The clock is ticking… you’re working on a deadline while your husband is across town, picking up the kids. You’ve taken the day off and gone to the cabin. You have to write that last chapter … the one that will get your work noticed, like J.D. Barker or Stephen King kind of noticed.
Then the inexplicable happens, as you type in the very last line and hit return, your screen goes black. You reach to plug in your computer, but it’s already plugged in… You jiggle the cords. You hit ESC. You hit RETURN. You unplug the thing and plug it back in again. Nothing. You do a hard reset…
This time the screen powers on and a thin line travels across the middle of it. Then words appear…
Don’t let this happen to you! Turn in your High-Stakes Thriller, your Chillers, your multiple Killers for a chance at the prize! But one thing is certain, if you don’t enter, you won’t have a chance of winning!
We also had Cybertech Thrillers and Political Thrillers such as John Trudel’sRaven’s Resurrectionand the Raven’s Series.
Here’s your assignment, if you choose to accept it…
Submit your Thrillers in the following categories by November 30, 2019, for a chance to bring home a First in Category WIN the 2019 CIBAs in Global Thrillers – or a Grand Prize – or maybe even the Overall Grand Prize!
Tellables is accepting stories with a HOLIDAY theme for any holiday occurring between November and January 1st in any country!
The WINNING HOLIDAY DOUBLE CHOCOLATE STORIES will be published on Amazon’s ALEXA and will receive CASH prizes! There is NO entry fee.
Tellables is seeking individual chocolate stories on their My Box of Chocolates voice app.
My Box of Chocolates voice app pairs delicious virtual chocolates with bite-sized stories.
The stories in the My Box of Chocolates voice experience run less than two minutes. Each one is narrated by an imaginary chocolatier, using a synthetic text-to-speech voice (not human recordings). The storylines generally revolve around interesting or humorous occurrences involving the customers in the chocolate shop.
Conversational Stories – a new voice-driven platform in story telling.
The stories Tellables publishes in their voice app are not “audio stories.” They are “conversational.” What’s special about these stories?
Conversational Storytelling is made possible by platforms such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. The underlying technology allows a storyteller to pose questions to the listener and understand the listener’s spoken response. For us, conversational stories are spoken narratives where the narrator interacts directly with the listener. This interaction can take many forms, but it generally involves drawing the listener into a conversation by asking a question related to the story.
We are excited to announce the Tellables Holiday writing contest. As with their Halloween Writing Contest, they are looking for stories they can publish on their “My Box of Chocolates” voice/audio experience on Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant’s Okay Google app.
The individual chocolate stories Tellables publishes in their voice app are “bite-sized,” with a maximum of 280 words. Sometimes, however, they publish stories in two parts. Part 1 and Part 2 are each represented in our virtual chocolate assortment by two pieces of the same type of candy. The listener needs to hear both candies in order to get the full story.
For the Holiday Writing Contest, Tellables is looking for two-part stories. Each part (piece!) should have a maximum of 280 words. Visit the Tellables’ website for more information and to enter! http://tellables.com/blog/
Voice technology offers new and exciting opportunities for storytellers and readers. Passive listening is no longer the only option. Now two-way communication between the storyteller and listener is possible.
This is a great opportunity to dip your toes into the emerging world of voice technology!
A little bit more information about the Emerging Voice-Driven Devices and the Opportunities They Offer for Writers
Voice assistants like Amazon Alexa are equipped with powerful speech recognition and language understanding. We leverage these technologies to help authors and storytellers engage audiences in new and exciting ways.
While it’s still early days for voice technology, sales continue to grow for both the Amazon Echo and the Google Assistant line of smart speakers and smart displays. Consumers seem unfazed by media reports of privacy infringements, so it appears these devices are here to stay.
Voice technology offers new and exciting opportunities for storytellers and readers. Passive listening is no longer the only option. Now two-way communication between the storyteller and listener is possible.
Tellables has created a platform for “conversational storytelling,” where brief stories are followed by interactive questions. This two-way communication draws the listener more deeply into the story.
I met Amy Stapleton, the CEO ofTellables, at the 2019 Digital Book World that took place in Nashville, Tenn. The Tellables’ exhibitor booth was adjacent to ours so we met and chatted. When she informed me about their contest for content, I knew that it would be a perfect opportunity for some Chanticleerians to experiment with Voice technology. So without further ado…
For those of you who are not familiar with the Digital Book World conference, it is mainly a business-to-business conference that specializes in content distribution and platforms that include books, ebooks, digital books, audiobooks, podcasts, audiovisual delivery, blockchain, voice, and other media delivery systems.
And since Chanticleer prides itself on expanding the digital footprint of the authors who use our services, we’ve found DBW to be indispensable for keeping us updated on the latest in publishing technologies so we may inform you, dear writer and reader.
