Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: CAC24

The 2024 Goethe Hall of Fame – Celebrating the Grand Prize Winners of one of our most popular Divisions!
The Goethe Hall of Fame

Celebrating the Best Late Historical Fiction with the Goethe Awards!

**Send Us Your Story by the end of July!**

One of our many Historical Fiction Categories, Named after German Writer, Scientist and Playwright Johan Wolfgang Van Goethe (1749-1832), Considered to be one of the most Influential and Greatest Writers of the German Language.

This Award Division covers anything after 1750, so there can be anything from The American Revolution, to the 1930s.

For our other Historical Fiction Divisions, See the Chaucer Award for Pre-1750, Hemingway for 20th Century Wartime and Laramie for Western and Americana

Let’s take a look at some of our Grand Prize Winners and Discover your next great read!

If Someday Comes
By David Calloway
This is the true story of my Great-Grandfather George Calloway, a slave in Cleveland, Tennessee, before and during the Civil War. It is written as historical fiction, based on George’s life, and stories I heard growing up. It is a tale of determination, perseverance, and achievement.

George protected his family through war, famine, and plague; he risked his life repeatedly to protect his owner’s family, and thus his own wife and children.

More fact than fiction, George’s story has also been my journey, grappling with the humiliation of slavery; sorting through the many myths and false modern-day narratives, and discovering a long lost relative, I found that to understand America, you must first understand the Civil War. George was then, and remains, a hero of our family.
- Winner, the 2023 Phillis Wheatley Historical Fiction Prize
- Grand Prize Winner, 2023 Goethe award for Historical Fiction
- Winner, The 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards African American Fiction Award
- Finalist, the 2023 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal
- 5 Stars Award, Reader’s Favorite 2023
A Chanticleer Review is forthcoming! In the meantime, visit David Calloway’s website here!

After The Rising & Before The Fall
By Orna Ross

Award-winning Irish author Orna Ross has created a volume comprising the first two novels of The Irish Trilogy, drawing from her Irish birth and upbringing for a special grasp of the country’s history, how its wars and political strivings have affected its people directly, personally, over multiple generations.

Her two books take on a span of time rooted in the early 1920s and delve deeply into the interlocking fate of the extended family and ancestry of Jo Devereux. Jo, the book’s central narrator, leaves Ireland in her twenties, only returning in her forties in 1995 when she learns that her mother is near death.

The journey back will draw her into the family’s complex relationships, and reacquaint her with Rory, her former, and perhaps only, true love.

Read More Here

The Aloha Spirit
By Linda Ulleseit

In Linda Ulleseit’s novel The Aloha Spirit, we meet the plucky heroine, Dolores, as her father leaves her.

“Dolores’s father deemed her useless when she was seven. Neither he nor her older brother, Pablo, ever said that, but every detail of their leaving told her so. Papa had tried to explain the Hawaiian custom of hānai to her. All she understood was the giving away, leaving her to live with a family not her own.”

Her story starts in 1922; the place, multi-ethnic, multilingual Hawaii. Papa, a sugar cane cutter from Spain who worked in Hawaii, decides to take his son Pablo with him to seek his fortune in California. His wife died five years earlier. He leaves 7-year-old Dolores with a large family on Oahu in an arrangement called hānai, an informal adoption. Dolores doesn’t know the family well. She feels abandoned, with no idea when or if her father will send for her or return.

Read More Here

Peccadillo At The Palace: An Annie Oakley Mystery
By Kari Bovee

Kari Bovée’s Peccadillo at the Palace, the second book in the Annie Oakley Mystery series, is a historical, mystery thriller extraordinaire. Fans of both genres will thrill at Bovée’s complex plot that keeps us guessing from its action-packed beginning to the satisfying reveal at the end.

The book opens with the Honorable Colonel Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show to England on a voyage to perform for Queen Victoria. They are not on the high seas long, when Annie’s beloved horse, Buck, jumps overboard. Her husband and the Queen’s loyal servant, Mr. Bhakta, jump in to save the horse, or was Mr. Bhakta already dead before he reached the water? Thus, begins the mystery of who killed Mr. Bhakta, leaving all to wonder, is the Queen safe?

Someone wanted the Queen’s man dead, and he is, but was it a matter of racism, intrigue, or an accident? Annie’s search for clues points her in several directions, but is it the doctor, or the woman dressed in rags with the posh accent, or the crass American businessman and his floozy wife? All have motive. Even Annie’s husband has motive with his Irish background and ties to the Fenians and the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Read More Here

The Lost Years of Billy Battles
By Ronald E. Yates

(2018 Overall Grand Prize Winner)

For those not familiar with the series, Yates presents his books as works of “faction,” a story “based in part on fact” but also “augmented by narrative fiction.” The protagonist, William Fitzroy Raglan Battles, born in Kansas in 1860, lives a full 100 years and takes part in some of the most significant events of his time. He encounters key figures of the day (Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, President Wilson, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, among others), gives us their backstories, and quietly appraises them.

