Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

On the 1st Day, Chanticleer brings to me The Roost | 12 Days of Christmas! 2023
Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas with Chanticleer!

“But Jiminy Crickets, it is the 26th of December! Is it not too late for the 12 Days of Christmas?” you say.

Not to fear, Chanticleerians! The 12 Days of Christmas begins on December 26th! And it continues to the 6th of January – Three Kings Day. The four weeks leading up to Christmas is known as the Advent.

So if you haven’t finished wrapping presents, sending out those cards, and baking cookies—don’t worry—you’ve got an extra 12 days!
- Some say the Twelve Days tradition is wishing good luck and cheer for each of the following months in the new year.
- Others say the first six of the days are to pay homage to the previous year and six of the days that are in the new year bringing hope and glad tidings for coming times.
- The Twelve Days of Christmas would be a welcome break for those who worked the land.
The twelve days of Christmas run from December 26th until January 6th (Three Kings Day).

If you are singing the song, and you miss or mess up a verse, you owe your opponent (the person singing the round before you a kiss or a sweet treat or grant a favor).

We at Chanticleer have our own way of celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas with our fellow Chanticleerians.

Get ready for 12 days of ideas for your new year of writing along with good cheer!

Happy Holidays to You from the Chanticleer Team!

On the First Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

a partridge in a pear tree

What are the 12 Days of Christmas?

The 12 Days of Christmas historically mark the time from the birth of Christ until the day the Three Magi (or the Three Wise Men) arrived in Bethlehem with their gifts for the Epiphany, (also known as Three Kings’ Day). According to the Western calendar, the 12 days start with Christmas on December 26th and end with the Epiphany on January 6th. However, there are numerous other ways of celebrating from around the world.

But what do rings, geese, and drummers have to do with Christmas?

“The 12 Days of Christmas” song uses Christian lore as guidelines but is considered to be a secular song. Instead, the song is historically thought to be a cumulative group memory game as the verses build on each other and the catchy tune make it easy to join in. Imagine a family-friendly version of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” and you’ve got the right idea.

The 12 Days of Christmas are traditionally associated with gifting and generosity starting with St. Stephen’s Day, or Boxing Day, where historically servants or help in households were gifted bonuses, trinkets, and modest feasts by their employers. Some people hold fast to the Twelve Nights celebrations gift something to friends and family each day of the holiday period rather than all on Christmas Day. This is where the pear tree comes in.

“The 12 Days of Christmas” harks the piles of gifts received from “a true love” daily during the long holiday. The lyrics and melody can differ with country and church but the well-known version of today is thought to be popularized in 1909 by English composer Frederic Austin.

On the 1st Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree.

The meaning of the lyrics have long been debated with theories ranging from a betrothal tune illuminating courting gifts to being coded lessons on the tenants of Christianity.

The partridge represents the ultimate love, a true love. The pear tree is where the partridge perches to protect its loved one.

A modern examination however, has revealed the possibility that all the “gifts” are actually types of fowl commonly eaten and served during feasts in the High Middle Ages in Europe. Partridges, birds in the pigeon family like doves, and geese are more commonly known to be eaten both them and now but some of the other gift birds are harder to figure out.

More details about how the birds of the 12 Days of Christmas were possibly identified, cooked, and eaten can be found here.

On the 1st Day of Christmas, Chanticleer brings to me…

An invitation to join our curated online community The Roost!

We are so proud the community we have on The Roost! It is great perch to hang out on for writers and publishers to hang out in and connect.

We host weekly write-ins, discussions of writing craft books, and advice on the author’s journey. With authors in all stages of the writing process joining us, there is always something to learn on this independent PRIVATE social media site.

Writing may seem like a solitary activity, but stories are told in community. Whether you find that on The Roost or elsewhere, we’re happy that you are a part of our community here at Chanticleer.

Limited Time Only! Join The Roost during the 12 Days at a discounted holiday price.

Sign up now for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

Valid until January 6th.

Follow this link to find out more information.

Stay tuned for the 2nd Day of Christmas!

Our favorite part about having the 12 Days of Christmas is that we can have the time we need to celebrate with our loved ones. We have time for wrapping our presents, meeting with friends for hot cocoa, and setting ourselves up for success with the Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Wishing you Happy Holidays from Team Chanticleer: Kiffer, Sharon, David, Dena, Vilina, Scott, Anya, and Argus!
December 26, 2023
Happy Yuletide and Jolabokaflod from All of Us at Chanticleer and a Special Message from Kiffer Brown
Dear Chanticleerians,

I am writing this Chanticleer message on Christmas Eve morning before starting to prepare for our traditional Le Réveillon de Noel dinner this evening. And, yes, we are starting with local oysters, Olympias, from Taylor Shellfish on Chuckanut Bay for the first course. If you come out for CAC24, be sure to add this place to your must-go list.

Meanwhile, Argus and I are listening to KUVO Jazz Cancion Mexicana. This is a Sunday morning tradition for us now for more than three decades. We started listening to the radio station (that plays the best music from Mexico, New Mexico, Tejano, California, and Colorado) when we lived in Colorado. Now, thanks to streaming, we can listen to it wherever we are in the world. However, it is even a more fun listen while cooking and doing chores on Christmas Eve morning as they are playing their Christmas list of my favorite songs such as RUN RUN RUDOLPH by Los Lonely Boys. I can’t help but dance around the kitchen when I’m listening to KUVO.

The Swedish candelabra lights are on. The Abominable Snowman (my fav Christmas character from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer) is on the Christmas tree. Some packages have been wrapped and mailed and given. Some have not—yet!

There are so many wonderful traditions and even new ones to add like Jolabokaflod, an Icelandic tradition. Many Icelanders give books as Christmas gifts as part of Jolabokaflod, and from Christmas Eve until New Years there is an unspoken reading frenzy. And, of course, knitting also goes along with this beloved tradition and so does hot chocolate! If you want to read more about Jolabokaflod, click on this link.

So what to do? How do we fit in Jolabokaflod on Christmas Eve with dinner guests coming and presents still needing to be wrapped. And, and, and…

My suggestion after years of scrambling around trying to fit everything in my Christmas Eve, is to take advantage of the Twelve Days of Christmas that start on December 26th and continues to January 6th. The four weeks leading up to Christmas is known as the Advent.

So if you haven’t finished wrapping presents, sending out those cards, and baking cookies—don’t worry—you’ve got an extra 12 days!

You can choose a different night to enjoy Jolabokaflod and hot chocolate! I say the same for NaNoWriMo in November. It is practically impossible for me to participate in November. But, July or August would work just fine.
- Some say the Twelve Days tradition is wishing good luck and cheer for each of the following months in the new year.
- Others say the first six of the days are to pay homage to the previous year and six of the days that are in the new year bringing hope and glad tidings for coming times.
- The Twelve Days of Christmas would be a welcome break for those who worked the land.
The twelve days of Christmas run from December 26th until January 6th (Three Kings Day).

In Portugal, it is a Christmas tradition that starts on the 26th until Epiphany, that small groups of people will go door to door in their neighborhoods singing songs. Usually the singers are accompanied by instruments. Sometimes they are in traditional dress, sometimes not. They typically open with a song to ask the resident for food and/or drink, and then continue about the birth of Jesus, good wishes for a happy new year, and for drinks and treats. If a resident doesn’t treat the singers well or refuses to open his door, they may sing songs jokingly mocking them. If the singers are treated well, they will sing about how handsome and beautiful the hosts are and how generous and nice they are.

The Portuguese troubadouring does not take place until after Christmas Day and continues on to Three Kings Day also known as Epiphany. I want to add this tradition to my celebrations to experience.

In Spain and many Latin American countries, gift giving and exchange is January 6th, where Santa Claus gifts to children are opened on Christmas Day.

In Italy, La Befana comes on January 5th. She likes to be left a glass of wine and some antipasto. The children find her gifts on January 6th.

I’d love to hear about your Yuletide Traditions!

For now, I must start cooking for this evening Christmas Eve dinner. As always, there is much to do for tonight. And, I have given myself permission not to worry about the unwrapped presents, cookies that need to be made, and calling on friends and family. I have more than twelve more days! And sometime in the new year of 2024, I am going to celebrate Jolabokaflod. – Kiffer

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays and Yuletide Greetings!

