Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

The M&M 2023 Long List for Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy and not-so-Cozy Mystery & Mayhem. The M&M Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards.)

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2023 M&M entries to the 2023 M&M Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for 2023 M&M Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the next level of achievement in the CIBAs. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBAs divisions’ Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremonies on April, 20, 2024 in Bellingham, Wash. at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles have advanced to the LONG LIST of the 2023 M&M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
- Trish MacEnulty – The Whispering Women
- Sallie Barr Palmer – A Dinner to Die For
- Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Dead Man’s Pose
- Craig H. Bowlsby – The Cyrano Solution
- Ruud Richardson – The Girl Who Never Was
- B.T. Polcari – Fire and Ice
- B.T. Polcari – Against My Better Judgment
- Tawn H. Skousen – Seashells and Scoundrels
- Jeremy Gluck – Face Value
- Mikky Eagle – Burden of Proof, the Freya Files: A Most Despicable Deed of Arson
- Angel A – Holy Parrot
- Ron Destro – The Starre, the Moone, the Sunne
- Liese Sherwood-Fabre – The Adventure of the Purloined Portrait
- Gail Grant Park – We Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost Story
- Rebecca Olmstead – Dreams and Illusions
- Charlotte Stuart – In$ured to the Hilt
- Anna St. John – Doomed by Blooms
- Elizabeth Crowens – Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
- Topper Jones – All that Glisters
- Patrick E. Craig – The Quilt That Knew
- A.J. McCarthy – A Stranger in the Family
- Traci Andrighetti – Tuaca Tan
- Marlene M. Bell – Copper Waters
- E. W. Finke – Coyote’s Wail
- Mary Seifert – Fishing, Festivities & Fatalities
- Sharon Michalove – At the Ready
- Liz Larson – Fireflies and Zeroes
- Michel Prince – Always a Groomsman
- M.K. Dean – A Corpse in the Condo
- Mary Seifert – Diamonds, Diesel & Doom
- Kate Hallock – Nine Ways to Die: An Enneagram Murder Mystery
- Steven Mayfield – The Penny Mansions
- Cindy Sample – Birthdays Are Murder
- Nancy J. Cohen – Star Tangled Murder
- Carolyn Summer Quinn – Cloudy with a Chance of Answers
- D. C. Gomez – A Desperate Cat Lady
- Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
- Joy Ann Ribar – Deep Dire Harvest
- Charlotte Whitney – The Unveiling of Polly Forrest
- Marty Eberhardt – Bones in the Back Forty
- Kim Herdman Shapiro – The Raven’s Cry
- Lori Roberts Herbst – Negative Reaction
- Lori Roberts Herbst – Photo Finished
- Joni M Fisher – East of Evil
- George Albert Brown – Who Killed Jerusalem?
- D.R. Ransdell – Party Wine
- Connie Berry – The Shadow of Memory
- Hadley K. Knox – Murder Sundae
- Christine Knapp – Murder on the Widow’s Walk
- Christine Knapp – Murder at the Wedding
- M. A. Monnin – Death In The Aegean
- Paisley Summer pen name – Walk in the Light
- Patricia Sorg – Habits that Haunts Me
- Erica Miner – Aria for Murder
- Wendy Bayne – Guilds and Gunpowder
- Shelly Frome – Shadow of the Gypsy
- Matthew Cost – Velma Gone Awry
- Jule Selbo – 9 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery
- Amy S. Peele – Hold
- Kim Davis – Buttercream Betrayal
- Kamille Roach – A Matchbox Full of Pearls
- D. J. Adamson – With a Vengeance
- Lyn Squire – Immortalised to Death
- Jeffrey Matthews – The Case of the Disappearing Beaune: A Sherlock Holmes Christmas Story
- Brigitte Goldstein – Death of a Diva–From Berlin to Broadway
- Eleanor Tatum – Countess of Change
- Kim Davis – Muddled Matrimonial Murder
- Brandon Lawniczak – Riding in Circles
- J. Ivanel Johnson – Just A Stale Mate
- Mary Seifert – Santa, Snowflakes & Strychnine
- T.K. Sheffield – Vintage Model, the Backyard Model Mysteries Book 1
Good Luck to All as Your Works Compete to Advance to the Next Level of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

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.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Mystery & Mayhem Awards is:

A Spying Eye

A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel

by Michelle Cox

See the Full List of M&M Winners here!

The 2023 M&M Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 20, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

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

Don’t delay! Enter today!

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!
October 18, 2023
A VOICE From HEAVEN by Alexander V. Girman & Cynthia J. Girman – Spirituality, Overcoming Grief, Addiction/Recovery

Cynthia J. Girman shares transcendental conversations with A Voice from Heaven – her son Alec, who had tragically passed away a few months before.

During his life, Alec struggled with ADHD & Asperger’s (his preferred term). Social awkwardness made it difficult for him to connect with other people – a heavy emotional weight from which he fled through substance abuse. Though he supported himself with work as a programmer, fitting his special interests in computers and mathematics, he lived alone in DC and tried to hide his addiction from his family.

Cindy and Tom tried tirelessly to help their son. Through rehab centers and sobriety coaches, Alec began making gradual improvements, even as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed him into deeper feelings of isolation. But treating addiction isn’t a fair fight, especially with the ability of opioids to rewire the brain; Cindy and Tom’s greatest fear was realized when Alec used kratom without understanding the toxicity of its alkaloid components.

In the depths of grief after Alec’s passing, Cindy and Tom found hope in meetings with three mediums. These mediums channeled Alec and other lost loved ones, promising that Alec was at peace. Beyond that awakened hope, though, Cindy began to experience her own connections to the other side, until Alec’s spirit reached out directly to tell her of what he’d learned since his physical death.

Cindy allowed Alec’s spirit to work through her hands as she wrote this book, revealing the nature of the human soul.

Mortal life is a lesson that the soul wants to learn. One sliver of a full human spirit inhabits a body on Earth, unaware of its true self, so that the difficulties and choices of this life will teach it an important lesson. Each soul seeks to understand the same thing: how to become a being of love.

But the afterlife offers much learning of its own. Alec delves deeply into the mysteries of the universe, in a way that mortal humans never could, and even takes on the role of a teacher to other spirits. These roles and details of the afterlife are explained in great detail, and while the book repeats these details more often than it should, they’re nevertheless interesting to consider.

Between these explanations of the world beyond death, A Voice from Heaven threads wondrous imagery and comforting possibilities.

There is beauty that no mortal eye has seen, colors beyond physical vision, the playful music of other spirits, and even great cosmic wonders. Author Cynthia translates these otherworldly senses into evocative prose, giving readers a glimpse of the other side.

All this joy and bliss of the spiritual realm is shared with loved ones and friends – both from one’s latest life and those before. Alec connects with the family he knew and ancestors he never could have, even finding dear pets waiting for him. But as wonderful as this realm is, Alec insists that mortal life has purpose and beauty as well and that one should embrace it entirely.

Pursuing her own purpose, Cynthia J. Girman researches the development of treatments for Substance Use Disorder.

She explains promising technology to the reader – transcranial magnetic stimulation (TEMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) – which could become invaluable in undoing the brain chemistry alterations of addiction. Her drive to make a difference for people who struggle as Alec did is inspiring, and grounds this book’s ideas of prioritizing love in one’s life.

Though a spiritual guide, Alec maintains a sense of humanity throughout these conversations.

Alec’s mortal struggles are easy to empathize with, especially for neurodivergent people. For such readers, and any who have faced addiction in themselves or their loved ones, Alec’s words offer a sense of resilience and understanding. On the other side, he recognizes his mistakes but also works to forgive himself for them, as all souls must do. This personal connection gives a real emotional weight to A Voice from Heaven’s image of the afterlife.

