The Short Story Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in Collected Works such as Short Story Collections, Essay Collections, and Anthologies. The Short Story Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards program.
The Chanticleer International Book Awards program discovers today’s best works. The Short Stories Awards discovers the Best New Shorts in Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Shorts Book Awards Short List to the 2021 Shorts Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
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–whether virtual or in-person.
NOTE: We are posting the Individual Short Stories, Essays, and Novellas in a different post. These are Collected Works
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE WINNERS of the 2021 Shorts Book Awards novel competition for Short Story Collections, Essay Collections, and Anthologies!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
These titles have advanced to the FINALIST stage of the 2021 Shorts Book Awards competition!
Grendolyn Peach Soleil – The Mermaids Melt at Dawnfor Fantasy and Myth
Russ Colson –Kernels of Mind – for Philosophical SciFi
Leah Angstman – Shoot the Horses First for Americana Fiction
Helena P. Schrader – Grounded Eaglesfor 20th c. Wartime Fiction
Susannah Dawn – I’m Not What I Used To Be, Yet I Am Who I’ve Always Been – Excerpts From My Journeyfor Personal Journey Non-Fiction
K. –Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories for Literary Love Stories
Domenick Venezia – The Edwerd Chroniclesfor Magical Realism
Elizabeth Crowens – New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worstfor Anthologies and Mixed Media
Jeff Richards – Everyone Worth Knowingfor Literary
Maria Rybakova – Quaternity: Four Novellas From The Carpathiansfor Contemporary Themes
Frances Howard-Snyder – Through a Glass Darkly for Contemporary Themes
Judy Taylor – The Boy Who Wrote Poetry for Family Stories
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.
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.
The Short Story Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in Short Stories, Essays, Novelettes, and Novellas. The Short Story Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards program.
The Chanticleer International Book Awards program discovers today’s best works. The Short Stories Awards discovers the Best New Shorts in Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Shorts Book Awards Short List to the 2021 Shorts Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
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.
NOTE: We are posting the Collected Works such as Short Story or Essay Collections and Anthologies in a different post.
These are Individual Works
These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2021 Shorts Book Awards for Short Stories, Essays, Novelettes, Novellas!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Out of This World Fiction (Cygnus, OZMA, Paranormal)
Susannah Dawn – Command of the Butterfly
Gina Detwiler – Before: Jared’s Story
Susan Faw – The Wizard of Bastion
Mysteries and Suspense (Mystery/Thriller/CLUE)
Dalton Mire – A Chance to Serve
M. K. Wiseman – Sherlock Holmes & the Ripper of Whitechapel
The Historicals (Chaucer/Goethe/Hemingway)
Kristie Clark – Dragon of the Sea
Elizabeth Wolf – The Royal Foetus: A very short novel based on the very short life of King Louis XVII
Breakfield and Burkey – Out of Poland
Joy Ross Davis – The Sutler of Petersburg
Nicole Evelina –Consequences
Somerset – Literary & Contemporary Fiction
Toni Ann Johnson – Homegoing
Mekiya Walters – Bathwater (or, The Miseducation of Ness Chairmonte)
Frances Howard-Snyder – Face to Face
Dalton Mire – A Minefield of Memories
Grace Sikorski – How To Become a Mother
Box of Chocolates Assortment
Lindy Miller – Sleigh Bells on Bread Loaf Mountain
Jean-Jacques Jura – Acadian Chronicles: When Ancestors Look Down
Barry Robbins – Oh Daddy Chronicles: The Tasting
Narrative Non-Fiction
Lisa Lynn Veith – Gold Medal
J. L. Oakley – Putting Things Away
Vicky Oliver – A Valentine to my Mothers and Other Dubious Role Models
Graphic Stories
Kourtney Spadoni – In The Underwood
Clayton Marshall Adams – The Mask
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.
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.