We will start posting our Twelve Days of Christmas articles starting on December 26th.
December 24, 2023
FRIENDSHIP GAMES by Mark James – Political Thrillers, Middle East, Military Thrillers

Mark James’ latest geopolitical thriller, Friendship Games, brings together a cast of characters that will keep readers glued to their seats.

James’ action-packed novel doesn’t waste a second to deliver espionage, military strategies, and defense, as an urgent question takes center stage: who is responsible for bombing the American aircraft carrier, USS George Bush, in the Persian Gulf?

We begin in Bahrain with twenty-one-year-old Khalid Husseini, a terrorist spy working at the US Naval facility in Manama. He is on his way home to prepare for a birthday night out, courtesy of his American sailor friends, when an explosion rocks the Khawr al Qulay’ah inlet between Muharraq Island and the main Island of Bahrain. Khalid takes it as the sign he’s been waiting for from his Imam, Hussein Salmeen, setting off a series of events the Imam could not stop, even as he wants to with all his being.

Meanwhile, Hector Gonzales is finishing his day at the US Navy base that Khalid just left. Gonzales, Special Warfare Operator Master Chief of Echo Squad, is celebrating a successful interdiction of a Panama-flagged Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf – whose crew could take comfort that it was the Americans, and not Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, or Al-Qaeda, or another Islamist terrorist group who apprehended their ship.

When a bomb hits the George W. Bush the tension literally explodes as Gonzales and Chief Petty Officer Buck Bradshaw assume they are under attack.

Lieutenant Commander Nigel Wood goes into action with Gonzales’s help. Wood, a British/American, Harvard and Oxford grad, Rhodes Scholar, and Navy SEAL, takes charge as commander of Alpha, Bravo, and Echo Squads of the Navy SEALS. He and Gonzales commandeer Logistics Specialist Seaman Apprentice for FSC, Thew Bryson to move much-needed supplies in the crisis. Wood sets Echo Squad on a mission to save the lives of as many survivors as they can from the bombed ship.

In Iran, Rear Admiral Hashemin Ghavam, Commander of Southern Forward Naval Headquarters at Bandar Abbas, gets news of the bombing of the George W. Bush, and is as confused as the Imam, Wood, US President Bell, Thew, and everyone else. The question of who carried out this attack dominates everyone’s minds.

Friendship Games becomes a cautionary tale of what could happen if such an attack took place amidst so much political and military tension.

James brings to life characters from the highest military officers to the lowliest grunts. He does not answer with every detail of this horrific scenario, and as the tale unravels, we meet heroes and cowards and are left to wonder how volatile our position in the Middle East might truly be.

Mark James’ Friendship Games thrusts readers into a potential nuclear confrontation between the US and Iran. This terrifying and thrilling read earns five stars!

December 22, 2023
TAX MYTHBUSTERS: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions by Lily Tran – Money Management, Taxes, Essays

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.”

Some of them are old myths disguised as new enticements, and Tran and her authors keep the reader wary about how fast money online works, the truth about influencer deductions, tax write-offs, and vehicle deductions. Knowing how these popular myths have transformed for the modern age is a must.

The more intensive essays focus on complex and misleading parts of the tax code. Highlights include understanding the rules around reporting losses on the stock market (capital losses), issues around hiring contractors over employees, and even working to understand common myths found on TikTok. There are even myths discussing even including how to deal with cryptocurrency transactions. A better understanding of this collection will help anyone with questions get started on the right track.

The essays in Tax MythBusters are both clear and comprehensive, offering knowledge that small business owners can use and understand comfortably.

This collection avoids complex equations that might put off those who are less math-oriented, instead focusing on sage advice. Staying down to earth, all the advice and warnings that these professionals impart can be taken to heart. The information provided by Lily Tran’s Tax MythBusters: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions will be invaluable for those seeking tax clarity.