This book seeks to give peace to those readers reeling from loss, hope that such loss is not forever, and the message that one should embrace their passion and let go of their fears.

October 18, 2023
Honoring Rena Priest, Laurel Leigh, and Joan Airoldi | Recipients of the Village Books Literary Citizenship Award 2023 – Kiffer Brown

Village Books is announcing the debut of the annual Literary Citizenship Award with the first recipients being recognized on Wednesday, Oct 18, 2023 at Village Books, Fairhaven Village, Bellingham, Wash.

Recipients of this award are of diverse backgrounds and professions, but each have demonstrated a commitment to engage with the literary community with the intent of giving as much, if not more so, than they receive. This can take many different forms such as giving back to the literary community in a meaningful way, making yourself available to other writers as time allows to provide your knowledge and expertise, championing other people’s successes, and involving yourself in the local literary landscape of independent bookstores, libraries, and writing organizations.

Village Books, our local independent bookstore (and Chanticleer Authors Conference Book Room Manager) was founded in June 1980 and is a pillar of the pacific northwest writing community.

VB Literary Citizenship Award Ceremony

will take place on

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 at six o’clock in the evening

at Village Books, Bellingham

All are Invited

“Our literary world is a social ecosystem that relies on others: readers, writers, editors, reviewers, publishers, booksellers, and so on. The writing and publishing world is one made of relationships. Writing itself may be a somewhat solitary activity, but once the story or poem is ‘done’ we rely on others to read, share, and publish our work. Yet there are so many levels of participation from others in this community.” ~ Lori May, author of The Write Crowd: Literary Citizenship & The Writing Life

We invite you to join us to honor this year’s Literary Citizenship Award Ceremony recognizing the following three recipients.

Joan Airoldi (1946-2022)

Joan served as Executive Director of the Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) from 2002-2013.

In 2004, she took on the FBI by refusing to provide information to an agent regarding a Deming Library patron’s use of a book on Osama bin Laden. A grand jury subpoena was issued to get the records, but when it became clear Airoldi and the WCLS board were prepared to challenge the subpoena in court, it was withdrawn. She will be remembered as a Library Champion on a multitude of counts: establishing the Whatcom READS program in collaboration with partners at Whatcom Community College, advocating for new libraries in Ferndale, North Fork, South Whatcom, Island and Point Roberts and encouraging all of us to “Be Curious” and to “Listen, Learn & Lead.” Joan’s courage in defending patrons’ rights to privacy earned her national recognition with a PEN/Newman Award. She generously donated the prize money to start the Whatcom County Library Foundation.

“Be Curious” “Listen, Learn & Lead”

“Libraries are a haven where people should be able to seek whatever information they want to pursue without any threat of government intervention.” ~ Joan Airoldi

Laurel Leigh Erdoiza (1963-2023)

Professionally, Laurel was known as a writer, teacher, and editor whose 20 years of freelancing extends internationally. She was a script doctor, structural editor, and managed many publishing projects for Chronicle Books.

She taught creative writing and memoir classes through the Chuckanut Writers Program, helped found the Chuckanut Writers Conference in 2004, and received the Bellingham Mayors Arts Award, and was published widely including the Pushcart-nominated essay “Nursey” (published in Clover, A Literary Rag in 2015). Those who knew Laurel personally have experienced firsthand both her talent and generosity of spirit. She walked hand-in-hand with collaboration and mentorship, helping countless writers hone their skills, find their voice, and bring their works out into the world. This included her hosting Village Books’ Open Mic for more than a decade, establishing and fostering the spirit of welcoming support that continues to this day. “It’s a good day to write.” ~ Laurel Leigh Erdoiza

“It’s a good day to write.” ~ Laurel Leigh Erdoiza

Rena Priest – Washington State Poet Laureate

Rena is an enrolled member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. She served as the 6th Washington State Poet Laureate (2021-2023) and was named the 2022 Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writing Fellow.

