Michelle Coxis the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there.
Her work has received multiple Mystery & Mayhem and Clue Awards from Chanticleer as well as the Overall Grand Prize Award for Best Book for her book A Spying Eye, in addition to several top-rated reviews, plus many other accolades, so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also marmalade.
Still thinking about Registering for the Chanticleer Authors Conference?
Find out why The 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.
We’re bringing together top experts in storytelling, marketing, book publicity, and publishing for the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference!
With two master classes (read our recent article celebrating those here!), we are just getting started with the incredible offerings at CAC24! Check out these amazing attendees and upcoming sessions below!
MICHELLE COX – OVERALL GRAND PRIZE AUTHOR
Near and dear to our hearts is Michelle Cox, the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there.
Her work has received multiple Mystery & Mayhem and Clue Awards from Chanticleer as well as the Overall Grand Prize Award for Best Book for her book A Spying Eye, in addition to several top-rated reviews and other accolades, so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also marmalade.
DIANE GARLAND – Your WorldKeeper – Continuity Senior Editor
An expert in world building and continuity, Diane Garlandand her editorial companyYour WorldKeeper,specializes in the world of continuity. Multiple USA Today best-selling and award-winning authors in various genres rely on her system of cataloging and organizing the minutiae and rules of their story worlds. Growing up as an AF Brat, Diane traveled extensively as a child, which has fueled her passion for travel and reading. She graduated from Florida State University and is a life-long learner. She, along with her husband and two cats, have recently relocated to Columbus, Ohio from the Seattle, Washington area.
Join Diane at her sessions about the necessity, creation, and organization of a story bible along with pointers on maintaining and using it to take your author career to the next level.
Sessions include:
Creating Worlds that Last
Continuity and Preparing for a Series
LISA SPICER – Producer, Editor, Writer
Our local expert on Book to Screen, Lisa Spicer has worked in television, film, and video production for over 30 years as producer, writer, and editor. Starting in the documentary unit at KCTS/PBS Seattle, later on she worked on the Bill Nye the Science Guy show, earning 3 Emmys. As an independent documentary producer, she has worked in Kenya, Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest, Northern Cheyenne and Lummi Indian reservations, Boulder, Seattle,
and Bellingham. Lisa has a BA in Broadcast Journalism and certificates in Filmmaking and Screenwriting (UW). Mid-career she earned an MA in Anthropology (WWU). Integrating anthropology into documentary, she
co-produced Homeless in Bellingham, an award-winning web series and documentary, and served as Consulting Anthropologist for the feature documentary, Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie. Recently
finishing an historical novel, Radio Smokva, she’s now writing about her back-to-the-land childhood and publishing a weekly series on Substack, Collective Effervescence: Research About the Counterculture.
Lisa will lead a workshop called How to Read a Film, with a focus on enhancing your fluency in the language of film. Rooted in the practice of mise-en-scene, learn how meaning is conveyed through elements such as camera angle, set design, motif (shapes), lighting, actors, sound, all of which work together in support of the narrative.
How to Read a Film and Writing Tips & Tools with the Screen in Mind – by Lisa G. Spicer
Writing for the screen or with the screen in mind, whether narrative or non-fiction (documentary) film.
Ex: From any story, what is selected to be scripted and filmed? How is it framed (what do we see)?
Ex: Screenplays are written in present tense
As related to writing, film borrows from theater by using elements of mis en scene and motif.
Ex: How do theater directors use props and costume to support the narrative?
Writing for film or with film in mind can be informed by the craft and how films are actually made.
Ex: Basic camera terminology, used throughout entire process: writing, filming, editing.
JANET OAKLEY – Award-Winning Author and Historian, and Community Leader
The leader of our usual suspects and historian extraordinaire, J. L. Oakley writes historical fiction that spans the mid-19th century to WW II with characters standing up for something in their own time and place. She is an award-winning author and a recipient of the 2013 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award; the 2013 Chanticleer Grand Prize; the 2014 First Place Chaucer Award; an Everybody Reads and Bellingham. When not writing, she demonstrates 19th-century folkways in the schools and at San Juan Island National Park. She also has a cat who thinks she’s editing. Read pick and the 2015 WILLA Silver Award, Pulpwood Queen Book Club 2016 backlist pick for February 2016.
As a First in Category winner in the Goethe, Laramie, and Chatelaine Awards for Mist-chi-mas: A Novel of Captivity, the Chaucer Award for Timber Rose and The Jøssing Affair, the Hemingway Grand Prize Winner for The Quisling Factor and the OVERALL Grand Prize for her book, Tree Soldier, Janet will present at the 2021 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Ceremonies (The CIBAs) on Sunday evening and recognize the finalists and announce the Grand Prize winner, and perhaps the Overall Grand Prize winner on Sunday evening.
J.L. Oakley is an expert in presenting on the following:
Renaissance Man and one of the most interesting people you’ll meet, Strider is an award winning, first place author of the Chanticleer International Book Awards, Strider began his writing career after twenty-five years as a firefighter/EMT. The emotions and experiences of those calls carry themselves through every story, bringing true ‘been-there’ reality to the scenes.
With additional years as a business owner, general contractor, designer, wildland firefighter, big game guide, ski instructor, backpacker and sword fighter, his wide range of knowledge is intricately woven throughout his stories.
To date, Strider has written YA (young adult), NA (new adult), and general fiction in the realm of: sci-fi western, light steampunk, dystopian (post apocalyptic), gaslight (early mechanism era) and just good fun reading.
Strider will be presenting in and around the following topics:
Three Cheers for for the CIBAs 2023 Non-Fiction Book Awards Finalists!
Every tier of the CIBAs is an important one, though few manage to rise this far in the ranks.
For our Non-Fiction Authors, this post has links to all of the Finalist Awards for the 7 CIBA Divisions we have for Non-Fiction. We will have a separate post for Fiction and one more post for the Shorts Awards and Series Awards.
All Finalists in attendance will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, and we will announce the Winners at the CIBAs Ceremonies on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Chanticleer Banquet.
Now let’s take a step back and look at where we came from to make this happen.
The remaining tiers are the First Place Winner, the Grand Prize Winners, and finally, the coveted Overall Grand Prize Winners. The Overall Grand Prize Winner takes home the $1000 and more! See the Book Award details here.
Now, presenting the links to the Non-Fiction Awards Finalists
The Official 2023 CIBA Lists of the First Place and Grand Prize Winners for all Divisions of the CIBAs will start to be posted after April 21st, 2024.
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 12th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference is April 19-21, 2024
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, or Finalist.
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.
Remember, you don’t have to be present to win, but it sure is a lot more fun!
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.
Give a huge round of applause to all of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards (CIBAs) Finalists!
Every tier of the CIBAs is an important one, though few manage to rise this far in the ranks.
For our Fiction Authors, this post has links to all of the Finalist Awards for the 16 CIBA Divisions we have for fiction. We will have a separate post for Non-Fiction and one more post for the Shorts Awards and Series Awards where you can find all the 2023 Finalists!
All Finalists in attendance will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, and we will announce the Winners at the CIBAs Ceremonies on Saturday, April 20th 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.
Now let’s take a step back and look at where we came from to make this happen.
The remaining tiers are the First Place Winner, the Grand Prize Winners, and finally, the coveted Overall Grand Prize Winners. The Overall Grand Prize Winner takes home the $1000 and more! See the Book Award details here.
Now, presenting the links to the Fiction Awards Finalists
The Official 2023 CIBA Lists of the First Place and Grand Prize Winners for all Divisions of the CIBAs will start to be posted starting on Wednesday, April 24th, 2024.
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 12th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference is April 19-21, 2024
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, or Finalist.
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.
Remember, you don’t have to be present to win, but it sure is a lot more fun!
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.
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy and not-so-Cozy Mystery & Mayhem. The M&M Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see ourClue Awards.)
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 M&M Book Awards semi-finalists to the M&M Book Awards FINALISTS! The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBAs divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 M&M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
Craig H. Bowlsby – The Cyrano Solution
Ruud Richardson – The Girl Who Never Was
B.T. Polcari – Against My Better Judgment
Liese Sherwood-Fabre – The Adventure of the Purloined Portrait
Gail Grant Park – We Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost Story
Rebecca Olmstead – Dreams and Illusions
Anna St. John – Doomed by Blooms
Elizabeth Crowens – Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
Patrick E. Craig – The Quilt That Knew
A.J. McCarthy – A Stranger in the Family
E. W. Finke – Coyote’s Wail
M.K. Dean – A Corpse in the Condo
Cindy Sample – Birthdays Are Murder
Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
Lori Roberts Herbst – Negative Reaction
Lori Roberts Herbst – Photo Finished
D.R. Ransdell – Party Wine
Connie Berry – The Shadow of Memory
Christine Knapp – Murder at the Wedding
Erica Miner – Aria for Murder
Matthew Cost – Velma Gone Awry
Amy S. Peele – Hold
Kim Davis – Buttercream Betrayal
Lyn Squire – Immortalised to Death
Brigitte Goldstein – Death of a Diva–From Berlin to Broadway
Kim Davis – Muddled Matrimonial Murder
Mary Seifert – Santa, Snowflakes & Strychnine
Good Luck to All as Your Works Compete to Advance to the Next Level of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
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.
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy and not-so-Cozy Mystery & Mayhem. The M&M Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see ourClue Awards.)
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 M&M Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for 2023 M&M Finalists. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBAs divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles have advanced to the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2023 M&M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
Trish MacEnulty – The Whispering Women
Craig H. Bowlsby – The Cyrano Solution
Ruud Richardson – The Girl Who Never Was
B.T. Polcari – Fire and Ice
B.T. Polcari – Against My Better Judgment
Liese Sherwood-Fabre – The Adventure of the Purloined Portrait
Gail Grant Park – We Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost Story
Rebecca Olmstead – Dreams and Illusions
Charlotte Stuart – In$ured to the Hilt
Anna St. John – Doomed by Blooms
Elizabeth Crowens – Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
Patrick E. Craig – The Quilt That Knew
A.J. McCarthy – A Stranger in the Family
Traci Andrighetti – Tuaca Tan
E. W. Finke – Coyote’s Wail
Mary Seifert – Fishing, Festivities & Fatalities
Michel Prince – Always a Groomsman
M.K. Dean – A Corpse in the Condo
Kate Hallock – Nine Ways to Die: An Enneagram Murder Mystery
Steven Mayfield – The Penny Mansions
Cindy Sample – Birthdays Are Murder
Carolyn Summer Quinn – Cloudy with a Chance of Answers
Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
Charlotte Whitney – The Unveiling of Polly Forrest
Kim Herdman Shapiro – The Raven’s Cry
Lori Roberts Herbst – Negative Reaction
Lori Roberts Herbst – Photo Finished
D.R. Ransdell – Party Wine
Connie Berry – The Shadow of Memory
Christine Knapp – Murder on the Widow’s Walk
Christine Knapp – Murder at the Wedding
M. A. Monnin – Death In The Aegean
Erica Miner – Aria for Murder
Wendy Bayne – Guilds and Gunpowder
Matthew Cost – Velma Gone Awry
Jule Selbo – 9 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery
Amy S. Peele – Hold
Kim Davis – Buttercream Betrayal
D. J. Adamson – With a Vengeance
Lyn Squire – Immortalised to Death
Brigitte Goldstein – Death of a Diva–From Berlin to Broadway
Eleanor Tatum – Countess of Change
Kim Davis – Muddled Matrimonial Murder
Brandon Lawniczak – Riding in Circles
J. Ivanel Johnson – Just A Stale Mate
Mary Seifert – Santa, Snowflakes & Strychnine
T.K. Sheffield – Vintage Model, the Backyard Model Mysteries Book 1
Good Luck to All as Your Works Compete to Advance to the Next Level of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
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.
At Chanticleer we love Romance Books and we love to show it off with our Chatelaine Awards! We’re currently working as hard as we can to get out the Finalist List for those Awards, and you can see the Semi-Finals for them here! Who will win? Only time will tell.
However, right now we just want to celebrate some of the best romantic books we’ve been able to discover. Like chocolate, romance is one of those extraordinary genres that can go with almost anything! Historical Romance, Mystery Romance, YA Romance, SciFi Romance, Fantasy Romance, the list goes on!
Even better, romance is one of the bestselling genres out there! Being able to add that tag to your book makes it that much more marketable! For our own Chatelaine Awards, we’re always happy to crow about our winners!
Our 2022 Chatelaine Grand Prize Winner was Operation Mom by Reenita Malhotra Hora.
What does Chanticleer have to say about Operation Mom?
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?
No, Ila couldn’t be taken with Dev because he’s one of three young men that her best friend Deepali is juggling in her summer experiment of exploring her “feminine mystique.” This turn of phrase becomes just one of many opportunities for Hora’s humor to shine as Ila remarks, “That’s a book by Gloria Steinem . . . no Betty Friedan.” Deepali’s response? “Yaar. Don’t be so literal.” The delightful balance between Ila’s book smarts versus Deepali’s street smarts carries us through Hora’s expertly crafted story.
Operation Mom also took home a First Place Blue in the Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult Fiction. We’d love to share other romance books that meet with other genres and why they touch our heart!
A SPYING EYE: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel
By Michelle Cox
2023 Overall Grand Prize
Grand Prize for the M&M Awards for Cozy Mysteries
A Cozy Mystery Romance!
Brooding Château du Freudeneck, just outside Strasbourg, France has villains in the drawing rooms, stolen art hidden in the cellars, and bats in the belfry – all the best elements for a 19th-century Gothic mystery.
However, in Michelle Cox’s novel, A Spying Eye it’s the 20th century. The Great War is passed, but the next war already looms on the horizon. The people of Strasbourg feel the growing conflict sharply, at the heart of Alsace-Lorraine, a fertile region that has been contested between France and Germany since time immemorial.
Which means those bats are in the unfortunate head of the elderly Baron Von Harmon, the current lord and master (as much as he’s still able to be, at least) of the Chateau, while the stolen art is pursued by both the villainous Nazis and the only slightly-less villainous agents of Britain’s MI5.
THE LAST LUMENIAN
By S.G. Blaise
2023 Cygnus Grand Prize Winner
A SciFi Romance!
Nineteen-year-old Lilla could have an idyllic life, but in The Last Lumenian by S.G. Blaise, she comes face to face with a rebellion and their just cause.
Lilla’s father leads the Pax Septum Coalition, a nineteen-planet confederation. As a princess in her own right, she should be enjoying the status and wealth that comes from living on Uhna, the richest planet in the coalition due to the diamond mines found by her pirate ancestors centuries ago. She most definitely shouldn’t be worried about the rebellion brewing right under her father’s nose. However, when Lilla meets rebels in a refugee camp, she thinks she has found her destiny, a true purpose.
Wanting to fight against the injustice and horrific treatment of the refugees, Lilla tries desperately to prove herself, especially after a disastrous first mission where she not only crashes her ship but also ends up in the hands of General Callum, leader of the Teryn Praelium.
Norah Andell, Princess of Mercia and future North Queen, has been missing for three years.
Her father secreted her away to protect her from a prophesied attack in a ten-year war, but he dies shortly after their departure and takes her location to the grave. Alexander Rhemus, Lord Justice to Queen Regent Catherine, Norah’s grandmother, was told by a seer that Norah would be found in the deep forests of the Northern Kingdom, and has searched the woods ceaselessly. Having loved her since they were children, Alexander’s desperation leads him to the Wilds, a legendary and feared area where men often do not return. So opens The North Queen.
To Alexander’s shock, he finds Norah, who has no memories of her former life or even of her own name. At first, she refuses to believe she’s the missing princess, now Queen, and bristles against her newfound world and the restraints it casts upon her.
Norah struggles with a position she doesn’t want, governing a people on the verge of starvation and facing an arranged marriage to protect her people from the Shadow King, a ruthless man hell-bent on taking her kingdom.
A PLACE Of REFUGE: Book Four of First Light
By Linda Cardillo
A Historical Romance
Izzy Monroe has lost herself. Three months after an accident that damaged a portion of her brain, she isolates herself in her parent’s home on Chappaquiddick Island, on the eastern end of Martha’s Vineyard.
She has spent her life in the world of academia, working on a doctorate in literature at Harvard, but now with her short-term memory gone, she has to give up her dreams. Her emptiness and doubt have left her rudderless and deeply depressed.
When her former college roommate, Maria, suggests she intern at Portarello, Maria’s grandfather’s self-sustaining farm in the Italian countryside, Izzy isn’t immediately convinced she can make the journey alone much less work at the successful inn and thriving farm. However, Izzy remembers the peace she felt there on the one visit she and Maria made years ago, and she knows this is her only chance to regain any sense of normalcy.
Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
Celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas – One Day at a Time
And the Seventh Day of Christmas brings us a New Year!
“But Jiminy Crickets, it’s after December 25th! Is it not too late for the 12 Days of Christmas?” you say.
Not to fear, Chanticleerians! The 12 Days of Christmas begins on December 26th! And it continues to the 6th of January – Three Kings Day. The four weeks leading up to Christmas is known as the Advent.
So if you haven’t finished wrapping presents, sending out those cards, and baking cookies—don’t worry—you’ve got an extra six days!
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Seven Swans-a-Swimming
Six Geese-a-Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens (Chanticleer’s favorite #justsaying)
Two Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree
The 7th Day of Christmas is January 1st! A new year means new beginnings, new habits, new routines, and new hopes and dreams for the future.
The Seven Swans symbolize Seven Graces: Service, Teaching, Encouraging, Giving and Sharing, Planning, Leadership, and Reaching Out to Others
What are your favorite ways to mark the new year? Resolutions? Thorough cleaning? A polar plunge?
On the 7th Day of Christmas, Chanticleer brings to me….
The 7 Tiers of Achievement!
The Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards (CIBAs) has 25 Divisions, including, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Short Stories, Collections, and Series! You can learn more about these here and submit your work for 2024! While winning a Chanticleer International Book Award (or CIBA) feels great! The best part for authors is the digital marketing that comes with it.
But what is this digital marketing we’re talking about?
Every time a book you enter advances in our Awards, we post about it on our website, social media, and in our newsletter. This makes sure that your name and book are in front of the eyes of thousands of people and it tells search engines that you are doing something right. Being discoverable and searchable is more critical than ever as more and more books are published each year. If you want the benefits of being an award winner and touted on the internet, be sure to submit to the CIBAs today!
Nevertheless, though, are all the bells and whistles. OR should we say RIBBONS and BADGES? And cash prizes! And awards from sponsors!
And even more promotion opportunities!
And book stickers!
Grand Prize Ribbons!CIBA Grand Prize Division Winners
An invitation to join our curated online communityThe Roost!
We are so proud the community we have on The Roost! It is great perch to hang out on for writers and publishers to hang out in and connect.
We host weekly write-ins, discussions of writing craft books, and advice on the author’s journey. With authors in all stages of the writing process joining us, there is always something to learn on this independent PRIVATE social media site.
Writing may seem like a solitary activity, but stories are told in community. Whether you find that on The Roost or elsewhere, we’re happy that you are a part of our community here at Chanticleer.
Limited Time Only! Join The Roost during the 12 Days at a discounted holiday price.
Our favorite part about having the 12 Days of Christmas is that we can have the time we need to celebrate with our loved ones. We have time for wrapping presents, meeting with friends for hot cocoa, and continuing to prepare the Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2023 CIBA Banquet and Ceremony.
Wishing you Happy New Year from Chanticleer! from Kiffer, Sharon, David, Dena, Vilina, Scott, Anya, and Argus!
Brooding Château du Freudeneck, just outside Strasbourg, France has villains in the drawing rooms, stolen art hidden in the cellars, and bats in the belfry – all the best elements for a 19th-century Gothic mystery.
However, in Michelle Cox’s novel, A Spying Eye it’s the 20th century. The Great War is passed, but the next war already looms on the horizon. The people of Strasbourg feel the growing conflict sharply, at the heart of Alsace-Lorraine, a fertile region that has been contested between France and Germany since time immemorial.
Which means those bats are in the unfortunate head of the elderly Baron Von Harmon, the current lord and master (as much as he’s still able to be, at least) of the Chateau, while the stolen art is pursued by both the villainous Nazis and the only slightly-less villainous agents of Britain’s MI5.
Amongst this strife, Clive and Henrietta Howard visit the Chateau, at the behest of both his mother and his country. They’re filled with conflicting hopes about a second honeymoon after their disastrous first attempt in A Promise Given, while conducting a wild goose chase for a missing occult art masterpiece in the home of Henrietta’s long-lost relations.
The game is afoot from the very first page of this sixth entry in the award-winning series – long before Clive and Henrietta even know that they are being played by both sides, neither of whom intends for them to survive.
While Inspector Clive Howard is certainly the more experienced investigator of this pair, the focus in A Spying Eye is firmly on Henrietta, particularly in contrast to the trials and tribulations faced back home by her sister Elsie and her sister-in-law Julia.
The Strasbourg troubles in which Henrietta finds herself mired combines a search for the roots her family left behind generations ago with an utterly riveting and thoroughly researched investigation into the early years of the Nazi movement, Hitler’s seemingly endless search for mystical and mythical artworks to feed his obsession with the occult, and a real-life mystery wrapped around just what happened to the panel of the Ghent Altarpiece that the Howards oh-so-briefly managed to hold in their hands.
The pace of the story is relentless on both sides of the Atlantic, as Henrietta, Julia, and Elise all face personal, professional, and even criminal crises, in a world marching towards World War II.
Readers who have fallen in love with the detective duo of Howard and Howard will be in rapture over this latest entry. Fans of the bestselling Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear or the Elena Standish series by the late Anne Perry will find just the kind of character-driven, meticulously researched historical mystery that they are craving, set in the fascinating period between the wars.
As A Spying Eye ends, Henrietta gets her hat on the way out the door to her next adventure, A Haunting at Linley, scheduled for release in late October 2023.
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We are accepting entries into the 2024 Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.
The winners of the 2023 CIBAs will be announced on April 20, 2024.
The winners of the 2024 CIBAs will be announced in April 2025.
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Near and dear to our hearts is Michelle Cox
An expert in world building and continuity, Diane Garland
Our local expert on Book to Screen, Lisa Spicer has worked in television, film, and video production for over 30 years as producer, writer, and editor. Starting in the documentary unit at KCTS/PBS Seattle, later on she worked on the Bill Nye the Science Guy show, earning 3 Emmys. As an independent documentary producer, she has worked in Kenya, Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest, Northern Cheyenne and Lummi Indian reservations, Boulder, Seattle,
The leader of our usual suspects and historian extraordinaire, J. L. Oakley writes historical fiction that spans the mid-19
STRIDER KLUSMAN – Award Winning Author and Host of the 
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy and not-so-Cozy Mystery & Mayhem. The M&M Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Brooding Château du Freudeneck, just outside Strasbourg, France has villains in the drawing rooms, stolen art hidden in the cellars, and bats in the belfry – all the best elements for a 19th-century Gothic mystery.