December 20, 2023
The 2023 DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards Short List for YA Fiction
The Dante Rossetti Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Young Adult Fiction. The Dante Rossetti Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Named in honor of the British poet & painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti who founded the Pre-Ralphaelite Brotherhood in 1848.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience between the ages of about twelve to eighteen (imaginary or real). Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Romance, and Literary, we will put them to the test and choose the best Young Adult Books among them for the winners of the Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction. For Middle Grade Fiction check out our Gertrude Warner Awards and for Children’s Literature see our Little Peeps Awards.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Dante Rossetti Book Awards Long List and have advanced to the SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2023 Dante Rossetti Semi-Finalists. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2023 Dante Rossetti Book Awards novel competition for Young Adult Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Trish MacEnulty – Cinnamon Girl
- Lou Dischler – Locking Up Daddy
- Marie Powell – Spirit Sight (Last of the Gifted: Book 1)
- Rande Goodwin – The Witchfinder’s Serpent
- J.A. Nielsen – The Claiming
- Lynn Yvonne Moon – Mirrors: Book 2 of Journey’s Travels
- B. Lynn Carter – The Eyes Have It
- Jack O’Brien – The Last U-Boat
- Lou Dischler – Jokes to Tell When You’re Dead
- Stephen Haunts – Diary of a Martian: Soul Soldiers
- M.J. Evans – Finding Fionn – A Mystery Inspired by the Kidnapping of the Irish Racehorse Shergar
- Maryanne Melloan Woods – Sour Flower
- S.P. Somtow – Club X: Vampire in the Closet
- Robert Wright Jr – Red Snow – A Twisted Fairy Tale
- Brendan Corbett – The Thief and the Historian
- George R. Wolfe – Into the River of Angels
- Art Lionson – Woodland
- Brooke Maddaleni – Let Me Go
- Michele Kwasniewski – Falling Star: Book 3 of The Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart
- Liz Alterman – He’ll Be Waiting
- S.R. Klusman – Luna: Book 2 of The Adventures of Rhone & Stone
- Janilise Lloyd – The Whisperer’s Wish
- Yun Johnson – The Book of Lost Spirits
- V. Romas Burton – Fortified
- Joan Wright Mularz – Slate
- Aurora Winter – Magic, Mystery, and the Multiverse: The Marvelous Multiverse App
- W.W Marplot – Time Story
- Kerry Chaput – Chasing Eleanor
- Lynn Yvonne Moon – Fish Scales
- Addison Martinez – Astro
- K.M. Messina – Gemja – The Message
- Tamar Anolic – Two Sisters of Fayetteville
- Vincent J. DeVito – Where the Crane Lands
- Michael J Cooper – Crossroads of Empire
- W.T. Kosmos – Blaze Union and the Puddin’ Head Schools
- M.J. Evans – The Stallion and His Peculiar Boy
- John Blossom – The Last Football Player
- Jennifer Haskin – Hierarchy of Blood
- Jennifer Haskin – The Clockwork Pen
- Sophia Krich-Brinton – A Song Like the Wind
- Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The Kingdom of Trolls
- Susan Dwyer – Strangers Saints and Sinners
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 DANTE ROSSETTI Awards is:

Wages of Empire

by Michael J. Cooper

The 2023 DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 21, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2024 DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards are open now. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!

As always, please contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at info@ChantiReviews.com.
December 19, 2023
The Chaucer 2023 Book Awards Short List for Early Historical Fiction
The Chaucer Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in pre-1750s Historical Fiction. The Chaucer Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