Priest is also the recipient of an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, Indigenous Nations Poets, Nia Tero, and the Vadon Foundation, and has taught at the Chuckanut Writers Conference. The thread that runs through all of Rena’s accomplishments and accolades is how she builds and connects community. “I think that there’s a way that poetry connects people. It’s very special– it’s like a soul connection, but it’s not invasive in any way,” she says. “The way that it works is subtle. It’s gentle, but it’s deep and profound.” For the book, I Sing the Salmon Home, Rena gathered poems from over 150 Washington poets ranging from first graders to tribal elders, all inspired by the Northwest’s beloved, iconic salmon. A diverse chorus of voices, they join together in poems that praise salmon’s heroic journey, beauty, courage, and generosity and witness the threats salmon face from pollution, dams and warming oceans.

“I think that there’s a way that poetry connects people. It’s very special– it’s like a soul connection, but it’s not invasive in any way,” she says. “The way that it works is subtle. It’s gentle, but it’s deep and profound.” ~ Rena Priest

Village Books’ Literary Citizenship Award celebrates and thanks these three talented and dedicated community builders, community mentors, and community defenders.

They have each demonstrated, in their own unique way, the virtues that embody a Good Literary Citizen. For this, Village Books is awarding $1000 to each of them and hereby induct them into the Village Books Literary Citizen Hall of Fame which will be on permanent display in Village Books, Fairhaven.

Cami Ostman messaged me today asked me if I could help her get the word out about the ceremony and to join us to celebrate the life of a beautiful, creative, talented, warm, funny, smart, interesting human being, Laurel Leigh. Join us as we remember the joy Laurel brought to our lives by hearing the reading of her story that was accepted for publication in the Santa Monica Review, upcoming November 2023 issue. I am told by Cami that it will make you laugh and cry. Always the writer, Laurel Leigh asked Cami if she would help get the word out about her latest publication. Cami told her she would. Cami messaged me to help her get the word out for Laurel Leigh. That is how Writers work – together. Laurel showed us how to build community. — Kiffer

October 16, 2023
The 2023 CLUE Book Awards for Suspense/Thrillers – CIBAs Long List
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 all 2023 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction entries to the 2023 Clue Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Clue Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the 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 21st, 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 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Roxana Arama – Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
- Craig H. Bowlsby – Requiem for a Lotus
- 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
- Mikky Eagle – Burden of Proof – the Freya Files – A Most Despicable Deed of Arson
- B. C. Howard – SEL
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Scene, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogotá
- 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
- Jonny Thompson – Atlantis
- Charlotte Stuart – The Sham Shamus
- Charlotte Stuart – Forget or Forgive? NEVER
- Jim Nesbitt – The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel
- Caroline Taylor – The Pit Road War
- Frederick Douglass Reynolds – Saint Bloodbath
- Gar Mallinson – Night Moves: The Stroll Murders
- Mark Shaiken – Cram Down
- Joshua Cohen – Past Imperfect
- Jacqueline Boulden – Her Past Can’t Wait
- Ron Roman – Of Ashes and Dust
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Sherlock and the Tiger
- J. Luke Bennecke – Echo from a Bayou
- Mark James – Friendship Games
- George Brown – Who Killed Jerusalem?
- 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
- 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
- Brigitte Goldstein – Death of a Diva-From Berlin to Broadway
- Mary Keliikoa – Deceived
- 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.

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 CLUE Awards is:

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

The 2023 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 20, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

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

Don’t delay! Enter today!

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!
October 16, 2023
THE PENNY MANSIONS by Steven Mayfield – Historical Fiction, Mystery, Small Town Fiction

The Penny Mansions by Steven Mayfield, a historical novel of Paradise and Boise Idaho at the end of WWI, offers a concert of drama, comedy, and noir-tinged crime thriller.

