The OZMA Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Fantasy Fiction. The OZMA Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out of this world fiction, they will be put to the test and the best selected as winners of the prestigious CIBAs.
The following fantasy fiction works have advanced from the Long List to the Shortlist of the 2020 OZMA Book Awards:
Christopher Leibig –Almost Damned
Susannah Dawn –Battle for the Armor of God
Christopher Russell –Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth
T. Cook –Shin
Brooke Skipstone –Someone To Kiss My Scars
David Fitz-Gerald –She Sees Ghosts: The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls
Michelle Rene –The Canyon Cathedral: The Witches of Tanglewood, Book Two
Amy Wolf –The Twelve Labors of Nick
Robert C. Feol –A Journey to Mouseling Hollow
MG Wilson and Phil Elmore –Ninja Girl Adventures
J. Nell Brown –Orphan Tree and the Vanishing Skeleton Key
Gordon Preston –Zendragon
H.J. Ramsay –Ever Alice
Alison Levy –Gatekeeper: Book One in the Daemon Collecting Series
Jeny Heckman –The Warrior’s Progeny
Sandra A. Hunter –Daughter of Earth & Fire, The Fledgling
James G. Robertson– Afterworld (Next Life, #1)
LaVerne Thompson –Wild Child
D.L. Jennings –Awaken the Three
Derrick Smythe –The Other Magic
Brian Phillips –A Necromancer’s Apprentice
K.N. Salustro –Cause of Death
KC Cowan & Sara Cole –Everfire
Jacob Andrew Emrey –Inferno Dawn
Dr. Anay Ayarovu –STAZR The World Of Z: The Dawn Of Athir
Glenn Searfoss –Cycles of Norse Mythology: Tales of the AEsir Gods
T. K. Thorne –House of Rose
Lee Hunt –Dynamicist
Shortlist stickers are available
Good Luck to all of these works as they compete for the Semi-Finalists positions!
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2020 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors) and have now advanced to the SHORTLIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2020 OZMA Semi-Finalists positions.
The coveted First Place Category Winners of the 2020 OZMA Book Awards will be selected from the Semi-Finalists in the final rounds of judging. The First Place Category Winners will be announced at the Chanticleer Awards and Ceremonies.
The ShortListers’ works will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists, and then all Finalists will be recognized at the VCAC21 ceremonies. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 22 CIBA divisions Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Ceremonies April 21-25th, 2021 live at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
The OZMA Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Fantasy Fiction. The OZMA Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out of this world fiction, they will be put to the test and the best selected as winners of the prestigious CIBAs. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremonies April 21-25th, 2021 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. at the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person.
The following fantasy fiction works have moved forward from all entries to the Long List of the 2020 OZMA Book Awards:
Christopher Leibig – Almost Damned
Manuel Rodville – Keres: The Unseen City
Susannah Dawn – Battle for the Armor of God
Christopher Russell – Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth
T. Cook – Shin
Brooke Skipstone – Someone To Kiss My Scars
Eric McBurney – You Only Die Once
David Fitz-Gerald – She Sees Ghosts: The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls
Julia Dent – The Love of Mother Nature
Michelle Rene – The Canyon Cathedral: The Witches of Tanglewood, Book Two
Amy Wolf – The Twelve Labors of Nick
Robert C. Feol – A Journey to Mouseling Hollow
Alan Frost – The Slayer, the Seer, and the Dream Stealer
MG Wilson and Phil Elmore – Ninja Girl Adventures
J. Nell Brown – Orphan Tree and the Vanishing Skeleton Key
Glen Dahlgren – The Child of Chaos
Gordon Preston – Zendragon
H.J. Ramsay – Ever Alice
Alison Levy – Gatekeeper: Book One in the Daemon Collecting Series
Jeny Heckman – The Warrior’s Progeny
Sandra A. Hunter – Daughter of Earth & Fire, The Fledgling
James G. Robertson – Afterworld (Next Life, #1)
LaVerne Thompson – Wild Child
D.L. Jennings – Awaken the Three
Derrick Smythe – The Other Magic
Brian Phillips – A Necromancer’s Apprentice
K.N. Salustro – Cause of Death
KC Cowan & Sara Cole – Everfire
Jacob Andrew Emrey – Inferno Dawn
Dr. Anay Ayarovu – STAZR The World Of Z: The Dawn Of Athir
Glenn Searfoss – Cycles of Norse Mythology: Tales of the AEsir Gods
T. K. Thorne – House of Rose
Lee Hunt – Dynamicist
T. L. Augury – What’s Brewing Now?
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2020 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction?
Good Luck to All!
Congratulations to Michelle Rene whose work Manufactured Witches took home the Grand Prize for the 2019 Ozma Book Awards.
Strangely, there is a raw emotion that comes from writing something so fast you don’t have time to noodle it to death.
How excited are you when you first start fleshing out a story? How amazing does it feel to start naming your characters and setting up their scenes in your mind? Fan-freaking-tastic!
This is because you are in the beginning of abook affair.
Writing a book is like having a relationship. In the beginning, it’s like a honeymoon! You feel all the emotions. Love and pain and excitement and lust. Well, okay. Maybe not lust. Paper cuts hurt, so let’s not go there.
“Writing a book is like starting a new relationship.” Michelle Rene
The point is the first draft should be all elation and honeymoon.
Leave the nitty-gritty for your fifteenth edited draft. You don’t want to be sitting in a rocking chair with your first draft complaining about how much he snores before you even get to edit.
The Thrill is Gone… Do not let this happen to your story!
Taking years to write that first draft can land you in complacency town before you cross the finish line. Pour your heart and soul into the rough draft with reckless abandon.
“Pour your heart and soul into the rough draft with reckless abandon.”– Michelle Rene
“But nothing good can come from my sloppy first draft if I write it in a few weeks,” says the nebulous reader voice in my head that’s starting to sound whiny.
The PROOF
Please refer to the infographic below. It lists some of the most popular books and how long it took the writer to finish them. WhileLord of The Ringstook a whopping sixteen years to complete (no shocker there), I’d like to direct your attention to roughly a quarter of the chart that indicates books written under three months. If theBoy in the Striped Pajamaswas written in two and a half days, you can write something of quality in four weeks.
Editor’s Note: This is an awesome chart. I’d say awesome enough to print it and display it in your writer’s lair to spur you on. Michelle’s post continues after the graphic below.
Why Write This Fast?
Nothing kills a book faster than never finishing that initial draft. A malaise sets in, often slowing a writer down to a crawl while they chip away over a long time and often give up entirely.
“Will I ever finish this book?” the writer asks, (fists raised to the sky for dramatic effect).
Maybe. Maybe not. That first draft is possible if you pick yourself up by your metaphorical bootstraps and do the work every day, but a large percentage of writers never cross the finish line. What a shame that is!
To reiterate: Strangely, there is a raw emotion that comes from writing something so fast you don’t have time to noodle it to death.
How Do I Start?
Let’s begin with talking about the snarky, three-hundred-pound elephant in the back of your mind.
Your inner editor.
We are going to bind and gag that jerk, and it may take fifty shades worth of rope because it’s three-hundred pounds and takes up a lot of headspace.
Sarah Bale, an extremely prolific romance writer, has similar advice for your would-be-elephant editor.
“I think the biggest mistake an author makes when writing a rough draft is stopping and rereading/editing their work. The key is to keep moving forward and get the whole story out. Know the beginning and the ending. If you have those elements, the rest is easy.”
Sarah Bale
“The key is to keep moving forward and get the whole story out.” Sarah Bale
The passionate ideas come when the critic in our mind is silenced. Allow yourself to fall head over heels in love with your story.
Fall Head Over Heels in Love with YOUR STORY!
Build your characters. Plot the story fast and loose. Fall in love with your story. Get down and dirty in that honeymoon phase…but not literally because remember the paper cuts. We talked about that. If not, we will.
And finally, outline!
For the love of all that is holy, outline your story! Do not do this flying by the seat of your pants. That is a sure-fire way to crash and burn. It doesn’t need to be an in-depth outline. On the contrary, keep that pretty loosey-goosey, too.
My outlines are often little more than a few sentences for each chapter.
The Middle Stick
It’s right around the 30,000-word mark that this happens. The Middle Stick is what I call the point where your initial enthusiasm begins to wane, and your progress gets sluggish. What began as “yay, I’m writing a book” turns into “I don’t know if I can do this.” It happens to everyone.
This is where participating in programs like NaNoWriMo can be helpful. Having other writers in the same place can be encouraging, and they can hold you accountable. If you aren’t doing NaNoWriMo, I suggest getting a group of like-minded author friends to do this together. This is also where writing ahead of your minimum word count helps because The Middle Stick will almost certainly slow you down.
Here are two helpful tips for when you are in the “saggy middle”
Go out of your comfort zone and experience something related to your book. For example, if you are writing a western, go see a rodeo. Get away from your computer. (Or in Covid days, watch YouTube videos specific to your story or go for a walk or take a hike or try a new recipe that your protagonist would enjoy. – Kiffer)
Multi-award winning author, Janet Shawgo, has this to say about immersing yourself in your research outside the page when she was researching her book,Look For Me, set in the Civil War. “What helped me was putting feet on the ground at Gettysburg to get a feel of the area, what my characters saw, what they heard. To try on costumes true to that era. I walked some of the roads soldiers did in Virginia. If at all possible, put yourself there.”
Switch up your chapters. This is where outlining really helps you. If you are hitting a wall writing chapter thirteen, jump forward and write chapter twenty. Sure, you’ll have to go back to that chapter eventually, but this helps you jump over that block and continue to get your word count in.
I wroteTattooentirely this way. It’s made of seven parts of a story told chronologically backward. I didn’t write any of those parts in order. Not one. Yet, I still managed to piece them together in the end.
Just keep moving. The momentum will pick back up. You can do this.
PICTURE SELF in the FUTURE with a Completed First Draft!
Hurray! You Did It!
Go celebrate. Treat yourself to a fancy dinner. Toast your deed with some friends. Eat a whole chocolate cake. I don’t care. Party it up because you managed to do what the vast majority of humans on this planet cannot do. Most people never dream about writing a book. Fewer attempt it. Only a small fraction actually finish a draft.
You are spectacular.
WHAT NEXT?
Now, put the book aside for at least a month (more like two). You will eventually go back and edit. You will fill in those empty brackets.
You will allow that annoying three-hundred-pound editor elephant back into your life. But not right now. That’s for another day.
STAY TUNED for Michelle’s Next Chanticleer Writer’s Toolbox blog post on:
Time Management
From Snail to Sprint
90 second exercise to keep you on track
How to Not Fall into the Black Hole of the Internet While Writing Your First Draft
Michelle Rene and her Chanticleer Grand Prize Ribbons
Michelle Rene, the author of this blog post, is a creative advocate and the author of a number of published works of science fiction, historical fiction, humor, and everything in-between.
She has won indie awards for her historical fiction novel,I Once Knew Vincent. Her latest historical novel,Hour Glass, won the Chanticleer International Book Awards Grand Prize for Best Book. It was released on February 20th to rave reviews from Chanticleer, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Her experimental novella,Tattoo, was released on March 7th.
When not writing, she is a professional artist and self-described an all-around odd person. She lives as the only female, writing in her little closet, with her husband, son, and ungrateful cat in Dallas, Texas.
A special thanks go out to the authorsSarah BaleandJanet Shawgofor contributing their writing expertise to help others.
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.
Sixteen-year-old Nat is a boxcar kid. It’s the Dust Bowl era, and Nat has lost everything: his grandmother, his family home, and a sense of belonging. He hops trains across Texas in search of a place for himself amid so much loss. Outside of Amarillo, Nat feels a peculiar sensation, a tug from destiny, that pulls him toward the small town of Tanglewood. However, instead of finding a job and some much-needed food, he discovers Polly Jones, a teenager like himself, chained to a post with a sign above her reading, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch.”
Nat can’t bring himself to abandon her to the small-minded, fearful townsfolk and immediately becomes her protector until the arrival of Camille Renoir Lavendou, a local woman who operates Miss Camille’s Home for Wayward Children. No one dares stop Camille from releasing Polly and taking both teens with her because Camille is reputed to be in the “witchin’ business” herself. Nat’s excitement at the prospect of food and a place to stay quickly turns to disbelief and wariness when he steps inside Camille’s sanctuary. What he thought was a ploy on Camille’s part to keep the nosey townsfolk at bay doesn’t seem to be a trick at all when he meets those who are under Camille’s care.
When Polly, too, begins to exhibit extraordinary abilities, Nat begins to feel like an outsider. Despite his limitations, Nat’s intense loyalty quickly leads him into a much more dangerous situation, where his very life may lay in the balance.
For lovers of the paranormal, this novel will be a special treat. Miss Camille’s Home for Wayward Children is a delight in every room. From books that magically fill with stories for a specific reader, to rooms with waterfalls and koi ponds, this realm of possibilities will leave the reader clambering for more and wanting to explore right along with Nat. Although the book would benefit from another round of editing, it is perhaps one of the most compelling novels we’ve read lately. The delight of discovery and fantastic description within the novel will inspire the many magical possibilities that await. While the surface of the plot is innocent, the theme beneath will undoubtedly satisfy.
Nat’s story is one of belonging. Throughout his journey, he has the innate, human need for acceptance and home, not just a physical place to lay his head, but the real need for family and kinship. The Dust Bowl setting plays such an intricate role in this theme because so many Americans searched for what nature and man took from them, their place in the universe. Nat’s story, though fictional, was played out in real-time for millions of people. He has lost everything, his family, his home, his identity. His search and subsequent finding of his place lead to a discovery of himself. Though he often feels he doesn’t belong anywhere ─ not the boxcar, nor the tramp world, nor Camille’s menagerie of unique people ─ Nat comes to see exactly who he is and of what he is capable. Although facing the potential of great danger, Camille, an African American, creates a home for all. She is warned multiple times that she cannot take in white children. Her love for all her “children” is colorblind. Her home is a haven and a place to discover their true identity. Acceptance takes center stage in this novel and leaves the reader wrapped in a cozy hug of belonging.
Manufactured Witches took home the Grand Prize in the 2019 CIBAs in the OZMA Awards for the Best Fantasy Fiction, and First in Category in the Dante Rossetti Awards the same year.
Why do we love Fantasy now more than ever? With the promise of bringing new horizons, a grand new adventure, magical worlds, and perhaps even a treasure… with a flick of our finger and that which was not suddenly appears… with magical creatures and fantastical places waiting to be explored – what’s not to love?
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out of this world fiction, we will discover the best among them and award them an OZMA Book Award!
The last day to submit your work is coming up faster than you may think – October 31, 2020, is just around the corner. We invite you to join us, to tell us your stories, and to find out who will take home the prize at CAC21 on April 18th, 2021.
As our deadline draws near, don’t slip into an alternate reality and forget to enter your fantasy novel! We accept completed manuscripts and recently published works.
Michelle Rene participated in our 10 question Author Interview series and this is a bit of what she has to say about writing… “It is a powerful and equalizing force in the world. As long as you can string sentences together, you have a voice. Your story can be told. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are. Your wallet and waistline have no bearing. You don’t even have to be formally educated. Everyone’s story is possible, and stories change the world.”
The First In Category Winners for 2019 are:
Elana A. Mugdan –Dragon Blood
Michelle Rene –Manufactured Witches
Noah Lemelson – The Sightless City
KC Cowan & Sara Cole –The Hunt for Winter
Susannah Dawn –Search for the Armor of God
Dan Zangari & Robert Zangari –A Prince’s Errand
Tim Westover –The Winter Sisters: A Novel
2018 Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winners!
The 2018 OZMA Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Fantasy Fiction Novels:
Elana Mugdan, our Grand Prize winner, earned her title for Dragon Speaker, a story about a young girl who is charged with rescuing a dragon and, ultimately, saves her world in this wide-reaching fantasy conception of love, war, danger, and magic. Massive amounts of magic!
Congratulations to the 2018 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction NovelsFirst in Category Winners!
T.K. Riggins has this to say about writing, “I started writing because of a dare. My friend was searching for something new to read, but instead of recommending a book, I decided to write something for her. It was a ten-page short story that was based on a farming event from my past, and I turned it into a tale of fantasy. It was a fun experience, and my friend was so impressed that she wanted to read more, so I just kept going.” Find out more in his 10 Question Author Interview, here.
Our 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards feature more than $30,000.00 worth of cash and prizes each year!
The 2020 Ozma Grand Prize Winner is namedChanticleer ReviewsBest Fantasy Fiction Book of the Year and goes on to compete for the Chanticleer Overall Grand Prize Best Book of the Year
The Overall Grand Prize Winner is namedChanticleer Reviews Best Book of the Year and awarded the$1000 prize
All winners receive a Chanticleer Prize Packagewhich includes a digital badge, a ribbon, and a whole assortment of goodies detailed below (winners outside the US pay a shipping & handling fee)
That’s more than $30,000.00 worth of cash and prizes! The Fine Print.
~$1000 for one lucky Overall Grand Prize Winner
~$30,000+ in reviews, prizes, and promotional opportunities awarded to Category Winners
Currently accepting entries. Deadline: Oct. 31st, 2020.
We are deeply honored and excited to announce the 2019 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs). The winners were recognized at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Ceremonies that were held on during VCAC September 8 – 13, 2020 by ZOOM webinars based at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.
2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards Grand Prize Winners
The 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2019 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Banquet and Ceremony was originally scheduled for April 17 – 19, 2020. Each year, Chanticleerians from around the globe come together to celebrate and cheer each other on at the annual CIBA banquet and awards evening at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether that is situated on beautiful Bellingham Bay, Washington State.
However, because of the global coronavirus pandemic the conference was officially postponed on March 11, 2020. We had hoped to have our beloved and celebrated CIBA banquet and ceremony during the 2020 summer months perhaps even over Labor Day weekend. However, it became apparent in July, with the USA having spikes in the coronavirus, that it would not be prudent to host a live in-person conference in 2020.
So, we pivoted. We held our first ever virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference in September known as VCAC20! The conference proper was six days, September 9 – 13, 2020 with 2019 CIBA 14 Fiction and 3 Non-Fiction Divisions Official Announcements were made each evening. Additionally to the six days of VCAC sessions, we also held four more days of workshops and master writing classes the week immediately following.
First of all, we want to thank all of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 17 CIBA Divisions. Without your labors of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist. THANK YOU!
We want to thank all of the authors and publishers who participated in the 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs). Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increasing exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2019—the premier Level of FINALIST per each CIBA Division. The CIBA judges wanted to add the Finalist Level of Achievement as a way to recognize and validate the entries that had outstanding merit but were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division.
A Recap of the CIBA Selection Process
The 2019 CIBAs have 14 Fiction Divisions and 3 Non-fiction Divisions.
First Place Category award winners were selected for each one of the 17 divisions from an overall field of titles that progressed to the Premier FINALIST Division Level from the Division Semi-Finalists positions from the Shortlists, the Long List, and the infamous beginning slush pile rounds.
One Grand Prize award winner was selected from the First Place Category Award Winners for each of the 17 CIBA divisions.
One Overall Grand Prize award winner was selected from the 17 divisions of Grand Prize Award Winners
All 2019 CIBA FINALISTS were recognized with their respective division at the CIBA awards ceremony that was held each evening of VCAC20.
THANK YOU to VCAC20 SPONSORS and FRIENDS
Robert Dugoni-one of our most popular speakers & Amazon #1 Selling AuthorScott Steindorff – A-List Film Producer – who shares his expertise & knowledge of the film industry and its future.JD Barker – Master of Suspense shares his experiences from Indie author to 7 figure contractsCIBA Grand Prize Ribbons!
We are honored to present the
2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards
Grand Prize Winners
The 2019 CIBA Winners!
The CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction Novels
Grand Prize Winner is
INSYNNIUM by Tim Cole
J. I. Rogers – The Korpes Agenda
Jacques St-Malo – Cognition
Shami Stovall –Star Marque Rising
Rey Clark– Titan Code Series: Dawn of Genesis
Paul Werner –Mustang Bettie
Robert M. Kerns –It Ain’t Over…
The OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction
Grand Prize Winner is
Manufactured Witches by Michelle Rene
Elana A. Mugdan –Dragon Blood
Noah Lemelson – The Sightless City
KC Cowan & Sara Cole –The Hunt for Winter
Susannah Dawn –Search for the Armor of God
Dan Zangari & Robert Zangari –A Prince’s Errand
Tim Westover –The Winter Sisters: A Novel
The Paranormal Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction
Grand Prize Winner is
ABIGAIL’S WINDOW by Susan Lynn Solomon
Ryan J. Lyons –Drums and Dragons
Linda Watkins –The Tao of the Viper
Kaylin McFarren –High Flying
Palmer Pickering –Moon Deeds
Jack Cullen –Runes of Steel
Joy Ross Davis –The Witch of Blacklion
D. J. Adamson –At The Edge of No Return
The GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards for High Stakes Thrillers,
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com We will try to respond within 3 business days.
Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 2019 CIBA Winners! – The Chanticleer Team
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction, a division of the CIBAs
The CIBAs Search for the Best Young Adult Fiction
Chanticleer Book Reviews is celebrating the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience between the ages of about twelve to eighteen. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Romance, and Literary. We love them all.
The 2019 DANTE ROSSETTI BOOK Awards First Place Category Winners and the DANTE ROSSETTI Grand Prize winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of Sept 8 -13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
Pamela Beason, author of The ONLY WITNESS, (a previous Overall CIBA Grand Prize Winner), announced the DANTE ROSSETTI Book Award Winners.
This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the DANTE ROSSETTI BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the DANTE ROSSETTI Grand Prize Winner.
Congratulations to All!
Michelle Rene –Manufactured Witches
Nancy Thorne –Victorian Town
Susan Brown –Twelve
Sandra L Rostirolla –Cecilia
David Patneaude –Fast Backward
John Middleton–Dillion & The Curse of Arminius
Jan Von Schleh – But Not Forever
The Dante Rossetti Book Awards
2019 Grand Prize Winner is:
But Not Forever by Jan Von Schleh
This is the badge for the Grand Prize Winner of the 2018 DANTE ROSSETTI —
Whispersby Lynn Yvonne Moon
We are accepting submissions into the2021 Dante Rossetti Book Awardsuntil June 30, 2021.
The 2020 Dante Rossetti Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC 21 on April 17, 2021.
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize winner of the OZMA Book Awards for FANTASY Fiction, a division of the 2019 CIBAs
Chanticleer International Book Awards celebrates the best books featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Diesel-punk, Gaslight Fantasy—we love them all.
The 2019 OZMA BOOK Awards First Place Category Winners and the OZMA Grand Prize winner were announced at rhe Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of Sept 8 -13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
J.I. Rogers, the CYGNUS Grand Prize Award Winner for her novel the KORPES AGENDA, announced the 2019 OZMA Award Winners.
OZMA Awards The Search for the Best Fantasy Fiction
This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the OZMA BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the OZMA Grand Prize Winner. Congratulations to all!
Elana A. Mugdan – Dragon Blood
Michelle Rene – Manufactured Witches
Noah Lemelson – The Sightless City
KC Cowan & Sara Cole –The Hunt for Winter
Susannah Dawn –Search for the Armor of God
Dan Zangari & Robert Zangari –A Prince’s Errand
Tim Westover – The Winter Sisters: A Novel
The OZMA BOOK AWARDS 2019 Grand Prize Winner is:
Manufactured Witches by Michelle Rene
The Grand Prize Winner of the 2018 OZMA Book Awards, Dragon Speaker by Elana Mugdan
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
LEARN FROM THE BEST!
If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.
Welcome to our SPOTLIGHT on LARAMIE Book Awards, the stories that stick!
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the Americana / Western, Pioneer, Civil War, Frontier, and First Nations Novels. The Laramie Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.
Charles M. Russell painted the cowboy scene on Chanticleer’s very own Laramie Book Awards badge. It is one of many such paintings he did that encompassed the Old American Wild West. He was an advocate for the Northern Plains Indians. Charles M. Russell also helped establish a reservation in Montana for the Chippewa people.
*More interesting facts about Laramie, Wyoming, and its historical icons are immediately after the Laramie Hall of Fame listing below. A fun read!
The Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction Hall of Fame First Place and Grand Prize winners!
Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the 2020 Laramie awards is July 31, 2020. Enter here!
Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced during our Virtual Conference in early September 2020.
Any entries received on or after July 31, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Laramie Book Awards. The Grand Prize and First Place for 2020 CIBA winners will be held on April 17, 2021.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your American Western readers deserve! Enter today!
The LARAMIE Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.
The 2020 winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony, which will take place during the 2020 Live/Online Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first place winners will be virtually whisked up on “stage” to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. Covid19 has made our celebrations a bit different this year, but we still will celebrate!
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with questions, concerns, or suggestions at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com
[20] McDougall, Walt, “Pictures in the Papers,” American Mercury, 6:21 (September 1925), 72.
What’s a Laramie?
We thought you’d never ask!
We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for Western American Fiction and all things that gather around the campfire singing a lonesome tune, the Laramie Awards, after the county and city in Wyoming. You know the one, tucked into the lower right-hand corner of the state between the Snowy Mountain Range and the Laramie Mountain Range.
Yes, but why Laramie?
The small outpost was changed almost overnight when the Union Pacific Railroad moved their “Hell on Wheels” tent town from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Laramie after building the rails over the Sherman Summit at an elevation of 8,200 feet all the way to Laramie on May 4, 1868. Lawlessness and the Wild West ruled in Laramie. Luckily, “Hell on Wheels” moved on West as more track was laid down.
But where did that name Laramie come from?
Laramie was named after Jacque LaRamie, a French or French-Canadian trapper who disappeared in the mountain range that was later named for him in the early 1810s. LaRamie was one of the first Europeans to visit the area. Laramie is a French name much like DuBois, Wyoming. And, yes, it is pronounced Doo – Boys (and NOT Du Bwai).
There are several reasons we chose Laramie for our iconic Americana Book Awards. For us, and those in the know, Laramie, Wyoming immediately calls to mind the image of a Wild West town filled with rough-and-tumble cowboys. At one point, the only law in Laramie was “lawlessness. Wild Bill Hickok was even known to visit from time to time.
Here’s a picture of the man, himself, on the left with his friends, Texas Jack Omohundro (center), and Buffalo Bill Cody on the right.
Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch robbed trains and passengers with the first recorded train robbery taking place on June 2, 1899 in Wyoming. Butch was known to be very polite and dislike violence.
But that’s not the only reason we chose Laramie.
And, yes, there is yet one more reason we love Laramie!
The WOMEN!
Calamity Jane hails from Laramie, Wyoming – a skilled sharpshooter who was born to a gambler and a prostitute. She cared for her five younger siblings in Utah before traveling on to Wyoming in search of a better life. There she found work as a dance hall girl and then as a prostitute at Fort Laramie. It was there that she reinvented herself by wearing buckskins and dressing like a man. She was also known for her swearing and hard-drinking ways, but Calamity Jane was also known even more for her kind heart and helping folks out of calamities–thus her nickname.
Calamity Jane — She was the inspiration for Michelle Rene’s HOURGLASS novel.
While the men were wrestling in the streets and shooting up the place, it was really the women who brought civilization to Laramie and Wyoming Territory. They established the first school in 1869, served on a formal jury in the Spring of 1870, and were the first to gain the vote; which is exactly what Louisa Swain and 92 of her friends did on September 6, 1870 –150 years ago!
Louisa Swain, the first woman to cast a ballot and she did it in Laramie, Wyoming!
Louisa Swain – she was made of stern stuff!
Early in the morning on September 6, 1870 in Laramie, Wyoming Louisa Swain became the first woman in the world to cast a ballot under democratically enacted laws granting women equal political rights with men. In the fall of 2008, 138 years later, the U.S. Congress passes a resolution proclaiming September 6th as “Louisa Swain Day” in recognition of this historic event.The Louisa Swain Foundation
In 1870, Esther Hobart Morris (59 years old) became the first female Justice of the Peace. She served in South Pass City, Wyoming, which is to the northwest of Laramie.
Esther Morris, first female Justice of the Peace — Wyoming
Esther Morris “to pettifoggers she showed no mercy.” Wyoming Tribune
The Union’s first all-female jury was assembled in Wyoming in 1870.
Later, in 1894, Estelle Reel Meyer became Superintendent of Public Instruction, the country’s first female statewide elected official.
And the grand coup d’etat was when in 1889 when Wyoming vied for statehood—and refused to join the Union if the laws giving equality to women were not upheld, telling Congress (which wanted the suffrage law rescinded) via telegram,
“We will remain out of the Union 100 years rather than come in without the women.”
Wyoming is also the first state in the USA to allow women to own property and sign legal documents.
In 1910, Mary Godat Bellamy became the first woman to be elected to the Wyoming Legislature. Two other western states, Colorado and Idaho, elected women legislators in 1895 and 1899, respectively. Wyoming was third in the nation.
Quotes are from the Smithsonian Magazine
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/women-voting-wyoming-150-years-here-how-state-celebrating-180971263/#6UKzMfMeCQsmbIIQ.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
Do you have an early historical fiction manuscript or recently released novel? Submit your work to the CIBA 2019 CHAUCER Awards by
June 30, 2020, and see how your work stacks up against others.
We know you want to – because we never tire of promoting our authors’ achievements!
As in Chaucer’s words in the Nun’s Priest Tale of the Canterbury Tales,
“For crowing there was not his equal in all the land.”
We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction the Chaucer Awards, after the English poet and author of the Canterbury Tales, because #CHAUCER.
But seriously, did you know that The Canterbury Tales is considered one of the greatest works in the English language? In fact, it was among the first non-secular books written in Middle English to be printed. So, yeah, #Chaucer
A woodcut from William Caxton’s second edition 0f the Canterbury Tales printed in 1483
Some interesting tidbits about Geoffrey Chaucer
born c. 1342/43 probably in London. He died on October 25, 1400
his father was an important London vintner
His family’s finances were derived from wine and leather
Chaucer spoke Middle English and was fluent in French, Latin, and Italian
He guided diplomatic missions across the continent of Europe for ten years where he discovered the works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio whose The Decameron had a profound influence on Chaucer’s later works
He married well as his wife received an annuity from the queen consort of Edward III
His remains are interred in the Westminster Abbey
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your historical fiction deserves! Enter today!
Welcome to the CHAUCER BOOK AWARDS HALL OF FAME
Click on the links below to read the Chanticleer Review of the award-winning work!
Regency: Traitor’s Gate by David Chacko & Alexander Kulcsar
Women’s Fiction/WWII: Wait for Me by Janet K. Shawgo
Medieval/Dark Ages:Divine Vengeanceby David Koons
Women’s Fiction/World History: Daughters of India by Kavita Jade
What are you waiting for? Before long the CHAUCER Book Award deadline will be history.
Submit your manuscript or recently released Historical Fiction (pre-1750s) to the Chanticleer International Book Awards!
Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the Chaucer awards is June 30, 2020. Enter here!
Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced on September 5, 2020.
Any entries received on or after June 30, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards. The Grand Prize and First Place for 2020 CIBA winners will be held on April 17, 2021.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your historical fiction deserves! Enter today!
The CHAUCER Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.
The 2020 winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony on September 5, 2020, which will take place during the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first-place winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations!
Sixteen-year-old Nat is a boxcar kid. It’s the Dust Bowl era, and Nat has lost everything: his grandmother, his family home, and a sense of belonging. He hops trains across Texas in search of a place for himself amid so much loss. Outside of Amarillo, Nat feels a peculiar sensation, a tug from destiny, that pulls him toward the small town of Tanglewood. However, instead of finding a job and some much-needed food, he discovers Polly Jones, a teenager like himself, chained to a post with a sign above her reading, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch.”
young girl who is charged with rescuing a dragon and, ultimately, saves her world in this wide-reaching fantasy conception of love, war, danger, and magic. Massive amounts of magic!
Congratulations to the 2018 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction Novels First in Category Winners!
What’s a Laramie?
Women’s Fiction:
