Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

The DANTE ROSSETTI Awards for Young Adult Fiction – First Place Category Winners 2016
The Dante Rossetti Awards writing competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Young Adult & New Adult Fiction. The Dante Rossetti Awards is a division of the Chanticleer Awards International Writing Competitions.

Congratulations to the 2016 Dante Rossetti Awards First-In-Category Award Winning Young Adult Fiction:

(photograph forthcoming)
- SFF & Paranormal: SeaJourney by Alex Paul
- Mythology: Seer of Souls by Susan Faw
- Fantasy: School of Deaths by Christopher Mannino
- Supernatural: Xodus by K.J. McPike
- Historical: The Other Side of the Wire by Harold Coyle
The Dante Rossetti Short Listers competed for the 2016 First Place Category positions. The winners were announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala, Bellingham, Wash., held on April 1st, 2017.

Congratulations to Susan Faw, author of the DANTE ROSSETTI Grand Prize Winner — Seer of Souls!

Congratulations to those who made the Dante Rossetti Awards 2016 FINALISTS official listing and the SHORTLISTERS!

We are now accepting entries into the 2017 Dante Rossetti Awards. The deadline is April 30th, 2017. Click here for more information or to enter.

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the 2017 Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Fifteen different genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.
April 4, 2017
The GERTRUDE WARNER Awards for Middle Grade Readers First Place Category Winners 2016
The Gertrude Warner Awards writing competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Middle Grade Readers. The Gertrude Warner Awards is a division of the Chanticleer Awards International Writing Competitions.

Congratulations to the 2016 Gertrude Warner Awards First In Category Award Winning Middle Grade Early Readers:

Award-Winning Authors: Mike Hartner, Tara Ellis, Tom and Nancy Wise
- Contemporary: Life On Base: Quantico Cave by Tom & Nancy Wise
- SciFi & Paranormal: The Train from Outer Space by Alan Sproles and Lizanne Southgate
- Mystery: The Mystery of Hollow Inn by Tara Ellis
- Adventure: Ethyr by M.P. Follin
- Historical: I, Mary by Mike Hartner
The Gertrude Warner First Place Category award winners have competed for the Gertrude Warner Grand Prize Award for the 2016 Young Adult Novel and were recognized at the April 1, 2017 at the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala, Bellingham, Wash.

CONGRATULATIONS to Alan Sproles and Lizanne Southgate, the 2016 Gertrude Warner Award Winning Authors of The Train from Outer Space.

We are now accepting entries into the 2017 Gertrude Warner Awards. The deadline is February 28, 2017. Click here for more information or to enter.

Congratulations to those who made the Gertrude Warner Awards 2016 FINALISTS official listing and the SHORT LISTERS!

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the 2016 Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Fifteen different genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.
April 4, 2017
The CHAUCER Awards for Historical Fiction Pre-1750s First Place Category Winners 2016
The Chaucer Awards writing competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of pre-1750s Historical Fiction. The CHAUCER Awards is a division of the Chanticleer Awards International Writing Competitions.

Congratulations to the 2016 Chaucer Awards First In Category Award Winning Historical Fiction Novels:
Award Winning Authors – Bruce Gardner and Carol Cram

The Towers of Tuscany by Carol M. Cram

Envoy of Jerusalem: Balian d’Ibelin and the Third Crusade by Helena P. Schrader

The Gilded Crown by Catherine T and Catherine A Wilson

Hope of Ages Past by Bruce Gardner

1381: The Forgotten Revolt by Gina M. Bright

The Serpent’s Crown: A Novel of Medieval Cyprus by Hana Samek Norton

CONGRATULATIONS to Carol M. Cram, author of the CHAUCER Awards Grand Prize Winner — The Towers of Tuscany!
The CHAUCER First Place Category award winners competed for the CHAUCER Grand Prize Award for the 2016 Historical Fiction Novel. Grand Prize winners, blue ribbons, and prizes were announced and awarded on April 1, 2017 at the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala, Bellingham, Wash.

