Chanticleer Book Reviews

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The 2024 SEA Short Stories First Place Round Up

Short Stories, Essays, and Novellas July 31, 2025 Enter Here

The SEA Short Story Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Short Stories, Collections and Novellas. The Grand Prize Winners, Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi’s book, Something About Lizzy and Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro’s story Dream Rut: Navigating Your Path Forward will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Shorts contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2024 Shorts Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here for Novellas and Collections! And here for Short Stories and Essays!

See our newest Award Division for Collections and Anthologies here!

Join us in celebrating the 2024 First Place SEA Shorts Winners!

Barry Robbins – Voices of the Civil War

Voices of the Civil War offers a revolutionary approach to experiencing America’s defining conflict. This groundbreaking work brings the Civil War to life through meticulously crafted first-person narratives, imagining the thoughts and words of those who lived through this tumultuous era.

From the highest halls of power to the bloodiest battlefields, readers witness the war unfold through the eyes of presidents and generals, soldiers and civilians. Each chapter presents a unique voice, offering intimate perspectives on key moments and decisions that shaped the course of history. Feel the agonizing weight of command, the terror of battle, the hope of emancipation, and the anguish of a nation torn apart. Voices of the Civil War goes beyond mere facts and dates, plunging readers into the raw emotions and moral complexities of America’s bloodiest conflict.

This isn’t just a retelling of history-it’s an immersive journey into a nation at war with itself. Prepare to experience the Civil War in a whole new way, through voices that bring the past vividly to life.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Paper Lantern Writers – Beneath a Midwinter Moon

What mystery, romance, and adventure lie Beneath the Midwinter Moon?

It may be cold outside, but inside this anthology, the Paper Lantern Writers bring you warm and engaging reflections of holiday celebrations across seven centuries. From the United States to India and Europe, eleven stories of courage, fortitude and love are illuminated by the midwinter moon.

Boiling Point: A young mother weighs her future with her pro-colonial husband and their children in 1930s India. Will her children’s bravery and their love help her reach the right decision?

Star Lantern: A downcast woman in 17th century Amsterdam gets a surprise at the Twelfth Night celebrations. Will she regain her faith in her family?

Hand-in-Hand Pies: A young girl learns a new skill and meets a lifelong friend when she visits the 1789 Frost Fair in London. Will her life take an unexpected turn?

Long Winter: Can two educated young misses find their purpose—and the romance of a lifetime—across the backdrop of the Western Expansion?

X Marks the Spot: In 1918 New York, a vaudeville knife thrower’s wife knows she must take the ultimate risk to protect her own life and that of her unborn baby. Has she got the nerve to see it through?

A Wicked Turn at Christmas: The return of an old enemy threatens to tear an Elizabethan family apart. Can the wife stop this attack before it’s too late?

Frontier Christmas: The rules of courtship are changing in the 1830s US West. An 18 year-old girl sets her sights on her ideal man, but a rival wants to steal him away. Can she reset the rules in her favour?

Dear Santa: An aspiring businesswoman gets a job in Santa’s Photo Shop in 1969 California. When Santa goes off sick, she has no-one to play the part. Can she really stand in as the great man herself?

The Greatest Love: Belgium 1944 – A mixed-race nurse meets an American soldier in WW2 Belgium and they develop feelings for each other. Can they ever find happiness together? Based on a true story.

Phillipe’s Epiphany: A young husband has doubts about his new wife’s fidelity in 15th century London. Will he let it destroy his marriage before it’s even begun, or will true love shine through?

Stitchwork: Christmas celebrations in 1860s Switzerland involve a parade of mythical characters. A woman is wronged by a powerful man. When she disguises herself as a dark counterpart to St. Nicholas, will she get justice?

Find it on Amazon!

Cynthia Geouge Davis – Catfish Corner

Welcome to the hilarious world of Catfish Corner where church secretaries spike their bottles of Diet Coke and fine Southern ladies gossip at the beauty shop and finger their pearls.

This light-hearted look at Southern living uses funerals, baptisms, romance and marriages to create a place where humor kisses sarcasm and likes it so much that it does it again and again.

So, head south, y’all and find out why Lily Mae had that funny hump on her back and learn how Althea finally got rid of Floyd.

And for goodness sake, steer clear of Reverend Handy’s tent revival. You’ll lose your beer and maybe your religion if you get too close to that particular Big Top!

Just sayin’.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Deborah L. Staunton – Untethered

Untethered tells the story of growing up with a mentally ill, alcoholic father and the experience of raising a mentally ill daughter. It follows the author’s journey through multiple miscarriages and the “untethering” of minds, relationships, and pregnancies. Untethered is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit through the author’s unravelling world.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays

What do we, as parents, really mean when we say we want the best for our children?

Irena Smith tackles this question from a unique vantage point: as a former Stanford admissions officer, a private Palo Alto college counselor, and a mother of three children who struggle to find their place in the long shadow of Stanford University.

Written as a series of responses to actual college essay prompts, this witty, raw memoir takes the reader from the smoke-filled lobby of the Hebrew Aid Society in Rome, where Irena and her parents await asylum with other Soviet refugees in 1977, to the overpriced house she and her husband buy in Palo Alto in 1999, to the hushed inner sanctum of the Stanford admissions office. Irena grows a successful college counseling practice but struggles to reconcile the lofty aspirations of tightly wound, competitive high school seniors (and their anxious parents) with her own attempts to keep her family from unraveling as, one by one, her children are diagnosed with autism, learning differences, depression, and anxiety. And although she doesn’t initially understand her children—or how to help them—she will not stop stumbling and learning until she figures it out.

The Golden Ticket opens a much-needed conversation about extreme parenting, the weight of generational expectations, and what happens when Gen-X dreams meet unexpected realities. It’s a sharp-eyed depiction of hard-won triumphs and of the messy, challenging parts of parenting you won’t see on Facebook or Instagram. Above all, it’s an invitation to embrace a broader, more generous definition of success.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Gail Noble-Sanderson – The Soldier Jacob

This work is a manuscript. Gail also won First Place Ribbons this year in Chatelaine and Mystery & Mayhem for her book A Cup of Revenge, and a Cover Design Fiction First Place for The Book of Rules.

Gail and husband Terry love to travel the world including two trips to France during the research and writing of her first three books, The Lavender House in Meuse, The Passage Home to Meuse, and The Lavender Bees of Meuse. A trip to Wales is certainly on their agenda as she completes her first novel in the new cozy mystery series, The Book of Rules. The book’s protagonist, a young woman named Drew Davies, lives in the village of Mumbles, Wales, and works in the railway depot in Swansea, Wales. She, along with her Granda, her Nonna and a colorful cast of friends, become involved in Drew’s sleuthing as she attempts to solve the mysteries in this new series of novels.

Burl Harmon – Being 100 Years Old

This work is a Manuscript. Burl has previously won a Military and Front Line First Place Ribbon for his book Combat Missions, a memoir about his time as a pilot during WWII. You can see our review of Combat Missions here:

Sometimes, a close and personal story can reveal the true weight of major historical events. Combat Missions, a memoir from WWII veteran Burl D. Harmon, achieves this by detailing how Europe’s vicious aerial battles shape a young boy’s entry to manhood.

On December 7, 1941, Harmon is summoned to his high school’s auditorium to hear President Roosevelt proclaim it as, “a day which will live in infamy…” Soon after, his draft notice arrives. Harmon’s junior college studies and work at the local Rexall drug store are put on hold as he joins the vast flood of young American men and women conscripted into military service. Leaving his small Iowa town and a family mostly sheltered from the grim realities of the outside world, he travels to New York City with people from every imaginable background.

With no prior mechanical experience, he works diligently to become a flight engineer, training to master a lexicon of manual tasks and learn the intricacies of air-to-air combat amidst bombing runs. His training takes him even farther from home, to Detroit, Lorado, Texas, Puerto Rico, and even Cuba.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

KD Sherrinford – Christmas at the Saporis

What will the Saporis find under the tree this year—Christmas presents, or family skeletons?

In the spirit of the holiday and a wish for familial harmony, Irene Adler persuades her detective husband to invite his brother Mycroft to Christmas luncheon. Holmes had cut ties with his brother when he discovered the machinations Mycroft employed that drove Sherlock and Adler apart for four years. He isn’t really sure this reunion is a great idea, but he can deny his wife nothing.

Of course, they can’t tell the children what Mycroft is to them, as that would entail learning that their father is the celebrated detective when they know him simply as Lucca Sapori. And just when they think things may be going better than expected, ghosts of the past crop up in unexpected ways and threaten to ruin the holidays for everyone.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Mike Murphey – Claunch Ness Monster

This work is a Manuscript. Mike has previously won the 2022 Shorts Grand Prize for his work, Old Man Baseball. This year he also won a First Place Ribbon for his series, Tales of Physics, Lust and Greed. You can see an interview we did with Mike Murphey here!

Find his books on Amazon!

Lisa G. Spicer – Letters From Tacoma

This work is a Manuscript.

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, she worked there later 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.

Glen Dahlgren – The Dice of Chaos

Glen also won a First Place in Series for The Chronicles of Chaos, the series this story ties into, and book 3, Realm of Gods, won a First Place in Ozma and is the 2024 Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Winner.

When destiny calls, will you answer—or roll the dice?

After resisting for years, a young mother finally succumbs to the Longing. The pull drags her away from her family, but chance lands her in a mysterious swamp. There, an ancient tree offers magic that could change her fate in ways she never dreamed—or desired.

This standalone story is the perfect entry point into the award-winning YA fantasy series, but for longtime fans it provides the backstory behind Lorre’s incredible and dangerous dice, this bite-sized adventure reveals all!

Readers new and old, prepare to unveil the secrets of the dice and witness the spark that ignites a legendary saga, where mortals and gods clash in an epic battle over a world unlike any other.

Find it through his newsletter or on Amazon!

PJ Devlin – Running

This work is a Manuscript.

PJ has previously won a First Place in Ozma for her book The Chamber, a First Place in Goethe for Wissahickon Souls, a First Place in Dante Rossetti for Becoming Jonika, and a First Place in Somerset for Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon Creek. You can see our review for Wishes, Sins and the Wissahickon Creek here:

Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon Creek by PJ Devlin emulates the lives of fictional characters brimming with hope and promise yet living a truthful life of existence in the gorgeous setting of Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon Creek.

The book encompasses ten short stories making it a complete work of fiction. Devlin creates characters which are rich in both experience and struggle. Not only do they live in a real world created by Devlin, but her characters, a mix of children and adults, both struggle with daily, real-world issues most Americans deal with. The stories are all relatable in this sense, which makes the text come alive, page after page.

