Poet and philosopher David Yuen shares observations on the human experience, showing how the gifts of life outweigh its pains, though not without a thought-invoking skirmish between the two.
Covid-19 provoked Yuen to compose some poems fixed on the unique moments of the pandemic. One fascinating segment centers on a trip the author undertook to Ireland. It was a typical sort of tour, including a visit to the Blarney Castle, with the opportunity, which Yeun declined, to kiss the renowned Blarney Stone. Yet, he joined in the placing of stones, assisting a couple with one of the many stones they set around the world in memory of their departed son. Sharing in that small ritual was a high point of the journey, contrasting a low point as he scored positive on a Covid test and had to remain in Ireland for many days.
Though at the time it seemed tedious, Yuen reminded himself of how often he wished for simple solitude in his busy life, and how fortunate he was to isolate in such desirable surroundings.
Similar thoughts, rooted in a Christian perspective, occur to Yuen as he reads about the Russian attack on Ukraine, and the many implications of that war.
In all situations, ranging from such issues as Roe vs. Wade, personal stresses like a horrific accident narrowly averted while driving to work, or a rather amusing argument with his morning coffee, Yuen maintains a positive stance. He believes that God wants humans to face tragedies, wars, and personal vulnerabilities with resolve, as Jesus invited us to count our blessings and feel secure that we are, in fact, “lavishly loved.”
Yuen, a second-generation Chinese American, has developed the enviable ability to explore thorny issues and painful subject matter while maintaining an upbeat, spiritual viewpoint.
His descriptions of his inner thought processes – energetic, entertaining, and credible – will remind readers of their own sometimes-conflicted ways of chewing on problems. Despite the inner turmoil, Yuen keeps a positive light at the end of even the darkest tunnels. His well-considered outlook, encapsulated in the title This Too Shall Pass, should be welcomed by anyone trying to approach time-worn trials or embrace the challenge of new ones.
John Bastian’s life is falling apart, but after a serious accident, he gains another one. In J. Luke Bennecke’s suspense thriller, Echo from a Bayou, John must tie up the loose ends of a man who died decades ago.
One misfortune after another beats John down. His wife divorces him, and his California business is going bust. On a ski trip to boost his mood, he fails to save a man from falling to his death out of a slopes-bound cable car. The next day, on the mountain, John slams head-first into a tree.
He’s not the only one who wakes up in his hospital bed.
An Echo from a Bayou flips the reader into a paranormal mystery. John Bastian of Southern California now shares his body and mind with one Jack Bachman, a Louisiana pilot who died 38 years ago. Living Jack’s memories, John travels to Louisiana’s bayous, hoping to find a woman Jack loved. Those murky waters also hide a fabulous treasure, worth billions of dollars.
But the hunt for these riches invites grave danger into John’s life, as Jack lost his own to it.
John struggles to understand his unique connection to this dead man. Is it reincarnation that brings them together? They have no family history bonding them together. And yet John, since he was an infant, has known details about Jack’s life. Until the skiing accident, he had no idea of his link with Jack, but as a child, John drew maps to the potential location of the treasure and even molded a tiny red-headed doll that resembles Tammy, Jack’s wife, in tantalizing detail.
While trying to track down Tammy and more information on the treasure, John encounters Adam, Jack’s identical twin. At first, Adam dismisses his claims, but when John tells him of a memory from the brothers’ early childhood, he has no choice but to believe him. John continues to sink into Jack’s life as he finds Tammy, now 20 years his senior. The two of them rekindle the old love bond Jack had shared with Tammy before he was brutally murdered.
This hardcore adventure thriller becomes all the more curious and suspenseful for its supernatural aura.
Bennecke brings both setting and characters into stark clarity with realistic and detailed descriptions. Echo from a Bayou will captivate readers with astonishing surprises and reveals as John falls down the rabbit hole of his other self.
Echo from a Bayou by J. Luke Bennecke will be available at a bookstore near you and through online retailers on August 8, 2023. Pre-order it here!
Attention Authors! Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Deadlines approaching!
Only 10 days left to submit your books to the prestigious CIBAs and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!
These dynamic CIBA divisions await your submissions: Journey, Cygnus, Dante Rossetti, and Chatelaine. These sizzling book awards will set your summer ablaze with recognition and accolades.
We’ve listened to authors and readers, and our revised Book Award deadlines ensure faster information delivery for authors. Thank you for your patience as we fine-tune our schedule to create a seamless experience for all.
The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.
Summer is the perfect season to get ahead of the game and submit your book to the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.
Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 18 -21, 2024)where Winners from all 25 Book Award Divisions will be honored.
In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.
Sandra Wagner-Wright’s historical novel, Ambition, Arrogance and Pride, chronicles the rise of some of Salem, Massachusetts’s founding families, through the revolutionary war and beyond as they make their fortunes in far-off ports.
Wagner-Wright tells this story through several points of view, but it is her strong female characters who carry this story, women like Mary Derby, whose courtship and marriage to George Crowninshield begins this saga.
We follow Mary as she brings new life into the world while her husband is out at sea as captain of a merchant vessel. Wagner-Wright has done her research, making real the perils of pregnancy and childbirth in the 1700s. In keeping with the time and the rate of infant mortality, we suffer with Mary each time she loses a precious child.
Men such as Captain Richard Derby and George Crowninshield travel the sea in search of foreign ports, while women like Mary, Lydia, and Eliza hold their families together in this intricate and expertly crafted story.
Wagner-Wright breathes life into the world through the vernacular of the time and rich descriptions of the dress, table settings, and social decorum, developing a vivid view of Colonial America. These descriptions fascinate readers with the daily lives of merchants and colonists during the time, and the narrative surrounds us with the commerce and influencers of Salem’s politics.
This story shines a light on famed historical events such as the Boston Tea Party, filling them with the personal stakes of Salem’s central figures. These moments come to life through the eyes of the Derby and Crowninshield families.
Ambition, Arrogance and Pride immerses us in the lives of families tied by love and marriage as they vie for power, wealth, and status in a volatile and ever-changing world. The Author’s Notes, and Glossary of Terms are filled with fascinating information that helps readers navigate the specific discourse of the time.
Wagner-Wright’s writing earns a five-star review and will surely delight history buffs and readers of Americana everywhere.
This is only the third year that we have celebrated June 19th as a federal holiday. We commemorate the June 19, 1865 proclamation that freed enslaved peoples in Texas. Texas then, in 1979, became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday. Way to go Texas! You can learn more about Juneteenth here.
Let us celebrate all that Juneteenth teaches us about our country’s greatness in our use of the heart to hear and to learn and to work together for all that is good and just. John Albuquerque
Even better, there’s a book called Juneteenth written by Ralph Ellison and published posthumously. While the book takes place in the 1950s and not 1865, it still seems like a worthwhile read.
“A stunning achievement . . . Juneteenth is a tour de force of untutored eloquence. Ellison sought no less than to create a Book of Blackness, a literary composition of the tradition at its most sublime and fundamental.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Time
2023 Thus Far Before Juneteenth
Thinking back through the past years so far, one of the most resonant things that’s happened is the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson’s record is a superb example of excellence. The decision was not without some controversy, as often can happen with the charged political climate in the United States. Thankfully, we have the wise words of Dr. Janice Ellis to help contextualize more of the thought process behind Justice Jackson. You can read our article on Dr. Ellis’s publication here, and the publication itself here.
As we continue to work to be the best society we can be today, we may often wonder what does the future hold?
Stacey Abrams made a surprise appearance in Star Trek: Discovery as President of Earth
We may not have the answers, but we do have some excellent books that we think are worth giving a read in the spirit of Juneteenth!
SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION: How Real Advocacy Journalism™ Should be Practiced By Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D. Nellie Bly Grand Prize
Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D., introduces the journalistic theories of Walter Lippmann in her new non-fiction work, Shaping Public Opinion: How Real Advocacy Journalism™ Should be Practiced.
Walter Lippmann, considered one of the foremost journalists in the field over the last 100 years, was a mentor in absentia of Dr. Ellis in the art of advocacy journalism. During Lippmann’s 40+ year career, his columns were syndicated in over 250 newspapers nationwide and over 25 other international news and information outlets. Lippman focused on the ethical dissemination of information, especially about communities, society, and the world. A theory, which Dr. Ellis calls Real Advocacy Journalism™.
Real Advocacy Journalism™ theory pertains to foundational behavior and ethical standing for those who report on, translate, and share information with the masses. This theory identifies the tension between individualism and collectivism, the private sector and public sector, the ruling elite, and the dormant masses.
Here is a link to an article by Janice Ellis that published in the renown Missouri Independent, June 6, 2022: “What is the state of the Black family unit in America today?”
TROUBLE the WATER By Rebecca Dwight Bruff Overall Chanticleer Grand Prize
Robert Smalls’ life should have been one for the history books.
Smalls was born a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1839. When the first shots of the Civil War were fired upon Fort Sumter, Smalls was an experienced helmsman aboard a small cargo ship plying the coastal waters of South Carolina and the neighboring states. Once the war broke out, he found himself working to support a cause that kept him, his wife, and their children locked in chattel slavery.
But in a daring escapade that fell somewhere between a raid and a rescue, Smalls planned, with the help of his fellow crew members (also slaves) aboard the CSS Planter, to abscond with the ship, its cargo of munitions taken from Fort Sumter, and bring their families. The plan was to sail the ship as though its white officers were still on board, pretending to be carrying out their orders—at least until the ship was out of the reach of Fort Sumter’s guns.
PRISON From The INSIDE OUT: One Man’s Journey from a Life Sentence to Freedom By William “Mecca” Elmore & Susan Simone Nellie Bly Grand Prize Winner
Prison from Inside Out: One Man’s Journey from a Life Sentence to Freedom is an illuminating chronicle that tells the story of a man who not only survived the stoniest soil but used his experiences to thrive as a human being.
This arresting memoir is essentially a road trip of William ‘Mecca’ Elmore, a man with a tumultuous childhood, growing up in a neighborhood chock full of social problems. It is in this environment that Elmore is involved in a crime that consequently leads to his arrest and trial. The story builds upon his incarceration in various correctional facilities, his experiences, his release through a Mutual Agreement Parole Program, and his eventual redemption.
MYSTERY in HARARE: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa By M.J. Simms-Maddox M&M First Place Winner
In M.J. Simms-Maddox’s atmospheric thriller, Mystery in Harare: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa, a former legislative aide’s wedding day turns deadly.
As the second installment of The Priscilla Trilogy opens, Priscilla J. readies to walk down the aisle in an American church to marry Jonathan. Not the man of her dreams, but the man she believes may be right for her. Love isn’t exactly on the table, but Priscilla hopes it will be in the future.
Before she can even take her vows, her soon-to-be husband is murdered in cold blood in front of her and those in attendance. Priscilla catches a glimpse of the murderer before succumbing to unconsciousness. She’s been drugged, and the kidnappers will confound and surprise readers.
One young Black woman turns detective when she realizes her family is in jeopardy in Abena Sankofa’s debut novel, Up North.
Teenage songbird Phyllis Joiner dreamed of one day seeing the glamorous North. But when her Uncle has been apprehended for an alleged crime, her wish may be about to be granted in the most distressing manner, beginning in 1933.
Phyllis Joiner always managed to get in trouble in one form or other. But she has no idea what ‘trouble’ will look like. Nineteen-year-old Phyllis is well-known for her spirited singing and piano playing in her Pa’s joint – “Daddy Joiner’s” local Music Club in Colchester County, Louisiana. But the Joiners live in a county where black schools do not go beyond the middle grade, and white supremacy rules the land.
A young woman strives to survive without a home, even as she must fight herself and her instincts, in Jus Breathe by B. Lynn Carter.
“It’s more like I walked away,” I said, fractured memories of the day I left surging into my mind. “My mother married herself a husband. It’s like the tale of the evil stepfather, I guess.” The words were spilling out. “On the first day that we moved in with him, he almost broke my jaw. So I left. She had to let me; you know – the survival thing. She knew. We both knew.”
In New York City during the tempestuous 1960s, Dawn flees an abusive family situation after her father leaves the family and her mother remarries. Determined to stay in education, she couch-surfs with friends and explores her contacts through school. Dawn manages to live and even graduate. With the help of sympathetic teachers and a social worker who believes in her, she goes to college. Dawn finds friends and boyfriends and makes her own way toward adulthood.
HOMEGOING
By Toni Ann Johnson
Shorts Grand Prize Winner
Homegoing by Toni Ann Johnson is an intimate portrait of a middle-aged African-American woman dragging herself hand over hand out of grief and despair.
This story begins with her aching, echoing pain after the one-two punch of a miscarriage and the dissolution of her marriage. Her journey takes her back to the upper-middle-class white suburb where she grew up, through childhood memories that refuse to be denied and to, of all times and places, a funeral.
Something and someone is supposed to be buried. Certainly the deceased. But quite possibly the woman who has held on to her losses and her grudges long enough to poison her own future.
Thank you for joining us for this Chanticleer Article Celebrating Juneteenth!
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The Black Foster Youth Handbook: 50+ Lessons I Learned to successfully Age-Out of Foster Care and Holistically Heal is a distinguished compilation of award-winning author Ángela Quijada-Banks’ insights, seeking to assist those in foster care to stay optimistic and triumph over traumatic experiences.
The text features the author’s candid revelations regarding the disarray she encountered in foster care and the overwhelming emotional roller coaster she underwent through family upheavals and a heart-breaking rift between her siblings.
Foster care had seen her forget her goals and aspirations, as traumas and emotional misfortunes spread their venom in her soul. Banks had found herself misplaced, perplexed, wounded, irate, and unloved. Her background, past wounds, and pessimistic beliefs ruled over her. In a painful recap, she reveals how she became accustomed to constant alarming incidents, creating in her a perpetual state of survival.
But a deep longing for conquest in life kept burning in her heart.
Achieving that conquest would prove trickier with time, as she struggled to figure out her path. Readers will find Banks’s R.E.A.L Success Model a gem that will help them understand the basics of foster care, the implications of having healthy relationships, the kind of people one should reach out to in case of a problem, and how to attain a stable life of success.
This resourceful read has ably uncovered what numerous children experience in unfamiliar foster care settings, such as mistrust and fear of encountering a trauma they have already gone through.
Banks explains how adopting such cynical sentiments blocked her from certain blessings and people who were willing to help her into a quicker recovery. Her open confessions are bound to leave readers more open-minded, honest, and ready to come out of complicated matters, regardless of their years, gender, ethnicity, or religion. This book meticulously uncovers little-spoken traps that numerous people have fallen into, such as seeking guidance and counsel from relatives or friends who don’t have truthful insight to offer.
The Black Foster Youth Handbook’s substantial content will inspire readers to check whether their thoughts, actions, and beliefs are being powered by love or by fear. Its lessons will benefit many readers, primarily those who have gone through young childhood traumas and torment. Thought-provoking illustrations from Banks’ life journal deepen the impact of these lessons, highlighting the importance of each personal choice on the road to healing and restoration. This powerful handbook will guide its audience to aim for progression, rather than perfection.
In my present career move from visual storytelling to writing, I am finding all things Chanticleer to be so helpful and positive! I’m working on the final draft of a biography (met my editor at CAC 22), and I’m in the middle of a memoir about growing up with an animator dad in LA and back-to-the-lander mom. I plan on sending the biography over to you soon for a Chanticleer Review, publishing through Village Books’ Independent Publishing program. An expensive year for me!
CAC 2023 was a spectacular gathering of world renown authors. Contestants arrived from Australia, India, Portugal, Korea, and across the United States to the beauty of the San Juans and the warmth of the Chanticleer staff. Every workshop I was lucky enough to attend was exceptional, well organized, timely and extremely informative. The level of expertise from attorney Maggie Marr, to the inspiring class on script writing, the panels on AI, or marketing, to mention a few, lent to a well balanced mix of information for any level of story teller in the ever evolving self-published industry. Plus, the smaller size of this conference allowed incredible exchanges between knowledgeable writers offering their time and support.
Hats off to Kiffer and Andy Brown along with their outstanding and talented team for their years of believing in and supporting the journey of our profession.
I am writing to thank you for the outstanding event put on by Chanticleer. I was excited to attend the event before I arrived, but truly surprised by how wonderful it turned out to be. The Bellwether was a great location. I loved the convenience of the session locations, and the presenters were very knowledgeable and open. It’s hard to choose a favorite!
The organization of the events was spot-on. The way you present the awards made everything so fun and exciting, with suspenseful build-up over the three days leading up to the final awards banquet. It was so fun! In fact, seeing other writers enjoy the experience was a blast. I made some great, new friends!
All that being said, there was one more occurrence that really took me by surprise. There is a true camaraderie among the authors, presenters, and Chanticleer staff. I was not expecting that! It was so wonderful to become a part of that group! Every author cheered on every other author. I have never seen that at any other conference before.
Now I’m a proud member of the Roost, and I look forward to hearing from Chanticleer. Thank you again for putting on such a fun and detail-oriented event.
Wow…….. Thank you so much!!! I am so honored and excited to be part of the finalist!!! I have many books in the works so this is a great start. The first book talks a lot about basic things in life but they are important habits cause it affects us so much. Wow… You made my day!!!
Tana Hope – Author of Healthy Habits For Desk Potatoes
Amazing.
Wow…….. Thank you so much!!! I am so honored and excited to be part of the finalist!!! I have many books in the works so this is a great start. The first book talks a lot about basic things in life but they are important habits cause it affects us so much. Wow… You made my day!!!