The town of Paradise, Idaho, grew as a prospecting town, but the gold and people alike have dwindled. They no longer have a high enough population to keep the state government from taking the land through eminent domain. So, the town counsel puts an ad in papers across the country for families to purchase one of four mansions in town for only a penny. There’s a catch, of course – they must move in, fix the place up, and remain there for the next census count in 1920.

Readers will love the colorful characters who fill Paradise, from Bountiful Dollarhyde, an African American woman raised by the madam of what used to be the local bordello, to Lariot, a genius orphan skilled with rope tricks, and Goldstrike, an old prospector who gladly shares his strong opinions. These lively folk face a powerful threat. Gerald Dredd, a greedy land baron with a high office in the state government, uses his clout to bludgeon others into his schemes to ensure that Paradise doesn’t hit their all-important population count.

Through the people of Paradise, Mayfield explores themes of communities and found families – and what people will do to save them. He shows the dangers of government corruption gone unchecked until it creates malefic control.

Many of the characters are willing to sacrifice so much of themselves to save this small town in the Pacific Northwest frontier. And as the story pushes forward, even the newcomers to the town – not necessarily there in good faith at first – fall in love with the community and stand up against weaponized bureaucracy to save their newfound friends and home.

Mayfield’s writing style is extremely personable and fun.

The dialogue is playful and, at times, terrifying. Readers will connect with and worry for their favorite characters, and rightfully despise the antagonist and his willing compatriots. The Penny Mansions is also among the best depictions of a community banding together for a single cause.

There is a bit of a stylistic shift part way through the novel. After a major event, the story abruptly moves from a historic drama to a noir crime thriller. While this change might be jarring to some readers, the charm and humor of the book remains throughout.

The Penny Mansions will make readers chuckle and smile, and grimace with anger. Mayfield juggles emotion with ease, all while chugging the plot forward to intense confrontations.

October 16, 2023
Chanticleerians in the News! Journey Grand Prize Winner Mark Berridge on TEDx Brisbane
When your mission is to Discover Today’s Best Books, you come across good news regarding authors!

At 5pm PST (10am AEST) 10/13/23, TEDx Brisbane will begin. Around 5:16pm PST, Mark Berridge, the 2023 Journey Grand Prize Winner will take the stage and talk about his incredible journey chronicled in his book A Fraction Stronger. This article will be updated with a link to stream Mark’s talk as soon as it’s available!

We fortunate enough to hear Mark speak at CAC 23 where he received standing ovations! He is authentic, tenacious, and insightful! He finds belief and possibility in life’s impossible moments and is truly inspirational!
Mark Berridge to take Center Stage at TEDx Brisbane in Australia!

A Journey Grand Prize Winner and CAC Keynote Speaker, Mark constructively challenges pre-existing mindsets of his audience to inspire positive outcomes. He delivers stimulating perspectives from both his personal and professional experiences, from successfully negotiating multiple hundred-million dollar deals in his corporate career, to how he deals with uncertainty and adversity in his ongoing battle to overcome a devastating spinal cord injury.

Mark Berridge getting ready to present at TEDx

From TEDxBrisbane 2023: THE POWER OF INTENTION

Intention is a powerful thing. It takes a great idea and transforms it into determination. Determination to act, make a difference, grow, create, discover. To change minds, lives or perhaps the entire world.

The power of intention reflects the heart of the TEDxBrisbane community.

At TEDxBrisbane, we bring together thinkers, doers and changemakers on our stage and in our audience. We inspire, inform and challenge. We grow networks, spark and nurture collaborations, forge lasting communal memories, and generate intention and impact.

Curious to learn more?

Visit the TEDx Brisbane Facebook Page here

See Mark Berridge’s Personal website here

The Chanticleer Review of A Fraction Stronger

There’s still time!

Want to be a Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Winner like Mark? The last 11 CIBA divisions close in October! And submissions for the 2024 CIBAs are already open. You can see the full list of Awards here: https://test.chantireviews.com/contests/

The 2022 CIBA Blue Ribbon Winners

You know you want one!

Are you ready? Then Submit Today!

Why Opt for the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards?

Credibility: Our awards spotlight and guide readers to extraordinary writing. We are partnered with or recommended by ALLi, IBPA, Reedsy, and Book Award Pro.

Prestige: Whether it’s the Blue Ribbons, the Author Interview, or the Book Reviews, even advancing partway through a Book Award Program shows readers and publishing experts that you’re doing right by your book when it comes to marketing.

Support: The CIBAs are run by human beings, and we’re here for you. Each time you advance in our Tiers of Achievement, your name and book title are promoted on our high-traffic website, across social media, and in our newsletter.
October 13, 2023
The 2023 Shorts Award Long List for Short Stories and Essays
The Short Story Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in Short Stories, Essays, Novelettes, Novellas, Short Story Collections and Anthologies. The Short Story Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards program.

The Chanticleer International Book Awards program discovers today’s best works. The Short Stories Awards discovers the Best New Shorts in Fiction and Narrative Non-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 Entries to the Shorts Book Awards Long List. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Shorts Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Finalist positions. 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 in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Note: These are for Short Stories and Essays. There is a separate post for Novellas, Collections, and longer Essays

These titles are in the running for the Short List of the 2023 Shorts Book Awards novel competition for Collections and Anthologies!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Catherine Brown – The Heart of Kublai Khan’s Menagerie Keeper
- Catherine Brown – Finding Namaste
- Luray Embers – No Cat Is An Island
- A.J. McCarthy – A Rock
- A.J. McCarthy – The Strike
- Brian Feutz – Pity the Peasants
- Alice McVeigh – Pride and Perjury: A Jane Austenesque short story
- DL Fowler – Lincoln & the Dead
- Brittany Eden – Candles in the Dark from Fantasea
- Brittany Eden- Wishes
- Logan D. Irons – Bridge of Kings
- Sallie Barr Palmer – Conversation with a Vampire
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Sabbath
- Marie Sutro – Son Down
- Larry Sherrer – Spirit Letters
- Jay Ashkinos – June 18th, 2292: To the Forgotten
- PJ Devlin – Sea Purses
- Morgan Sloan – The Awakening
- Sharon E. Cathcart – Rose in Bloom
- Margaret Arross – Secret Pass
- S.M. Stevens – The Wallace House of Pain
- Robert S Phillips – The Great River
- George T. Arnold – Confession of a “Grammarholic”
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.

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 SHORTS Awards is:

God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me

by Lori Lee Peters

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Short Story Awards is:

Old Man Baseball

by Mike Murphey

See the full list of Shorts 2022 Winners here (Collections)

And Here (Short Stories and Essays)

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Shorts Book Awards for Romance Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

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!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
October 13, 2023
The 2023 Shorts Award Long List for Novellas, Essays, and Collections
The Short Story Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in Short Stories, Essays, and Novellas. The Short Story Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards program.

The Chanticleer International Book Awards program discovers today’s best works. The Short Stories Awards discovers the Best New Shorts in Fiction and Narrative Non-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 Entries to the Shorts Book Awards Long List. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Shorts Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Finalist positions.

