offer an author straight-up facts and findings, and each one should come with a citation to its sourced material Quotes from experts or people “in the know” require the exact wording and a citation Anecdotes require a brief summary and the appropriate sourcing
Your Research Project in Action
Now that you have your reliable resources, it’s time to get busy! If you’re like me and can get caught up in finding out more juicy details to add to your story it may be a great time to implement the “5, 10, 10, 5” rule, and it goes a little something like this:
Pick one key point to research for 5 minutes
Research one specific item and stay focused on that one item
Write down three questions that you want to find answers to
Note the type of evidence you are looking for, such as statistics, examples, or expert quotes. This is particularly helpful to me because it sets me on a direct path to the information I need, rather than through a divergent path of anecdotes, say, when I actually need statistics.
Scan the information for relevant references for 10 minutes
Only work from 2-3 reliable sources to simplify and focus your research project
Save links, bookmark, or take photos of the information you need
Highlight key passages
Record the information you need most for 10 minutes
Create a simple system to record your research; include space to write down where it came from, when the information was collected, who collected it, and a link to the resourced information if available
Save your best findings and note how you’ll use them in the story
Quality check for 5 minutes
Read your original point
Add your research
Make sure it flows naturally
Research Tools
Having effective tools in your research toolbelt can really take your effectiveness to the next level, but don’t get carried away! Only use the tools you need to avoid your research project from becoming chaotic. Here are some of our favorite tools—
Microsoft Word and Excel, and Google Docs are helpful to create simple research documents you can easily search, share, and back up
Web Browsers’ “Bookmark” features allow you to create folders for different topics or sources
Microsoft’s Notebook can turn you into a record keeping superstar!
Evernote: Clip web articles and organize by chapter
Apple Notes/Google Keep: Quick capture of ideas and sources on your phone
Kindle/eBooks: The search feature combined with its ability to highlight specific passages is the solution to foregoing typing out quotes, and their search function helps you skim through the content to find the information you need most
ReadWise saves and organizes the highlights and quotes you’ve found through your Kindle app
Zotero is a great free resource often used by Academics to track biographies and create folders to track their research. Powerful for anything that might require an annotated bibliography
Index cards and journals lets you see your research without logging into your computer, and using index cards allows you to move your thoughts around as you plot your story
Sticky flags will take you right to the information when researching physical books
File folders will help you organize physical information by topic, chapter, or source
Highlighters let you color-code different types of research
Voice memos and photos of book pages for quick grabs
Beware of research pitfalls!
Finding Research Mistakes:
Looking at only the first page of Google results—some of the most important information I’ve found has come from page 2 or 3 of a Google search
Using only one type of source and not verifying the information with other sources
Believing what you see on social media—never give your blind trust to what you find on social media
Not checking dates of your sourced material
Organization Research Mistakes:
Saving everything “just in case” (I’m raising my hand in guilt here)
Not noting where you found something
Keeping research scattered across multiple places; good organization will alleviate a lot of stress
Forgetting to back up digital notes
Trying to use too many research organizational systems at once
Writing Mistakes:
Letting research overwhelm your own voice
Including facts just because they’re interesting, not relevant
Dumping research without context; don’t make your story a lesson for your readers, make it an adventure in storytelling!
Not fact-checking quotes and forgetting who said what
And always remember
Research should support your message, not become the message!
Thank you for joining us for this Writer Toolbox Article
There is so much to learn and do with Chanticleer!
From our Book Award Program that has Discovered the Best Books since the early 2010s to our Editorial Book Reviews recognizing and promoting indie and traditional authors, Chanticleer knows your books are worth the effort to market professionally!
Hungry for more? These articles can help you go even further with your research:
After investing time in thorough research, you want to make sure it enhances rather than overwhelms your story. That’s where professional editorial guidance becomes invaluable.
Chanticleer’s Manuscript Overview helps you see if your research is working effectively within your narrative. Our evaluators will assess whether your carefully gathered facts feel naturally integrated or if they’re disrupting your story’s flow. We’ll identify where research strengthens your work and where it might need better balance with your storytelling voice.
Research should support your message, not become the message—and our manuscript evaluators help ensure you’ve struck that crucial balance.
The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Genét Simone’s book, Teaching in The Dark will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design contest page year ’round!
The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!
Australians love the sun – our outdoor lifestyle is part our trademark appeal. It’s also the reason that every thirty minutes someone is diagnosed with melanoma. Why skin cancer is called Australia’s National Cancer, and two out of three Australians are likely to be diagnosed with it before turning 70.