Yates, a journalist with a keen eye for nuance and subtlety, has created a protagonist with superb critical thinking skills. William, a journalist, and occasional soldier examines people and transactions from every angle. Just as at ease in a Kansas saloon as he is at the captain’s table on a grand ocean liner on the Pacific, Billy Battles is also ruthlessly honest about his shortcomings and feels tremendous guilt when he acts impulsively or inadvertently causes harm to others. Yates has crafted a fully human character who is easy to admire, perhaps because he is admirably cognizant of his own flaws.

Read More Here

Reviewer’s Note:

I’ve begun few books as eagerly as I did this one. Having read the first two volumes of Ronald E. Yates’ extraordinary trilogy, Finding Billy Battles, I couldn’t wait to continue his story in the final volume, The Lost Years of Billy Battles. The third installment lived up to the exceedingly high standard set in the first two volumes. Billy Battles is as dear and fascinating a literary friend as I have ever encountered. I learned much about American and international history, and you will too if you read any or all of the books. Each is an independent work, but if read in relation to the others, the reader experiences that all too rare sense of complete transport to another world, one fully realized in these pages because the storytelling is so skillful and thoroughly captivating. Trust me; you’ll want to read all three volumes.

Thank you for celebrating our Goethe Hall of Fame Winners with us!

Remember to add your next reads to your StoryGraph or Goodreads account! Now that you’re set on your next five reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Journey Winners is to submit today!

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

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

You know you want it…

If you have a great Post 1750 Historical Fiction Story, submit it to us before the end of July to enter the 2024 CIBAs!
July 14, 2024
The 2024 Goethe Spotlight! What happens when you’re on the edge?
The Goethe Awards are here!

and we want your Historical Fiction!

Submissions Deadline for the 2024 Goethe Book Awards for Post-1750s Historical Fiction is July 31st!

Named after Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), Considered one of the most influential writers in the German Language, The Goethe Award covers Historical Fiction from the Time Period of His lifetime and afterwards, 1750-20th Century.

Why do we like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe so very much? It’s simple! He’s the guy who wrapped up everything we believe in with this simple sentence:

“Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” – Goethe

In his lifetime, he saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750 through Mary Shelley’s publishing of Frankenstein in 1818 – and everything in between! Check out the list of what happened during those nearly seventy decades at the end of this post – you will be A-MAZED!

The CIBAs Levels of Achievements. Books are promoted each time they advance!

The Categories in the Goethe Awards are:
- Regency, Edwardian, Georgian
- Turn of the Century
- 20th Century
- World/International History Post 1750s
- U.S. History
- 1830s – 1900s Victorian Era
As you may have noticed, some of the Goethe Awards categories extend even a little beyond our chosen Time Period. Lets take a look!

The Georgian Era and Regency covers the reigns of four King Georges of Great Britain.

A very handsome King George I

While the period starts in 1714 when the German King George I began his Reign, we don’t get into the 1750s until George III began his reign in 1760. You may have seen a version of his early reign in the recent Netflix show and Bridgerton spinoff Queen Charlotte, or as a character in the award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton.

Corey Mylchreest as Young King George in Bridgerton.

George IVs reign is more often called the Regency, as he was acting as Prince Regent from 1811 until his father’s death in 1820, and he continued as king until his own death in 1830.

At which point we get to the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Queen Victoria took the throne in 1832 until her death in 1901, and the Edwardian covers her sons reign in the early 1900s until WW1.

This award division covers time periods anywhere from the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution beginning in the late 1700s, and can go all the way to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. American, European and The Rest of the World are all covered. (See the list of 27 Events that Happened During Goethe’s Lifetime at the end of this post.)

Note: While the Goethe Awards categories have some leeway, the question we often return to when discussing with authors who have work on the edge of this time period is “does it mostly take place here?” and “does it fit with the feel and style of Late Historical genres?”

There are three other historical divisions in addition to the Goethe Awards:
And the Goethe Awards close in July! Don’t miss your chance to submit today!

Now for a bit more on Goethe himself.

Theater Director of Frankfurt for decades, Playwright, Scientist, Novelist, Politician and more. One of his best works is a posthumously published play named Faust.

Faust is a German legend based on a real man, Renaissance alchemist and astrologer Johann Georg Faust. Supposedly selling his soul to the Devil for power and knowledge, his is a story that has been told many times over. As plays by Goethe, Christopher Marlowe (Although some believe Marlowe’s was actually written by his friend William Shakespeare), and Gertrude Stein.