Read More Here

Find it on Amazon!

Catherine Brown – Finding Namaste

This work is a Manuscript. Catherine has previously won the 2023 Shorts Grand Prize Winner for The Heart of Kublai Khan’s Menagerie Keeper and also won a First Place in Dante Rossetti this year for her book The Appearance of Power.

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 Shorts First Place Winners!

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Shorts Awards!

Got a great Short Book? The 2025 Shorts Awards are open through the end of July!

Submit to the Shorts Awards Today!

July 16, 2025
The 2025 Collections & Anthologies Spotlight for multi-genre fiction, non-fiction, and poetry!
The Art of Curation Meets Literary Excellence!

Collections and Anthologies July 31, 2025 Enter Here

Introducing the Collection & Anthology Awards!

The submissions for our newest division are underway, and The Collection & Anthology Awards close on July 31, 2025!

There’s something magical that happens when individual pieces are thoughtfully assembled into a unified whole—whether it’s a poet’s lifetime of work, a themed anthology exploring social justice, or a collection of short stories that illuminate the human condition. The Collection & Anthology Awards celebrate this unique art form, recognizing the literary excellence that emerges when curation meets creativity.

Branching off from our established SEA Shorts Awards, this exciting new division honors the publishers, authors, and editors who understand that the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts. From single-author poetry collections to multi-voice thematic anthologies, we celebrate works where exceptional writing combines with masterful organization and thematic coherence.

The Power of Thoughtful Assembly

What transforms a simple gathering of pieces into a truly compelling collection or anthology? It’s the invisible architecture that connects each work to the next, the thematic threads that weave individual voices into a larger conversation, and the careful curation that ensures every piece earns its place.

Whether you’re a poet who has spent years crafting a cohesive collection, an editor assembling diverse voices around a central theme, or a publisher investing in the literary community’s best collaborative works, the Collection & Anthology Awards recognize that quality writing is just the beginning. The real artistry lies in creating thematic coherence that resonates across every page.

Categories That Span the Literary Landscape

Our categories intentionally align with Chanticleer’s established award divisions, ensuring that collections and anthologies across every genre find their perfect home:
- Narrative Non-Fiction Collections/Anthologies – Memoir collections, essay compilations, and themed non-fiction that tells powerful true stories
- Essay Collections – Whether personal reflection, cultural criticism, or literary exploration, celebrating the essay as an art form
- Poetry Collections – From debut collections to lifetime retrospectives, honoring the unique voice of poetry in all its forms
- Speculative Fiction – Fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal collections that transport readers to other worlds
- Mystery/Suspense – Crime fiction anthologies, cozy mystery collections, and high-stakes thriller compilations
- Historical Fiction – Period collections spanning from ancient times to modern warfare and Americana
- Youth – Collections for every young reader, from early childhood through young adult
- Mainstream – Literary collections, contemporary voices, romance anthologies, and humor compilations
Celebrating Our Founding Excellence: Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro

We’re honored to highlight Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro, whose inspiring collection Dream Rut: Navigating Your Path Forward exemplifies the literary excellence we seek to recognize in this new division. This beautifully crafted work combines meditative prompts, poetic writing, and full-color illustrations to guide readers through transforming their relationship with their dreams—from dealing with estranged dreams to discovering unknown ones.

Shimabukuro’s achievement showcases how thoughtful curation creates something greater than individual pieces, offering readers both comfort and actionable insights for moving forward. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Dream Rut will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Dr. Shimabukuro will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview and receive continued recognition across our promotional platforms.

A Home for Every Voice, Every Vision

The Collection & Anthology Awards welcome submissions from diverse creators across the literary community:
- Publishers showcasing their finest anthologies and themed collections
- Individual Authors who have assembled their short fiction, essays, or poetry into cohesive collections
- Anthology Editors who curate multi-author works around compelling themes
- Literary Organizations producing collections that advance important conversations
Whether your collection features a single powerful voice or weaves together multiple perspectives, we celebrate the editorial vision that transforms individual works into something greater.

Check out some of these outstanding collections and anthologies we’ve celebrated recently!

Portrait of a Feminist: A Memoir in Essays
By Mariana Marlowe

Marianne Marlowe’s memoir, Portrait of a Feminist, reveals the evolution of her feminism through a collection of thought-provoking essays.

“I would say, if it were possible, I was born a feminist” is at the heart of Marlowe’s story. She relates to this defining identity throughout years spent in Peru, California, and Ecuador, where she navigates childhood, marriage, motherhood, and a professional career.

The section titles reflect periods in Marlowe’s life that correspond to nature’s rhythms— “Seeds Planted”, “The Growing Years”, “Maturation”, and “Harvesting”—and maintain strong connections between her thematically-linked experiences.

As a Peruvian American woman, Marlowe navigates the concepts of gender, race, and culture from a personal and critical point of view.

Read More Here

A Good Day and Other Mostly Humorous Stories and Lists
By Radu Guiasu

Through the thirty-six diverse writing efforts of A Good Day and Other Mostly Humorous Stories and Lists, Radu Guiasu masterfully combines wit, whimsy, satire, and personal contemplation.

These vignettes cover a wide range of topics, styles, and techniques. While they often seem to be typical “slice-of-life” moments, Guiasu clearly has a knack for finding humor in even the most absurd situations.

As a native Romanian now residing and teaching in Canada, Guiasu writes from his own knowledge and experience. He often broaches serious and meaningful topics, such as the world of academia, growing up under a dictatorship, and a love of nature.

Read More Here

A Wild Region: Tales and Stories from the Heartland
By Robin Lee Lovelace

Includes a Chanticleer Short Stories Awards Grand Prize Winner!

A Wild Region: Tales and Stories from the Heartland by Robin Lee Lovelace is a wonderful collection of Weird fiction (emphasis on Weird), showcasing the oddities and fantastic adventures which hide among the everyday people of the midwestern United States.

Lovelace opens with ‘Virgie’s Headless Chicken’, setting the tone for the full collection as Virgie attempts to reproduce a circus sideshow act. Lovelace shares her familial inspiration for this story in a fascinating preface.

From there she gifts readers with the award-winning novella, Savonne, Not Vonny, a coming-of-age story of a little girl involving brothels, voodoo, and displaced gods. Savonne faces trial after trial as she grows up in different environments, all while she tries to understand her place in the world. This setting is particularly well-developed, leaving readers wanting more from even the secondary characters. Readers who loved American Gods will enjoy every page of Savonne’s adventures.

Varying in emotion and impact, all of these tales will grab a reader’s attention. In every story of A Wild Region, fully-realized characters deal with important problems, approaching them with their own strange solutions.

Read More Here

Tax MythBusters
By Lily Tran

Tax MythBusters: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions, compiled by tax professional Lily Tran with essays by other financial, tax, and accounting professionals, gives valuable insight into the myths of what can and cannot be claimed as a deduction for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This work provides tips and strategies to optimize tax planning and make the most of available deductions. As the foreword reminds the reader, “Knowledge is power when it comes to taxes,” adding that gaining a better understanding of the tax rules and regulations will allow you to “make smart financial decisions and protect yourself from unnecessary risks.”

The essays that make up this work are short, succinct, and to the point about the pitfalls and challenges that face small business owners, framing these dangers as “myths.”

Read More Here

These works demonstrate the range and power of well-curated collections across every genre and format.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re excited about all the exceptional collections and anthologies we’ll receive in this inaugural year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

This new division represents an unprecedented opportunity to gain recognition for the often-overlooked art of literary curation. From debut poetry collections to landmark anthologies, we’re committed to celebrating the publishers, authors, and editors who understand that bringing the right pieces together creates literary magic.

Be Among the First to Claim this Honor!

As our newest division, the Collection & Anthology Awards offer a unique opportunity to be among the first winners in this exciting category. Whether you’ve spent years perfecting a poetry collection, assembled a groundbreaking anthology, or published a thematic collection that deserves wider recognition, this is your moment.

You know you want it…

The art of curation deserves recognition—the deadline is July 31, 2025!

Submit to the Collection & Anthology Awards today and help us celebrate the power of thoughtful assembly!
July 14, 2025
The 2025 SEA Shorts Awards Spotlight for Short Stories, Novellas, and Essays
Where Every Word Counts!

Short Stories, Essays, and Novellas

The SEA Shorts Awards Honor Excellence in Shorter Works

The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and SEA Shorts closes on July 31, 2025!

In a world of sprawling epics and multi-volume series, there’s something uniquely powerful about a story that delivers maximum impact in minimal space. The SEA Shorts Awards celebrate this concentrated artistry. Recognizing novellas, short stories, and essays that prove great literature doesn’t require great length, just great skill.

Whether it’s a novella that captures a lifetime of emotion in 100 pages or a short story that delivers a profound revelation in just a few thousand words, the SEA Shorts Awards honor authors who understand that when space is limited, every sentence must earn its place.

Honoring Sharon E. Anderson: From Winner to Champion

The SEA Shorts Awards carry special meaning as they honor Sharon E. Anderson, whose own literary journey exemplified the transformative power of the Chanticleer community. Sharon first came to our attention as a contest winner herself for her dark fantasy short story “Stone God’s Wife” which won the Grand Prize in an earlier iteration of this award.

As our judges noted: “This short story is an exceptional example of the dark fantasy genre. Desperate to save her sister, Cilla does the unthinkable…and the unforgivable. ‘The Stone God’s Wife’ is compellingly written, well characterized, fast-paced, and engaging.”

But Sharon’s story with Chanticleer was just beginning. She joined our team as Chief Reviews Editor, where for years she created and edited content, wrote reviews, and championed authors with unwavering dedication. An SPU graduate in Clothing Textiles & Design, Sharon brought design principles to every aspect of her work, understanding that presentation and content must work in harmony.

Sharon served on the board of the Skagit Valley Writers League and delighted when authors achieved success. Her core belief that authors deserve support and good books deserve recognition became the foundation of everything she did at Chanticleer. She believed in authors, worked tirelessly to promote their work, and championed literary excellence in all its forms.

When Sharon passed away, we lost not just a dear friend but a true advocate for the writing community. The SEA Shorts Awards, named in her honor, continue her legacy of discovering and celebrating exceptional writing. Every submission, every advancement through our tiers, every celebration of literary achievement carries forward Sharon’s unwavering commitment to supporting authors and promoting the books that deserve to be discovered.

Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

We’re thrilled to honor Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi, whose novella Something About Lizzy claimed the 2024 SEA Shorts Grand Prize with a masterful adaptation that brings fresh life to beloved classic literature. This Pride and Prejudice spin-off demonstrates the exceptional skill required to honor original characters while creating an entirely new and compelling story.

Set in 1826 Derbyshire, Kobayashi’s work follows sixteen-year-old Sofia-Elisabete as she discovers the complexities of adult relationships and family secrets through her friendship with Elizabeth Darcy. Our judges praised the work’s “lively and meaningful” character dynamics, noting how “the blend of drama and love feels appropriate for a spin-off of Pride and Prejudice” while maintaining “well-done writing” and “consistent tone.”

The novella showcases what makes the short form so powerful—concentrated storytelling that captures the essence of complex relationships and family secrets within a focused narrative. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Something About Lizzy will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview and receive continued recognition across our promotional platforms.

Categories That Embrace Every Genre

The SEA Shorts Awards welcome shorter works across the entire literary spectrum:
- Cygnus – SciFi, Speculative, Fantasy
- Ozma – Fantasy Fiction
- Paranormal – All types of Paranormal Fiction
- Global Thriller – High Stakes
- Clue – Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
- Mystery & Mayhem – Cozy and Not So Cozy Mystery
- Rossetti – Young Adult & New Adult
- Laramie – Americana, Western, Pioneer, & Civil War
- Chaucer – Early Historical Fiction
- Goethe – Post-1750s Historical Fiction
- Chatelaine – Romantic Fiction
- Somerset – Mainstream, Contemporary, & Blended Genres
- Satire & Allegory
- Narrative Non-Fiction
- Essay
From science fiction novellas to historical short stories, from personal essays to satirical pieces, every genre finds its home in the SEA Shorts Awards. With the recent creation of our Collection & Anthology Awards, SEA Shorts now provides focused attention on individual shorter works that stand powerfully on their own.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re excited about all the exceptional shorter works we receive every year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

The SEA Shorts Awards carry forward Sharon Anderson’s legacy of believing in authors and championing exceptional writing. Whether you’ve crafted a novella that captures a lifetime of experience, a short story that delivers a perfect moment of revelation, or an essay that illuminates truth through personal narrative, these awards provide the recognition that Sharon believed every excellent work deserves.

It is our honor to promote short works!

We continue to believe that great writing deserves great recognition, regardless of length. The SEA Shorts Awards honor her commitment to supporting authors and celebrating the books that deserve to be discovered.

Share your best brief but spectacular prose with us! The deadline is July 31, 2025!

You know you want it…

Submit to the SEA Shorts Awards today and help us continue championing exceptional writing in all its forms!
July 14, 2025
Cover Design Fiction First Place Roundup 2024

The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Strider Klusman’s book, Luna will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2024 Clue Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the very first group of First Place Cover Design Winners!

Margaret Porter – A Change of Location

Hannah Ballard’s most successful relationship: her career.

Her superpower is an uncanny ability to discover perfect movie settings while avoiding the limelight herself. She’s involved in pre-production for a film based on a bestselling historical novel when a chance meeting with an aristocratic landowner leads her to Somerset and his estate in picturesque Milver Vale—the ideal backdrop for a period drama. Martin Latimer, Marquess of Milverston, believes the release of a high-profile motion picture can increase tourism and bolster the local economy. And he hopes to spend more time with its intriguing location manager.

After Hannah suffers a professional setback, proximity and mutual passion propel the couple into an exhilarating affair. But Martin soon becomes a magnet for the scandal-hungry media, forcing Hannah into a painful and damaging decision.

Powering through heartbreak is hard. Especially when coping with unemployment—and dealing with members of her fractured family. For their protection, she must part from the nobleman asking her to stay with him. Who makes her believe that, at long last, she actually could be falling in love.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Travis Davis – One of Four

A 2024 Hemingway First Place Winner!

From New York Harbor to the battlefields of France, relive World War I through the eyes of an unknown soldier, as told through his diary. See how the 100-year-old diary brings a father and his estranged son back together by retracing his experiences fighting in the battlefields of France in 1917 – 1918 to his final resting place—the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

His diary was found next to his lifeless body by a young French girl who witnessed his death and bravery as he tried to protect his fellow soldiers. How the unknown soldier felt and what he experienced fighting on the Western Front in World War One —his day-to-day struggles and life as a private and then as an NCO. As he led his men into combat. The pride and fear he felt and the overwhelming stress he encountered, sometimes frozen with fear from the sheer brutality of modern warfare from all sides. His bravery in combat and leadership in training and on the battlefield. How he coped as he watched his fellow soldiers, battle buddies, and friends die one after another. Some from battlefield injuries from conventional weapons and gas attacks, but also diseases from the unsanitary conditions of trench warfare and influenza. His only wish was to come out alive, a wish that would never come true.

But return home, he did.

From Chanticleer:

One of Four: World War One Through the Eyes of an Unknown Soldier by Travis Davis is a compassionate and intimate portrait of the tenuous and unforgiving First World War, as shown through the eyes of an American soldier on France’s front lines. Based on real people and events in 1918 France, One of Four begins with a young French girl, Camille, who stumbles upon a diary lying next to an unknown American soldier. He was killed among his comrades in a German ambush near the banks of the Aire River, as he tried to protect his fellow soldiers. When Camille comes of age, she leaves her hometown to seek a better life in Paris. There, she is killed after joining a German resistance group. But before her death, she tucked the soldier’s diary in her Bible and hid it in a local bookstore.

Decades later, a man by the name of Walter travels to France with his son, Alex, to whom he’d become estranged after the painful divorce from Alex’s mother. He hopes this will be a journey of healing and exploration and that their time together will revive their shaky relationship. While there, Alex purchases the Bible left by Camille many years ago. By reading the hidden diary entries of the soldier together, Alex and Walter’s relationships takes an unexpected turn.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Ann Phillip – Grand Theft Death

Patricia Schuster acquires both independence and furniture polish after inheriting her grandmother’s house and antique business. Her new life in the Northern California town of Lakeville is in jeopardy, however, when she is falsely arrested for stealing a rare 1950’s Cadillac and is blackmailed by Jimmy, a toothpick-wielding used-car salesman. When the real car thief ends up dead, she turns to her grandmother’s friends—four women in their golden years who play fast and loose with the law. But how far over the line will Patricia have to go to find a killer and clear her name?

From Chanticleer:

Grand Theft Death is best read when you need a break from reality. Don’t read it if your two feet are firmly placed in all things serious. In fact, don’t read it if you are even thinking of going to the serious side of life. This book is as realistic as a Saturday morning cartoon – and twice the fun.

The characters are delightfully quirky, the situation fun and surprising, and the action as snappy as popping corn. The heroine, Patty Schuster, is kind, sincere, wry, and unique, at the same time so easygoing that she can roll with the endless punches the plot throws at her and carry on with a good heart.

Good thing, since the plot treats Patty like a punching bag.

She starts out in jail, falsely arrested for car theft, then gets tangled up with thieves, spies, forgers, smugglers, bad cops, good cops, sleazy hoteliers, double-crossing gangsters, nosy neighbors, felonious grannies, and divorcing parents—not to mention murder of the friend in trouble she tried to help, which led to her arrest.

Read More Here

Find it Locally or on Amazon!

Laura C. Rader – Hatfield 1677

A 2024 Chaucer First Place Winner!

Colonist Benjamin Waite, a devoted husband, father, and skilled military scout in King Philip’s War, reluctantly obeys orders to guide a brutal attack against a camp of Algonquian Natives.

After the catastrophic event, Benjamin is burdened with guilt and longs for peace. But the Algonquians, led by the revered sachem Ashpelon, retaliate with vengeance upon Ben’s Massachusetts town of Hatfield, capturing over a dozen colonists, including his pregnant wife Martha and their three young daughters.

Hatfield 1677 is a tale of three interwoven yet diverging journeys of strength and survival. Benjamin is driven by love and remorse to rescue his family; Martha is forced into captivity and desperately striving to protect her children; and Ashpelon is willing to risk everything to ensure the safety and freedom of his people.

Based on the lives of the author’s ancestors, this riveting and unforgettable novel gives voice to three vastly different experiences in North America during a time before the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Then, the land was but a wilderness and a battleground; equality was not yet perceived as self-evident; and liberty and happiness were nothing more than dangerous pursuits.

Find it Locally or on Amazon!

Mark A. Gibson – A Song That Never Ends

A 2023 Series Award First Place Winner!

Home.

For over three hundred years, that’s what the Hamilton family has called a shrinking swath of farmland in the Appalachian foothills of South Carolina.

Home.

That’s the failing tobacco farm where Walter and Maggie Hamilton choose to raise their three children. Walter has big plans to make the farm more profitable, but his plans are interrupted by World War II and family heartbreak. Walter returns from the war a changed man and finds Maggie, too, has changed, neither of them for the better. But at least their family is together again at…

Home.

More than anything, that’s where their eight-year-old son, Jimmy Hamilton, wants to be. However, after an unspeakable tragedy, he’s sent away from the only life he’s ever known to live with a kindly uncle in North Carolina.

Home.

That’s where Jimmy is finally going to be, unless fate has plans of its own…

A Song that Never Endsis the first installment of the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and beyond the gardens of stone at Arlington.

From Chanticleer:

A Song That Never Ends, the first volume of a two-part series by Mark A. Gibson, opens a dramatic fictional saga of the Hamilton family from the late 1930s Depression era, to 1967 and the Vietnam conflict. Here against the backdrop of a South Carolina tobacco farm, we come to witness a family in turmoil.

The calm and reserved Walter Hamilton and his rebellious, impulsive wife Maggie strive to build a life and raise a family. But the couple is tested by a series of misfortunes—miscarriages and stillbirths, and Walter’s enlistment during WWII leaving him with guilt-induced PTSD as he deals with the memory of fallen comrades.

At the center of this heartfelt story is James, the middle child, who at the tender age of eight is forced from his home due to a horrific accident and sent to live with a widower uncle.

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Gail Noble-Sanderson – The Book of Rules

A 2022 M&M First Place Winner!

Wales, 1946. In the beautiful seaside village of Mumbles, Drew Davies, a young Welsh woman, is determined to pursue a career in a profession that has been historically denied to women. Living with her grandparents in their charming stone cottage, Drew’s quiet life changes course suddenly when murder, espionage, and a cast of scoundrels and saints enter the picture, but not even murder can stop Drew in her tracks. This is the first historical cozy mystery in Gail’s new Drew Davies Railway Mysteries series.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

C.L. Olsen – Old Crabby Turtle

Most bullies are hurting somewhere inside. This magical and heartwarming tale about an old giant sea turtle and a tiny little fish teaches us about BRAVERY, TRUST, FORGIVENESS, and HOPE. And to HELP others in need, no matter how different we are.