After living an average Aussie life playing sport, spending languid days on the beach, and falling in love with ocean swimming, Anne Gately received unwelcome news. She had Stage IV melanoma.
Yet Anne is one of the lucky ones. After a dire prognosis, she dug deep to face the clear and present prospect of death, head-on. In Sunburnt, her revealing memoir, Anne recounts the emotions and challenges of her life-saving immunotherapy treatment under the care of Professor Georgina Long to come through the other side.
Not only has Anne survived, she is issuing a clarion call for a change to the bronzed Aussie culture. In SunburntAnne combines a nostalgic view of a charmed Aussie childhood, a jolting review of Australia’s sun-worshipping norms, and enough scientific research to encourage us all to redefine our relationship with the sun.
Through braided memories that flash against the present day, Portrait of a Feminist depicts the evolution of Marianna Marlowe’s identity as a biracial and multicultural woman—from her childhood in California, Peru, and Ecuador to her adulthood as an academic, a wife, and a mother.
How does the inner life of a feminist develop? How does a writer observe the world around her and kindle, from her earliest memories, a flame attuned to the unjust?
With writing that is simultaneously wise and shimmering, nuanced and direct, Marlowe confronts her own experiences with the hallmarks of patriarchy. Interweaving stories of life as the child of a Catholic Peruvian mother and an atheist American father in a family that lived many years abroad, she examines realities familiar to so many of us—unequal marriages, class structures, misogynist literature, and patriarchal religion. Portrait of a Feminist explores the essential questions of feminism in our time: What does it look like to live in defense of feminism? How should feminism be evolving today?
From Chanticleer:
Marianne Marlowe’s memoir, Portrait of a Feminist, reveals the evolution of her feminism through a collection of thought-provoking essays.
“I would say, if it were possible, I was born a feminist” is at the heart of Marlowe’s story. She relates to this defining identity throughout years spent in Peru, California, and Ecuador, where she navigates childhood, marriage, motherhood, and a professional career.
The section titles reflect periods in Marlowe’s life that correspond to nature’s rhythms— “Seeds Planted”, “The Growing Years”, “Maturation”, and “Harvesting”—and maintain strong connections between her thematically-linked experiences.
As a Peruvian American woman, Marlowe navigates the concepts of gender, race, and culture from a personal and critical point of view.
At the age of eight, Linda Lockwood moves with her family to an isolated ranch in eastern Washington State. Within two years, she’s patrolling the ranch on horseback alongside her border collie—herding sheep, killing rattlesnakes, and defending the ranch’s livestock from coyotes, bears, and even trespassing hunters—and working tirelessly to realize her dream of training horses. But her most daunting challenge is one hard work can’t overcome: her mother is descending into madness. And Linda’s deepest fear is that she might inherit the schizophrenia that threatens to dismantle her family.
At age twenty-five, Linda marries, but the joy of her first pregnancy is darkened by her mother’s suicide. Then she endures a painful miscarriage and the death of her beloved grandmother, traumatic events that send her back in time to the births and deaths of animals—domesticated and wild—that she loved in childhood. Eventually, her own family grows, but her happiness is haunted by questions people have tiptoed around all her life. How did her mother become schizophrenic? What did she endure as a patient in 1960s mental hospitals? Might Linda and even her children be next to battle that catastrophic mental disorder? Driven by the courage and will she sharpened as a rancher, Linda vows to find out.
Also the 2024 Journey Grand Prize and a Clue First Place Winner!
This book about the author’s harrowing experience with a stalker is not yet released, but we are excited to see it come out and see her story get told. To find more information see the authors website kathryncaraway.com or her advocacy project at unfollowme.com
What happens when a younger person gets dementia and becomes filled with peace?
Finding the Light is a poignant memoir about a mother’s journey caring for her son with a terminal form of early-onset dementia, Frontotemporal Degeneration, or FTD. From the overwhelming tasks that must be done to ultimately sharing the meaningful insights that can be gained in this experience, you can’t come away without being deeply moved.
Claytor shares ways to lessen the toll of caregiving with stress-reducing methods and options for self-care, financial tips, and suggestions for good estate planning.