The legend of Faust continues today as a short story by Washington Irving, in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey, one of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, and an inspiration behind Queen’s hit song, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Goethe’s own works inspired many things, musical pieces from Beethoven (who rather admired Goethe), Schubert and Liszt, and multiple films, including one by Nosferatu director FW Murnau.

Goethe in general was a fascinating person. Meeting some of the most famous people of his time, Like a meeting with Napoleon in 1808 where Napoleon revealed one of his favorite books to be Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther. And even though he rather disliked the Romanticism movement, Romantic artists and writers are the people he influenced the most.

Fast Forward to more Modern Times: The Grand Prize Winner of the 2023 Goethe Award!

If Someday Comes
By David Calloway

While a full review is forthcoming, here’s what early readers are saying:

A book you need right now. Sentence structure, character, and scene development are fully unpacked here. Excellent pacing with a great inclusion of the facts around the civil war, slavery, and presidential figures. The reading is driven forward by the story coupled with the simple rich historical depth.

Visit the Author’s Website today to learn more and buy it here on Amazon!

Got a great read? Submit to the CIBAs today!

Submit to the Goethe Awards here!

Some events that occurred during Goethe’s lifetime:

1750 – The Industrial Revolution began in England
1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg Austria
1761 – The problem of calculating longitude while at sea was solved by John Harrison
1765 – James Watts perfects the steam engine
1770 – Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany
1774 – Goethe’s romantic novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, propels him into European fame
1774 – Goethe’s play Gotz von Berlichingen, a definitive work of Sturm und Drang premiers in Berlin
1776 – America’s 13 Colonies declare independence from England. Battles ensue.
1776 – Adam Smith publishes the Wealth of Nations (the foundation of the modern theory of economics)
1776 – The Boulton and Watt steam engines were put to use ushering in the Industrial Revolution
1783 – The Hot Air Balloon was invented by the Montgolfier brothers in France.
1786 – Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart premiered in Vienna
1789 – George Washington is elected the first president of the United States of America
1780 – Antoine Lavoisier discovers the Law of Conservation of Mass
1789 – The French Revolution started in Bastille
1791 – Thomas Paine publishesThe Rights of Man
1792 – Napoleon begins his march to conquer Europe
1799 – Rosetta Stone discovered in Egypt
1802 – Beethoven created and performed The Moonlight Sonata
1802 – A child’s workday is limited to twelve hours per day by the British parliament when they pass their first Factory Act
1804 – Napoleon has himself proclaimed Emperor of France
1808 – Atomic Theory paper published by John Dalton
1811 – Italian chemist Amedeo Avogadro publishes a hypothesis, about the number of molecules in gases, that becomes known as Avogadro’s Law
1811 – Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility was published anonymously. It was critically well-received.
1814 – Steam-driven printing press was invented which allowed newspapers to become more common
1818 – Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein
1832 – Goethe’s Faust, Parts 1 & 2 are published posthumously (March 22, 1832)

Resources

*Britannica Encyclopedia

** Oxford Reference

***New Yorker Magazine
July 9, 2024
The Cygnus Awards SciFi Round Up for the 2023 First Place Winners!

The Cygnus Awards Close at the end of June! Submit today!

The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Timothy S. Johnston’s book, The Shadow of War will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cygnus 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 2023 Cygnus Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Cygnus Winners!

Alexandra Almeida – Unanimity

Unanimity is a literary, sci-fi novel for the fans of Becky Chambers’s A Closed and Common Orbit, Alex Garland’s DEVS and Ex Machina, and Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror. Weaving near-future sci-fi elements with social commentary and queer romantic suspense, the Spiral Worlds series explores the nature of consciousness and how it’s connected to a not-so-secret ingredient-story. As AI consumes the world, intelligence is nothing but the appetizer; the human heart is the main course.

From Chanticleer:

Alexandra Almeida probes the philosophical and ethical depths of wealth, technology, pop culture, and religion in a world ravaged by global warming through her sci-fi adventure, Unanimity: Spiral Worlds #1.

Readers will delight in the gradual reveal of both the technology within the story and the dramatic history between many of those involved with the creation and evolution of that technology.

Tom, a screenwriter, works with Harry, the genius inventor of the world’s most popular AI (artificial intelligence) app, to create a simulation that will nudge people toward acting morally.

Read the full review here!

Find it Locally or on Amazon!

Book 2, Parity is out now!

N. John Williams – In the Shadow of Humanity: A Novel

What if A.I. had a soul? Could it find redemption?

In a near-future where entire worlds spring from thought, minds struggle to define reality—and claim it. Human colonization of the Metaverse brings us face-to-face with a new class of artificial being, made in our image and yet utterly unknown.

What is a person? Our answer will reshape the universe.

Find it Locally or on Amazon!

Gareth Worthington – Dark Dweller

Captain Kara Psomas was pronounced dead when her research vessel slammed into Jupiter.

More than a century later, the crew of the Paralus, a helium mining freighter, find a pristine escape pod with a healthy young girl nestled inside. A girl who claims to be Kara—and she brings a message of doom.

She says she has been waiting in the dark for that exact moment. To be found by that particular crew. Because an ancient cosmic being has tasked her with a sacred responsibility. She claims she must alter the Fulcrum, a lever in time—no matter the cost to the people aboard—or condemn the rest of civilization to a very painful and drawn-out demise.

She sounds convincing. She appears brave. She might well be insane.

Find it Locally or on Amazon!

Dylan McFadyen – Oblivion’s Cloak

First Lieutenant Shaara was dead this morning.

Her captain is furious at her. She wasted company resources getting herself killed, and it’s coming out of her paycheck. Now, she’s sitting across from the first other human being she’s seen in six years. His name is Adnan. He claims to come from Earth-but that’s impossible. Earth died a long time ago. If Adnan’s telling the truth, he and the decaying ship the captain pulled him off are nearly a thousand years old.

Wherever he’s from, he’s Shaara’s responsibility now. Which is the last thing she needs. But it’s either that, or the captain sells Adnan into slavery. Shaara knows what that would mean. Most humans do. And something inside her won’t let her abandon Adnan to it: revenant memories, stabbed awake by the look in his eyes.

Find it Locally or on Amazon!

Sarena Straus – ReInception

ReInception will change your mind…whether you want it or not

A hundred years in the future, ReInception is used to modify the brain and eliminate unwanted behaviors, everything from overeating to the worst criminal impulses. Unmodified 20-year-old Leandrea Justus feels ordinary compared to her perfect friends, who like living in a ReInception regulated world.

ReInception is a fiction debut, the first in a new, action-filled sci-fi trilogy with surprising twists, and a story that may be closer to reality than we think.

Find it Locally or on Amazon!

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Cygnus First Place Winners!

You can see our Spotlight on the Cygnus Grand Prize Winners, including Timothy S. Johnston’s incredible book The Shadow of War here.

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

Got a great SciFi Book? The 2024 Cygnus Book Awards are open through the end of June!

Submit to the Cygnus Awards Today!

June 24, 2024
TEN Days Left! The 2024 Journey and Cygnus Awards close at the end of June!
Journey to the Cosmos?

There’s still time to submit to the Journey and the Cygnus Awards!

The Cygnus Awards for Science Fiction and the Journey Awards for Overcoming Adversity Non-Fiction close at the end of June

Don’t let your book miss out!

These are two of the oldest mainstays of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards, and the quality improves every year!

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!

The Journey Awards for Non-Fiction Overcoming Adversity and the Cygnus Awards for Science Fiction are still open!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Cygnus Awards!
- Alexandra Almeida – Unanimity
- N. John Williams – In the Shadow of Humanity: A Novel
- Gareth Worthington – Dark Dweller
- Dylan McFadyen – Oblivion’s Cloak
- Sarena Straus – ReInception
And a huge round of applause for the 2023 Cygnus Grand Prize Winner The Shadow of War by Timothy S. Johnston

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Journey Awards!
- Lori Lee Peters – God, the Mafia, My Dad and Me
- Antonia Deignan – Underwater Daughter: A Memoir of Survival and Healing
- Nanette J. Davis Ph.D. – Raging Currents: Mental Illness and Family
- Barbara Wolf Terao – Reconfigured: A Memoir
- Sarah Martin – Dear Psychosis,
- Erika Shepard – Trans-Formations: From Field Boots to Sensible Heels
And a huge round of applause for the 2023 Journey Grand Prize Winner Barbed: A Memoir by Julie Morrison

The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.

Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 3-6, 2025) where Winners from all 25 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!
June 20, 2024
The Journey Awards Overcoming Adversity Non-Fiction Round Up for the 2023 First Place Winners!

The Journey Awards close at the end of June! Submit today!

The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoirs. The Grand Prize Winner, Julie Morrison’s book, Barbed: A Memoir will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Journey 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 2023 Journey Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Journey Winners!

Lori Lee Peters – God, The Mafia, My Dad and Me

In 1974, Lori Lee Peters was an impressionable thirteen-year-old growing up in the suburban town of Lodi, California. The wider world—from which her parents sheltered her and her sisters—fascinated Lori. She was curious about everything, informed about little, and dependent on friends to fill gaps with the knowledge she craved.

Religion was a topic rarely discussed in her household. So when friends shared their beliefs about God as fact, Lori thought her days on Earth were numbered. She carried this news with her for decades as a deadly secret she couldn’t share with her family. Little did she know that her father—her hero—had a secret of his own.

From Chanticleer:

God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me by Lori Lee Peters begins in the voice of a child, compelling not just for its narrative honestly, but for the fact that it might not be reliable. As the book opens, we learn that this narrator firmly believes she will be killed.

Readers can easily see through the childlike hyperbole, but that doesn’t detract from the intrigue. How did a kid come to such an extreme conclusion? Is there any seed of truth to it? These questions will hook readers from the start.

Author Peters set out to write a book about her dad. God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me tells the true story of her father, and his fascinating work helping the FBI tackle Mafia activity in Lodi, California. Yet in the end, this is a memoir in which the compelling lead character – young Lori – overshadows her father in many ways.

Read the Full Review Here!

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Antonia Deignan – Underwater Daughter

In the spirit of The Glass Castle and The Burning Light of Two Stars, Antonia Deignan delivers what New York Times best-selling author Julie Cantrell calls a “a heart-shattering memoir of painful truth and soulful healing.”

As a child, Antonia perceived her father’s nighttime visits as special acts of love. On some deeper level, though, she knew what was happening wasn’t right. To escape, she began creating imaginary worlds and used dreams to transport her away from her fears. As she got older, Antonia traded those fantasies for dance—but despite her outlets she remained trapped underwater, without a lifeline to make her feel fundamentally safe.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Nanette J. Davis Ph.D. – Raging Currents: Mental Illness and Family

A surprise sink-or-swim lesson at the tender age of nine opens this gripping memoir of love, mental illness, and care giving. A swirling narrative carries readers from pre-WWII Illinois to the infamous Oregon State Mental Hospital of the 80s and forward along a harrowing chasm carved by dysfunctional parents, inhumane social systems, and driven by Dr. Nanette Davis’s powerful love for her mentally-ill sister and son. Raging Currents spans mental health therapies from sedation and isolation, to twelve-step programs, tough love, and modern neuroscience-driven treatments.

From the childhood of a strong-willed, fiercely independent, and curious girl to the roles of supportive sister, wife, and mother, Davis shares her life’s foundation, development, and endless devotion to those she loves. Expertly weaving social norms in compelling prose, Davis offers the wisdom and reflection of age through the clear-eyed recollections of a trained sociologist. Her ever-increasing understanding of compassion is the bedrock of this insightful and vulnerable telling. Raging Currents offers more than an inspiring memoir: it provides practical advice and solace for modern caregivers, friends, family, and people living with mental illness.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Barbara Wolf Terao – Reconfigured: A Memoir

When Barbara Terao moves into a new home in Washington, two thousand miles from her husband in Illinois, she doesn’t know when—or if—she’ll ever live with him again. Her diagnosis of breast cancer three months later changes both of them in ways they never imagined.

In the ensuing months, Barbara’s husband and adult children show up to help her through a year of difficult treatments and surgery, and Barbara, in her Whidbey Island cottage, learns to listen to her heart and intuition. Nurtured by Douglas fir forests, the Salish Sea, and her community, she changes her life from the inside out. Her journey, she realizes, wasn’t about leaving her husband so much as finding herself. Reconfigured in body, mind, and spirit, Barbara finally has words for what she wants to say—and the strength to be a survivor.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Sarah Martin – Dear Psychosis,

What would you do if you received a message from a stranger telling you that your daughter, who is traveling alone in Turkey, is having some sort of mental health episode?

Dear Psychosis, is a confronting, dramatic and no-holds-barred account of a family’s experience following their daughter’s first-ever psychotic episode in Istanbul, and her later diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

To some, it may be a warning, to others a story of hope. Most of all, it shows how the love and care given by strangers and family alike paved the way for their daughter’s recovery and inspired the family to break the silence around mental illness.

Find Locally and on Amazon

Erika Shepard – Trans-Formations: From Field Boots to Sensible Heels

On a blazing summer day in Missouri, 1956, eight-year-old Richard discovers a sparkling rock on the railroad tracks near his home—and is fascinated. In that same year, he makes another unexpected discovery—an aching, forbidden desire to be a girl. A lifetime of secrecy follows until, at the edge of a cliff in remote southern Idaho, he faces a decision—to die as a man or live as a woman.Transformations is more than a memoir of transgenderism. It reflects important crossroads we all encounter in our lives—times of self-doubt and failure, other moments of great success and joy. It is a journey all of us share, one leading to that profound question we, at some point in our lives, must ask ourselves: Who am I?

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Journey First Place Winners!

You can see our Spotlight on the Journey Grand Prize Winners, including Julie Morrison’s incredible book Barbed here.

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

Got a great Non Fiction Book? The 2024 Journey Book Awards are open through the end of June!