We are now accepting entries into the 2017 Chaucer Awards. The deadline is June 30, 2017. Click here for more information or to enter.

Congratulations to those who made the CHAUCER Awards 2016 FINALISTS and Official SHORTLISTERS!

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the 2018 Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Fifteen different genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.
April 4, 2017
JOURNEY Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction First Place Category Winners 2016
The JOURNEY Awards writing competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-fiction. The Journey Awards is a division of the Chanticleer Awards International Writing Competitions.

Congratulations to the 2016 JOURNEY Awards First Place Category Winners.

Journey Award Winners: Nick K. Adams & Cyndy Shelton
- Professional Experiences: Gestalt as a Way of Life by Cyndy Sheldon
- Memoir: My Dear Wife and Children: Civil War Letters from a 2nd Minnesota Volunteer by Nick K. Adams
- Enlightenment: Cocoon of Cancer: An Invitation to Love Deeply by Abbe Rolnick
- Self Help: The Romance Diet: Body Image and the Wars We Wage on Ourselves by Destiny Allison
- Personal Experiences: The Silver Lining Encounters with Angels by Phoebe Walker
The Journey First Place Category award winners competed for the Journey Grand Prize Award for the 2016 Best Narrative Non-fiction work. The First Place Category Winners and the Overall Grand Prize Winner of the 2016 Journey Awards were announced at the annual awards banquet that was held on April 1, 2016 in Bellingham, Wash.

Congratulations to Destiny Allison, the author of the JOURNEY Grand Prize Winner — The Romance Diet: Body Image and the Wars We Wage on Ourselves!

We are now accepting entries into the 2017 JOURNEY Awards. The deadline is April 30, 2017 Click here for more information or to enter.

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the 2016 Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Fifteen different genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.
April 4, 2017
CYGNUS Awards for Science Fiction & Speculative Fiction FIRST PLACE Category Winners 2016
Chanticleer Book Reviews is honored to announce the First Place Category Winners for the Cygnus Awards 2016, the science fiction, speculative fiction, and steampunk fiction genre division of the Chanticleer Blue Ribbon Award Writing Competitions.

The Cygnus Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer Book Reviews Blue Ribbon Awards Writing Competitions.

These Cygnus Awards for science fiction works 2016 First Place Category Winners were recognized on stage at the Chanticleer Authors Conference on April 1, 2017 Awards Banquet.

CONGRATULATIONS to the 2016 CYGNUS First Place Award Winners!

First Place Category Winners for the Cygnus Awards are:

CYGNUS Award Winners: Ryan London, Sara Stamey, & Dennis Clausen
- Soft Sci-Fi/Young Adult: Over by Sean P. Curley
- Speculative: Wizzy Wig by Tiffany Pitts
- Apocalyptic/Dystopian: The Accountant’s Apprentice by Dennis M. Clausen
- Science Fiction: The Ariadne Connection by Sara Stamey
- Hard SciFi: Prophecy of the Immortals by Ryan London
Congratulations to Sean Curley author of the 2016 Grand Prize Winner — OVER!

The 1st Place Category Winners competed for the CYGNUS AWARDS 2016 GRAND PRIZE position. The CYGNUS Grand Prize Winner will be announced in the Grand Prize Winners post! Please check back.

We are accepting entries into the 2017 Cygnus Awards Novel Competition for Science Fiction Works.

To compete in the 2017 CYGNUS Awards or for more information, please click here.

THE DEADLINE TO ENTER THE 2017 CYGNUS Novel Writing Competitions is April 30, 2017.

ENTER NOW

Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media, L.L.C. retains the right to not declare “default winners.” Winning works are decided upon merit only. Please visit our Contest Details page for more information about our writing contest guidelines.

CBR’s rigorous writing competition standards are why literary agencies seek out our winning manuscripts and self-published novels. Our high standards are also why our reviews are trusted among booksellers and book distributors.