But most importantly, her message is about developing a way to instill a sense of well-being in dementia sufferers and their caregivers. When Kasey Claytor found out that her 49-year-old son had Frontotemporal Degeneration, her world came crashing down…
Finally grappling with this situation head-on, she set out to learn everything she could about this devastating condition and create an environment around her son that would hopefully give him a sense of well-being despite the odds.
From Chanticleer:
Some stories are impossible to look away from, and from its very first sentence, Finding the Light, Navigating Dementia with My Son by Kasey J. Claytor proves itself one of them. “…when my 49-year-old son, Justin, was first diagnosed with a form of early-onset dementia, I was stunned.” Without hesitation, the book draws readers into a saga of family, illness, and resilience.
Although a memoir, Finding the Light is in many ways an instructional text, too. Readers don’t need similar medical situations to draw from Claytor’s lessons of improvement. The conversational, approachable writing style serves this purpose well.
Although it’s in chronological order, this is an unconventional, modern text.
Traditional scene-based paragraphs are offset by poetry, informative sidebars, and even the full text of letters sent throughout Justin’s illness. Claytor deftly shifts between these sections, building a cohesive narrative from which readers can easily learn.
A young teacher buys a one-way ticket to Shishmaref, Alaska. Within minutes of landing, she finds herself dealing with unexpected, rustic accommodations, and the culture shock of living in a remote Iñuit community. She relies on her courage, resilience, and wit while enduring freezing temperatures, power outages, loneliness, and first-year teacher anxieties and missteps, but eventually realizes that those challenges pale in comparison to the life lessons she learns about the heart of teaching—lessons from her students, their culture, and their community, on the vast, windy landscape at the edge of the Chukchi Sea.
From Chanticleer:
How does place shape who we are—and who we’ll become? In this memoir, Teaching in the Dark, Genét Simone puts that question to the test by recounting her first year as a teacher.
The initial year of teaching is never an easy feat, but for Simone it was especially challenging, and transformative. She spent it with Native students in the remote island village of Shishmaref, on the Arctic edge of Alaska—no small wonder the school year became an unforgettable one.
Today, Simone has decades of teaching experience to draw upon. Yet, in this memoir she rarely employs her present voice to reflect on the past. Instead, the narrator remains in the moment: a young and inexperienced Simone, who only knows that she feels destined to be a teacher. When she signs up for the Shishmaref teaching job, she doesn’t even realize that it’s on an island.
Commander Kate Holman thought she understood the perils of leading humanity’s first manned mission to Mars. In Ares, Jayson Adams’ breathless science-fiction thriller, the Red Planet—and Holman’s own crew—confront her with threats she couldn’t possibly have expected.
A secret mission changes everything for the Ares crew.
As the spacecraft makes its final descent, a videotape from Earth delivers shocking news: Holman will be relieved of her command once they land. The expedition’s true mission remains classified even from her, and leadership transfers to Julian, the one fellow astronaut she detests most (a dislike the reader will almost certainly share).
When a catastrophic malfunction nearly destroys their landing attempt, Holman’s quick thinking saves the mission but leaves their situation precarious. What follows is a cascade of disasters that test every ounce of the crew’s training, ingenuity, and will to survive.
Ancient mysteries and modern perils collide at the face on Mars.
Adams masterfully weaves together hard science fiction with elements of archaeological mystery. When the crew’s mission leads them to the legendary “Face on Mars” and discoveries that suggest an ancient human presence on the Red Planet, the line between scientific discovery and supernatural threat begins to blur. The team faces not only the harsh realities of equipment failures and communication breakdowns but also the psychological toll of isolation in an unforgiving environment.
The novel’s strength lies in its relentless pacing and believable character development. Even as the situation grows increasingly desperate, readers never lose sight of these astronauts as real people struggling against overwhelming odds. Adams grounds the story in credible science while building tension through both external threats and internal crew dynamics.
A merciless environment tests human ingenuity and spirit.
Ares succeeds because it places recognizable human emotions and relationships within an extraordinary setting. Holman emerges as a compelling protagonist whose leadership skills face their ultimate test when conventional solutions fail and survival depends on improvisation and courage.
The Martian landscape becomes almost a character itself—beautiful, alien, and utterly hostile to human life. Adams captures both the wonder of being the first humans on another planet and the terror of being completely cut off from any possibility of rescue.
Ares by Jayson Adams is a gripping tale of survival and human determination will appeal to science fiction enthusiasts and general readers alike who enjoy stories of adventure, mystery, and the indomitable human spirit facing the unknown.
CHANTICLEER 10 QUESTION AUTHOR INTERVIEW SERIES
with Award-Winning Author, Steven Mayfield
Happy Summer Chanticleerians! We’re thrilled to bring you another fantastic interview with Humor & Satire Grand Prize Winner Steven Mayfield!
From writing “bad poetry” at age nine to authoring award-winning novels, Steven Mayfield has taken quite the journey—including a two-decade detour through medical school and scientific writing. Here, he shares how that medical training actually made his fiction stronger, where he finds his story ideas (hint: be careful what you say around him!), and why he believes readers should give stories more than just one page to capture their attention.
While Mayfield won the Humor & Satire Grand Prize for his book Delphic Oracle, he also received Chanticleer recognition for his book The Penny Mansions, and his new book Sixty Seconds is available now!
Chanti: Steven, let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us a little about yourself and how your writing journey first began?
Mayfield: I began writing bad poetry when I was nine years old and started a novel at twelve. I drew from that history to create the protagonist of my next book. He also starts a novel at a tender age, which he describes it as “plagiarism by paraphrase.” That pretty much nails my early efforts, as well. In college and for a couple of years afterward, I wrote more poetry and short stories, began another novel, and wrote sketch comedy. I then gave up creative writing and went to medical school. Over the next two decades I authored or co-authored a number of medical and scientific pieces, and as a result, when I resumed writing fiction in the early ’90s, my work was tighter and more disciplined. I’ve been solely a writer for the last twenty years.
Chanti: That’s such an interesting path from medicine back to creative writing! There’s often a moment when writers truly believe they can do this professionally. When did that realization hit for you—when did you truly believe you were an author?
Mayfield: For me, the question is “When did I believe I could write?” After completing a sophomore college assignment to write a book review, the professor asked me if I’d ever thought about writing as a profession. I had but didn’t think it realistic until that moment. A year later, one of my short stories won the Mari Sandoz competition. After that, I always thought of myself as a writer, regardless of what I did to make a living.
Chanti: The support from our educators can truly be all it takes to have that pivotal moment. Your background in medical writing is fascinating. Do you find that scientific training makes you more of a rule-follower, or do you like to break the conventional writing rules?
Mayfield: Writing for the scientific and medical literature forced me to strictly adhere to rules of grammar and syntax. As a result I think it’s important to know those rules so that when you break them, it’s for a reason; e.g. using sentence fragments for emphasis or rhythm.
Chanti: That’s such a smart approach—knowing the rules so you can break them intentionally. I’m curious about your creative process. Where do your story ideas come from? How do you find those sparks of inspiration?
Mayfield: I shamelessly exploit things people say or do. I’m being flippant but not entirely inaccurate. I wrote Treasure of the Blue Whale (Regal House 2020) after some friends told me an apochryphal story over dinner about the alleged discovery of whale ambergris on a beach in Northern California back in the 1920s; The Penny Mansions (Regal House 2023) was inspired by the Italian towns that are trying to stabilize their populations by offering one Euro houses for renovation; and Sixty Seconds (Regal House, July 2025) was prompted after I saw the movie, A Royal Night Out. My current work-in-progress, “The Bank House, was born from a conversation with a neighbor in my old Portland neighborhood who grew up in an Irish village where the bank was part of a residence provided to the bank manager. So…people should be careful about what they say when I’m within earshot. They might end up in a book.
Chanti: I love that you’re constantly mining conversations and experiences for material! When it comes to the actual writing process, how structured are you? Do you have a daily routine or specific approach?
Mayfield: I think I’m fairly structured. When I begin a book, I set up a log to track my daily word counts. I aim for a minimum of 250 words/day, a modest goal, but one that keeps me going on days when I don’t feel inspired. I then try to write every day, beginning by revising what I wrote the previous day and then adding new material. As the story builds, the daily word count builds with it, and once the first draft is done, I have typically averaged about 750 useable words/day.
Chanti: That’s a strong and sustainable approach. Every writer has their literary heroes. Can you share five authors who have really shaped your work and tell us how they’ve influenced your writing?
Mayfield: Muriel Spark: Does more with the simple declarative sentence than anyone I’ve read.
Sinclair Lewis: Unmasks puffery, hypocrisy, and injustice.
Kurt Vonnegut: Gives other writers permission to stray off-point as long as the reader is kept beside you and you don’t waste their time.
Jean Shepherd: Like me, a yarn-spinner.