“Publishing is at the epicenter of digital disruption.”Paul Michelman, MIT & MIT Sloan
As always, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions. Or leave a comment below.
When it comes to fantasy novels, one thing is certain, as was famously said in the venerated musical, The Music Man, “You gotta know the territory.”
Author S.J. Hartland clearly does.
In The Last Seer King, the second volume in her Shadow Sword epic fantasy series, the creates a world with a granular intensity that envelopes the reader from page one. You see this world clearly in all its dark details. You also feel the power, the all-too-human intricacies of its leading characters. This is a world that feels authentic, as though the writer lived there and let us see it as clearly as her own first-person experience. Simply put, it works.
There are well-developed characters here who fight on despite their emotional challenges. Dannon, who, despite his prowess on battlefields, yearns to belong to a people, to someone. Kaell, who dies and whose soul enters into the body of a woman who is coveted by a male warrior. The woman just happens to be the dead sister of the king of the Isles. Can Kaell possibly be a woman to a man when he is still a man and a warrior?
What is less straightforward is summarizing the plot. Hartland helps us with the book’s logline: “It’s the secrets we hide from ourselves that gives others power…” Dark? Yes! Foreboding? Absolutely! It’s everything we love about S. J. Hartland and more.
Readers are gifted a 600-page second in the series novel with dark and twisted plots and characters that would sooner kill you than look at you. There are warring territories, each with their own agendas. The leading characters come into this story with the ancient battles of their people still fresh in mind. Heath, Kaell, Vraymorg (also known as Val Arques) and Dannon, are constantly in some state of flux with each other. There is magic at hand: the power to insert one’s essence into the body of another, the ability to be both a human and a blood-sucking ghoul, the creation of “death riders” who live on and do their evil for centuries.
This is rich and delicious stuff, made more so by a full cast of characters and their interwoven relationships. The glossary of characters at the end of the book, listed by their “tribes,” and a drill-down of their familial relations, is a major Rosetta Stone for readers to better understand what is happening. Trying to understand these relationships without it adds a layer of difficulty in reading this compelling, and oftentimes, complicated book. Besides, you want to know every detail, right?
Another helpful tip: read, The 19th Bladesman, (The Shadow Sword series Book 1) that introduces the major characters in The Last Seer King. And be prepared to pick up the third book in the series due to be released in 2020.
For readers who love fantasy, this novel is clearly a strong contender for a reader’s attention, in much the same way Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, or J.R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. Simply put, The Last Seer King by S. J. Hartland is an exciting well-crafted, epic-fantasy worthy of your time.
If you are partaking in NaNoWriMo, then you have made past the halfway mark by now. Congratulations!
We hope that this article will provide prompting to spur you on to the finish line!
The best fiction touches the deep layers in us. A writer achieves this effect by embedding dozens of techniques into his or her story. – Jessica P. Morrell
Dramatic Question
Compelling fiction is based on a single, powerful question that must be answered by the story climax.
This question will be dramatized chiefly via action in a series of events or scenes.
Examples:
If you are writing a romance, the question always involves whether the couple will resolve their differences and declare their love.
In a mystery the dramatic question might be will Detective Smith find the serial killer in time to prevent another senseless death?
In The Old Man and Sea, the dramatic question is will Santiago catch the big fish and thus restore his pride and reputation?
Assignments:
What is the dramatic question in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?
What is the dramatic question in Stephanie Myers’ Twilight Saga?
An intimate world isn’t created by merely piling on details.
It means your story world has the resonance of childhood memories, the vividness of a dream, and the power of a movie.
An intimate, simmering world is filled in with shadows and corners and dogs and ice cubes and the sounds and smells of a dryer humming on wash day and a car blaring past, with pop music shaking the windows. These details lend it authority, potency, and a palpable physical existence.
Diana Gabaldon’s The Outlander Series simmering details make this time-travel, fantasy, horror, science fiction extremely believable and immersive fiction.
Outlander — Diana Gabaldon’s details make for immersive fiction
An intimate story takes us to a specific place and coaxes us to remain there. An intimate story is lifelike and feels as real and complicated as the world the reader inhabits. When he finishes the final pages, and leaves the story world, he should feel the satisfaction of the ending, but also a huge sense of loss. Like a friend has moved to another town just when the friendship had reached a level of closeness and trust. – Jessica P. Morrell
Characters Built from Dominant Traits
Create main characters with dominant and unforgettable traits as a foundation of personality.
These traits will be showcased in the story events, will help him achieve or fail at goals, and will make the story person consistent.
For example, Sherlock Holmes’ dominant traits are that he is analytical, Bohemian, opinionated and intelligent. These traits are showcased in every story he appears in along with secondary and contrasting traits. When the character first appears in the first scene, he arrives in the story with his dominant traits intact.