This is the story of an old sea turtle with a rusty fish hook stuck in his foot! He is quite crabby about his unfortunate situation, and likes to terrorize the little sea creatures. One day he catches little fishy, and plans to have him for dinner until little fishy tells the old turtle that if he will trust him and let him go, he will come back with his friend Mr. Swordfish, and he can saw that old rusty fish hook off so he will feel better!

A portion of the profits from this book are donated to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation center.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

R.W. Meek – The Dream Collector Book 1: Sabrine and Sigmund Freud

The Dream Collector immerses the reader into the exciting milieu of late 19th Century Paris when art and medicine were in the throes of revolution, art turning to Impressionism, medicine turning to psychology. In 1885, Julie Forette, a self-educated woman from Marseilles, finds employment at the infamous Salpêtrière, hospital and asylum to over five thousand disabled, demented and abandoned women, a walled city ruled by the famed neurologist and arrogant director, Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot.

Julie Forette forms a friendship with the young, visiting intern Sigmund Freud who introduces her to the altering-conscious power of cocaine. Together they pursue the hidden potential of hypnotism and dream interpretation. After Freud receives the baffling case of the star hysteric, Sabrine Weiss, he is encouraged by Julie to experiment with different modes of treatment, including “talking sessions.” Their urgent quest is to find a cure for Sabrine, Princess of the Hysterics, before Dr. Charcot resorts to the radical removal of her ovaries.

In Paris, Julie finds a passion for the new art emerging, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and forms friendships with the major artists of the period, including Pissarro, Monet, and Degas. Julie becomes intimately involved with the reclusive Cezanne only to be seduced by the “Peruvian Savage” Paul Gauguin. Julie is the eponymous ‘Dream Collector’ collecting the one unforgettable, soul-defining dream of the major historical figures of the period.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Breath, Book 1 of the Desert Hills Trilogy

A 2021 Chatelaine First Place Winner!

Emily Sweeney, MD, is a vibrant young trauma physician at a major Seattle medical center who is tragically taken from the comfort of her 21st Century life. Suddenly, dropped into the 1880s unforgiving frontier, she is determined to survive, or die all over again. Using her knowledge and skills as a physician, Emily struggles to save a stranger in the desert hills of the Arizona Territory. In the end, can she return to her previous life and leave behind the man she’s come to love?

Caleb Young, a once-prominent Boston attorney in 1880, is haunted by his past filled with lies and deception. Hoping to outrun his demons, he willingly leaves his privileged life behind. Heading straight into unforeseen trouble, he is shot for revenge and left to die in the desert hills. Now, dependent on a beautiful woman who appears out of nowhere using her hands and heart to save him, will he finally have a reason to live.

Two lives forged out of truth and trust, can their love survive, or will it take its last breath?

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

And now, the first ever GRAND PRIZE WINNERS in Non-Fiction for the Chanticleer Cover Design Awards!

Strider S.R. Klusman – Luna, Rhone and Stone Book 2

A 2023 Dante Rossetti First Place Winner!

For a country kid, the odd styles and new-fangled contraptions of the steam era were beyond Rhone’s comfort zone, but he was here to do a job, if he managed to graduate from the OPR Academy.

Using his front as a nobleman’s son, Rhone and his unique partner, Stone, are sent to an easy first assignment, the little harbor town of Corgy. But he quickly discovers the mayor dislikes him and that pirates are hounding the shipping trade. With one disliking him, and he disliking them both, things weren’t starting off well. Unfortunately, it was his job to fix problems and he was glad he had Stone along to help.

Only when he met Bella, the fiery waitress at The Common House, and Captain Black, of The Backwater Mistress, did he find his answer and an entirely uplifting experience you won’t want to miss.

From Chanticleer:

Luna, the second book in Strider S.R. Klusman’s YA Rhone and Stone Series, follows Rhone and his alien partner Stone as they develop a ship that can sail through the air.

The two train to become agents for the Office of Public Recrimination, urged to join by their friend – and now boss – Aundrea. Rhone struggles through training with the help of his trusty partner, but a much more difficult test remains before them – their first assignment.

Aundrea sends them to Corgy, a port town, without explaining their mission. But it doesn’t take long for Rhone to encounter troubles from shore and sea alike.

He and Stone meet Mayor Dugan, who takes an instant dislike for Rhone, posing as a wealthy merchant’s son. But it’s his front, designed so by the ladies of the OPR, and commands a great deal of respect and authority from the locals, if not Bella. Sometimes it’s difficult not to forget his actual purpose for being at Corgy. As an agent of the OPR, he must solve the town’s greatest problem, a rash of pirate attacks on Corgy’s vital ocean-borne trade; if they continue, Corgy won’t survive.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 Cover Design First Place and Grand Prize Winners!

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Got a great Fiction Book? The 2025 Cover Design Awards are open through the end of July!

Submit to the Cover Design Awards Today!

July 11, 2025
The 2025 Book Series Award Hall of Fame
Literary Worlds That Keep Readers Coming Back for More

The Series Awards Hall of Fame Celebrates Multi-Volume Excellence

***Submit Your Series Today***

You have until July 31st to submit to the 2025 CIBAs!

The greatest series don’t just tell stories—they create literary universes that readers never want to leave. From epic fantasy realms to historical journeys that span generations, from paranormal adventures to deeply personal family sagas, the Book Series Awards Hall of Fame showcases authors who’ve mastered the unique art of sustained storytelling across multiple volumes.

These Grand Prize Winners prove that exceptional series require more than just writing multiple books—they demand the vision to build worlds worth revisiting, characters complex enough to evolve across volumes, and the skill to maintain quality while keeping readers surprised. Each series represents a different approach to the challenge of creating literary experiences that grow richer with every installment.

A Vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola

The Scales of Balance (book 1), 2023 Overall Grand Prize Winner

The Scales of Balanceopens with an amnesiac gladiator, a queen certain her husband must die for the sake of the kingdom, and a prince who will do anything to save his father. Tim Facciola’s first novel in the high fantasy seriesA Vengeful Realmis threaded through with plots of assassination and political intrigue, all fueled by a divine struggle for dominance.

A Vengeful Realmis a study in richness. Its characters, setting, and world-building, the vital elements for a strong fantasy, pull the reader into the land of New Rheynia where the most valuable currencies are loyalty and power.

Facciola excels at characterization, beginning with an engaging tapestry of backgrounds.

The gladiator Zephyrus’ first memories are in a temple hearing the words of a prophecy that he can’t understand. Depending on the interpretation, he could bring peace or destruction. His only guide is his iron morality, which he hopes is enough to bring him back to who he once was.

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While Facciola builds epic fantasy worlds filled with gods and gladiators, historical fiction proves equally powerful for series storytelling…

Ghosts Along The Oregon Trail by David Fitz-Gerald

A Grave Every Mile (Book 1)

Each day’s trumpet blasts the predawn quiet of the sleeping wagon train, demanding that its migrating families face what’s ahead, whether incredible scenery or mortal danger, in David Fitz-Gerald’s A Grave Every Mile.

This beautifully told story mixes adventure, survival, community, and history, all shown through the eyes of Dorcas, a feisty mother of four. She’s dreamed of hitting the trail to the storied West for so long, but much about this trip and their destination remains unknown.

Another wagon travels alongside hers. Who are they? Will they remain strangers, or become friends? Now that Dorcas stands with her family at the trail’s starting point and on the brink of changing their lives forever, a tremor of doubt surfaces about what lies ahead. Is her family strong enough to face their future? Will it be everything she and her husband hoped for? That future is 720,000 turns of the wagon wheels away, and there may be A Grave Every Mile. It all starts with that first pull by the team of oxen.

The action starts on page one when an intense fistfight breaks out amid a crowd of people stocking up their wagons.

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Lighten The Load (Book 2)

Once on a grand adventure to a new life with her husband and young family, Dorcas suddenly finds herself the sole shepherd for her children into the unknown, in David Fitz-Gerald’s historical fiction novel, Lighten the Load.

Owner of a fully loaded wagon, in a train of travelers on the truly wild western trail, Dorcas must give every decision her full attention. She faces immediate life-altering choices, some threatening her own safety and others putting her children at terrible risk. The expedition rolls forward over a mystery yet to be solved and an underlying paranormal mystique.

On this dangerous venture west, Dorcas is called upon often to help and comfort her fellow travelers. As she and her family face escalating dangers and devastating catastrophes, can she learn to Lighten the Load and accept help when she desperately needs it?

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Stay With The Wagons (Book 3)

The wheels roll relentlessly westward. In Stay with the Wagons, book 3 of David Fitz-Gerald’s Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series, the families upon those wheels must face not only the consequences of the trail behind them but also new dangers that lie ahead.

Dorcas, the resilient mother, widow, and adventurer will need to summon forth all her remaining strength– physical and emotional– to survive these new challenges. Especially with her children to protect. Their community of waggoneers have supported each other through great hardship, but cracks are growing between them.

Amongst its incredible beauty, the country they travel through contains great danger, wild animals, and a hidden evil energized by greed and violence. There is a promise, a hope of happiness on the trail west if you Stay With The Wagons, but nothing is guaranteed.

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Snarling Wolf (Book 4)

In Snarling Wolf, David Fitz-Gerald’s fourth installment of an adventurous migration to Oregon, wagon wheels sidewind along and through the serpentine Snake River.

It’s summertime, hot and dangerous on the cross-country trails. Wild animals, and the titular Snarling Wolf, ominously share the wilderness with a caravan of travelers. The group has become accustomed to their daily routines, but their remote destination seems almost mystical, moving always farther away, taunting and driving them toward madness.

Widowed Dorcas Moon is determined to do anything it takes for her beloved children to survive and thrive in a new life in a new land. But this difficult trip takes its toll on her family in surprising ways, and will leave them forever changed.

Dorcas Moon deeply fears an animal attack on their unprepared people.

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Rolling Home (Book 5)

David Fitz-Gerald concludes the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series with a grand finale for an eclectic cast of characters, as the long wagon train is finally Rolling Home to their new lives in the wild west of Oregon.

With the end of the trail just out of reach, however, their hopes dwindle and their hunger rages. The rigor of the western environment continues to test their determination and threaten vows of heartfelt romance. These weary people ache and mourn losses, while seeking new ways to survive and pull each other forward in the face of impending winter.

This wagon train of travelers will also face venomous villains who have been lurking in the shadows, outlaws waiting for their best opportunity to pounce.

Read More Here

Historical series can span different time periods and themes, as demonstrated by our next paranormal historical series…

The Curtis Jefferson Series by Vince Bailey

Path of the Half Moon (Book 1)

After being charged with burglary and attempted arson, fifteen-year-old African American boxer, Curtis Jefferson, has been sent to Fort Grant, a juvenile detention area in Arizona in Vince Bailey’s Path of the Half Moon.

All of the creepy stories and whispered warnings about the former US military outpost used by the US cavalry to eliminate the Apache a hundred years ago pale in comparison to the truth Curtis finds there. Curtis faces racism from both inmates and guards, to make matters worse, he is also very aware of the presence of something not of this world. He quickly discovers (though he doesn’t want to admit it) that he is sentient to the fort’s bloody past atrocities. As the site where Pinal and Aravaipa Apaches were slaughtered, the fort seems to be a crossroads where past and present meet. From mournful coyotes to hundreds of circling vultures, Curtis can’t escape the strange visions and events inside and outside the fort. When he attracts the unwanted attention of Harvey Huish, an inmate with unusual abilities, Curtis creates a powerful enemy bent on revenge and humiliation.

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Courses of the Cursed (Book 2)

Imprisoned in a boys’ institution for a crime he did not commit, Curtis Jefferson must again face his nemesis, Harvey Huish. In Courses of the Cursed, the second installment of Vince Bailey’s paranormal Curtis Jefferson series, the fight comes with much higher stakes.

Estranged from his constant companion, Randy, Curtis continues his training alone, bewildered as to why Randy believes Harvey to be more than a vicious bully. But as Curtis’s strange visions and dreams increase, he needs Randy more than ever. He begins to question whether Randy has been preparing him for an encounter beyond the violence between boys.

Unbeknownst to Curtis, he isn’t the only one being tortured by the evil of Fort Grant. A local artist, Ray Cienfuegos, has his own date with destiny. As the last male descendant of his family, Ray’s fate is tied to the massacre that occurred near the fort almost one hundred years ago.

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Merging Paths (Book 3)

Having escaped unjust imprisonment at the Fort Grant facility for juveniles, Curtis Jefferson is on the run, in Merging Paths, the third installment of Vince Bailey’s gripping, paranormal, Curtis Jefferson Series.

With only a small jug of water and the clothes on his back, Curtis has to cross the Sonoran Desert and find a way back to his mother and grandmother in Jacobs Well. But his trip is plagued by more than thirst, hunger, and fear of animals. A racist sheriff’s deputy, Myron Aycock, is hellbent on finding Curtis not only for the acclaim such an arrest will give him but also for vengeance against the beating he received at the hands of the aspiring boxer.

Trapped and desperate, Curtis is rescued by a mysterious figure and taken to Isabel and Ray Cienfuegos. After hearing Curtis’s unsettling stories about Fort Grant, the two understand that they have all been fighting the same evil forces – under the control of the sadistic Ezra. In a final confrontation, Isabel faces off against the wicked spirit, but just as they believe their problems are over, a new threat arises under the guise of friendship, and Isabel makes a life-changing decision that will mark her forever.

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From contemporary paranormal settings, we move to one of literature’s most enduring legendary cycles…

The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy By Nicole Evelina

Daughter of Destiny (Book 1), 2015 Overall Grand Prize Winner

Guinevere asks us, the readers, to listen to her words in the prologue of Daughter of Destiny, book one in The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy. She implores, “I will take back my voice and speak the truth of what happened.” So shall the lies be revealed and Camelot’s former glory restored.”

Daughter of Destiny is the first of three historical fiction novels narrated by Guinevere in the series of Guinevere’s Tale, by Nicole Evelina. Her tale begins during her young turbulent childhood in fifth-century Britain. It is a time of struggling to come to grips with her special powers. She’s studying to become a priestess, competing against her future lifelong enemy Morgana, and coping with the politics and violence ravaging her homeland in England’s fifth century. The novel follows Guinevere as she is separated from her family in Northgallis, during her early years in Avalon. It follows her training in the magical arts and eventual return to her war-ravaged homeland.

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Camelot’s Queen (Book 2)

Meet Guinevere: a sage military adviser, a priestess of Avalon, and the mother of a dynasty. In Nicole Evelina’s Camelot’s Queen: Guinevere’s Tale (book two), Guinevere must learn to reconcile her past with her future; what she was with what she must become.

No longer a young lover with dreams of a home with her former betrothed, Guinevere must quickly learn how to be a queen and to navigate the rocky waters of marriage to the high king, Arthur Pendragon. Over time, Guinevere proves a great success until she cannot give Arthur the heir he needs.

Kidnapped by a ruthless man bent on revenge, Guinevere must find the strength to hold tight to her sanity while regaining her rightful place. Upon returning from her horrific ordeal, she finds her position as queen in jeopardy and her once-strong relationship crumbling as she struggles to hold her growing restlessness and loneliness at bay.

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Mistress of Legend (Book 3)

In Mistress of Legend, the enticing finale of Nicole Evelina’s Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, matters are life-and-death by the second sentence, pulling readers deep into Guinevere’s fate in this retelling of Arthurian legend.

We come upon heroine Guinevere in the midst of an ill-fated romance with Lancelot. It’s far from her first troubled entanglement, but the stakes rise as she’s severely injured and faces even more threats, pursued by possible enemies. The novel’s beginning is woven with backstory, which adds suspense to the drama unfolding in Guinevere’s present. This summarizing might be slow for readers familiar with the series, but makes the story accessible for those who haven’t picked up the first two books.

Many more characters appear, waving the web of intrigue Guinevere finds herself caught in.

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Legendary retellings showcase one approach to series writing, while historical fiction based on real events offers another profound path…

The Devil’s Bookkeepers Series By Mark H. Newhouse

The Noose (Book 1)

Mark H. Newhouse has created an intense, harrowing, story of love and loyalty surrounding life within the Lodz Ghetto in Poland, established to control a sizeable portion of the Jewish population under Nazi domination in the first book in the series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers: The Noose.

The author’s viewpoint is focused through the lens of Bernard Ostrowski, an engineer who will join three other men chosen for their related skills to report on daily happenings in the ghetto while secretly codifying incidents that the Nazis would not have wished to have recorded. Ostrowski and his cohort – the distinguished but embittered Oskar Rosenfeld, a noted Zionist, Julian Cukier, a journalist, and Oscar Singer, the youngest of the crew and the most impulsive. As Ostrowski opines privately, “Two Jews are a debate. Three, an argument. Four? A war.” Yet the four will co-exist, all trying in their separate ways to fulfill their assignment and please their highly controversial boss, Chaim Rumkowski.

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The Noose Tightens (Book 2)

Mark H. Newhouse, son of German Holocaust survivors, includes the very personal and poignant first-hand sourced materials made available to him by the Yale University Press in his important historical fiction series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers. This inclusion lends a ribbon of humanity and compassion that raise the series to premiere status – a study, if you will, of the immutable human spirit. Newhouses’ series should encourage all who read it that hope is a gift and kindness and understanding is the answer to hate. It is a gripping story of love and survival that will haunt you until it’s shocking climax.

From the first day of 1942, the conditions in the Jewish ghetto of Lodz, Poland, deteriorate. In Mark H. Newhouse’s historical fiction novel, The Devil’s Bookkeepers: Book 2, The Noose Tightens, those who thought their situation would get better now wish to survive and save their loved ones, But can they?

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The Noose Closes (Book 3)

In The Noose Closes, book three of the award-winning series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers, author Mark H. Newhouse continues the story of his compelling characters and their difficult predicaments in the closing months of World War II in occupied Lodz, Poland.

Newhouse is a gifted writer and educator, born in Germany to Holocaust survivors. His series is a fictionalized account of what happened in the Lodz ghetto, a barbed-wire enclosed slum in Poland during the Nazi occupation. As he deftly utilizes the first-hand accounts of those who were there, we witness the ribbon of humanity and compassion woven through each book. This raises the series to premiere status – an exceptional if sobering examination of the immutable human spirit. His series should encourage all who read it that hope is a gift and kindness is the answer.

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These Authors Mastered the Art of Serial Excellence

From Tim Facciola’s epic fantasy trilogy that earned both Series and Overall Grand Prize recognition, to David Fitz-Gerald’s five-book historical saga that transforms a dangerous journey into an unforgettable literary experience, these Hall of Fame winners understand what readers crave: the promise that great characters and compelling worlds will continue to evolve and surprise.

What sets these series apart?
- Character development that spans multiple volumes
- World-building that deepens with each installment
- Consistent quality that rewards reader investment
- Marketing power that builds loyal readerships
Your Literary Universe Awaits Recognition

The Series Awards recognize what publishers and readers already know: successful series create something greater than the sum of their parts. They build communities, generate anticipation, and provide the kind of sustained reader engagement that single volumes rarely achieve.

Whether you’ve completed a trilogy that ties together all narrative threads or launched an ongoing series that promises years of reader investment, the Series Awards celebrate the vision and commitment required to create literary worlds worth revisiting.

Don’t let your series remain undiscovered—submit by July 31, 2025!

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

The Series Awards: Where literary universes find their audience!
July 4, 2025
The 2025 Spotlight for the Book Series Awards, Fiction & Non-Fiction

One Book Hooks Readers—A Series Keeps Them Forever!

The Series Awards Celebrate Literary Worlds Worth Revisiting

The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Series closes on July 31, 2025!

There’s something magical that happens when a single great book becomes part of something larger—when characters you’ve grown to love continue their journeys, when worlds you’ve fallen into keep expanding, and when the story you thought was over reveals it was just the beginning. The Series Awards celebrate this unique literary achievement: the ability to sustain excellence across multiple volumes while building reader loyalty that lasts for years.

In today’s competitive market, a successful series doesn’t just sell books—it creates communities. From fantasy epics that span generations to mystery series featuring beloved detectives, from young adult adventures that grow with their audience to non-fiction works that build comprehensive expertise, series offer something no standalone work can: the promise that the story never truly ends.

The Power of Sustained Storytelling

Creating a successful series requires more than just writing multiple books—it demands the vision to build worlds that can support extended exploration, characters complex enough to evolve across volumes, and the skill to maintain consistent quality while keeping readers surprised. It’s the difference between telling a story and creating a literary universe.

Series also offer unparalleled marketing advantages. When readers discover a series they love, they don’t just buy one book—they buy the entire collection and eagerly await the next installment. Publishers understand this power: a successful series can anchor an entire catalog, creating reliable revenue streams and devoted readerships that traditional standalone novels rarely achieve.

But perhaps most importantly, series allow authors to explore themes and develop characters in ways that single volumes simply cannot accommodate. The greatest series become more than entertainment—they become ongoing relationships between authors and readers.

Multi-Genre Excellence

The Series Awards welcome submissions across every genre and format, recognizing that great serial storytelling knows no boundaries. Whether your series spans science fiction galaxies, historical periods, contemporary mysteries, or non-fiction expertise, we celebrate the unique challenges and rewards of multi-volume excellence.

Our categories align with all Chanticleer divisions, encompassing both fiction and non-fiction works. From epic fantasy trilogies to business guide series, from young adult adventures to literary explorations, every genre offers opportunities for the kind of sustained storytelling that creates lasting reader relationships.

Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

We’re thrilled to honor Tim Facciola, whose epic fantasy series A Vengeful Realm claimed the 2024 Series Grand Prize with a completed trilogy that masterfully demonstrates everything we look for in award-winning series fiction. This sweeping saga—described as “Spartacus meets Game of Thrones”—follows Zephyrus from his awakening as an amnesiac gladiator through his ultimate confrontation with gods and destiny.

What makes A Vengeful Realm exemplary is Facciola’s ability to sustain complex world-building across three volumes while developing characters who evolve authentically with each installment. From The Scales of Balance through The Age of the End, readers witness not just epic battles and political intrigue, but profound character growth and an ever-expanding fictional universe that rewards investment.

The series showcases the marketing power of cohesive serial storytelling—Book 1 won the 2023 Overall Grand Prize for Best Book, proving that exceptional series often begin with exceptional individual volumes. Facciola’s achievement demonstrates how the best series create worlds readers never want to leave and characters they never want to say goodbye to. In addition to ongoing promotional features, A Vengeful Realm will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Tim Facciola will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview and receive continued recognition across our promotional platforms.

Looking at Series Excellence

Check out some of these outstanding series we’ve celebrated recently that showcase the power of sustained storytelling!

The Nightingale and Sparrow Chronicles
By Jerena Tobiasen

Jerena Tobiasen’s The Nightingale and Sparrow Chronicles weaves together the personal costs of duty with the sweeping political upheavals of early 20th century Europe. Through Viscount Simon Nightingale-Temple’s journey from naval officer to reluctant spy, Tobiasen creates a panoramic view of revolution, family loyalty, and survival.

Love and loss define the stakes in revolutionary Russia.

Beginning with Simon’s covert mission in Petrograd during the 1915 Russian Revolution, the series establishes its emotional core through Simon’s romance with Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna—the sole surviving Romanov daughter. As Mary hides among British aristocracy in the second book, her trauma from witnessing her family’s execution adds psychological depth to the espionage framework.

Family betrayal elevates traditional spy fiction.

What distinguishes Tobiasen’s work is her willingness to complicate spy narratives with intimate family conflicts. Simon’s forced recruitment into MI6 becomes doubly painful when he must investigate his own brother Richard’s treason. The series succeeds because Tobiasen balances meticulous historical research with emotionally resonant character development, grounding the series in lived historical reality while exploring timeless themes of loyalty and sacrifice.

Read the review for book 1 Tsarina’s Crown here and book 2 Tsarina’s Jewels here.

These works demonstrate how the best series create something greater than the sum of their individual volumes—building reader loyalty and literary worlds that endure.

Bella Brown Series
By J.W. Zarek

J.W. Zarek’s Bella Brown series captures the joy of childhood curiosity and the special bond between grandmother and granddaughter. Through Bella’s adventures with butterflies and everyday challenges, Zarek creates stories that blend whimsical exploration with gentle life lessons, all brought to vibrant life by illustrator Anastasia’s playful artwork.

Grandma Yetta’s wisdom guides Bella through wonder and worries.

Whether Bella is searching for Grandma Yetta’s missing butterfly locket across imagined global destinations or tackling her overwhelmingly messy room, their phone conversations form the emotional heart of each story. Yetta’s calm blue dialogue contrasts beautifully with Bella’s energetic pink text, making it easy for young readers to follow their conversations while emphasizing their different approaches to problem-solving. The series celebrates how patient guidance can transform daunting tasks—from cleaning chaos to processing memories—into manageable, even enjoyable experiences.

The books excel at teaching through discovery rather than preaching. Bella learns butterfly facts during her imaginative travels and cleaning strategies through Yetta’s step-by-step encouragement. Anastasia’s illustrations enhance this educational element with hidden details like Pip the Domovoi tucked throughout the pages, rewarding careful observation. The vibrant pastel artwork makes each location and emotion feel immediate, whether capturing the wonder of butterfly gardens or the satisfying transformation of a clean room.

Read the review for Bella Brown—Grandma’s Missing Butterfly Locket here and Bella Brown’s Messier Than Messy Room here.

Helena P. Schrader WWII Aviation Series
By Helena P. Schrader

Helena P. Schrader delivers two of the most authentic and compelling WWII aviation novels in recent memory, exploring the psychological toll of aerial warfare on RAF pilots and crews. Through meticulous research and deeply human storytelling, Schrader captures both the technical precision of military aviation and the emotional cost of sustained combat operations during Britain’s darkest hours.

Authentic aerial combat meets profound psychological insight.

From the dogfights of the Battle of Britain in Where Eagles Never Flew to the bomber campaigns of 1943-44 in Moral Fibre, Schrader demonstrates masterful command of aviation history and human psychology. Her aircraft practically come alive with technical detail—Hurricanes, Spitfires, and Messerschmitts engage in breathtaking aerial battles that feel immediate and visceral. Yet what elevates these novels beyond military fiction is Schrader’s unflinching examination of combat stress, survivor’s guilt, and the crushing weight of repeated missions under impossible conditions.

Character depth transcends genre expectations.

Kit Moran’s journey from decorated veteran to accused coward and back to redemption in Moral Fibre exemplifies Schrader’s nuanced approach to heroism. Rather than creating invincible warriors, she crafts vulnerable, authentic characters who struggle with fear, exhaustion, and moral complexity. The novels explore Britain’s class-conscious culture while celebrating the resilience and camaraderie that sustained the RAF through its most desperate period. Schrader’s authentic dialogue and multiple perspectives—including German airmen—create a comprehensive portrait of aerial warfare that honors both the sacrifice and the humanity of all involved.

Read the review for Where Eagles Never Flew here and Moral Fibre: A Bomber Pilot’s Story here.

Salem Stories Series
By Sandra Wagner-Wright

Sandra Wagner-Wright’s Salem Stories series brings 18th-century Massachusetts to vivid life through the interconnected sagas of the Derby and Crowninshield families. These meticulously researched novels explore how personal ambition and family loyalty shape the founding of American maritime commerce, told through the perspectives of both powerful patriarchs and the strong women who guide them behind the scenes.

Family rivalry drives early American enterprise.

The series chronicles the fierce competition between merchant dynasties as they build privateering empires through dangerous overseas trade. From Mary Derby’s marriage to George Crowninshield in the first novel to the next generation’s struggles in Sea Tigers & Merchants, Wagner-Wright demonstrates how family bonds and business rivalries intertwine across decades. The Derby and Crowninshield families are simultaneously connected through marriage and divided by commercial ambition, creating complex dynamics where brothers-in-law compete for dominance while their wives navigate the social and emotional costs of such rivalry.

Authentic historical detail anchors personal drama.

Wagner-Wright’s extensive research shines through rich period vernacular, detailed descriptions of maritime commerce, and unflinching portrayals of 18th-century hardships. The novels capture everything from the perils of childbirth without modern medicine to the treacherous realities of international trade in an era of pirates and hostile foreign governments. Rather than romanticizing the past, Wagner-Wright shows how families built fortunes through calculated risks while facing genuine dangers—both on the high seas and in Salem’s ruthless social hierarchies.

Read the review for Ambition, Arrogance and Pride here and Sea Tigers & Merchants here.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re excited about all the exceptional series we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

The Series Awards provide recognition that extends far beyond individual book promotion. When we celebrate your series, we’re promoting an entire literary universe—creating marketing momentum that benefits every volume and builds anticipation for future installments.

Your Literary Universe Awaits Recognition

Whether you’ve completed a trilogy that ties together all loose ends or launched an ongoing series that promises years of reader engagement, the Series Awards recognize the unique achievement of sustained excellence across multiple volumes. For publishers, series recognition provides powerful marketing tools that highlight your investment in long-term storytelling. For authors, it validates the vision and commitment required to build worlds worth revisiting.

You know you want it…

Submit to the Series Awards today and let us celebrate the worlds you’ve built to last!

June 30, 2025
The 2025 Global Thriller Awards Spotlight for High Stakes Suspense!
The World is in Danger!

Can Your Hero Save the Day?

The Chanticleer Investigation Agency is on the phone asking: Can your hero save the world? The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Global Thriller Awards close submissions on July 31, 2025!

The Global Thriller Awards celebrate the highest-stakes suspense fiction—where the fate of nations, civilizations, or even humanity itself hangs in the balance. While our Clue Awards focus on personal crimes and our M&M Awards celebrate intimate mysteries, Global Thriller demands nothing less than world-shattering events and planet-threatening conspiracies.

This is where Jack Reacher meets Mission: Impossible, where scientific discoveries become weapons of mass destruction, and where a single hero’s actions determine whether civilization survives another day. From underwater empires fighting for the future of humanity to cyber-terrorists threatening global infrastructure, Global Thriller authors understand that sometimes saving the world is the only story worth telling.

The Categories Where Heroes Rise to Global Threats
- Historic features the theater of war, international spycraft, and epic conflicts that shaped our world—think The Hunt for Red October or wartime espionage where one mission changes history.
- LabLit merges real science with “what-if” scenarios that feel terrifyingly plausible—where cutting-edge research becomes humanity’s salvation or its doom, like The Andromeda Strain for the modern age.
- Science Fiction explores threats from beyond our known reality—alien invasions, interdimensional warfare, or technological catastrophes that make Independence Day look like a warm-up act.
- Dramatic delivers classic Die Hard-style consequences where personal stakes escalate to global proportions—one hero, impossible odds, and the clock ticking toward worldwide disaster.
- Action/Adventure needs no explanation—pure adrenaline-fueled storytelling where heroes race against time to prevent global catastrophe through spectacular set pieces and death-defying stunts.
- CyberTech (Cyberpunk) presents dystopian futures with 1980s aesthetics and futuristic technology—where digital wars determine physical reality and hackers hold the keys to civilization’s survival.
Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

Timothy S. Johnston took home the 2024 Global Thriller Grand prize win with his epic underwater thriller A Blanket of Steel! This concluding volume of The Rise of Oceania series delivers everything we expect from world-class global thriller fiction.

Johnston’s masterpiece imagines a future where climate change has devastated the surface world, forcing humanity to colonize the ocean floors. As nations suffer famine, drought, and apocalyptic flooding, underwater leader Truman McClusky faces his gravest threat: a Russian assassin bent on destroying humanity’s last hope for oceanic civilization. With the fate of underwater colonies hanging in the balance, Mac must uncover the killer’s identity while leading the largest underwater battle ever assembled.

A Blanket of Steel represents the pinnacle of global thriller storytelling—The Expanse but told beneath Earth’s oceans, where one man’s final test determines the future of human survival. In addition to all the featured posts that have already gone out for the Global Thriller Awards, A Blanket of Steel will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame post. Timothy S. Johnston will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and A Blanket of Steel will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.

Looking for Your Next World-Saving Read?

Check out some of these incredible global thrillers we’ve reviewed recently that showcase the life-or-death stakes that define the genre!

THE LAST RIVAL: A Time of Our Choosing
By Kyle Palmer

The Last Rival: A Time of Our Choosing by Kyle Palmer is a modern take on the mid-20^th century style of pulp-fiction, combining the genre’s brazen and entertaining storytelling with reflections on the deeper meaning behind all the action. This masculine romp through history dares to imagine the aftermath of World War II—in a slightly different world.

The story opens in Washington, DC, in 1946, through the eyes of a fictionalized “Wild Bill” Donovan. The real Wild Bill was an American soldier and intelligence officer, perhaps best-known for founding the CIA. Author Kyle Palmer deftly weaves such historic details into his fictionalized account of American history, offering readers a chance to learn as they come along for the ride.

From the machinations of government in Washington, DC, The Last Rival spirals into the wild resurgence of a World War II threat. The powers of the Third Reich haven’t truly been neutralized.

Read more here!

THE WOLF HUNTER: DESOLATION: Mack Murphy Series Book 1
By Terrence O’Malia

In The Wolf Hunter: Desolation, Book One of Terrence O’Malia’s Mack Murphy series, staff sergeant Mack Murphy is convinced there are three types of people: sheep, wolves, and hunters.

The sweet, innocent, dutiful sheep are blissfully unaware of the deadly wolves that could strike at any time. But thankfully, the hunters protect the sheep and even seek out the wolves to prevent their attacks on the flock. Mack defines himself steadfastly as a wolf hunter. He loves his family with all his heart and would do anything to protect them.

Mack’s protective nature continues into his military life where he is part of a team based in the mountains of Afghanistan. Just as it is with his family, he pledges his full allegiance to his team.

Read more here!

FROZEN CONQUEST
By Randall Krzak

Frozen Conquest by Randall Krzak is a thrilling and intense conflict between the cold of Antarctica and the blazing ambition of those seeking global control, fusing the issues of power, greed, and survival into a high-stakes adventure.

The icy edge of Antarctica serves as the center of a sinister organization, Diablo Corps. The ruthless leader, Walter Brown, threatens global mayhem if his aspirations for power are not met. With technological efficiency and the ability to disrupt critical infrastructure, Diablo Corps is poised to leverage its capabilities against the G7. Soon, an anonymous climate-related warning is sent out, with events such as the hacking of the London metal exchange proving to authorities the true weight of that threat.

Such dire actions demand an immediate answer. A classified team of specialists is called upon to gather at Ramstein Air Base. With naturally skilled leader Craig, sharp and observant Evelyn, and the humor and humility of Rufus and August, the promising recruits form the Bedlam Quick Reaction Force (QRF) and venture out into the peril of a frozen land.

Read more here!

CLIMATE DRAGON: Treachery, Pestilence & Weirding Weather
By S.W. Lawrence

Climate Dragonby S.W. Lawrence offers a unique blend of climate fiction, thriller, and real scientific inquiry, setting the stage for an intriguing trilogy centered on dual crises—an impending climate catastrophe and the outbreak of a mysterious disease.

Jake Harper, a newly minted engineering professor, and his romantic partner Abbey London, an infectious disease specialist, balance their burgeoning careers with their bustling inn outside Washington, D.C. But the demands of their lives are disrupted as the two crises draw in Jake and Abbey—the only people prepared to face them.

Jake’s suspicions of a cyberattack on the North American power grid grow after attending a lecture at George Washington University. Meanwhile, Abbey discovers an alarming new bleeding disorder spreading among the drug-injecting population, raising the stakes for both her career and personal safety as she navigates the risks to her pregnancy.

Read more here!

THE BYZANTINE CROSS
By Dena Weigel

The Byzantine Cross by Dena Weigel starts at the end of an explosive rogue mission. Sarah Kraft is committed to saving a record of irreplaceable relics from a bombing mission in World War II. Despite her extraordinary success, the OSS spy is later put out in the cold by her handler, Albert Phillips, for a mistake she didn’t commit.

Years after World War II has ended and the Cold War is dominating headlines, Kraft has a new role as an art insurance appraiser in New York. The company’s lip service for their rich clients and irreverence for her skills don’t sit well with Sarah. It becomes clear that her moral compass will soon lead her into unemployment. But right at the end of her rope, Agent Phillips returns to recruit her back into the organization, now rebranded the CIA.

Sarah Kraft’s mission is simple: break into the Kremlin and retrieve an ancient relic from before the birth of Christ.

Read more here!

These reviews represent just a glimpse of the high-stakes adventures and world-threatening scenarios waiting to be discovered in today’s global thriller fiction.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re excited about all the exceptional books we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each advancement tier is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.

The World Needs Your Story!

Global catastrophes demand global recognition. Whether your thriller features international conspiracies, scientific disasters, or heroes racing to prevent worldwide destruction, the Global Thriller Awards provide the platform your world-saving story deserves.

In a world facing real global challenges, readers hunger for stories that remind them heroes can triumph against impossible odds. Your thriller could be the next to join the ranks of celebrated authors who understand that when the stakes are planetary, only the best storytelling will do.

You know you want it…

Don’t let your world-saving hero remain unknown—the deadline is July 31, 2025!

Submit to the Global Thriller Awards today and help save the literary world!
June 30, 2025
Don’t let your Books Slip into the Shadows! Speculative Fiction Deadline Looms!
Time is Running Out for your Book to be Discovered!

Three great speculative fiction divisions close at the end of June!
Your book shouldn’t stay hidden!

Enter the CIBAs today!

Only 10 days left to submit your books to the prestigious CIBAs and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!

We’re looking for the best of the best for Speculative Fiction! Chanticleer started with a mandate to offer a platform specifically to indie authors and presses, and now every year we receive every type of work, from brilliant manuscripts to Big Five publications. Does your book have what it takes?

The Shelley Awards for Paranormal Fiction, Ozma Awards for Fantasy Fiction and the Cygnus Awards for Science Fiction are still open!

We are proud to recognize ALL of these 2024 CIBA Winners in Speculative Fiction Divisions!

Cygnus Award Winners!
- Timothy S. Johnston – A Blanket of Steel
- Peter Dingus – Deep Time
- A. R. Black – No Man’s Land
- Thomas R. Weaver – Artificial Wisdom
- Shami Stovall – The Half-Life Empire
Ozma Award Winners!
- Curt Locklear – Treasure and Murder In Ireland
- Glen Dahlgren – The Realm of Gods
- Susan Wands – High Priestess and Empress, Book Two, Arcana Oracle Series
- Prue Batten – The Red Thread
- S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages
- J.A. Nielsen – The Claiming
Shelley Award Winners!
- Evette Davis – The Gift
- Alexander Fernandez – Above the Ashes
- Keith Steinbaum – In Lieu of Flowers
- Tim Facciola – Ghosts of Rheynia
- AA DaSilva – Periphery
- Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – Vein Pursuits
And the 2024 Grand Prize Champions of Speculative Fiction

Congratulations once more to these powerhouse authors!

From left to right we have The Cygnus Grand Prize Winner Ares, the Ozma Grand Prize Winner Circle of Stars, and the Shelley Grand Prize Winner Time-Marked Warlock

More than just recognition

The CIBAs are your portal to discoverability in a world with millions of books published annually. Whether your book makes it to the first lists or all the way to the coveted Blue Ribbon, the CIBAs signal to readers, booksellers, and industry professionals that you’re serious about your craft.

Join the ranks of celebrated authors who’ve taken this critical step.

Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable recognition at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 2026) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

Your story deserves to be heard.

Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

The Cygnus Awards for Science Fiction

The Ozma Awards for Fantasy Fiction

The Shelley Awards for Paranormal Fiction

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!
June 20, 2025
The 2025 Clue Hall of Fame for the Best in Thriller/Suspense

Who’s at the door at this late hour?

It’s the Clue Awards closing at the end of July!

The Clue Awards features the best suspense and thriller books, including both fiction and true crime! We are delighted to feature these amazing authors from the last five years of Clue Grand Prize Awards!

Here is the official Hall of Fame for the Grand Prize Winners of the Clue Awards!

Enemies Domestic
By John DeDakis

The review for the 2024 Grand Prize Winner is forthcoming, in the meantime here is what some Goodreads readers have been saying-

“A fantastic thriller which will keep you locked in. The story picks up exactly where Fake left off and is another super satisfying ride on the Lark Chadwick roller coaster.
And it was scarily realistic. We live in a time of societal dilemmas, a few of which are explored in Lark’s personal life.
The book both entertains and shares multiple angles of some tough discussions.” -Matthew

“If you haven’t read the other books in the series, don’t sweat it. ENEMIES DOMESTIC reads like a standalone thriller. The plot is frighteningly realistic, loaded with suspense and intrigue, and cleverly crafted. I was on edge until the very end.” -Lori

“Suspend your disbelief and you’ll race through John Dedakis’ sixth novel featuring Lark Chadwick, a reporter who’s tapped to be the president’s press secretary. Trouble begins when a rightwing journalist falsely reports she is planning an abortion. When she fails to arrive at the White House two days later, the search for her begins followed by a hunt for her captors. And that’s only in the opening chapters of this gripping thriller.” -Barry

You can find the book here!

The Other Murder
by Kevin G. Chapman

In The Other Murder by Kevin G. Chapman, two ambitious journalists find themselves at the knife’s edge as they seek to uncover the entire truth of a gruesome double homicide.

“An error does not become truth because of multiplied propaganda, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.” –Mahatma Gandhi

Hannah, a journalist with the American Cable News network, is pulled away from a date by her editor to cover the breaking news of a shooting in Washington Square Park. The victim is Angelica Monroe, a White girl from Westchester County and a sophomore at NYU. She was shot at a close range, as shown by the dark hole above her left eye.

The murder becomes much more mysterious and complicated when Paulo, a reporter for a small community newspaper, makes a connection between Angelica’s murder and the shooting of a Latino teen, Javier Estrada, on the other side of the park on the same night.

Read More Here

The Vines
By Shelley Nolden

Shelley Nolden’s debut novel, The Vines, embraces multiple genres as it chills, fascinates, and horrifies, from historical and magical realism to fantasy and horror.

Nolden has melded fanaticism, medical anomalies, and the frailties of human behavior together with a historic setting, creating a narrative Kudzu vine that grows rapidly and spares nothing in its path. This particular vine consists of two main branches that intertwine, bridging time and linking parallel realities, one past, one present.

The Gettler men of Long Island, New York have shepherded a secret medical research project for generations, with the exception of Finn, the youngest man in the family.

Read More Here

A Venomous Love
By Chris Karlsen

Detective Rudyard Bloodstone is facing the most bizarre crime spree of his career as a copper on the Victorian streets of London. Someone is using a poisonous Cape cobra as a weapon.

What begins as a simple robbery scheme turns deadly when a wealthy businessman is killed via cobra attack, the crimes go from strange to deadly. Rudyard (Ruddy) and his partner, Archie Holcomb, have few clues and no idea what would cause such a change in the criminal’s behavior.

When the criminal returns to the estate and attacks the victim’s daughter, Ruddy’s suspicions are confirmed.

Read More Here

Salvaging Truth
By Joanne Jaytanie

Famed marine biologist and researcher Claudia Rawlings is presumed dead. When Claudia’s research vessel goes down, her daughter Riley goes on a desperate search to discover what happened, eventually turning to Dagger Eastin, co-owner of Hunters and Seekers a marine salvage business. Dagger soon realize this isn’t a simple search and reclaim mission when someone takes a shot at him during an exploratory dive with Riley.

Former Navy SEALs, Dagger, and his partners Kaleb LaSalle and Stone Garrison are the definitions of relentless, and they quickly become embroiled in the investigation that has caught the attention of some very influential people, all seeking Claudia’s important research. And while Riley learns that her mother has left behind clues to her missing research, the Hunters and Seekers pull out all the stops to help and protect her. The wild scavenger hunt sends Dagger and Riley on a trip to discover the truth, but Russian spies, big oil cronies, and psychopathic hitmen lurk around every corner.

Read More Here

These Authors Cracked the Code

From political conspiracies to medical mysteries, these Hall of Fame winners prove that exceptional crime fiction comes from authors who understand that the best thrillers don’t just entertain—they reveal uncomfortable truths about power, justice, and human nature.

Each of these celebrated authors shares one crucial element: they didn’t let their stories remain unsolved mysteries buried in obscurity. They submitted to the Clue Awards and transformed their manuscripts from hidden evidence into compelling cases that readers can’t put down.

The Case for Your Crime Fiction

Your thriller deserves more than digital silence.

In today’s saturated market, even the most gripping crime stories can disappear without a trace. These Hall of Fame winners broke through the noise because they understood that exceptional writing needs strategic promotion and credible recognition.

This could be your story next year.

The Clue Awards don’t just crown winners—we build careers through comprehensive promotion at every advancement tier. From Long List to Grand Prize Winner, we’re actively working to connect your crime fiction with readers who are hungry for exactly the kind of story you’ve crafted.

Time Is Running Out!

Deadline: July 30, 2025

Don’t let another case go cold—Submit to the Clue Awards today!

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

June 20, 2025
The 2025 Clue Spotlight for Thriller/Suspense Fiction
Lock Your Doors and Leave the Lights On!

The Clue Awards Spotlight the Darker Side of Crime Fiction

The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Clue closes submissions on July 30, 2025!

The Clue Awards celebrate the grittier, more intense side of crime and mystery fiction—where shadows hold secrets, justice comes at a cost, and the line between hero and villain blurs. While cozy mysteries offer comfort, the Clue Awards recognize the authors who aren’t afraid to explore the darker corners of human nature and criminal minds.

From psychological thrillers that keep readers awake at night to political conspiracies ripped from today’s headlines, the Clue Awards honor the storytellers who understand that the best crime fiction doesn’t just entertain—it reveals uncomfortable truths about the world we live in.

You know you want it…

The Categories That Define Crime Excellence
- Detective/Crime features the classic investigative stories where seasoned detectives and determined cops work to solve cases that challenge both their skills and their moral compass.
- Suspense/Thriller delivers heart-pounding tension and psychological complexity—think Gone Girl meets The Silence of the Lambs, where every page turn could reveal a shocking twist.
- Private Eye/Noir captures the atmospheric world of hard-boiled investigators and morally ambiguous characters navigating corruption and betrayal in the tradition of Raymond Chandler and modern masters like Tana French.
- Legal/Medical/Police Procedural combines professional expertise with compelling storytelling—from courtroom dramas to forensic mysteries that showcase the intersection of science and justice.
- US Political Thriller explores the dangerous world of power, corruption, and conspiracy in American politics, more relevant than ever in today’s climate.
- Spy/Espionage/Undercover delves into the shadowy world of international intrigue, double agents, and high-stakes missions where one wrong move could mean death.
- True Crime/Investigation represents our newest unique non-fiction category, recognizing the section in the bookstore right next to thrillers. Stories of real criminal events that will chill you.
Celebrating Our 2024 Clue Grand Prize Winner for Thriller/Suspense!

John DeDakis with his Clue Grand Prize Ribbon

After months of reviewing entries, we’re thrilled to announce that John DeDakis claimed the 2024 Clue Grand Prize with his politically charged thriller Enemies Domestic! This achievement is particularly meaningful given DeDakis’s extraordinary background as a CNN Senior Copy Editor and former White House correspondent who covered presidents Reagan and Carter.

DeDakis brings authentic expertise to the political thriller genre that few authors can match. His 25-year career at CNN, including his role as Senior Copy Editor for “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” provides him with insider knowledge of how political crises unfold—knowledge that translates into gripping, believable fiction.

Enemies Domestic represents the pinnacle of political thriller writing: a story that feels ripped from tomorrow’s headlines, crafted by someone who’s spent decades in America’s newsrooms. In addition to all the featured posts that have already gone out for the Clue Awards, Enemies Domestic will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame post. John DeDakis will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and Enemies Domestic will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.

Looking for Your Next Edge-of-Your-Seat Read?

Check out some of these incredible crime and thriller books we’ve reviewed recently that showcase the diversity and intensity of the genre!

BUTTERFLY PINNED
By Leslie Liautaud

Fleeing a small and troubled life back home, college student Marin falls headfirst into the attention of the fabulous, wealthy, and mercurial Bette. In Leslie Liautaud’s psychological thriller Butterfly Pinned, Marin gives body and soul to Bette for agonizing want of transformation.

Marin has toiled for the chance to become someone new and continues to fall back into her old limitations. Even as she moves to Chicago with a college scholarship, she struggles to escape the shadows of anxiety and poor self-esteem. But a chance meeting with Bette Winston casts her in glorious and terrible light.

Bette enthralls Marin with poetry, luxury, and the backdoor invitation to a world of refined grandeur. She convinces Marin to double-major in philosophy, while pulling her away from classes and all other mundane responsibilities. Marin gets to share this new world with Bette’s high-class friends Ozzie and Harry, shunning any connection to her old, embarrassing life. But as she meets those who know Bette beneath her lustrous glamor, Marin glimpses a sinister history.

Read more here!

WHERE The SLEEPING LADY LIES
By M.E. Schuman

An Environmental Thriller inspired by the 9.2 Good Friday earthquake of 1964 in South Central Alaska, M.E. Schuman’s Where the Sleeping Lady Lies is a story of political espionage and environmental danger.

The legend of the Sleeping Lady is a tale of a giant woman who falls asleep waiting for her lover to return from battle. When tragic news arrives that her lover was killed, the other women cannot bear to wake her, and to this day the Sleeping Lady still lies as part of the landscape.

In the present day, Sam is on her way back to Alaska, a few weeks after a catastrophic earthquake has hit.

Read more here!

SMITE The WATERS: The Isaak Collection
By David T. Isaak

Smite the Waters by David T. Isaak begins with the xenophobic billionaire Rex Atwater whose goal is to eliminate terrorism. His certainty that it’s “us” or “them” has led him to one horrifying conclusion: he must nuke Mecca.

Convinced of his twisted plot’s perfection, Atwater assembles a deadly team. Carla Smukowski is a military assassin mourning the death of her brother. Boyce Hammond works as a covert FBI agent deeply entrenched in a right-wing movement. And rounding out the cast is Gerald Graves, a nuclear expert willing to commit this heinous crime. Together, they vow to annihilate terrorism.

Virtually every character in this story is fully fleshed out, gritty and driven, to draw the reader deep into their individual stories.

Read more here!

SOMETHING I KEEP UPSTAIRS
By J.D. Barker

An old and hungry thing wakes beneath the house on Wood Island. It calls out to another generation of children. In J.D. Barker’s supernatural mystery, Something I Keep Upstairs, a circle of New Castle teenagers digs up the unholy secrets of those who came before them.

When the hermit Geraldine Rote dies without clear cause, her grandson Spivey inherits Wood Island and the historic house upon it. He plans to spend the summer as a carefree sixteen-year-old rather than submitting to another round of cancer treatments. With the help of the mysterious estate lawyer Marston, Spivey escapes his parents’ reach.

At first, the island becomes a perpetual party, drawing an endless stream of kids and alcohol. But only a few learn the truth behind Wood Island’s dark stories.

Read more here!

These reviews are only a glimpse of the compelling criminal minds and complex investigations waiting to be discovered in today’s crime fiction.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re excited about all the exceptional books we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. Throughout this year’s Clue Book Awards, we had the pleasure of promoting more than fifty books as they advanced through our competition tiers. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each advancement tier is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.

Don’t Let Your Crime Story Remain Unsolved!

Submission Deadline: July 30, 2025

The crime and thriller market is more competitive than ever, but readers are hungry for authentic, well-crafted stories that keep them guessing until the final page. Whether your thriller explores political corruption, features a hardboiled detective, or investigates a real criminal case, the Clue Awards provide the recognition and promotion platform your work deserves.

Crime fiction has the power to illuminate society’s darkest corners while delivering the satisfaction of justice served. Don’t let your story remain in the shadows—submit to the Clue Awards today and join the ranks of celebrated crime writers who’ve found their audience through Chanticleer!

Submit to the Clue Awards today!
June 16, 2025