From left to right we have Muriel Spark, Sinclair Lewis, Kurt Vonnegut, and Jean Shepherd
A cumulative fifth choice comprised of several writers who share my publisher, Regal House: 1. Barbara Quick, whose elegant prose blends history and fiction, 2. Michael Strelow, whose command of language awes me, 3. Richard Martin, whose prose is inimitable, wise, and hilarious, 4. Michael Bourne, who has the ability to make unlikeable protagonists likeable, 5. Mimi Herman who is funny and understands how to mine small towns for literary gold.
Chanti: What a diverse and thoughtful group of influences! I love the shoutout to your follow authors! Writing is definitely a craft that requires constant development. Beyond reading great authors, what do you do to keep growing and sharpening your skills?
Mayfield: I listen when someone gives me feedback. If a reader is lost or bored, it’s my job to fix my work, not their job to guess what I was thinking when I wrote it. It’s also important to read work by other people and to workshop material in progress. I’ve been in the same workshop group for thirty-one years and their input is invaluable.
Chanti: Thirty-one years with the same workshop group is incredible dedication! What exciting projects are you working on now? What can your readers look forward to seeing from you next?
Mayfield: I’ve been engaged in final editing and pre-release marketing for Sixty Seconds (Regal House, July 2025) and I’ve just finished a sixth draft of a new novel, The Bank House. It follows a few months in the life of a thirteen-year-old boy who moves to a new town where his family will live in a former mansion that now has a bank in its living room. It’s a coming-of-age novel with my usual brand: heart, humor, and a dash of crime. I’m hoping for a spring/summer 2027 release.
Chanti:The Bank House sounds absolutely intriguing, and I’m looking forward to reading Sixty Seconds now that it’s come out. You mentioned earlier that it’s the writer’s job to make things clear to the reader, but what is the most important thing a reader can do to support a writer they enjoy?
Mayfield: Give us a chance. Agents would have us believe that a reader must be captured in the first page, but that’s marketing advice and doesn’t necessarily relate to good story-telling. It took me 100 pages to get into A Soldier in the Great War by Mark Helprin, one of my favorite books.
Chanti: That’s such wise advice about patience with storytelling! Finally, on a more personal note—what excites you most about the actual process of writing?
Mayfield: I can create a world where everyone does exactly what I want. Such power has always been restorative, but in our present climate of political chaos and heartlessness, it’s better and far cheaper than psychotherapy.
Steven Mayfield is a past recipient of the Mari Sandoz Prize for Fiction and the author of over fifty scientific and literary publications. After a short stint as a sketch writer in Los Angeles, he attended medical school at the University of Nebraska followed by post-doctoral training and teaching/research appointments at the University of Iowa, Brown University Program in Medicine, and the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. After a hiatus away from creative writing that lasted almost twenty years—during which he published forty-two scientific articles, abstracts, chapters, and reviews—Steven began to again write fiction in 1993 with short stories appearing in literary journals and anthologies since 1994. He retired from medicine in 2004 and spent several years working as a free-lance editor before publishing Howling at the Moon in 2010 (Mount Parnassus Press). Regal House has been his publishing home since 2020 for three novels:Treasure of the Blue Whale(2020), Delphic Oracle, U.S.A.(2022), andThe Penny Mansions(2023). A fourth novel,Sixty Seconds, is out now from Regal House!.
Steven’s books have been honored with numerous awards, including an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal, a CIBA Mark Twain Book Awards Grand Prize ribbon, and an Independent Publishers Group Gold Medal. His last three novels were all Foreword Indies Finalists.
Steven currently resides in Oregon with his wife, Pam. He can order beer in four languages. His wife can say, “Pay no attention to this man” in five.
The submissions for the 2025 Cover Design Awards – CCDAs – are underway, and both Fiction and Non-Fiction divisions close on July 31, 2025!
In the three seconds it takes you to read this sentence, a potential reader has already decided whether your book is worth their attention. That’s the brutal reality of today’s marketplace: your cover has exactly three seconds to communicate genre, grab attention, and compel someone to pick up your book or click that buy button.
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards celebrate the visual art of storytelling—recognizing the designers, publishers, and authors who understand that powerful cover design isn’t just decoration, it’s marketing. Whether displayed 50 feet tall at a trade show or reduced to a thumbnail on Amazon, your cover is your book’s most important piece of retail real estate.
The 5-Element Formula for Cover Success
Every winning cover must instantly communicate five critical elements:
Genre – Is it clearly science fiction, romance, mystery, or a memoir within those crucial three seconds?