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

Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring Pre-1750s Historical Fiction, including pre-history, ancient history, Classical, world history (non-western culture), Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Tudor, 1600s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Chaucer Early Historical Fiction Long List to the 2023 Chaucer Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Chaucer Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. Winners will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on April 20th, 2024, in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2023 Chaucer Book Awards novel competition for Pre-1750s Early Historical Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Cryssa Bazos – Rebel’s Knot
- Craig H. Bowlsby – The Cyrano Solution
- Gail Avery Halverson – A Sea of Glass
- Gina Buonaguro – The Virgins of Venice
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Merchant from Sepharad
- Regan Walker – The Strongest Heart
- Juliette Godot – From the Drop of Heaven
- Stefan Scheuermann – Kyra
- Griffin Brady – The Hussar’s Duty
- Kelly Evans – Turning the World to Stone – The Life of Caterina Sforza Part One 1472 – 1488.
- Yvonne Korshak – Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece
- Robert S Phillips – Elodia’s Knife
- C.V. Lee – Token of Betrayal
- Rebecca D’Harlingue – The Map Colorist: A Novel
- Cindy Burkart Maynard – Esperanza’s Way
- Rozsa Gaston – Margaret of Austria
- Mary Pat Ferron Canes with JR Foley – Dark Queen of Donegal
- Kerry Chaput – Daughter of the Shadows
- Margaret Porter – The Myrtle Wand
- Anthony R. Licata – Caesar Obsessed: Passion, Conquest, and Tragedy in Gaul
- Rebecca Kightlinger – The Lady of the Cliffs: The Bury Down Chronicles, Book Two
- Adrienne Dillard – Keeper of the Queen’s Jewels: a novel of Jane Seymour
- Brigitte Goldstein – Princess of the Blood-A Tapestry of Love and War in 16th-Century France
- Adam Alexander Haviaras – Sincerity is a Goddess: A Dramatic and Romantic Comedy of Ancient Rome
- K.M. Butler – House Aretoli
- David Tory – Exploration: The Stanfield Chronicles
- A. L. Kucherenko – Knight’s Pawn
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CHAUCER Awards is:

Mack Little, author of

Daughter of Hades

Click here to see the 2022 Chaucer Book Award Winners for Early Historical Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions for the 2024 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Early Historical Fiction. The 2024 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2025.

Please click here to submit to the 2024 Chaucer Awards

For our other Historical Fiction Awards, please see the following:
Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!

As always, please contact us with any questions or suggestions at info@ChantiReviews.com.
December 18, 2023
PATIENCE INSANITY And WISDOM by Anna Casamento Arrigo – Poetry, Family & Relationships, Mental Health

Patience Insanity and Wisdom, Anna Casamento Arrigo’s poetry collection, dances seamlessly between reflective, philosophical, whimsical, colorful, and especially therapeutic.

In her author bio, Arrigo shares that she turned to poetry as part of her recovery from a stroke. This gives a glimpse into the true depth of these poems, which offer healing to the reader as well. Arrigo deals with issues of love and loss, depression and survival, and life itself. Her poems carry the echo of her struggle, softly alluded to, but not blatantly laid bare.

Arrigo’s poems take the reader through our shared human experiences. “I am enough” and “I am here” lay between “In Silence”. “Insanity” shares a painful childhood, “A constant stream of hateful words/slurred/rising from a golden whiskey tumbler.” “Wizard Wings” reflects on growing up, “From my toddler years/Through that period when neither girl nor woman be-.” “One soul” shares the joy and bittersweetness of the parent-child relationship, “it was not too long ago You held my hand/ Precious memories and hugs/One Soul We two/Divided in half.”

“Just Another Birth Day” brings full circle the impact of the loss of one’s mother, “yesterday a mom celebrated her 68^th birthday in heaven,” and yet, her continued presence in her children’s lives continues on, “Listen my dear children to the sound of the wind/ I’m there./Watch as dawn sips the darkness away./ I’m there/ Reach out and touch the roses-/comforted in essence of their being/ I’m there. I’m there/Speak my name/ Mom?/’I’m here’.”

Patience Insanity and Wisdom does not shy away from the realities of grappling with life.

“Depression” has this subtitle: “A dedication to the far too many who wear the mask. You are NOT alone,” empathizing with this common, yet hidden experience, “Waiting for those daily doses of ‘Happy Pills’/To bring my soul back to me-/For year/So many years…” and “Depression is not contagious-/Remove your mask!”

“Hold On!” is a shout of encouragement, acknowledging the struggle for some with suicide awareness, “days when everything hurts -Wishing you would disappear…There will be day/ Of fighting back/Standing up/Holding on.”

“Holding on Letting go” starts with the line, “It hadn’t been an easy death. But the will to die was less than my will…to survive […] Holding on/Letting go/A separation/Decisive/And in eternities bound…/Where my projected self-free falls/Letting go.”

The poems share pages with Arrigo’s art, mostly impressionistic compositions with a wonderful mingling of bright and cool colors.

To add to this experience, Arrigo partnered with musician Paul Simeone, setting some of these poems to music videos which can be found on YouTube and SoundCloud. Patience Insanity and Wisdom is like a dessert cart in a favorite restaurant, with poems that should be taken in small portions and savored to enjoy them fully.