Please do not hesitate to contact Info@ChantiReviews.com about any questions, concerns, or suggestions about CBR writing competitions. Your input and suggestions are important to us.

Thank you for your interest in Chanticleer Book Reviews International Writing Competitions.
April 3, 2017
UNCONVENTIONAL BOOK TOURS — Finding Your Tribe by Susan Conrad
We have a LOT of terrific sessions planned for CAC17, and we are still adding more. One of those amazing sessions will be:

My Life as an Unconventional Book Tour – Gone are the days where an author simply reads, opens the floor to Q&A, and then signs books. (Can you say YAWN FEST?)

Your audience craves engagement, and you want them to leave with your book in their hands—and with vivid memories in their minds.

The presenter for this class, Susan Conrad, is an author, adventurer, and speaker who has been living her own whirlwind book tour since the release of her debut memoir in May 2016. Susan gives us a sneak preview into the session she will be teaching.
- Is your book’s unveiling looming excitedly on the horizon? Or are you deep in the throes of promoting a recent release—but feel like you’re spinning your wheels?
- Or maybe you’re just curious how to get the best bang for your take-over-the-world-book tour campaign.
A box of chocolates from one of Susan Conrad’s fans who read the book and knows that she adores chocolate!

Just as there’s so much more to being an author than “simply writing a book,” there’s so much more to a book tour than contacting a few bookstores. Whether you are self-published or traditionally published, you’ll be sure to pick up some priceless tips and tricks to launch your own kick-a&$# book tour.

You didn’t write your book, pour out your heart, and create interesting characters, plots and themes just to make money, right? I’m assuming you (also) wrote your book to share your passion, spread your message, and tell your story. Indubitably, the next step is about making connections and building relationships—essentially finding your TRIBE!

This session will help participants wrap their brain around who their audience truly is, where the best venues are to secure those audiences, and once that audience is all under one roof—how to invite them to come into your book. We’ll brainstorm ways to find your audience, organize and present a killer book tour (and not go broke doing it), set the mood, engage and dazzle your audience, and more. We’ll also discuss ways to generate clever promotions and land the venues you want.

I look forward to meeting all of you at CAC17 and sharing ideas on how to get a leg up on your book tour competition! – Susan Conrad

Susan Conrad is an adventurer, author, educator, and speaker. She’s also an accomplished paddler. Her tenacious exploration by sea kayak has fueled her stories and images of the natural world for decades. Her articles and photographs have appeared in Sea Kayaker, Canoe and Kayak, Adventures Northwest, and Figure magazines. Countless newspapers, guidebooks, and historical journals also feature Susan’s work.
March 23, 2017
NIXON and DOVEY: The Legend Returns by Jay Curry – Antebellum South, Gun Slinging, Historical Fiction

Launch into a gun-slinging, horse racing, antebellum southern historical biographically-based novel in this larger than life surprise, Nixon and Dovey: The Legend Returns.

Imagine searching through the local archives in hopes of discovering a long-lost ancestor only to stumble upon a memoir written about the early days of the area in which this ancestor lived. And another find – an article about the ancestor that has alluded you for so long surfaces. As you read it, however, your stomach turns. The ancestor you have sought for so long turns out to be the most notorious murderer and villain of the day. In this page-turner, Jay Curry tells the story of his ancestor, Nixon Curry, and his sad end.

Curry opens his tale at the very beginning: Nixon learns to shoot and ride as a youngster and finds he’s quite good at it. In fact, he loves riding so much his one desire is to open a stable and breed thoroughbreds – just like the rich people in his town. Unfortunately, Nixon is not rich, nearly unforgivable in the antebellum south. And Nixon, much to the dismay of his father, has a temper.

He may have been able to climb his way out of the first tragic situation, by, perhaps winning the Governor’s Cup, the big horse race of the day. But the second, his volcanic disposition, he will never be able to escape. Now Jay Curry’s ancestor must come to grips with the fact that dreams don’t always come true and life doesn’t always go according to plan.