Outlander’s Claire and Jamie.
Lord of the Rings‘ Gandolf
Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours’ villain Georgia Tann
The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
Emotional Need
The protagonists and main characters are people with baggage and emotional needs stemming from their pasts. These needs, coupled with motivation cause characters to act as they do.
For example, in Silence of the Lambs Clarisse Starling is propelled by childhood traumas to both succeed and heal the wounds caused by the death of her father.
Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite in his The Tracy Crosswhite series.
Significance
The storyline focuses on the most significant events in the protagonist’s life.
Example: Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite searches for the killer of her sister in his The Tracy Crosswhite series.
Craig Johnson’s Longmire series – Sheriff Walt Longmire whose wife was murdered.
Motivation Entwined with Backstory
Motivation, the why? of fiction, is at the heart of every scene, fueling your character’s desires and driving him to accomplish goals.
Motivation provides a solid foundation for the often complicated reasons for your character’s behaviors choices, actions, and blunders.
Motivating factors provide trajectories for character development, as a character’s past inevitably intersects with his present.
Your character’s motivations must be in sync with his core personality traits and realistically linked to goals so that readers can take on these goals as their own.
Desire
Desire is the lifeblood of fictional characters.
Not only do your characters want something, but they also must want something badly.
You can bestow on your character flaming red hair, an endearing, crooked grin and a penchant for chocolate and noir movies, but if she doesn’t want something badly, she’s merely a prop in your story, not a driving force. But if she wants to win the Miss Florida contest, take over her boss’ job, or become the first female shortstop for the Atlanta Braves, then you’ve got a character who will make things happen and a story that will be propelled by desire.
The Ring from Lord of the Rings is a perfect example of a symbol of desire on so many different levels.
Frodo and The Ring – LOTR by J.R.R. Tolkein
Threat
Fiction is based on a series of threatening changes inflicted on the protagonist.
In many stories, these threats force him or her to change or act in ways he or she needs to change or act.
Often too, what the protagonist fears most is what is showcased in a novel or short story. It can be fear of losing his family, job, or health with a dreaded outcome.
Fear of losing to a threat or threats provide interest, action, and conflict.
Causality
Events in fiction are never random or unconnected. They are always linked by causality with one event causing more events later in the story, which in turn causes complications, which cause more events, which cause bad decisions, etc.
A fictional character doesn’t arrive at easy decisions or choices.
Instead, he is burdened by difficult or impossible choices, particularly moral choices, that often make him doubt himself and question his actions.
Inner conflict works in tandem with outer conflict—a physical obstacle, villain or antagonist–to make the story more involving, dramatic, and events more meaningful.
Complications
A story builds and deepens by adding complications, twists, reversals, and surprises that add tension and forward motion.
Plots don’t follow a straight path. Instead, there are zigzags, dead ends, and sidetracks.
Complications create obstacles and conflict, cause decisions to be made, paths to be chosen.
My favorite complication is one from Notting Hill when Spike is standing outside in his underwear strutting around with the paparazzi going wild for a peek at Anna Scott. How could Anna and William ever expect that complication?
A complication from Notting Hill – the film.
Midpoint Reversal
The middle of a novel comprises more than half its length.
At about the midpoint of most novels, a dramatic reversal occurs. The hunter becomes the hunted; a second murder occurs proving the detective has been wrong in his suspicions; a former lover arrives in town to complicate a budding romance.
This reversal keeps the middle from bogging down and becoming predictable and also breathes new life and often a new direction into the story.
Satisfying Ending
Every story needs an ending that satisfies the reader while concluding the plot.
A satisfying ending does not have to be “happy” or victorious or riding off into the sunset.
The final scenes, when the tensions are red hot and the character has reached a point of no return, must deliver drama, emotion, yet a logical conclusion.
This is not to suggest that every plot ends with a shoot-out or physical confrontation.
Some endings are quieter, more thoughtful. Some endings are ambivalent, some a dramatic or a violent clash of wills.
However, there is always a sense that all the forces that have been operating in your story world have finally come to a head and the protagonist’s world is forever changed.
We are cheering you on to the Finish Line! You can do it!
Jessica Page Morrell
Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart. Jessica
Jessica Morrell is a top-tier developmental editor and a contributor to Chanticleer Reviews Media and to the Writer’s Digest magazine. She teaches Master Writing Craft Classes at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that is held annually along with teaching at Chanticleer writing workshops that are held throughout the year.
Kiffer Brown
Keep creating magic! Kiffer
Kathryn (Kiffer) Brown is CEO and co-founder of Chanticleer Reviews and Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards (The CIBAs) thatDiscover Today’s Best Books. She founded Chanticleer Reviews in 2010 to help authors to unlock the secrets of successful publishing and to enhance book discoverability. She is also a scout for select literary agencies, publishing houses, and entertainment producers.
Chanticleer Editorial Services – when you are ready
Did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services? We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Tools of the Editing Trade
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
Avanti Centrae takes readers on an action-packed gallop around the globe in her debut award-winning novel, VanOps: The Lost Power.
Maddy Marshall, 31-year-old app designer and aikido instructor, and her twin brother, Will, have been summoned to their father’s Napa Valley winery. He has something important he needs to tell them.
The estranged twins haven’t seen each other in a while. Will, now in Brazil and newly married, has brought his wife Maria with him. As Will and Maddy catch up in the driveway, a shot rings out. They rush into the house to find their father and Maria have been shot. Maria is dead. Their father clings to life long enough to pass along a family secret. They witness a blond man racing away from the winery in a black BMW.
Will and Maddy are descendants of the Argones bloodline and related to the current king of Spain, and now they must seek out a woman, a lawyer whom their father trusted, to receive the first clue in a quest to fulfill their birthright.
On their way to the lawyer’s office, Will and Maddy are ambushed by the same blond man they’re sure murdered their father and Maria. After a short chase, they evade him when his car crashes through a guardrail, plummets to the bottom of a ravine and bursts into flame. Will and Maddy waste no time hightailing it to the lawyer’s office, relieved to have the killer off their trail.
The lawyer has a package for each of them, filled with gold, diamonds, cash, and a letter. The letter tells them they are to use the money to fund their quest, which begins in Spain, where their great uncle, the king, will give them their first clue. They are to find an ancient relic of great power that has been safeguarded by their family for centuries. They must not only unravel the clues as to its location but must also pass a series of tests along the way designed to show they are worthy of possessing so much power.
As Maddy glances out the window, she is shocked to see the blond sniper charging the stairs of the lawyer’s office. They hastily escape out the back door. How did he get a car? How did he track them? Is his interest in them somehow linked to the relic? And how would he even know of its existence?
Will and Maddy need a place to hide out, someplace safe where they can rest and think. They destroy their cell phones just in case that’s how they’ve been tracked and decide to head to Lake Tahoe and their old childhood home. While in Tahoe, they bump into an old friend from high school, Bear Thorenson. Bear used to have a crush on Maddy back in the day, though she never encouraged his affection. He is now a Marine and filled out quite a bit. They soon find out he’s also a history buff. Will and Maddy confide in him about the mysterious man on their tail. Bear agrees to accompany them to offer protection. And the trio is soon off for Spain.
Avanti Centrae has a knack for keeping the action moving and keeping her characters in peril. The stakes are high, and there’s no telling what’s around the next corner. If you fall in love with the characters, this is the first in a series so you will be able to get your next fix in the near future.
Van Ops: The Lost Power won Grand Prize in the 2017 CIBAs for Paranormal novels.
For untold millennia, the region that would come to be known as Whatcom was occupied by the indigenous conglomerate of tribes known as the Salish, who were peaceful and civilized. The Nooksack, who are a part of the Coast Salish, spent their time fishing, building canoes, weaving, and farming. In the 1850s, that began to change as the native peoples had to learn to co-exist with a new incursion of settlers—hardy people from the Eastern states and as far away as Europe.
They came to the region with the lure of inexpensive land ownership that had been made possible by the Homestead Act. A few had drifted in earlier when false rumors of gold were sounded, those early explorations revealing arable land and an abundance of natural resources.
Early homesteaders found the resources both sustaining and at times, daunting. For example, the trees themselves were so enormous that felling them was perilous, and logjams were frequent, cutting off the river’s flow. The winters were harsh and the summers, bug-infested. But families like the Galbraiths (the author’s ancestors) were hardy and determined. By the early 1900s, a thriving town had been established.
Readers who think of the early 20th century as ancient times will be surprised by Hellyer’s lively account of how an organized and industrious outpost developed out of a nearly uninhabited wilderness. Not long after the first settlers arrived, cabins and then houses soon bloomed into handsome estates, some of which still stand today in Acme and elsewhere. Along with the settlers came schools and school districts. Roads changed from dirt trails to cement highways, while railroads transported logs and shingles out and new visitors in. Modern conveniences such as a town water system, churches, electricity, and the postal service arrived to make life easier. Readers will be amused by the telephones, with party lines that allowed everyone in the community to know everyone else’s business.
People of Acme had to travel to a dentist, and, for a while, the town had a doctor who dealt with a variety of contagious diseases, delivered babies, and reattached severed fingers. At one time, citizens also had access to a local pharmacy to help with their aches and pains. Acme’s General Merchandise store sold everything from dry goods to salt meats, run by the Zobrist family, original settlers of the South Fork region. Recreation for the fully established town included hiking trips, concerts, and dances open to “woodmen and the general public.”
Hellyer was born in Whatcom County and has remained, pursuing a career in graphic design while enjoying a personal interest in photography and writing about local history. Her family photos and recollections are a small but significant part of this story. Illustrated with black and white images on nearly every page, Hellyer’s historical account of the settling of the South Fork will enthrall both a regional audience and those curious about American pioneering in the Great Pacific Northwest.
The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of middle-grade readers, fiction and non-fiction, that compel children to read and explore. The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs).
Named in honor of the author of the quintessential children’s series – The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Warner.
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 eight to twelve. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Adventure we will put them to the test and choose the best Middle-Grade Books among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards LONG LIST and now have progressed to the 2019 SHORTLIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. The Semi-Finalists will be announced and recognized at the CAC20 banquet and ceremony. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 16 CIBA divisions Semi-Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
These titles have been Shortlisted for the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Fiction
Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
Joyce Major – The Orangutan Rescue Gang
Nancy McDonald – Boy from Berlin
Veronica Myers – Flight of Maldar
B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Serious Business
B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Minor Misdemeanors
Mobi Warren – The Bee Maker
Amber L. Wyss – Phoenix Rising
Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Tudor Rose
Sue Bough – Norman Snodgrass Saves the Green Planet
Kit Bakke – Dancing on the Edge
M.J. Evans – PINTO!
M.J. Evans – The Stone of Wisdom – Book 4 of the Centaur Chronicles
Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate
Lis Anna-Langston – Maya Loop
Lexi Rees – Eternal Seas
Catherine Mallette – Don’t Ask Me
Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Volcano
Diane Rios – Return of the Evening Star
C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
Kay M. Bates’ – ‘B’ is for Baylee
Alexander Usher – Katie Hope: Blood Bonds
Susan Brown – Sammy and the Devil Dog
Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Pyramid
Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale
L.S. Barron – Harper T and the Timewave
Maria Ashworth – SUSHI KITTY
Gregory Saur – Diving Catch
Liana Gardner – 7th Grade Revolution
Liana Gardner – The Journal of Angela Ashby
L.M. Kemp – Skye’s Journey
Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
Leanne M. Pankuch – Dragon’s Truth
Alex Paul – The Valley of Death, Book 5, Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers?
These titles are in the running for the Semi-Finalists positions of the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers.
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
The 16 divisions of the 2019 CIBAs’Grand Prize Winners and the Five First Place Category Position award winners along with recognizing the Semi-Finalists will be announced at theApril 18th, 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Awards Gala,which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2020 Gertrude Warner Awards Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is May 30th, 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2021.
Honoring those who are serving, have served, and those who have fallen while in military service is a tradition here at Chanticleer Reviews.
With Appreciation and Gratitude to Veterans who are actively serving and have served. THANK YOU!
Writing is known to be a “transformative therapy’ for veterans haunted by their experiences. “The Red Badge Project encourages Wounded Warriors to rediscover their personal voice and realize the value of their experiences and emotions.”
“RBP partners with Vet Centers and allows Veterans of all ages to take advantage of the Red Badge Project’s program while providing a link between veterans of multiple generations.”
Using the creative process of storytelling, Wounded Warriors begin to rebuild their individual sense of purpose and unique individuality.
For Wounded Warriors struggling to heal the invisible wounds of PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression, believing in the value of their story and finding the means to communicate it to family, friends, and community is a struggle of heroic proportions. Tom Skerritt is a founder and is part of the Red Badge Project faculty.
We here at Chanticleer Reviews have had the honor of reviewing top novels and narrative non-fiction written by outstanding authors whose stories enlighten, remind, empathize, and creates a better understanding with those who have served in the armed forces.
Michael M. Van Ness, the grandson of “the general in command,” has created a remarkable biography chronicling the adventures of a farm boy who rose high rank in the US military and served with distinction in two world wars as a combatant, officer, and sage observer.
Van Ness served in the Navy in a medical capacity and shares a deep understanding of his outstanding forebear in this well-organized life story, which offers a thorough, thoughtful exploration of the many issues that arose during his grandfather’s wartime service.
World War II veteran Quinton Kelley recounted his life story to an avid biographer – his daughter, S. L. Kelley, a documentarian and award-winning video producer. “…it took all of our personal sacrifices to go from war to peace.” Quinton Kelley
A Red Cross nurse finds herself in a refugee camp on Cambodia’s Thai border, in the midst of the war between the Vietnamese and Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge. The courage and resilience of the Cambodians survivors who serve with her, their beauty in the midst of the horrendous conditions shine through, even as the camp itself becomes torn by war. Harvey draws a vivid picture of contrasts: the abysmal conditions of the camp with the green of the surrounding rice fields, the terrors of the Pol Pot regime with the loyal gentleness of the individual Cambodians who serve with her.
“A very personal, no-holds-barred yet ultimately empowering discussion of PTSD and its effects on those who suffer from it.” – CBR
The book has been written in a ‘How To’ format for combat soldiers which is reflected in examples and language.
“I went away to war one person and came back another, and in my wildest dreams would never have chosen to be the one who came back…I was a twenty-year-old Warrant Officer Helicopter Pilot fresh out of flight school when I arrived in South Vietnam in May of 1969 and was assigned to B Troop 7/17 Air Cav in Pleiku. I joined the Scout Platoon and spent my entire tour as a Scout Pilot in the Central Highlands, and in that time saw my friends killed, captured, wounded and lose their minds.”
Rhyan served nearly twenty years in the US Navy as a nurse, her final deployment taking place in Afghanistan to a medical unit run by the British where Rhyan upheld her duties to aid others, while inwardly feeling unprotected and helpless. After witnessing the many tragedies of war, primary among them multiple amputations, she comes home scarred in mind. Her trauma becomes so obvious that she is sent to a special private unit.
Rhyan’s memoir is frank, insightful, and a powerful reminder of the toll taken by those who wrestle with the fallout of the carnage of war. She also reminds us of the resiliency of the human spirit and the power of hope.
This ground-breaking initiativeoffers advice and hope to those who are trying to understand and cope with war’s many aftershocks.
“The critical issues surrounding post-traumatic stress among America’s wounded warriors is expanded here to include the challenges and concerns of military wives and families.
Barbara McNally was working as a physical therapist when she watched helplessly as a man jumped off a bridge to his death. Feeling involved in his tragedy, she learned he was a wounded veteran. The experience spurred her to find out more about PTS and its effects on those who have participated in war. Gradually her attention focused on the plight of the wives of these wounded military survivors.”
If you have a moment, take time to watchthis videothat offers an intimate look into the chaotic and demanding lives of military spouses as they adjust to living with mentally and physically injured combat veterans. Please feel free to share.
Fiction – Veterans Day Reads
In honor of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good, we are suggesting these three titles from among authors who are Veterans.
Dog Soldier Moon by McKendree Long
“Long goes far beyond the simplistic notion of the Civil War as told in American history texts to accurately portray the daily challenges faced by homesteading families, freed slaves, American Indians robbed of their ancestral lands, and ex-soldiers who face the disrespect of the Union army. Heart-warming and at times hilarious adventures are juxtaposed with gritty and emotionally wrenching moments such as Custer’s 1868 attack on Chief Black Kettle’s Cheyenne camp at Washita… Author McKendree Long displays a natural gift for storytelling.” Click here to read the full review.
McKendree R. (Mike) Long III is a former soldier whose awards and decorations include the Parachutist’s Badge, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Silver Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry (Gold and Silver Stars).
Tarnished Hero by Jim Gilliam
“It is when Kelly accepts an open invitation to spend some time in Guzman’s drug palace in Northern Mexico that his code of “trusting friends first” will force him to face not only the dilemma of a loyalty to be divided between Guzman and Dave Holt, but also of being thrust into a senseless and bloody border war that has more than a few parallels to the Vietnam conflict. As such, Gilliam’s novel stands not only as a complex and intriguing “band of brothers” romp but also as a reflection on the evils of unquestioned authority and corruption.” Click here to read the full review.
Jim Gilliam served on active duty with the Coast Guard from January 1957 until June 1966. In June 1978 he joined the Army as an airborne combat physician assistant. May 2001 he joined the Navy’s Military Sealift Command as a civilian mariner physician assistant. He is a veteran of multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf in support of operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
Measure of Danger by Jay Klages
“Measure of Danger,” Jay Klages’ debut novel is a page-turning techno-thriller written by a former military intelligence officer and a West Point graduate. Klages experience and expertise is revealed with his believable dialog, details, and operative descriptions. The work features military-trained Kade Sims, and his accountant sidekick, Alex Pace; we can’t wait to read what other dangerous puzzles this unlikely dynamic duo will be called on to solve.
Jay Klages is a former military intelligence officer and West Point graduate. He attended the MBA program at Arizona State University, where he successfully deprogrammed himself for service in corporate America. He enjoys desert trail running and is particularly good at falling down.
Three page-turning thriller novels with unlikely heroes that make for great reads –all authored by Veterans!
More outstanding novels!
We are honored of reviewing outstanding works by written by authors, many who are veterans, whose stories enlighten, remind, empathize, and create a better understanding with those who have served in the armed forces. We are honored to share these works with you.
Life on Base: Quantico Cave by Tom and Nancy Wise – a riveting portrayal of the lives of children whose parents serve in the armed forces.
This book not only does an admirable job of giving readers an insight on military base life for youth growing up, but it also gives an accurate portrayal of life as a kid today. Challenges exist, personalities will clash, and there will always be that one person that tends to resort to bullying to prove that he or she is king/queen of the hill.
Authors Tom and Nancy Wise effectively use this book, while telling a suspenseful story, to show middle-grade readers that there are positive ways to handle these situations without sounding preachy or admonishing.
From the riveting opening that takes place in NYC’s Lower East Side’s sweatshops until its gripping conclusion after World War I, this enthralling novel vividly portrays the desperate times of German immigrants landing at Ellis Island in search of a better life intertwined with the story of a young man and his heroic military service during WWI.
Incorporating various themes into his absorbing plot, Phillips highlights the importance of workers’ rights (Triangle Shirtwaist Factory) the Women’s Suffrage movement; and the plight of immigrants, especially during The Great War. Some examples include the use of propaganda against the American Germans (via Liberty Bonds); again, the use of propaganda to boost American support, and the immorality of war.
Brock Harker, World War II fighter pilot returns home to the Pacific Northwest on leave. He’s searching for a little peace once he finds his half Japanese wife who vanished while he was away. What he finds isMurder Beside The Salish Seaby author Jennifer Mueller, who artfully pulls Brock into an intriguing plot that hides the darkest of secrets.
The often-unknown role of women in wartime as travel nurses and pilots, as well as the use of herbs for natural healing, add interesting and relative historical content to this engaging American saga.
The WASP pilots and their active role in the war effort was particularly fascinating reflecting Shawgo’s vigilance with her medical and military history research.
The wide ensnaring net of the aftershocks of war is poignantly portrayed here — powerful and deeply affecting!
Raine wisely expands the narrative of the novel to reveal the wide net of war. Willis is not the only victim; the people in his life experience the after-shocks of fighting as well.
Not to give up on those who have already given up on themselves is the challenge. Raine reminds us that doing so requires a full heart, indeed, a crowded heart.
In a world of half-truths, crooked policemen, spies, and impersonators, the real question is who to trust. Watch Over Me shows a living portrayal of 1940s New York spinning wildly in the madness of espionage, where secrets and sacrifices threaten the bond of love and the hope of family.
The Code Talker Chronicles – by Eileen Charbonneau
While this book focuses on the nurses, the war is never out of the minds of our characters, as letters and news come in detailing the horrors and heartaches of life and death on the battlefields of war. In the end, Hilger has gifted us with a WWII historical fiction with a lighthearted side and an enjoyable sweet romance on the side.
A captivating historical military story that blends genres-crosses through time & space – an intriguing story & well-orchestrated action sequences.
Just a Note from Kiffer Brown:
On a personal note, many of my family members have served their country (many of whom have passed) and are serving their country: my father (Marine Corps, deceased), my brother (Army, with us but 100% disabled), my nephew Robert is currently serving in the Air Force, my dear Aunt Ellen (WWII nurse – she passed away recently), my cousin Billy Wayne (first 100 to die in the USA – Vietnam Conflict), and many other cousins too numerous to mention here.
This is my small way of honoring and recognizing my relatives along with other Veterans for their service to our country.
Thank you for taking the time to read my annual Veterans Day blog post.
World War II veteran Quinton Kelley recounted his life story to an avid biographer – his daughter, S. L. Kelley, a documentarian and award-winning video producer.
Kelley’s tale begins in Coker Creek, Tennessee, where he was raised on an 80-acre farm, in a log cabin that he described as rough, but “brightened” with flowers. Taught to be honest and hardworking by his parents, he grew up with kerosene lamps for light, a fireplace for warmth and a wood stove for cooking. His recollections are colorful, with language that recalls his roots.
As a boy, he wore shoes only to church or to town and attended a church that doubled as a one-room schoolhouse. Everyone in the region knew someone who made moonshine, “a scruffy bunch,” Kelley called them; the local country store had bullet holes in the walls from fights between that bunch and the storekeeper. In his teens, he began work away from the farm, first for a local gold prospector, then for the TVA. Then in 1940 he heard about World War II and knew he’d be drafted.
The second part of the book shows Kelley leaving Coker Creek for Camp Beale, California, where he became the company carpenter. Assigned to an armored division, the former farm boy showed his worth as the only member of his group who did not need the training to drive a tank. He met fellow recruits from all over America, and despite the manly joshing and rough language among them, the boys in his platoon once generously gave him money to get home when his sister was dangerously ill.