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 in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the Short List of the 2023 Shorts Book Awards novel competition for Collections, Novellas, and Essays!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Michele L. Sayre – A Ghoulish Good Time – Tales to Make You Scream
- Seán Thomas Dwyer – Tiptoeing Past the Dragon
- Miguel Angel Hernandez Jr. – Miami Vengeance: A Griffin Knight Conspiracy Mystery
- Elizabeth Chesla – You Cannot Forbid the Flower
- David Joseph – I Didn’t Know What to Say, So I Just Said Thanks
- Louise Lenahan Wallace – The Windows of his Heart
- Brittany Eden – Wishes
- J. I. Rogers – The Korpes File Series – Short Stories: Vol 1
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Sabbath
- Liese Sherwood-Fabre – The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 4
- D. C. Gomez – Recruited
- Maziar Lahooti – Comanche & Djinn VS Grown-ups
- Miguel Angel Hernandez Jr. – The Nocturnal Devil: A Griffin Knight Mystery Thriller
- Miguel Angel Hernandez Jr. – The Windy City Terror: A Griffin Knight Horror Mystery
- Vali Benson – Blood and Silver
- Mary Ann Bernal – AnaRose and the Templar’s Quest
- JuJu – The Costly Wish
- Elizabeth R. Jensen – Fire and Wolves: A Tale of Etria
- Ekta R. Garg – The Truth About Elves
- Gary Baysinger – A Kind of Homecoming
- Paper Lantern Writers – Unlocked
- Celaine Charles – Stained Glass Secrets and Star Wishes
- Scott Swanson – Philly’s Bridge And Other Northwest Stories
- Charlie Aquavella – The Elevator – Forever Young
- Antonia Gavrihel – Back to One: Take 3 Cinéma Vérité
- Turtle – A Grading of the Human Species
- Laurie Stevens – The Devil and Daniela Webster
- Mack Little – Shelter in a Hostile World
- Tori Ross – Rocks
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.

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 SHORTS Awards is:

God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me

by Lori Lee Peters

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Short Story Awards is:

Old Man Baseball

by Mike Murphey

See the full list of Shorts 2022 Winners here (Collections and Novellas)

And Here (Short Stories and Essays)

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Shorts Book Awards for Romance Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

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!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
October 13, 2023
IF YOU FIND ME WORTHY By Pam Landen – Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction

If You Find Me Worthy introduces forty-six-year-old Kate Baker, a woman who knows her own mind. As the former owner of a million-dollar private jet charter service, Kate is well established in the world of aviation as well as the world of CEOs.

Having started her career in the technology field, Kate is returning to her roots when her friend and former business partner asks her to use her technical expertise to assess the disaster recovery plan of North American Bank. She negotiates to exchange her assistance for a look into the bank’s lending practices for her study on the prejudice against female business owners.

Kate is certainly not looking for love. Having lost her husband to ALS years previously, she is focused only on her work, her son Stuart, and golf. However, when she meets Curtis Michaels, the CEO of North American Bank for the last seven years, she immediately feels an unfamiliar, and unwelcome, attraction. So begins If you Find Me Worthy by Pam Landen.

Curtis finds Kate exceptionally intriguing. He can’t help but constantly challenge the beautiful blonde.

A widower himself, Curtis has raised his daughter Sarah alone and carries the scars of his former bad relationship. He knows he shouldn’t even think about approaching Kate since she is temporarily working for his bank, but he can’t help himself.

The more Kate learns about Curtis, the more she realizes their similarities in the business and personal worlds, but Curtis’s demons threaten their fledgling relationship before it has a chance to truly blossom. She questions her ability to maintain her distance from the man who so clearly needs her help, but will the two be able to defeat the memories of his former life?

This novel’s greatest strength is character development.

Both Kate and Curtis have extreme depth. The pain from their former spouses has created a pain simultaneously unique to the characters while bearing striking similarities. Kate’s husband, Sam, left Kate with extreme feelings of inadequacy despite her running a successful business and caring for him during his illness. Their story is one Kate is embarrassed to admit to Curtis.

Unbeknownst to Kate, Curtis has his own shameful secret concerning his dead wife Carol. His trauma is, perhaps, the most critical to the novel’s plot as it keeps him from seeking future happiness with Kate. Though perfect for each other, the two have a chasm of hurt between them. The strength Kate has found through therapy and self-actualization won’t allow her to settle for less than Curtis’s full heart, but finding the patience to help him get the counseling he needs proves difficult. Numerous times, their relationship stands on shaky ground, but the growth of their love is endearing.

A major theme of the novel revolves around Kate’s research project – the treatment of women in business.

Kate must repeatedly prove herself in this “man’s world.” She faces extreme sexism from Jake, the lead marketing representative for the bank. His constant berating, questioning, and name-calling push Kate to her limit, but she refuses to allow Curtis to step in on her behalf. With few women in positions of power within the bank, Kate’s journey is entirely uphill with Curtis often throwing roadblocks in her path as well to test her business acumen.

An interesting twist is Kate’s acceptance of Curtis’s behavior. She sees Curtis as a flirt rather than an opponent. Though Curtis has macho-man control issues, his treatment of Kate is chivalrous and giving. She willingly gives up power to him on occasion, and she seems mostly unbothered by that power release. His validation of her feminism makes her feel like a beautiful, treasured woman for the first time in her life, and, in some way, actually accentuates her feminine power.

Behind the details of business and technology lies a touching romance. Recommended!

October 13, 2023
The 2023 HEARTEN Book Awards Long List for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Hearten Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2023 Hearten Non-Fiction entries to the 2023 Hearten Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Hearten Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the 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 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 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspirational Non-Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Lynne M. Kolze – Please Write: Finding Joy and Meaning in the Soulful Art of Handwritten Letters
- Anna Casamento Arrigo – Patience Insanity & Wisdom
- Lisa Niver – Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
- Syril Levin Kline – Inspiring Legacy: David and Carmen Kreeger’s Journey to Philanthropy
- Lally Pia – The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor
- Alexander V. Girman & Cynthia J Girman – A Voice from Heaven: From Earthly Struggles to Thriving in the Afterlife
- Duncan McLauren – Owning Your Destiny
- Terri Kim – The Enlightenment Stories Represented in the Samgook Yusa and the Princess Bari
- Julie Morrison – Barbed: A Memoir
- Alex Bisset – The Destination Birth
- Shanita Liu – Dear Durga: A Mom’s Guide to Activate Courage and Emerge Victorious
- Theo Boyd – My Grief is Not Like Yours: Learning to Live After Unimaginable Loss, A Daughter’s Journey
- Trudy Wells-Meyer – Some Things Are Simply Meant to Be
- Maria C. Palmer and Ruthie Robbins – On the Rocks
- Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
- Tony Jeton Selimi – A Path to Excellence
- Art Berman – Art in the Middle Ages: A Memoir of Midlife Renaissance
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Patrick M. Garry – The Power of Gratitude: Charting a Path Toward a Joyous and Faith-Filled Life
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Kate Hudson-Hall – Anxiety Hacks: Proven Techniques, Tools and Tips to Calmness
- Hollie Stuart – I Can See For Miles
- Cory Mortensen – The Buddha and the Bee
- Julie Scolnik – Paris Blue
- Cort Casady – Not Your Father’s America
- Elizabeth Rau – The Good Slope
- Joel Harris – Searching for Steve
- Steven Greenebaum – An Afternoon’s Dictation: Inclusive Revelation for the 21st Century
- Dian Seidel – Kindergarten at 60: A Memoir of Teaching in Thailand
- Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain: Becoming One with the Storm
- Grant Harper Reid – The Apocalypto Kid Goes to College
- Nanette J. Davis Ph.D. – Raging Currents: Mental Illness and Family
- Catherine DeMonte – Beep! Beep! Get Out of My Way!: Seven Tools for Powerful Creation and Living Your Unstoppable Life
- Dr. Kelly Rabenstein – Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success (It’s All About Love)
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. FB rules — not ours.

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 the next rounds of judging.

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

Inner Trek
a reluctant pilgrim to the Himalayas

By Mohan Ranga Rao

Click here to see the 2022 Hearten Book Award Winners for Uplifting Non-Fiction

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction & Memoir. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC24.
- Please click here for more information.
- See our Full List of Non-Fiction Divisions here!
Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference 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!
October 12, 2023