At its heart, though, this book is a love story. Nixon falls in love with a senator’s daughter, Dovey Caldwell. Unfortunately for the ill-fated lovers, her daddy has already set her up with Nixon’s arch rival and wealthy Southern son. Much like the sorry tales of love-struck couples of yore, the youngsters run off together and cause all sorts of consternation.

Nixon and Dovey: The Legend Returns is a heart-pounding, page-turning read straight from the pages of an 1800’s diary and family lore of author, Jay Curry.

March 23, 2017
USING PINTEREST as an AUTHOR TOOL by Claire McKinney P/R

Have some fun with

Did you know that Pinterest is the world’s catalog of ideas and images? Millions of people are looking for books to read by imagery. Pinterest allows authors to connect with these potential readers.

Add this powerful social media tool to your author platform!

It’s hard not to immediately think about recipes, hair tutorials, or DIY projects when someone mentions the word “Pinterest,” and it can seem like there is no room for anything else when your own boards are filled with these exact objects. But as an author, you can take advantage of Pinterest—and most importantly, have fun with it.

Does your main character that has a love of dresses and cute shoes? You can create a Pinterest board full of the exact clothing that she wears. Was there a specific playlist of songs that you listened to over and over again while you were writing your latest novel?

It’s USER FRIENDLY

You can make a board solely based on the songs and artists you listed to. Do you have a blog that you post to weekly? You can upload them onto a board based on your blog.

Are there a number of quotes from your book that can be added to a graphic? Post them up on a colorful background. Are you participating in the Gilmore Girls/Rory Gilmore books challenge? Add a pin of each book you’ve read so far. (And good luck. That’s quite the goal!)

There’s so much more that you can do with Pinterest, and the best part about it is that you aren’t just limited to one thing (140 characters, a photo, a status). You can make as many boards as you want, full of as many pins as you want.

Another great aspect of Pinterest that makes it different from other social media is that it is a passive and harmless: it’s highly unlikely that you’ll come across a critical or a negative comment, and you don’t have to consistently keep others happy with tweeting, retweeting, liking, commenting, etc.

Don’t Forget to PIN IT

Make sure that you are maximizing Pinterest by adding a follow button to your website. If you have a blog, you can add a “pin it” button to your website. This allows someone who likes your blog posts to add them to one of their own boards, and it’s one more way that you can market your blog and website.

One last warning, however: You might want to put a timer on though for how long you can spend on Pinterest each day, because Pinterest is an addiction like no other!

A note from Kiffer Brown of Chanticleer Reviews:
This blog post comes to us from Claire McKinney Public Relations LLC, Communications Strategies for the 21st Century.

Claire McKinney PR, LLC

I met Claire McKinney at Shari Stauch’s PubSense Summit that was held in Charleston, S.C. several years ago. We were both on the faculty of presenters and were able to get to know each other and have since stayed in contact.

Her company specializes in campaigns for books, authors, educational programs, websites, art, film, and other intellectual properties. They work carefully with clients to create messaging; branding concepts; and marketing and media strategies that integrate both traditional and new media opportunities.

Chanticleer Reviews & Media contracts with Claire McKinney Public Relations LLC for our company’s and client’s publicity and p/r needs.

March 18, 2017
Contest Spotlight: MARCH MADNESS — Where’s YOUR Mystery and Mayhem Novel?

Why you ask?

MARCH MADNESS is upon us!

The March 31^st deadline for the Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem Awards (aka M&Ms) is almost upon us! At the end of the month, we go to work to uncover the hidden secrets, the lost key, the answer to the question, Whodunit?

Wendy Delaney is the 2015’s M&M Grand Prize Winner for There’s Something About Marty, a book about a gal who just has to figure out the answers to all of those pesky questions…Char — the human lie detector aka “truth wizard” — really look it up. A few people have this rare uncanny ability.

Wendy won a big ribbon, a coveted Chanticleer Editorial review, a cash prize , stickers to promote this fun not-so-cozy mystery, and digital badges to go on her website and e-books!

Trust us, Wendy Delaney is very happy she entered the Chanticleer M&M Writing Competition!

Or, follow Pamela Beason’s trail to her Grand Prize win in the 2012 for The Only Witness – a mystery about a gorilla who witnesses a crime and can communicate through sign language. The clock is ticking and lives are at stake.

Pamela Beason

You would be pleased as well, we are certain. After all your hard work putting together your brilliant cozy, wouldn’t you want your book the chance to be recognized?

“One of the best things that happened to me in 2011 was getting a GRAND PRIZE in the first Chanticleer nationwide contest for my novel THE ONLY WITNESS.” Pamela Beason

Or Bernadette Pajer of the Professor Bradshaw Series — “Fatal Induction” took home the 2013 M&M Grand Prize

The year is 1901 and Seattle is a vibrant and up-and-coming city. Bradshaw, a professor of electrical engineering and a passionate inventor, has entered a new invention competition for a device that will carry the sounds of a musical theater production through telephone wires to listeners in the comfort of their own homes.

Bradshaw is unaware that a seemingly trivial domestic concern at home is about to sweep him into the underworld of Seattle.

Thanks, Chanticleer, for all you do to help the world of books!” – Bernadette Pajer

So, is your amateur sleuth suspicious of the little old lady who lives next door? Is there something wrong in Mayberry and your hero is going to find out what it is – no matter the cost? Are the stakes so high for your heroine, she succumbs to the hot, sexy delivery man who happens to be the guy with forty bodies buried in his basement? Is your character’s cat helping him solve the latest crime?

If so, have we got the contest for you!

Chanticleer Writing Competitions – Mystery & Mayhem – is now open to take your stories and put them to the test! Don’t miss out – don’t be left behind – and for goodness sake, don’t ever go downstairs without your flashlight and your handy-dandy Swiss Army knife!

Your book could earn a place in our M&M hall of fame for 2017!

All you have to do is enter.

Unpublished Manuscripts and recently Published (Indie, Traditional, Hybrid) Novels (after Jan. 1, 2014) are accepted.

What are the M&M’s? Oh, we’re so glad you asked.

Our Mystery & Mayhem Awards are the Chanticleer Reviews search for today’s best cozy mystery fiction books!

We are searching for the best novels featuring “mystery and mayhem”, amateur sleuthing, romantic suspense, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery. We will put them to the test and discover the best among them. (For thriller, action suspense, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards)

Agatha Christie’s image, the revered Queen of the Mystery genre, is Chanticleer’s icon for the M&M Novel Competition.

M&M Awards deadline is March 31, 2017. Click here to enter – and good luck!

March 17, 2017
Spotlight on Non-Fiction Book Awards

We are excited to announce the expansion of Chanticleer International Book Awards to include Non-Fiction Book Awards focusing on Instruction and Insight.

Do you have a Non-Fiction Instructional or Insightful book or manuscript that the world needs to know about?

Look no further! Your category has arrived.

Chanticleer International Reviews is proud to announce our latest Book Awards for:

Instructional and Insightful Non-Fiction:

Alternative Remedies
Art & Photography
Business & Money
Craft & Hobby
Culinary
Entertainment
Garden & Home
Health & Fitness
Lifestyle
Nature & Environment
Politics & Social Issues
Psychology
Religion & Spirituality
Science, History, & Education
Self-Help
Sports & Outdoors
Technical & How To Guides
Travel Guides

We know you have it – so, polish up your work and send it in for the 2017 Chanticleer Non-Fiction Book Awards! We will begin accepting your book or manuscript submissions starting on April 30, 2017. Please check back in mid-April for more information.

Narrative Non-Fiction authors — not to worry, we still offer our original JOURNEY Book Awards for Narrative Non-fiction!

Don’t delay! Enter today! Manuscripts and Published Novels Accepted.

February 24, 2017