December 18, 2023
The 2023 CLUE Book Awards Short List for Suspense/Thrillers
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards).

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction Long List to the 2023 Clue Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2023 Clue Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2023 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Short List authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Roxana Arama – Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
- Nancy Adair – The Appearance of Guilt
- Margaret Mizushima – Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery
- Joanne Jaytanie – Retrieving Remy, The Winters Sisters Book 5
- Jeremy Gluck – Face Value
- Ana Manwaring – Backlash Venom and Vendetta from ‘Nam
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Scene, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogotá
- Jonny Thompson – Atlantis
- Kevin G. Chapman – The Other Murder
- T.O. Paine – The Excursion
- Corey Lynn Fayman – Gillespie Field Groove
- Paty Jager – Damning Firefly
- Mary Desch – Tangled Darkness
- Jonny Thompson – Ash and Sun
- Charlotte Stuart – Forget or Forgive? NEVER
- Jim Nesbitt – The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel
- Frederick Douglass Reynolds – Saint Bloodbath
- Joshua Cohen – Past Imperfect
- Jacqueline Boulden – Her Past Can’t Wait
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Sherlock and the Tiger
- J. Luke Bennecke – Echo from a Bayou
- Mark James – Friendship Games
- Steven Mayfield – The Penny Mansions
- Dave Lager – Sniper’s Day
- Daniel V. Meier Jr. – Guidance to Death
- Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
- Anne Moose – When You Read This I’ll Be Gone
- Jode Millman – The Empty Kayak
- Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor – River of Ashes
  Kamille Roach – Pine Creek
- Justin M. Kiska – Fact & Fiction
- Melissa L. Berger – What Mae Brings: A Novel
- Mike Van Horn – Controlled Flight
- Decima Blake – Hingston: Smoke and Mispers
- Cathi Stoler – With A Twist: A Murder On The Rocks Mystery
- Richard C. Brusca – The Time Travelers
- Bill Mesce, Jr – Median Gray
- Kathryn Lane – Missing in Miami
- Leslie Kain – Secrets In The Mirror
- D. R. Berlin – The Third Estate: Secrets of the Manor
- Lisa Towles – The Ridders
- Rita M Boehm – The Price of Revenge
- Philip Derrick – Saigon Spring
- Tejas Desai – The Dance Towards Death
- Martha Crites – Danger to Others
- Raymond Paul Johnson – The Raven Society: Conspiracy Ignited
  Chris Chan – Ghosting My Friend
- Nina Romano – Dark Eyes
- Mary Keliikoa – Deceived
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Robert W. Smith – Long Way From Clare
- Jason Kapcala – Hungry Town
- V. S. Anderson – Three Strides Out: A Horse Show Novel of Suspense
- Howard Berk and Peter Berk – TimeLock
- T.E. Lane – The Cornbread Letters
- Mary Keliikoa – Hidden Pieces
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 Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CLUE Awards is:

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

See the Full List of 2022 Clue Award Winners here!

The 2023 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 21, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of September. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!
December 15, 2023
CHOP THAT SH*T UP!: Leadership and Life Lessons Learned While in the Military by CSM Daniel L. Pinion – Memoirs, Military Life, Military History
In Chop That Sh*t Up: Leadership and Life Lessons Learned While in the Military, Daniel L. Pinion reminisces about his experiences in the US Army, both good and bad, before he retired as a Command Sergeant Major.

Some of the stories and lessons he offers are heartbreaking, some are horrifying, and some are insightful. As it turns out, some are even heartwarming.

The author explains his origins: a quiet and uneventful childhood that did not give him much idea of what he should do with his life. Some counseling and a few incidents led Pinion, after high school, to the National Guard and eventually the US Army, where he found his life’s calling.

He learned life lessons through a series of supervisors (noncommissioned officers for the most part) and fellow soldiers, from whom he discovered what to do and when (and predictably, what not to do and when). As Pinion comments, occasionally, one of his supervisors “was tough but fair, and I modeled a lot of my leadership style on what I learned from him.” But occasionally the soldier “rocked the boat and got in trouble.” Despite this, the author tells us, he would “still smile every time” he remembers those events.

Chop That Sh*t Up! details the soldiers Pinion served with and some of the more extraordinary things they experienced. The book closes with photographs of these soldiers and what happened to them—some heartbreaking, some comforting, all memorable.

These fascinating stories range from Daniel Pinion being dragged into a hunt for evidence of infidelity that involved climbing to an upper-story balcony, awkward spying techniques, and cumbersome recording equipment; a malfunctioning toilet (the details are a bit much, but perhaps entertaining to those who have similar memories in the service); and superior officers with attitude (and perhaps more than a bit of a need for psychotherapy) versus those who truly earn the loyalty of their soldiers.

What remains with readers at the end are the mentions of the author’s fallen fellow soldiers after describing each one and their eventual fate: “I will see you in Valhalla, my friend, and recount the fun times we had together.”

Overall, CSM Pinion’s work runs the reader the gamut of what life has in store for a soldier, and what can be learned from all of its challenges. Judging by the accounts of this book, the military life is not one for everyone, but clearly, it’s a life that worked for Daniel Pinion.

Chop That Sh*t Up has received multiple literary awards including that Military & Front Line Book Award from the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards.
December 15, 2023
Series Award 2023 Long List for Genre Fiction
The CIBA FICTION SERIES Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in any of our 16 Fiction Divisions where the author has written a series. The Fiction Series Book Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs) is seeking for the best book series in all of its fifteen fiction divisions: Mysteries, Suspense Thrillers, Espionage/High Stakes, Young Adult, Middle-Grade Readers, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural and Paranormal, Romance, Historical Fiction. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Series Book Awards Entries to the 2022 Series Book Awards Long List. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Series Short List. Semi-Finalists are chosen from the Short List. Finalists are then chosen from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the Short List of the 2023 Series Book Awards novel competition for Genre Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- David Fitz-Gerald – Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail
- Eric J. Gates – The Cull
- CK Van Dam – On the Dakota Frontier
- Michele L. Sayre – Darke Realms
- Chuck Morgan – Crime
- Jode Millman – The Queen City Crimes Series
- John J Spearman – Perseverance Andrews
- John J Spearman – Halberd
- Sharon Michalove – Global Security Unlimited
- McKinley Aspen – Shadows in the Wind
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Sugar Merchant
- Holly Brandon – Chastity Series
- Mary Seifert – Katie and Maverick Cozy Mysteries
- Jeannée Sacken – The Annie Hawkins Series
- Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Jake Fortina
- Amy Wolf – The Spinners of Time
- Laura Teste – Book of Bad Manners Series
- Jodi Lea Stewart – Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves
- Mark A. Gibson – Hamilton Place
- KD Sherrinford – Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler romantic mysteries
- Murray Pura & Patrick E. Craig – Islands Series
- Tiffany Kahapea – Magic and Prophecies
- Vincent M. Miceli – The Last Triceracorn
- C.K. Donnelly – The Kinderra Saga
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Alice McVeigh – Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series
- Michele Kwasniewski – The Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart
- Hari Hyde – The Honeygate Chronicles
- Elizabeth R. Jensen – The Three Brothers Trilogy
- Sophia Alexander – The Silk Trilogy
- Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The MiddleGate Books
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque
- Brooks Olbrys – The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob
- Lucinda Brant – Roxton Foundation Series
- S. Lee Fisher – The Women of Campbell County
- Andrew Sweet – Reality Gradient
- Frank F. Weber – The Jon Frederick series
- E. Alan Fleischauer – How the West was Won then Lost Annihilation
- Elizabeth Woolsey – The Travels of Dr. Rebecca Harper
- Tom Burkhalter – No Merciful War
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Invisible Death
- Dave Lager – The Ro Delahanty Novels
- John J. Spearman – FitzDuncan
- James T. Hogg – Girl with a Knife Books
- Marieke Lexmond – The Madigan Chronicles
- Tony Johnson – The Story of Evil
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Series Awards is The Curtis Jefferson Series By Vince Bailey

Click here to see the 2022 Series Book Award Winners for Genre Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Series Book Awards for Genre Fiction. The 2024 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2025.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!
December 14, 2023