Target Audience – Does it speak to young adults, literary fiction readers, business professionals, or general trade audiences?
Mood – Suspenseful, romantic, humorous, dark, or inspirational—the emotional tone must be unmistakable.
Timeframe – Contemporary, historical, futuristic, or period-specific settings should be immediately apparent.
Place/Culture – Whether it’s small-town America, ancient Rome, or outer space, location context sells books.
As Chanticleers founder Kiffer Brown says: “Effective covers sell the first book. The content between the covers sells the second book.”
Celebrating Our First ever 2024 Grand Prize Winners for the CCDAs!
Fiction Grand Prize Winner: Luna by Strider Klusman
This YA steampunk adventure cover perfectly exemplifies winning design—immediately communicating its genre through Victorian-inspired mechanical elements, targeting young adult readers with dynamic character positioning, and establishing a fantastical mood that promises adventure. The cover tells potential readers exactly what they’re getting: imaginative steampunk storytelling for the YA market.
Non-Fiction Grand Prize Winner: Teaching in the Dark by Genét Simone
This powerful memoir cover demonstrates how non-fiction design can convey both emotional impact and genre clarity. The visual elements immediately signal this as narrative non-fiction while the mood suggests a serious, transformational story that will resonate with educators and readers interested in social justice themes.
Both winners will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. They’ll also be invited to participate in Chanticleer 10-Question Interviews and receive featured coverage across our promotional platforms.
Design Categories That Drive Sales
Fiction Categories:
Literary/Contemporary/Satire – Sophisticated design for discerning readers
Romance – Emotional connection and genre expectations
Historical Fiction – Period authenticity with modern appeal
Supernatural & Speculative Fiction – Otherworldly elements that intrigue
Suspense/Thriller/Mysteries – Tension and danger in visual form
Youth Reads – Age-appropriate design that appeals to young readers and their parents
Non-Fiction Categories:
Narrative Non-Fiction Works – Story-driven design for memoir, biography, and true stories
Advisory/How-To/Guides – Clear, professional design that builds trust and expertise
Looking at Cover Excellence
Check out some of the outstanding cover designs we’ve celebrated recently that showcase the perfect marriage of artistic vision and market savvy!
These covers represent the gold standard: designs that work whether they’re displayed in bookstores, featured in online retailers, or showcased at book fairs and conferences.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
We’re excited about all the exceptional cover designs we receive every year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!
Your cover design deserves recognition in an industry where visual impact drives sales. From indie authors investing in professional design to major publishers showcasing their best work, the Cover Design Awards celebrate the artistry that makes books impossible to ignore.
Your Cover is Your Silent Salesperson
In bookstores, at trade shows, on digital platforms your cover works 24/7 to sell your book. Whether you’re a designer proud of your visual storytelling, a publisher showcasing your best releases, or an author who invested in professional design, the Cover Design Awards provide the recognition that turns great design into marketing momentum.
You know you want it…
Don’t let your cover blend into the crowd—the deadline is July 31, 2025!
Submit to the Cover Design Awards today and make your book impossible to ignore!
The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Strider Klusman’s book, Luna will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design contest page year ’round!
The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Genét Simone’s book, Teaching in The Dark will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design contest page year ’round!
Commander Kate Holman thought she understood the perils of leading humanity’s first manned mission to Mars. In Ares, Jayson Adams’ breathless science-fiction thriller, the Red Planet—and Holman’s own crew—confront her with threats she couldn’t possibly have expected.
Happy Summer Chanticleerians! We’re thrilled to bring you another fantastic interview with Humor & Satire Grand Prize Winner Steven Mayfield!
Steven Mayfield is a past recipient of the Mari Sandoz Prize for Fiction and the author of over fifty scientific and literary publications. After a short stint as a sketch writer in Los Angeles, he attended medical school at the University of Nebraska followed by post-doctoral training and teaching/research appointments at the University of Iowa, Brown University Program in Medicine, and the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. After a hiatus away from creative writing that lasted almost twenty years—during which he published forty-two scientific articles, abstracts, chapters, and reviews—Steven began to again write fiction in 1993 with short stories appearing in literary journals and anthologies since 1994. He retired from medicine in 2004 and spent several years working as a free-lance editor before publishing Howling at the Moon in 2010 (Mount Parnassus Press). Regal House has been his publishing home since 2020 for three novels:
