Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: jaime-castle

The 2023 CIBAs Paranormal Book Awards Finalists for Supernatural Fiction
The Paranormal Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Supernatural Fiction. The Paranormal Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs) is looking for the best books Paranormal books featuring magic, the supernatural, weird otherworldly stories, superhumans (ex. Jessica Jones, Wonder Woman), magical beings & supernatural entities (ex. Harry Potter), vampires & werewolves (ex. Twilight), angels & demons, fairies & mythological beings, and magical systems.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Paranormal Supernatural Fiction SEMI-FINALISTS to the 2023 Paranormal Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

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

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

These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 Paranormal Book Awards novel competition for Supernatural Fiction!

Join us in cheering on these Semi-Finalist authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Gregory Haley – Stranger in the Valley
- Yun Johnson – The Book of Lost Spirits
- Lydia M. Hawke – Becoming Crone
- Jennifer Anne Gordon – Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent
- Arjay Lewis – Digger
- Fionn Mac Meldrum – The Shadow of Banshee Hill
- J.J. Alo – The Street Between the Pines
- Michele L. Sayre – Darke Realms: Enraged (Gorgon 1)
- Joanne Jaytanie – Retrieving Remy, The Winters Sisters Book 5
- James McKenna – An October’s Journey: Poe’s Final Gift
- Jo Deniau – Hologram
- L. R. Braden – Personal Demons
- Diane Corso – Broken Things
- Joe Lyon – The Molossus of Old Man Moyer
- Christopher C. Tyler – Something of a Tall Tale
- Alex Paul – The Amarrat Invasion
- Lloyd Jeffries – A Measure of Rhyme, Ages of Malice, Book II
- Jenny Allen – Rose of Jericho (book 2 in the Lilith Adams Series)
- Nola Nash – House of Mirrors
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Invisible Death
- Claire Fraise – They Stay
- T.K. Sheffield – The Valentine Lines
- Kaylin McFarren – Black Wing Sky
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

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The Grand Prize Winner for the 2022 PARANORMAL Awards is:

COLD AS HELL

By Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

The 2023 PARANORMAL 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 PARANORMAL Book Awards are open until the end of September. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

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

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

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

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 14, 2024
The 2023 CIBAs Paranormal Book Awards Semi-Finalists for Supernatural Fiction
The Paranormal Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Supernatural Fiction. The Paranormal Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs) is looking for the best books Paranormal books featuring magic, the supernatural, weird otherworldly stories, superhumans (ex. Jessica Jones, Wonder Woman), magical beings & supernatural entities (ex. Harry Potter), vampires & werewolves (ex. Twilight), angels & demons, fairies & mythological beings, and magical systems.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Paranormal Supernatural Fiction Short List to the 2023 Paranormal Book Awards SEMIFINALISTS. FINALISTS will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

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

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

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2023 Paranormal Book Awards novel competition for Supernatural Fiction!

Join us in cheering on these Semi-Finalist authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Gregory Haley – Stranger in the Valley
- Yun Johnson – The Book of Lost Spirits
- Lydia M. Hawke – Becoming Crone
- Jennifer Anne Gordon – Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent
- Jack E. Mohr – I Can’t Believe My Girlfriend’s a Zombie
- Arjay Lewis – Digger
- Fionn Mac Meldrum – The Shadow of Banshee Hill
- J.J. Alo – The Street Between the Pines
- Michele L. Sayre – Darke Realms: Enraged (Gorgon 1)
- Joanne Jaytanie – Retrieving Remy, The Winters Sisters Book 5
- James McKenna – An October’s Journey: Poe’s Final Gift
- Jo Deniau – Hologram
- Douglas Bachmann – Afterlife
- L. R. Braden – Personal Demons
- Diane Corso – Broken Things
- Joe Lyon – The Molossus of Old Man Moyer
- Christopher C. Tyler – Something of a Tall Tale
- Maryanne Melloan Woods – Lazarus
- Alex Paul – The Amarrat Invasion
- Lloyd Jeffries – A Measure of Rhyme, Ages of Malice, Book II
- Jenny Allen – Rose of Jericho (book 2 in the Lilith Adams Series)
- Nola Nash – House of Mirrors
- E. Alan Fleischauer – The Doctor is Invisible
- Jennifer Ivy Walker – The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven
- K.M.Messina – Gemja – The Message
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Invisible Death
- Claire Fraise – They Stay
- T.K. Sheffield – The Valentine Lines
- Kaylin McFarren – Black Wing Sky
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.

The Grand Prize Winner for the 2022 PARANORMAL Awards is:

COLD AS HELL

By Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

The 2023 PARANORMAL 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 PARANORMAL Book Awards are open until the end of September. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

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

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

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

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
February 29, 2024
COLD As HELL: Black Badge Book 1 by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – Supernatural Western, Mystery, Action/Adventure

James Crowley isn’t your average, run-of-the-mill cowboy. Nor is Cold as Hell, by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle, your typical gunslinging western.

Although he’s got all the right characteristics – tough exterior, snarky personality, and commitment issues – Crowley is much more than he appears. Resurrected to immortality straight from death’s “sickly sweet aroma,” Crowley is duty-bound as a Hand of God to serve the White Throne in its shadow war against demonic presences called the nephilim unleashed by freezing hell.

But it’s not all ‘good guys versus bad guys’. As Crowley learns, “good choices don’t always mean doing right or wrong things. Especially when it comes to serving a Master like [the White Throne].” Forced to be the middle man between God and the Devil, Crowley has to decide for himself how to care for the people around him and bring true justice to fruition. Forced to be the middleman between God and the Devil, Crowley has to make his own choices about how to care for the people around him and bring justice to fruition.

Jam-packed with simmering romance, evil yetis, reckless bar fights, and other outlaw shenanigans, Cold as Hell will warm readers’ hearts as it freezes them to their seats with anticipation.

When a band of demonic hell creatures begins robbing a chain of banks owned by resident millionaire Dufaux and devastating towns full of innocent civilians in their wake, Crowley teams up with his trusty mare Timperina, nagging angel handler Shar, and dim-witted yet dependable Deputy Dale to hunt down the vile nephilim and help those in need. Along the way, he runs into old acquaintances such as the beautiful, revenge-driven Rosa and his worst enemy and murderer, Ace.

In the end, it’s up to Crowley to get to the bottom of the mystery and wreak revenge on the monsters – both hellish and human.

Despite his icy attitude, Crowley captures readers with his personal values to defend the oppressed and the defenseless. His unique ability to relive the last moments of the recently killed urges him to resist violence whenever possible, making him an empathetic renegade and, at times, more human than the real human characters.

As Crowley uncovers layers of obscured atrocities during his quest, he sympathizes with the brutality and injustice of colonization, racism, enslavement, sexual violence, and much more, elevating this feel-good read to the status of a social commentary.

Castle’s and Bruno’s strange, action-packed supernatural western leaves nothing to be desired. Steeped in witty sarcasm, the easy-to-follow prose is immersive and thrilling. Gritty, colorful, and at times deeply moving, the first installment of the fantasy-western Black Badge series envelops readers in the cowboy blues and horrors of the otherworldly.

Cold as Hell by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle won Grand Prize in the 2022 CIBA Paranormal Awards for Supernatural Fiction.

December 13, 2023
Spotlight on the June Book Awards! Cygnus, Journey, Dante Rossetti, and Chatelaine!
The Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Are already receiving record submissions!

Fresh off the Chanticleer Authors Conference, there’s never been a better time to be an author!

Embark on extraordinary adventures and explore thrilling frontiers!

These Sizzling Book Awards are starting summer out right!
Note: We have recently revised our Book Award deadlines according to feedback from both authors and our readers! The hope with the new deadlines is that authors will be able to receive information faster and readers will be more able to read steadily without interruptions are sudden influxes. Thank you for your patience as we adjust to the new schedule.

These are four of our longest running and most competitive Book Award Divisions.
Don’t hesitate to join the authors who have already submitted to the CIBAs!

The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs with $30,000+ awarded annually, as well as expert long tail marketing to maximize your digital footprint

The Chanticleer Int’l Book Award lists provide excitement and energize author reader bases each time one of them are released. From Long List to Overall Grand Prize Winner, there are a myriad of opportunities for debut and experienced authors to promote their work through the CIBAs.

Summer is the perfect season to get ahead of the game and submit, but we should also pause to enjoy some of the excellent work that’s been submitted to Chanticleer.

Journey Book Awards for Non-Fiction Memoirs that Overcome Adversity

A FRACTION STRONGER: Finding Belief and Possibility in Life’s Impossible Moments
By Mark Berridge

Author and businessman Mark Berridge, through the lived experience of himself and others after traumatic injuries, gained a wide understanding of overcoming disaster, and how to rehabilitate not only one’s body but mind and spirit as well. In sharing his wisdom, A Fraction Stronger is a must-read for anyone facing physical, emotional, or mental barriers.

On March 10, 2019, Berridge, due to embark on a work-related flight from his Australian home to the US later that day, went on a bike ride with some buddies. Following the group around a corner, he fell, striking his head; conscious, but unable to move his feet and legs. Hospitals would become his world as he dealt with spinal injuries and the long road to rehabilitation – relearning how to sit, stand, and walk.

Read more here.

BETTER OFF BALD: A Life in 147 Days
By Andrea Wilson Woods

There exists a bond between sisters, and often that bond becomes a connection so strong that time cannot erase the love and the longing for the other. Andrea Wilson Woods defines such a bond in Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days.

Woods details the choreographed life she lives with her sister Adrienne, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Together they begin their dance, pirouetting around IV ports and long lists of medications. Sisters in life, love, and an all-out war against liver cancer.

Read more here.

Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction

The LUNA MISSILE CRISIS
By Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle

Authors Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle come together to tell the tale of alien first contact gone awry in their epic science fiction release, The Luna Missile Crisis.

The year is 1961, and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is set to become the first man in space. But when Yuri, snug inside the Vostok 1, is launched from the cosmodrome and into the coming night, he’s met with a collision that changes the course of history. The Vostok 1 crashes into an oncoming alien starship. Assuming the collision was actually a missile fired from Russia’s space race opponent, the United States, the soviet nation quickly launches an arsenal of nuclear warheads in response. But those warheads never make it to their target. Instead, they detonate against the hidden starship, sending a wave of nuclear destruction over eastern Europe.

Read more here.

FUTURE’S DARK PAST: Time Forward Trilogy, Book 1
By J.L. Yarrow

A time travel epic, Future’s Dark Past is the creative endeavor of J.L Yarrow, husband and wife duo of John and Leanne Yarrow. The time-hopping action begins in the year 2355, in a world virtually uninhabitable outside a few city pods where food is scarce and violence a certainty.

Caught sneaking into a city pod with nowhere else to go, Kristen Winters agrees to join the Time Forward Project, a group from which no volunteers have ever returned. Kristin’s new superiors send her to fight a deadly battle for the fate of humanity. In 2025, Hunter Coburn becomes an important piece of the puzzle after he gets accidentally connected to Kristen’s time jumps. Initially on opposite sides, they must figure out how to work together as the plan to save the future becomes increasingly unstable.

Read more here.

Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction

TARO: The Legendary Boy Hero of Japan
By Blue Spruell & illustrated by Miya Outlaw

Adventure, classic tales, fantasy, and exciting action combine in TARO: Legendary Boy Hero of Japan, a well-poised debut novel by award-winning author Blue Spruell.

In the turbulent final decades of the sixteenth century, feudal Japan reeled in mayhem as the central hereditary dictatorship collapsed, and tyrannical powers fought to control the empire. TARO: The Legendary Boy Hero of Japan is the story of how one man revolutionized a nation by taking its reigns and forging a new destiny through his depths of compassion and determination.

Read more here.

The BEST WEEK THAT NEVER HAPPENED
By Dallas Woodburn

Dallas Woodburn’s debut novel The Best Week that Never Happened is a roller-coaster ride through Hawaii and the mysterious depths of its briny deep, sparkling with unreal magic, a poignant romance, and incessant hope.

Tegan Rossi, a freshly graduated eighteen-year-old, awakens in the secretive hideout she discovered with Kai Kapule as two eight-year-old children on her first trip to Hawaii Island. She needs to make amends with Kai as they had a major squabble over something very important that she now oddly forgets. When Tegan catches up with Kai in Hawaii, she enters her best week yet – the Best Week That Never Happened.

Read more here.

Chatelaine Book Awards for Romance Fiction

OPERATION MOM: My Plan to Get My Mom a Life and a Man
By Reenita Malhotra Hora

Master storyteller Reenita Malhotra Hora’s YA romance Operation Mom: My Plan to Get My Mom a Life and a Man takes us on a charming journey through the life of one teen, Ila Isham.

Hora introduces Ila and her best friend Deepali, two boy-crazy teens on a summer quest. Readers will fall in love with the smart, sassy, angst-filled, rebellious Ila. A typical teenage girl, Ila lives in Mumbai with her mom and Sakkubai, their house manager. Ila’s mother calls her obsessed, but that seems unfair. Is she obsessed just because her every waking minute is spent thinking of Ali Zafar, famous pop icon, singer, and heartthrob? Or is she obsessed with fellow classmate Dev?

Read more here.

The LONG DESERT ROAD
By Alex Sirotkin

Alex Sirotkin’s debut novel, The Long Desert Road, navigates the emotional arcs of life in contrast with the greater expanse of the cosmos. Here a young woman must face her addictions while the people around her try to move beyond her backlash.

We meet Henry Spinoza, a 44-year-old quirky science writer. He ponders his life as half over, looks for the right woman, and wonders if there isn’t more to existence.

Read more here.

Your book deserves to be discovered

First Place and Grand Prize Authors at the Chanticleer Authors Conference

Thank you for celebrating these Chanticleer Grand Prize Winners with us!

Remember, if you have a great book in the following genres, you should submit today!
The world needs good books now more than ever
June 2, 2023
The 2022 CIBAs Grand Prize Winners for Fiction!
A Huge Congratulations to all of the 2022 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards (CIBAs) FICTION Division Grand Prize Winners!

Every tier of the CIBAs is an important one, though few rise to be one of the coveted Division Grand Prize Winners.
- See all Non-Fiction, Shorts, and Series Grand Prize Winners here
- See the Overall Grand Prize Winner here
This post has links to each of the 16 individual CIBA FICTION Divisions’ Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners. We will have a separate post for Non-Fiction Award Winners and another post for the Shorts Awards, and the Series Awards’ winners.

All First Place and Grand Prize winners were announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference at the CIBAs Ceremonies on Saturday, April 29th at the Chanticleer Banquet. We can’t express how excited we are to be able to do this in person with our fully vaccinated and boosted staff in a healthy metro area.

At the break in 2022 CIBAs Ceremony between the First Place Division announcements and the Grand Prize Announcements.

Now let’s take a step back and look at where we came from to make this happen.

Want to join in the fun? Submit to the 2023 CIBAs today!

Now, presenting the links to the 2022 CIBA Fiction Division Awards Grand Prize Winners!

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CYGNUS Awards for Science Fiction is:

The Last Lumenian

By S. G. Blaise

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

Soar a Burning Sky

By Steven Michael Beck

A Manuscript

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

COLD AS HELL

By Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards is:

HYBRID HYSTERIA

By Charlie Robinson

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

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

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

A Spying Eye

A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel

by Michelle Cox

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

Wages of Empire

by Michael J. Cooper

Manuscript

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 GERTRUDE WARNER Awards is:

MYSTERY FORCE, Volume 1

by Ted Neill and Suzi Spooner

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 LITTLE PEEPS Awards is:

Ravens Roost

by Maggie Bates

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

Guarded Hearts

by T.K. Conklin

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

Daughter of Hades

by Mack Little

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

Eleonora and Joseph:

Passion, Tragedy, and Revolution in the Age of Enlightenment

by Julieta Almeida Rodrigues

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Hemingway Book Awards is:

Running with Cannibals

by Robert W. Smith

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CHATELAINE Book Awards is:

Operation Mom:

My plan to get my Mom a life and a man

by Reenita Malhotra Hora

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 MARK TWAIN Awards is:

DELPHIC ORACLE, USA

by Steven Mayfield

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

Everything That Was

by Conon Parks

We have badges available starting with the Short List. If you need a digital badge reflecting your tier level, please email info@ChantiReviews.com with your division and rank, and we will send you one as soon as possible.

The 2022 Grand Prize Winners!

Make sure your Award gets the attention it deserves on Goodreads.com

In the Librarian Manual on Goodreads, you can go to your Book Edit Page — Literary Awards.

You want to list the Award for Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBA) Winners, and be sure to include the year and what place you received. For example:

The year Long List, Short List, Semi-Finalist, Finalist, First Place, Division Grand Prize, or Overall Grand Prize Winner

Note from Goodreads: “To add a new award or edit an existing award, you’ll need help from one of our volunteer librarians or a staff member.” For assistance, post in the Goodreads Librarians Group.

Always double check that you’ve written everything correctly before posting it. The search function for Awards on Goodreads is both case and punctuation sensitive.

The Overall Grand Prize Winner for the 2022 CIBAs was Michelle Cox’s Book A Spying Eye

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.
See all Non-Fiction, Shorts, and Series Grand Prize Winners here

See the Overall Grand Prize Winner here
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook 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 Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews

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

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in June. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items.

To ALL the WINNERS: You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

Grand Prize Division Winners will receive a customized digital badge. When we receive it from our graphic artist, we will also post here and in the Grand Prize Division Winners Official Posting.

Thank you for participating in the 2022 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

Team Chanticleer
May 17, 2023
The PARANORMAL 2022 CIBA WINNERS for Supernatural Fiction
The Paranormal Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Supernatural Fiction. The Paranormal Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs) is looking for the best books Paranormal books featuring magic, the supernatural, weird otherworldly stories, superhumans (ex. Jessica Jones, Wonder Woman), magical beings & supernatural entities (ex. Harry Potter), vampires & werewolves (ex. Twilight), angels & demons, fairies & mythological beings, magical systems and elements.

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Robert Phillips on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash., sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2022 LIST of the PARANORMAL BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the PARANORMAL Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle – Cold As Hell
- Kaylin McFarren – Requiem For A Queen
- Jenny Allen – Blood Lily
- Nola Nash – Crescent City Sin
- Novella Jean – The Bell Lady of Blairmont Manor
- Rebecca Kightlinger – The Lady of the Cliffs: Book Two of The Bury Down Chronicle
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 PARANORMAL Awards is:

COLD AS HELL

By Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook 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 Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews

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

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in June. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items.

To ALL the WINNERS: You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

Grand Prize Division Winners will receive a customized digital badge. When we receive it from our graphic artist, we will also post here and in the Grand Prize Division Winners Official Posting.

Thank you for participating in the 2022 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

The Chanticleer Team
May 9, 2023
The 2021 Finalists for the CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction – a Division of the 2021 CIBAs
The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring space, time travel, life on other planets, parallel universes, alternate reality, and all the science, technology, major social or environmental changes of the future that author imaginations can dream up for the CYGNUS Book Awards division. Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Genetic Modification, Aliens, Super Humans, Interplanetary Travel, Climate -Fiction, and Settlers on the Galactic Frontier, Dystopian, our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 CYGNUS Science Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference. First Place and Grand Prize Winners will be chosen from the 24 Division Categories.

Congratulations to the 2021 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction Semi-Finalists!
- J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
- Sarah Lahey – Nostalgia Is Heartless, Book Two
- Spaulding Taylor – Last Star Standing
- Akosua Sankofa – Monmouth Deep
- Rhett C. Bruno – Vicarious
- Peter Greene – Light of Ganymede
- Kristie Clark – Dragon Gold
- Charlene Newcomb – Echoes of the Storm
- D.H. Ford – Cosmic Swap
- William M. Hayes – Save Him
- William X. Adams – Alien Dream Machine
- PA Vasey – Trinity Evolution
- Daniel C. McWhorter – Revival: The Gaia Origin, Book Two
- Jenn Lees – Restoring Time: Community Chronicles Book 4
- William X. Adams – Alien Panic
- Elizabeth Crowens – A War in Too Many Worlds
- Sandra J. Jackson – Catching Butterflies
- Dana Claire – The Connection
- Gina Detwiler – Forgiven
- Sam Stea – The Edge of Elsewhere
- Steven Seril – The Destroyer of Worlds: ‘An Answer to Every Question’
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE WINNERS positions of the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!

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

The next round of judging will decide which books move on to the Finalist positions for the 2021 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction novels.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2020 CYGNUS Awards is Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle for The Luna Missile Crisis

Click here to see the 2020 CYGNUS Book Award Winners for Science Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 CYGNUS Awards writing competition.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.

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 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
April 19, 2022
April is for Aliens! Spring into the Spotlight for the Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction
Beam me up, Scotty!

April is the Spotlight Month for the Cygnus Science Fiction Book Awards!

Our favorite newest Star Trek Captain, Michael Burnham. Her catchphrase is “Let’s Fly.”

The Cygnus Awards are one of our original Book Awards here at Chanticleer,

**Don’t miss the ship!**

Beam your work to us by April 30th to enter the 2022 CIBAs!

Science Fiction April 30

Science Fiction often asks the question: What Could Be? At Chanticleer, we seek to discover those strange new worlds, from Space Opera to Alternate History, and Cli-Fi to YA Sci-Fi. Wherever your book lands on the Speculative Fiction spectrum, there’s a good chance that it will fit in here with us!

Let’s take a look at the Hall of Fame for Grand Prize Winners of the Cygnus Awards

The Luna Missile Crisis by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle.

Will a knockoff weapons salesman end peace between Humans and Vulbathi? Alien tech and a spectacular cast of characters drive The Luna Missile Crisis into high gear and will have readers screaming for more! Highly recommended!

Jaime Castle and Rhett C. Bruno are the Audible #1 bestselling authors of The Buried Goddess Saga (Aethon Books, Audible Studios), and The Luna Missile Crisis, amongst other works. Rhett C. Bruno is also a USA Today Bestselling & Nebula Award nominated Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author.

Don’t miss out on the duo’s next work! You can preorder Cold as Hell, the first book in their new Black Badge Series today.

Insynium by Tim Cole

Appropriate to a novel about time travel, there is considerable time-shifting from chapter to chapter that will require readers to stay on their toes as they work through this 500-page novel. And like any skilled author who plants clues neatly in the text – clues that are keys to resolving the overarching mysteries in the book – Cole does the same. What can we say? Here’s an impressive novel by a major new talent, and one we highly recommend keeping an eye on.

Insynium is Tim Cole’s Debut novel. We are shivering with anticipation and hope at the prospect of something new from him!

The Korpes File by J.I Rogers

An award-winning space opera that’s sure to gather a dedicated audience. One of our favorites! Recommended!

When not writing Award Winning novels, J.I. Rogers writes Award Winning Shorts, having recently won two six-word story challenges. The most recent of which being “Inherited ruin. Forged a new Empire.” Visit Rogers’ website here for even more excellent Sci-Fi! The second book in the series, The Korpes Agenda, is out now, and we’re excitedly waiting for the next book to finish revisions!

The Future’s Dark Past by John Yarrow

“The catastrophic Purge War at the end of the twenty-first century destroys planet Earth, jeopardizing the future for the remnants of humanity. Horrific repercussions roll across the ages until, generations later, a scientific group called the Time Forward Project harnesses a deep-space wormhole in which they can travel through time. They find the portal unstable and shrinking, but they have little choice but to take desperate, drastic measures and journey back to prevent the war.”

Straight from John Yarrow’s website! The Story Plant Publishing company will publish the full trilogy starting with Future’s Dark Past! You can preorder The Future’s Dark Past today, and the sequel, Time Unfolded, is expected to come out in the Summer of 2023!

Over by Sean P. Curley

In a world where the rich obtain immortality, a forbidden love can either bridge the gap of unimaginable inequity or drive the disparaging classes even farther apart. A science-fiction novel with an earthly conscious.

Sean Curley‘s new book, Anika’s Gift is making good progress through the cover design process, and ARCs are being sent out now. Sean is a renaissance man who loves new experiences, diversity, and challenges (though more intellectual than physical). He is also the author of the the 2014 Chaucer Grand Prize for Early Historical Fiction with his book Propositum. Sean will also be at the Chanticleer Authors Conference June 23-26, 2022!

Now that you’re set on your next five reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Cygnus Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Here are some recent achievements from our authors:
Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.

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 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
April 14, 2022
The LUNA MISSILE CRISIS by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – Alternate History Sci-fi, Action & Adventure, Alien Technology

Authors Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle come together to tell the tale of alien first contact gone awry in their epic science fiction release, The Luna Missile Crisis.

The year is 1961, and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is set to become the first man in space. But when Yuri, snug inside the Vostok 1, is launched from the cosmodrome and into the coming night, he’s met with a collision that changes the course of history. The Vostok 1 crashes into an oncoming alien starship. Assuming the collision was actually a missile fired from Russia’s space race opponent, the United States, the soviet nation quickly launches an arsenal of nuclear warheads in response. But those warheads never make it to their target. Instead, they detonate against the hidden starship, sending a wave of nuclear destruction over eastern Europe.

In the coming weeks after contact day, military troops from both sides of the cold war are sent into the ruins of eastern Europe – into an area now called the Dead Curtain – to search for useful alien technology. During a skirmish between the Russians, the Americans, and the Vulbathi (the toad-like alien race aboard the damaged starship), a combat medic name Kyle McCoy stumbles into the chaos and sparks a ceasefire. His actions create a domino effect, bringing about relative peace between all three parties. Three years pass, and in exchange for aid in repairing their damaged ship, the Vulbathi agree to offer some of their exceptional technology to mankind. And Kyle McCoy, once foot soldier turned head of the Department of Alien Relations, is given a desk job with a title that suits his place in history.

But not everything is going as planned.

Kyle’s twin brother, Conner McCoy, is a dead-beat with a past steeped in drugs and crime. His latest venture is selling knockoff alien weaponry to mob bosses and gangsters. Conner and his crew work the circuit, living under the radar as they travel from city to city, peddling their fake Vulbathi tech with enthusiasm to boot. And it’s all fun and games and a little extra cash until one of the knock offs isn’t a knock off at all and the gun in Connor’s hand turns a man into a pile of dust and goo. Kyle is called in to investigate the case, and when the two estranged brothers reunite, the stakes become higher than either of them could have ever foreseen. Stolen identity, sabotage, explosive battles, and a myriad of historical figures all spill across the pages as the story of humans and Vulbathi unravels.

Bruno and Castle have expertly crafted an alternate history 1960’s that feels real enough to touch.

The use of historical figures as supporting cast adds to the detailed world building, and even the Vulbathi tech, which is everywhere in The Luna Missile Crisis, is most believable when the reader sees it integrated into the everyday lives of working people. A prime example is Kyle’s holotube that he regards as a “faulty prototype” taking the place of his real television. All of these stunning details are brought to life by writing that is engaging, active, and perfectly descriptive. The dialogue is witty and sharp, well fitted to the cast and their gamut of personalities, and as the chapters alternate between the two McCoy brothers, the syntax shifts ever so slightly, giving the subtle notion of a true perspective change.

Not only is the writing engaging, but Bruno and Castle have taken a well-worn Sci-fi plot – the pulpy notion of the Cold War era interrupted by an alien invasion – and breathed fresh life into it.

The narrative is strong, propelling the reader forward through an increasingly wild ride. Many will recognize familiar character archetypes of the do-good FBI agent; the grifter counterfeiter; the over-the-top gangster; the misunderstood monster and will be pleasantly surprised to find themselves growing more and more entrenched in a plot that is everything but familiar.

The Luna Missile Crisis is filled with action, adventure, and enough laser blasts to satisfy any science fiction fan, but its true strength lies in the cohesive world building and rock-solid storytelling that only two authors like Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle can provide. In other words, here’s one sci-fi we can happily recommend!

The Luna Missile Crisis by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Cygnus Awards for Science & Speculative Fiction.

April 1, 2022
The 2021 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction – The Short List – CIBAs 2021
The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (the CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring space, time travel, life on other planets, parallel universes, alternate reality, and all the science, technology, major social or environmental changes of the future that author imaginations can dream up for the CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction.

Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Genetic Modification, Aliens, Super Humans, Interplanetary Travel, Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi), and Settlers on the Galactic Frontier, Dystopian, our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 CYGNUS Science Fiction Long List to the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for 2021 Cygnus Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The 2021 CYGNUS FINALISTS will be selected from the CYGNUS Semi-Finalists.

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALS of the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
- Sarah Lahey – Nostalgia Is Heartless, Book Two
- Joe Butler – Of All Possibilities
- Michael Hicks Thompson – Clouds Above
- Spaulding Taylor – Last Star Standing
- Dale Renton – DART
- S. W. Lawrence, MD – Earth Dragon
- Max Mason – Novastrom: Adventures from the Zrax Wars
- Mark D. Owen – Impact
- Steven Seril – The Destroyer of Worlds: ‘An Answer to Every Question’
- Akosua Sankofa – Monmouth Deep
- John Teton – The Book of Geezer
- Gary Clark – The Given
- Rhett C. Bruno – Vicarious
- Timothy S. Johnston – Fatal Depth
- Peter Greene – Light of Ganymede
- Kristie Clark – Dragon Gold
- Dimple Patel Desai – The Lambda Factor
- John J Spearman – Pike’s Potential
- Charlene Newcomb – Echoes of the Storm
- D.H. Ford – Cosmic Swap
- William M. Hayes – Save Him
- William X. Adams – Alien Dream Machine
- Michael J Metroke – The Masada Affair
- PA Vasey – Trinity Evolution
- Daniel C. McWhorter – Revival: The Gaia Origin, Book Two
- Robert C Littlewood – Deviance
- Jenn Lees – Restoring Time: Community Chronicles Book 4
- Bernie Koenig – B.R.A.I.N.
- Daniele Kasper – Cut Her Out In Little Stars
- William X. Adams – Alien Panic
- Elizabeth Crowens – A War in Too Many Worlds
- Sandra J. Jackson – Catching Butterflies
- Dana Claire – The Connection
- Gina Detwiler – Forgiven
- Sam Stea – The Edge of Elsewhere
Good luck to all as your works move on 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. 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.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2020 CYGNUS Awards is Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle for The Luna Missile Crisis

Click here to see the 2020 CYGNUS Book Award Winners for Science Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 CYGNUS Awards writing competition.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.

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 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
January 10, 2022