He drove into combat, first in France, then in Germany, as part of an initiative that ultimately saw the end of Hitler’s Third Reich. Kelley (who passed away before the publication of his memoir) did not glorify himself in recounting his war exploits, but vividly described what it’s like to sit in a tank, looking at the action through a tiny window, always in danger of being killed while trapped inside the metal box. There’s not much room, he opined, for mistakes in battle.
In his Tennessee argot, he states that combat “made me a bit jubrous.” Still a homeboy at heart, courting a girl by mail, Kelley noted that French and German people were good farmers, though still using horses, and very orderly in their houses and fields. Camped near Berchtesgaden after victory, he refused to go see Hitler’s former hangout: “I didn’t want to waste a minute on that sorry ol’ scudder.” Once back in the US, marriage to his sweetheart soon followed.
Two books in one, this substantial memoir can be read equally avidly by nostalgic southern and mountain folk as a wide-ranging recreation of simpler times, or by anyone who is drawn to tales of war – both the battles and the long days and hours waiting and watching for the next conflict – as seen up close and personal. Using her writer’s instinct and flair, S.L. Kelley has done a remarkable job of combining her father’s spoken words, his accent, and slant, with those of fellow combatants, and others. Her book would make a splendid gift for old-timers, and a wholesome educational read for younger generations who would do well to remember and revere the sacrifices of America’s soldiers, and a heartfelt recollection that those who make history can be kindhearted and good!
Kiffer’s favorite quote from this book: “…it took all of our personal sacrifices to go from war to peace.” Quinton Kelley
A young boy goes on a journey through the solar system searching for the spirit of his sister, discovers the basics of science and spirituality with the help of a mystic teacher and a super-powered cat.
Teddy DeXue’s ride around the universe begins in the summer of 1963, just as his amazing catch wins the Little League Championship for his team. But it doesn’t really start there. It really began the year before when Teddy’s sister Jean died, and his family fractured into broken, grieving pieces.
Teddy has a secret. He believes that his sister is out there, somewhere, and that the moon, the big, bright full moon that helped him make his game-winning catch, is going to help him find her. With training from a mysterious spiritual master, a bit of scientific knowledge gleaned from his dad and guarded by Henry, his strange and slightly super-powered cat, how can he fail?
While his best friend, Tem, thinks that Teddy’s quest is nothing more than wishful thinking, he goes along for the ride – and what a ride it is!
As Teddy searches through the stars for his sister, his engineer father introduces him to scientific concepts about the nature of the universe; even the many ways that light can be refracted, reflected, and split. In his dreams, Master Fu-Hsi teaches him the spiritual side of what his father’s talking about. It’s up to Teddy to put that knowledge together to make his journey into the stars – and back.
The story and the way it proceeds is reminiscent of the way the best-selling novel, Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder introduced young Sophie to the basic concepts and history of philosophy while pulling readers along for the fascinating journey.
There’s also an element of the classic YA SF novel, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle in Teddy’s search among the stars for his lost sister.
The combination of the two elements draws readers on Teddy’s journey as he finds his way to his sister and back. Along the way, he grows up and learns what it is to love, even as his family finds their way back from heartbreak.
Ride the Universe crosses genres of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Philosophy, as it uses those tropes and more than a bit of magical realism to tell its story.
Ride the Universe is a multi-genre novel with heart. Fasten your seatbelt! For those searching for something a bit more outside the box, look no further, Ride the Universe is a magic Thunderbird of a ride – in an actual, honest-to-goodness, T-bird.
The clock is ticking… you’re working on a deadline while your husband is across town, picking up the kids. You’ve taken the day off and gone to the cabin. You have to write that last chapter … the one that will get your work noticed, like J.D. Barker or Stephen King kind of noticed.
Avanti Centrae takes readers on an action-packed gallop around the globe in her debut award-winning novel, VanOps: The Lost Power.
Wounded Warrior, Wounded Wife
“Long goes far beyond the simplistic notion of the Civil War as told in American history texts to accurately portray the daily challenges faced by homesteading families, freed slaves, American Indians robbed of their ancestral lands, and ex-soldiers who face the disrespect of the Union army. Heart-warming and at times hilarious adventures are juxtaposed with gritty and emotionally wrenching moments such as Custer’s 1868 attack on Chief Black Kettle’s Cheyenne camp at Washita… Author McKendree Long displays a natural gift for storytelling.” 
“It is when Kelly accepts an open invitation to spend some time in Guzman’s drug palace in Northern Mexico that his code of “trusting friends first” will force him to face not only the dilemma of a loyalty to be divided between Guzman and Dave Holt, but also of being thrust into a senseless and bloody border war that has more than a few parallels to the Vietnam conflict. As such, Gilliam’s novel stands not only as a complex and intriguing “band of brothers” romp but also as a reflection on the evils of unquestioned authority and corruption.” 