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2021 Somerset Book Awards FINALISTS.All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
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 the FINALISTS of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards program for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Ben Sharpton –The Awakening of Jim Bishop: This Changes Things
M. J. Simms-Maddox –The Mysterious Affair at the Met
Anne Pfeffer –Binge
E. A. Coe –The Other Side Of Good
Margaret Ann Spence – Joyous Lies
Kent Politsch –Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
Teng Rong –Brilliant White Peaks
Natalie Symons –Lies in Bone
Dan Schorr – Final Table: A Novel
Dawn Newton –The Remnants of Summer
Douglas Green –A Dog of Many Names
Robert Gwaltney –The Cicada Tree
Richard C. Brusca –In the Land of the Feathered Serpent
Judy Keeslar Santamaria –Jetty Cat Palace Café
Charlie Suisman –Hot Air
Suzanne Simonetti –The Sound of Wings
Alex Sirotkin –The Long Desert Road
John Hansen – Badger Creek
Sue Phillips –You Oughta Know
Cara Sue Achterberg –Blind Turn
Gene Helfman –Beyond the Human Realm
Barbara Linn Probst –The Sound Between the Notes
These titles and their authors will compete to advance to the FIRST PLACE and GRAND PRIZE Positions of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. Good Luck to All!
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.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
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.
The Chatelaine Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Romantic Fiction. The Chatelaine Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best new books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, perhaps a little steamy romance, and stories that appeal especially to fans of affairs of the heart to compete in the Chatelaine Book Awards (the CIBAs). We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Chatelaine Romantic Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2021 Chatelaine Book Awards Finalist Positions.
All Finalists will be recognized at CAC22.
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA division Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25h, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Valerie Taylor– What’s Not Said — A Novel
Anna Gomez and Kristoffer Polaha –Moments Like This
Lindy Miller –Aloha With Love
Alex Sirotkin –The Long Desert Road
Evie Alexander –Highland Games
A.D. Brazeau –Love Between the Lines
Bobbi Groover –Inside the Grey
Elizabeth St. Michel –Surrender the Storm
Kana Wu –No Secrets Allowed
Chris Karlsen –The Ack Ack Girl
John W. Feist – The Color of Rain
Edie Cay –The Boxer and the Blacksmith
Emily A. Myers –The Truth About Unspeakable Things
Deborah Swenson –Till My Last Breath, Book One in the Desert Hills Trilogy
Phillip Vega –Searching for Sarah
Emma Lombard –Discerning Grace
F. E. Greene –In the Sweet Midwinter
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE and GRAND PRZIE WINNERS of the 2021 Chatelaine Book Awards novel competition for Romantic Fiction!
Good Luck to All!
All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
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.
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.
The Mark Twain Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Humor and Satire. The Mark Twain Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring satire, humor, political ideology, parody, fantasy, and allegory or fable. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Mark Twain Humor and Satire Fiction Short List to the 2021 Mark Twain Book Awards FINALIST. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
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–which will be VIRTUAL and IN-person.
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE WINNERS of the 2021 Mark Twain Book Awards novel competition for Humor and Satire!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Linda Stewart Henley –Waterbury Winter
Anne Pfeffer –Binge
Chief John J. Mandeville –The Admiral of Bolivia
Charlie Suisman –Hot Air
Roger Wilson-Crane –Certified
Barry Robbins –Oh Daddy Chronicles
Pamela Hamilton –Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale
Andy Becker –The Kissing Rabbi: Lust, Betrayal, and a Community Turned Inside Out
Elizabeth Crowens –Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
Lou Dischler –My Only Sunshine: Getting Straight with the Bomb
David Perlmutter –Orthicon
John Prather– The Jesus Nut
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.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Mark Twain Book Awards for Humor and Satire Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
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.
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction Short List to the 2021 Somerset Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. The Finalists will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists.All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
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 the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards program for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Ben Sharpton –The Awakening of Jim Bishop: This Changes Things
Adrian Spratt –Caroline
Linda Stewart Henley –Waterbury Winter
M. J. Simms-Maddox –The Mysterious Affair at the Met
Anne Pfeffer –Binge
E. A. Coe –The Other Side Of Good
Margaret Ann Spence – Joyous Lies
Suzanne Kamata –The Baseball Widow
Vicki Volden –All the After
Kent Politsch –Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
Ruthie Stevens –You Can’t Blame the Flower
V.N. Writer –Who Stole My Hula Hoop?
Teng Rong –Brilliant White Peaks
Natalie Symons –Lies in Bone
Ruth Hull Chatlien –Katie, Bar the Door
Dawn Newton –The Remnants of Summer
Douglas Green –A Dog of Many Names
Robert Gwaltney –The Cicada Tree
Sarah E Zilkowski –Beasts of War
Vanessa Carlisle –Take Me With You
Richard C. Brusca –In the Land of the Feathered Serpent
Natalie Symons –Lies in Bone
Judy Keeslar Santamaria –Jetty Cat Palace Café
Charlie Suisman –Hot Air
Sandra Vasoli –The Masterpiece Pursuit
Suzanne Simonetti –The Sound of Wings
John Hansen –Old Water
Alex Sirotkin –The Long Desert Road
John Hansen – Badger Creek
Pamela Hamilton –Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale
Sue Phillips –You Oughta Know
Chera Thompson & NF Johnson –A Time to Wander
Cara Sue Achterberg –Blind Turn
Susan Lynn Solomon –Dancing Backwards
Debra Whiting Alexander –A River for Gemma
Anne Moose –House of Fragile Dreams
Jane Ward –In the Aftermath
Drema Drudge –Victorine
Malcolm Spicer – Freedom from Privilege
Rick Lenz – Hello, Rest of My Life
Gene Helfman –Beyond the Human Realm
Emily A. Myers –The Truth About Unspeakable Things
Roberta Seret – Love Odyssey
Barbara Linn Probst –The Sound Between the Notes
Florence Reiss Kraut –How to Make a Life: a novel
Susannah Marren –A Palm Beach Scandal
Mekiya Walters –Ashes, Ashes
These titles and their authors will compete to advance to the FINALISTS Positions of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. Good Luck to All!
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.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
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.
Just as every dark and stormy night, dinner party, holiday gathering, or bustling office on payday are infused with mood, so are scenes in the best fiction.
Mood affects, resonates, and reinforces the reader’s emotions, aids in understanding key moments, and enhances his or her immersion into the story events.
Mood is the feel or atmosphere or ambience of a story or scene.
ALL writing should evoke a mood.
Miranda at “that” dinner party that takes place in the STATION ELEVEN series. The tension is palpable.
Mood is the Soundtrack of Fiction aka Mood as Backdrop
Mood is omnipresent in the best books much like the soundtracks of notable films. As with movies without a soundtrack, fiction is not complete and captivating without having moods as a backdrop. Mood makes readers worry about heroines stranded in lonely castles and fog-bound moors. It feeds suspense and tension, and is in fact inseparable from them. It is essential to genres like horror, thrillers, and action, but is necessary to every moment in every story where you want a reader to feel a certain way. You can stage your characters in dramatic events but without setting up the proper mood, the characters’ actions will fall short.
Mood is What Readers Feel While Reading Your Story.
Mood is what the reader feels while reading a scene or story. It’s not the reader’s emotions, (though mood is designed to influence them) but the atmosphere (the vibe) of a scene or story. It’s the tornado heading for Dorothy Gale’s Kansas farm. In the film, once the viewers spot that towering tunnel and witness winds lashing the countryside, fear sets in. Will Dorothy make it to cellar in time?
It’s what the reader notices, what gets under his or her skin. Not all readers will experience/perceive the same mood from a scene, although the writer tries to achieve a particular feel common to every reader.
A quick example from everyday life–candlelight is soothing and soft; overhead fluorescent lights are harsh and even irritating.
Tip: Mood should change and vary as the story moves forward. Moods in subplots should vary from the main storyline.
Why Mood?
Deepens the reader’s experience.
Creates cohesion.
Enhances tension and suspense.
Evokes emotions, creates emotional connections to the characters and their situations.
Works with reader’s nervous system.
Underlines themes.
Mood helps fiction become more immersive, alive, lifelike and creates a backdrop for drama.
Mood is Created by a Range of Literary Devices:
Setting
Conflict
Imagery
Sensory Details
Characters Reacting and Responding in Scenes.
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series is an exemplary example of infusing mood into scenes: joy, fear, longing, betrayal, expectation, disappointment, and so on.
Evoking mood in fiction – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Use Descriptive Language to Induce Moods
While setting is most commonly used to induce moods, descriptive language is a potent tool and that decreases or amps up tension. In Dean Koontz’s psychological thriller The Face, a horrific storm lashes Los Angeles a few days before Christmas adding a delicious shiver of danger and tension. The weather is referred to in each scene, causes things to happen and creates an ominous, the ‘world-is-askew’ mood. For example, he writes, “In the witches’ cauldron of the sky, late-morning light brewed into a thick gloom more suitable to winter dusk.”
Mood is created on a word-by-word basis by choosing sensory details that stir emotions, but also by orchestrating pacing. Slow down for important moments, places readers need to savor. Pacing naturally speeds up when excitement is high, conflict is intense, action is nonstop. Short sentences and paragraphs communicate excitement, urgency, panic, anger, shock, and violence. Short sentences land a gut punch and demand readers keep zipping through the text.
While most stories, especially short stories, have an overarching atmosphere, the ambience or vibe of a story will change over time and change in intensity.
Mood is linked to tension and suspense and getting under your reader’s skin.
Use mood to foreshadow.
Remember that a vague or pallid setting will create vague and pallid emotions/reactions in your readers. – Jessica Morrell
Example as Mood as Backdrop
Peter Heller’s brilliant novel The Dog Stars takes place in a future where the world has been ravaged by a pandemic that’s killed off most of the population. If that wasn’t bad enough, the natural world is dying off too. He wrote it in 2012. I’m a sucker for a post-apocalyptic novel, even when they’re shockingly prescient. I cannot recommend enough this beautiful, compelling, heart-wrenching story that invaded my thoughts for days while reading it. This backdrop to the state of affairs the protagonist Hig exists in, is dropped in on page 6.
“In the beginning there was Fear. Not so much the flu by then, by then I walked, I talked. Not so much talked, but of sound body—and of mind, you be the judge. Two straight weeks of fever, three days 104 to105, I know it cooked my brains. Encephalitis or something else. Hot. Thoughts that once belonged, that felt at home with each other, were now discomfited, unsure. Depressed, like those shaggy Norwegian ponies that Russian professor moved to the Siberian Arctic I read about before. He was trying to recreate the Ice Age, a lot of grass and fauna and few people. Had he known what was coming he would have pursued another hobby. Half the ponies died, I think from heartbreak for their Scandinavian forests, half hung out at the research station and were fed grain and still died. That’s how my thoughts are sometimes. When I’m stressed. When something’s bothering me and won’t let go. They’re pretty good, I mean they function, but a lot of times they feel out of place, kinda sad, sometimes wondering if maybe they are supposed to be ten thousand miles from here in a place with a million square miles of cold Norwegian spruce. Sometimes I don’t trust my thoughts not to bolt for the brush. Probably not my brain, probably normal for where we’re at.”
“I don’t want to be confused: we are nine years out. The flu killed almost everybody, then the blood disease killed more. The ones who are left are mostly Not Nice, that is why we live here on the plain, why I patrol every day.”
Example of Mood Setting the Stage
“Stop that you’ll fall.”
A week’s worth of snow has compressed into ice, each day’s danger hidden beneath a nighttime dusting of powder. Every few yards my boots travel farther than my boots intended, and my stomach pitches, braced for a fall. Our progress is slow, and I wished I’d thought to bring Sophia on a sled instead.
Reluctantly, she opens her eyes, swivels her head owllike, away from the shops, to hide her face in her sleeve. I squeeze her gloved hand. She hates the birds that hang in the butcher’s window, their neck iridescent feathers cruelly at odds with the lifeless eyes they embellish.
I hate the birds too.
Adam says I’ve given the phobia to her, like a cold or a piece of unwanted jewelry.
“Where did she get it from them?” he said when I protested turning to an invisible crowd, as if the absence of answer proved his point. “Not me.”
Of course not. Adam doesn’t have weaknesses.
This is the opening salvo for Hostage written by Clare Mackintosh, a ‘locked room’ thriller. The locked room in this story is a London to Sydney flight. It feels like a thriller doesn’t it? Those creepy dead birds, dangerous snow, and the husband-wife conflict signal something bad is going to happen.
Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart. Jessica
Jessica Page Morrell
Jessica Morrell is a top-tier developmental editor and a contributor to Chanticleer Reviews Media and to the Writer’s Digest magazine. She teaches Master Writing Craft Classes along with sessions at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that is held annually along with teaching at Chanticleer writing workshops that are held throughout the year.
Jessica Morrell’s Classes and Workshops at CAC22
June 23 – 26, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash. In Real Life and Virtual!
Using Film Techniques for Fiction Writers– Camera angles, method acting for getting into a character’s pov, and creating subtext and tight dialogue
Your Brain on Writing
Captivating Co-Starsthat add depth to your work-in-progress
The Short Story Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in Collected Works such as Short Story Collections, Essay Collections, and Anthologies. The Short Story Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards program.
The Chanticleer International Book Awards program discovers today’s best works. The Short Stories Awards discovers the Best New Shorts in Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Shorts Book Awards entries to the 2021 Shorts Book Awards SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Finalist positions. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
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–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person.
NOTE: We are posting the Individual Short Stories, Essays, and Novellas in a different post. These are Collected Works
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Shorts Book Awards novel competition for Short Story Collections, Essay Collections, and Anthologies!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
These titles have advanced to the Short List of the 2021 Shorts Book Awards competition for Short Story Collections, Essay Collections, and Anthologies and are in the run for the FINALISTS!
Grendolyn Peach Soleil – The Mermaids Melt at Dawn for Fantasy and Myth
Susannah Dawn – K Team – 4th Galactic Cavalry for Space Opera
Russ Colson – Kernels of Mind – for Philosophical SciF
Leah Angstman – Shoot the Horses First for Americana Fiction
Helena P. Schrader – Grounded Eagles for 20th c. Wartime Fiction
Susannah Dawn – I’m Not What I Used To Be, Yet I Am Who I’ve Always Been – Excerpts From My Journey for Personal Journey Non-Fiction
Judy Taylor – The Boy Who Wrote Poetry for Family Stories
Lisa Lynn Veith – Gold Medal for Personal Growth and Romance
Domenick Venezia – The Edwerd Chronicles for Magical Realism
Dianne Ebertt Beeaff – On Traigh Lar Beach for Connections
K. –Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories for Literary Love Stories
Dreena Collins – She Had Met Liars Before for Literary
Michael T. Tusa Jr. – A House Without Books for Social Themes and Philosophy
Elizabeth Crowens – New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst for Anthologies and Mixed Media
Jeff Richards – Everyone Worth Knowing for Literary
Maria Rybakova – Quaternity: Four Novellas From The Carpathians for Contemporary Themes
Frances Howard-Snyder – Through a Glass Darkly for Contemporary Themes
Elizabeth Reinach – Three Dimensions – Lizzie’s Histories for Historical Comedy
Elizabeth Reinach – Three Dimensions – Lizzie’s Fizzies for Satire
James Musgrave – The Valley of the Dogs for Absurdism
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.
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.
The Short Story Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in Short Stories, Essays, Novelettes, and Novellas. The Short Story Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards program.
The Chanticleer International Book Awards program discovers today’s best works. The Short Stories Awards discovers the Best New Shorts in Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Shorts Book Awards entries to the 2021 Shorts Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Shorts Finalist positions. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners will be announced on June 25th 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–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person.
NOTE: We are posting the Collected Works such as Short Story or Essay Collections and Anthologies in a different post. These are Individual Works
These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2021 Shorts Book Awards novel competition for Short Stories, Essays, Novelettes, Novellas!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Out of This World Fiction (Cygnus (SciFi), OZMA (Fantasy), Paranormal (Supernatural)
Susannah Dawn – Command of the Butterfly
Susannah Dawn – On The Run With Meagan Wise
J.L Oakley – Dragons End
Karina McRoberts – Dargo – Eco Hero!
Susan Faw – The Wizard of Bastion
Diamond Ligues – The Bird of Hermes Shall Get its Wings
M.J. Fitzmaurice – The Night Warrior
Gina Detwiler – Before: Jared’s Story
Kourtney Spadoni – In The Underwood
Clayton Marshall Adams – The Mask
Mysteries and Suspense (Mystery/Thriller/CLUE)
Monique Snyman – Black Mariah: Victoria West, Northern Cape, South Africa
Dalton Mire – A Chance to Serve
M. K. Wiseman – Sherlock Holmes & the Ripper of Whitechapel
Lori Robbins – Leading Ladies
The Historicals (Chaucer/Goethe/Hemingway)
David Martyn – Huldah and the Last Righteous King.
Kristie Clark – Dragon of the Sea
Nicole Evelina – Consequences
Joy Ross Davis – The Sutler of Petersburg
Elizabeth Wolf – The Royal Foetus: A very short novel based on the very short life of King Louis XVII
Breakfield and Burkey – Out of Poland
Box of Chocolates Assortment
Lindy Miller – Sleigh Bells on Bread Loaf Mountain
James Musgrave – The Castaways of Mar-a-Lago
Barry Robbins – Oh Daddy Chronicles: The Tasting
David Perlmutter – No Son Of Mine
Dane S. Skorup – Kid Kingmaker
Jean-Jacques Jura – Acadian Chronicles: When Ancestors Look Down
Somerset – Literary & Contemporary Fiction
Toni Ann Johnson – Homegoing
Mekiya Walters – Bathwater (or, The Miseducation of Ness Chairmonte)
Esta Lemon – The Name.
Frances Howard-Snyder – Face to Face
J.F. Penn – Blood, Sweat, and Flame
Dalton Mire – A Minefield of Memories
Grace Sikorski – How To Become a Mother
Narrative Non-Fiction
Lisa Lynn Veith – Gold Medal
J. L. Oakley – Putting Things Away
David Soh Poh Huat – Care Giving Gift of Unconditional Love
David Soh Poh Huat – Nature Gifts of the Soursop Leaves
Vicky Oliver – A Valentine to my Mothers and Other Dubious Role Models
Judy Taylor – The Boy Who Wrote Poetry
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.
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.
The CIBA FICTION SERIES Book Awards recognize outstanding series works in any of our 16 Divisions. The Fiction Series Book Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs) is seeking for the best book series in all of its fifteen fiction divisions: Mysteries, Suspense Thrillers, Espionage/High Stakes, Young Adult, Middle-Grade Readers, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural and Paranormal, Romance, Historical Fiction. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Series Book Awards entries to the 2021 Series Book Awards FINALISTS. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Series First Place Positions and the Overall SERIES Grand Prize. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 2021 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–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person.
These titles are FINALISTs in the 2021 Series Book Awards novel competition for Genre Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Speculative Fiction Divsions
CYGNUS Book Awards for SERIES – Science Fiction
Black Mariah Author Collective – Black Mariah Series – Dystopian Sci-Fi Series
Mike Murphey – Physics, Lust and Greed – Science Fiction Time Travel
OZMA Book Awards for SERIES – Fantasy Fiction
AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque – Fantasy Young Adult series
M. K. Wiseman – The Bookminder series – Fantasy Young Adult series
Varied Divisions
Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Series – Young Adult
Wendy Leighton-Porter – Shadows of the Past – Middle-Grade Readers Series
Pamela Beason –Run for Your Life Young Adult Trilogy
Courtney Leigh Pahlke – Life Force Preserve – Young Adult series
Chatelaine Book Awards for Series – Romantic Fiction
Lucinda Brant – Roxton Family Saga – Romantic Series
Janet K. Shawgo – Look For Me Series – Action / Adventure Romance Series
Mystery Divisions
Global Thriller Book Awards for Series – High Stakes Fiction
Randall Krzak – The Bedlam Thriller Series – Global Thrillers
Domenick Venezia – Linc Malloy – Adventure series
CLUE Book Awards for Series – Thriller/Suspense
Kaylin McFarren – Threads Thriller/Suspense series
John W. Feist – The Three Heirs Thriller /Suspense series
Mary Deal – Sara Mason Mysteries series – Thriller/Suspense
CLUE Book Awards for Series – Crime / Police Procedural
Daniel J. Waters – Mickey Cleary: The Jersey Shore Series–
Chuck Morgan – Buck Taylor CrimeSeries
Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards for Series – Mysteries / Cozy and Not-so-Cozy
Suzi Weinert – Garage Sale Mystery Series
Amy S. Peele – A Transplant Medical Murder Mystery series
Carl and Jane Bock – Arizona Borderlands Mysteries series
Betty Jean Craige – Witherston Murder Mystery series
Historical Divisions
Chaucer Book Awards for Series – Historical Fiction
Alexander Geiger – The Ptolemaios Saga- Historical Fiction series
Nicole Evelina – The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy Historical series
N.L. Holmes – The Lord Hani Mysteries – Historical mystery series
Lucinda Brant – Alec Halsey Mystery Series – Historical Detective series
Laramie Book Awards for Series – Americana / Western Fiction
Will Astrike – The Knack and The Skills of Ezra Lacey – Western series
T P Graf – The Life and Stories of Jaime Cruz – Western series
E. Alan Fleischauer – JT Thomas’s Series– Western series
Good Luck as we move onto the next round 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.
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.