Submit to the Journey Awards Today!

June 18, 2024
The 2024 Cygnus Hall of Fame for the best Science Fiction
Love Sci-Fi?

So do we!

Captain Jean Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) celebrating

The Cygnus Awards is one of the inaugural Book Award Divisions at Chanticleer, and we adore the worlds that they’ve created.

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

**Beam your book to us by June 30, 2024**

Join us in celebrating these amazing Hall of Fame Grand Prize Cygnus Award Winners!

The Shadow of War
By Timothy S. Johnston

The Chanticleer Editorial Review for The Shadow of War, book 5 in the Oceania Series is to come, but here’s what initial readers are saying:

A tightly plotted action-packed thriller about an undersea war. Beautiful and heartbreaking character development, best for those who want The Expanse but underwater. — Chanticleer

And on Goodreads readers say

As always, Johnston has written a thriller with hot-off-the-presses technology, edge-of-your-seat moments, separated into heart-pounding seconds, and characters who don’t always do what they’re supposed to. — Kelly

Timothy S. Johnston delivers another page turner that keeps the pace moving. — Ian

You can find The Shadow of War locally on Bookshop or from Amazon today!

The Last Lumenian
By S. G. Blaise

Nineteen-year-old Lilla could have an idyllic life, but in The Last Lumenian by S.G. Blaise, she comes face to face with a rebellion and their just cause.

Lilla’s father leads the Pax Septum Coalition, a nineteen-planet confederation. As a princess in her own right, she should be enjoying the status and wealth that comes from living on Uhna, the richest planet in the coalition due to the diamond mines found by her pirate ancestors centuries ago. She most definitely shouldn’t be worried about the rebellion brewing right under her father’s nose. However, when Lilla meets rebels in a refugee camp, she thinks she has found her destiny, a true purpose.

Wanting to fight against the injustice and horrific treatment of the refugees, Lilla tries desperately to prove herself, especially after a disastrous first mission where she not only crashes her ship but also ends up in the hands of General Callum, leader of the Teryn Praelium.

Continue Reading here!

A War in Too Many Worlds
By Elizabeth Crowens

Musician-turned-time-traveler John Patrick Scott adds spy and saboteur to his resume while undercover in Germany in the final months of World War I, in A War in Too Many Worlds, the third installment of Elizabeth Crowen’s thrilling sci-fi series, The Time Traveler Professor.

Meanwhile, Scott’s once and future collaborator in psychic experiments, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is back in Britain sharing real time-travel adventures with the inventor of the fictional time machine, H.G. Wells.

Scott, after being wounded in the trenches, has finally been given an assignment in the Intelligence services. His extensive pre-war experience as a professor at the Conservancy of Music in Stuttgart, Germany, will do him good.

Continue Reading here!

Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle for
The Luna Missile Crisis

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

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

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

Continue Reading here!

Insynnium
By Tim Cole

The dramatic premise explored in a new novel, Insynnium, is a wild, immersive leap into a world-changing (but fictional) drug. In other hands, what could be a dystopian thriller goes one step further in author Tim Cole’s capable hands. He focuses on the humans who first discover and use the drug and weaves his story with a devilish charm.

This is somewhat Bill Murray/“Groundhog Day” territory, a film exploring one man’s reliving a day in his life over and over until he learned new behaviors, new skills, and came out of it a better man. Unlike “Groundhog,” Max McVista takes multiple doses of the drug against all advice, then somehow expands time itself in what he calls an “AUE” or “Alternative Universe Experience,” enabling him to spend months and sometimes years becoming or experiencing whatever he wishes. When returning to real-time, he’s only missed a day or two. (For E=MC squared fans, it’s basically reverse engineering of Einsteinian physics.)

From a man with few basic skills, a drunk who all but abandons his wife and sons, he returns to his family with outsized skills as a musician, entrepreneur, carpenter, medical savant, and pilot. Skills he could not have learned in any traditional manner. He lies about how he learned everything, tracing it back to an accident, choosing to bury his drug-induced years of time-traveling across the world, spending concentrated periods exploring whatever he fancies with no time “penalty” in the real world.

Continue Reading here!

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

You know you want it…

Will your science fiction story be next to join this stellar lineup? Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000, but more importantly, you’ll join a community of visionary authors whose work shapes the future of the genre.

These celebrated works represent the best in contemporary science fiction—and your story could be next!

Enter the Cygnus Awards by June 30, 2025, and join this prestigious Hall of Fame!
June 4, 2024
SPOTLIGHT on the 2024 JOURNEY AWARDS Overcoming Adversity
The Search for the BEST Narrative Non-Fiction books on Overcoming Adversity for 2024!

The 2024 Journey Awards submissions close June 30, 2024

Accepting manuscripts and published work!

Your Journey Deserves to Be Discovered!

The CIBAs Levels of Achievements. Books are promoted each time they advance!

The Journey Categories are:
- Overcoming Adversity – Personal Journey
- Dysfunctional Family/Siblings
- Societal/Class/Race Issues
- Personal Journeys/Experiences/PTSD
- Drug Addiction
- Sexual Abuse
- Childhood Trauma
The Journey Awards were the first Non-Fiction Division ever opened by Chanticleer. You can now see the full range of Non-Fiction Divisions here. The sheer quality of the books describing Overcoming Adversity that we received was staggering. These stories demand to be heard, and we, as readers, are better for it.

Join us in exploring these amazing books that are overcoming adversity!

BARBED
By Julie Morrison
Grand Prize Winner for Journey Awards

Julie Morrison saddles up to take us for a ride through the harsh dry mountains of northern Arizona and beyond in her memoir, Barbed.

Readers visit the ranch where Julie’s parents try to keep the family legacy alive. Julie reveals a cowboy’s world where she meets walls instead of doors but never gives up.

Barbed opens with Morrison living in the rainy Seattle area with her husband. But the lure of a cowboy’s life on the range – working cattle and riding horseback – beckons them both. Julie needs salvation like this for her marriage, now distant and cold.

Continue Reading here!

A FRACTION STRONGER
By Mark Berridge
2022 Grand Prize Winner for Journey Awards

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

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

He learned more than just how to move again.

Continue reading here

GOD, The MAFIA, MY DAD, and ME: A True Story of Secrets and Survival
By Lori Lee Peters
Grand Prize Winner for Collections in the Shorts Awards
First Place Winner for Journey Awards

God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me by Lori Lee Peters begins in the voice of a child, compelling not just for its narrative honestly, but for the fact that it might not be reliable. As the book opens, we learn that this narrator firmly believes she will be killed.

Readers can easily see through the childlike hyperbole, but that doesn’t detract from the intrigue. How did a kid come to such an extreme conclusion? Is there any seed of truth to it? These questions will hook readers from the start.

Author Peters set out to write a book about her dad. God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me tells the true story of her father, and his fascinating work helping the FBI tackle Mafia activity in Lodi, California. Yet in the end, this is a memoir in which the compelling lead character – young Lori – overshadows her father in many ways.

Continue Reading here!

A SKY Of INFINITE BLUE: A Japanese Immigrant’s Search for Home and Self
By Kyomi O’Connor
Grand Prize Winner for Mind & Spirit Awards

“It’s my armor,” Kyomi O’Connor realizes, as she sees herself continuing life as normal after her husband dies of cancer.

Grief brings with it many companions: childhood trauma, memories of difficult seasons of life, triumphant moments of growth, epiphanies, healing, love. In A Sky of Infinite Blue, Japanese immigrant Kyomi O’Connor allows grief to open her heart to the lessons of her past.

In particular, she recognizes emotional armor that since childhood, she has built up, torn down, and built up again. Through her relationship with her husband, her devoted Buddhist practice, and her trust in her “Self,” Kyomi makes meaning of her life and redeems her darkest memories. Readers walk through these memories with her as the book shifts between past and present.

Continue Reading here!

CHOP THAT SH*T UP!: Leadership and Life Lessons Learned While in the Military
By CSM Daniel L. Pinion
First Place Winner for Military & Front Line

In Chop That Sh*t Up: Leadership and Life Lessons Learned While in the Military, Daniel L. Pinion reminisces about his experiences in the US Army, both good and bad, before he retired as a Command Sergeant Major.

Some of the stories and lessons he offers are heartbreaking, some are horrifying, and some are insightful. As it turns out, some are even heartwarming.

The author explains his origins: a quiet and uneventful childhood that did not give him much idea of what he should do with his life. Some counseling and a few incidents led Pinion, after high school, to the National Guard and eventually the US Army, where he found his life’s calling.

Continue Reading here!

SAINTS And SOLDIERS: Inside Internet-Age Terrorism, From Syria to the Capitol Siege
By Rita Katz
Grand Prize Winner for Nellie Bly

To many, atrocities such as mass shootings and violent counter-protests seem to appear out of thin air, undertaken by independent actors. But Rita Katz, in her groundbreaking exploration of internet-age terrorism Saints and Soldiers, reveals a sinister ecosystem of violence multiplying worldwide, visible yet largely ignored.

Katz– executive director of the counterterrorist organization SITE Intelligence Group– uses a strategic blend of primary media sources, personal narrative, and research analysis to unearth the haunting truths of internet-age terrorism. Although SITE once focused mainly on monitoring the actions of Islamist terrorist groups, Katz describes how it began applying the same tracking methods to white supremacists and neo-Nazis over a decade ago. As Katz writes, “the internet is more than just an asset for today’s new breed of terrorists. It is a necessity.”

Throughout Saints and Soldiers, Katz uses her decades of intensive experience to describe how a new generation of internet-born white supremacist movements followed the same trajectory as ISIS. She exposes the network of threads that link white supremacist violence such as the Christchurch massacre of 2019 to their origins on messaging platforms such as 8chan, Discord, Stormfront, and Telegram. Indoctrinating vulnerable minds with extremist neo-Nazi ideology, these violent groups use a “screw your optics” mantra that celebrates gruesome violence and the “saints ” and “martyrs” that drive their hateful cause.

Continue Reading here!

Thank you for joining us for this spotlight on the Journey Awards and a fraction of the incredible Non-Fiction that comes through our door!

We’re still feeling the joy and warmth from the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference! See what authors are saying about it!

Congratulations on a very informative conference and festive awards ceremony! The care and effort Team Chanticleer puts into the event was obvious.

I am honored that The Hanford Plaintiffs received a First Place prize in the Nellie Bly category. Nellie Bly was an amazing and accomplished woman.

It’s wonderful to be part of the Chanticleer “family”!- an honor!

— Trisha Pritikin

I had such an amazing time over the weekend!! From the wonderful hotel, classes/workshops, events, authors, 100-year-old war veteran, bagpipe author, and lucky enough to win another award.

Thank you all so much!! What a kickass group of wonderful individuals. Beyond grateful!!!

— Lori Lee Peters

A thousand and one thanks for putting on a great author’s conference! I learned a lot – some things that I was doing well (which is always nice to know) and new things I need to get to work on. And I made some great new friends, including you. It was well worth the time and expense.

— Dave Lager

While not a Journey Winner, there was no way these Blue Ribbon Winners were going to pass on a photo with 100-year-old veteran Burl Harmon.

Got a Winner?

The Journey Awards are open until June 30, 2024!

Submit Today!

Truth matters more than ever
May 30, 2024
A Spotlight on the Chanticleer Int’l CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction
The CYGNUS Book Awards

for Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction

and is a division of

the Chanticleer International Book Awards

The Future is Here. Are You Ready?

The 2024 CIBAs are well underway with submissions and the 2024 Cygnus Awards submission close at the end of June!

The Cygnus Awards are one of the first of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards ever! The quality and quantity grows annually, and we are so excited to see what 2024 brings! These are the categories:
- Alternate History
- Apocalyptic/Dystopian
- Hard Science Fiction
- Space Opera
- Soft Sci-Fi/Young Adult
- Speculative Fiction
- Cli-Fi (Climate Fiction)
And even in within those, there is what one might call “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” when it comes to genre.

Ethan Peck as Spock of Strange New Worlds now gets to offer the conventional Vulcan Wisdom

With plenty of exciting genres to choose from, it’s always fun to see new trends. For us Climate Fiction or Cli-Fi is one of the most exciting genres in SciFi today!

Cli-Fi often focuses on modern technologies and their impact on the environment, for good or ill.

This can be anything from a thriller looking at shadow governments fighting against progress meant to stem climate change, or it could even look at a dystopian world far in the future. The focus in Climate Fiction is closer to that of Hard Science Fiction and a cousin of Lab Lit, which you can see in the Global Thriller Awards rather than delving into Space Opera.

We’re delighted that the most recent Grand Prize Winner for the 2023 Cygnus Awards, Timothy S. Johnston, has won the Division Grand Prize coming from the Cli-Fi category!

The Shadow of War

By Timothy S. Johnston

The Blurb for it gives us chills:

In the world’s undersea realms, the superpowers are pressing. Climate change is ravaging the surface nations, and their militaries are surging into the oceans to seek out new resources to sustain their exploding populations. Now Truman McClusky, mayor of the underwater city, Trieste, must gather a team of operatives and travel the world to steal the most unique and deadly weapon ever invented for use underwater. War is looming, and to win a war, one must do whatever it takes, even if it means embracing your darker side.

The Shadow of War is book 5 in The Rise of Oceania series! We recommend adding it all to your TBR for a look at what The Expanse would be like if it took place underwater.
- See it locally at Village Books
- See it on Amazon
While the full review for An Island of Light is still forthcoming, we do have three reviews for Johnston’s series the Tanner Sequence you can see below:

You can see our reviews for all 3 books here!

Past Cygnus Book Awards Winners have been published by Titan, U.K. (of Dr. Who fame), Harper Collins Voyager, Vesuvian Media Group, Atheon Books, and others have gone on to be USA Today Bestsellers and Nebula nominated.

Thank you to everyone who submitted to the 2023 Cygnus Awards! We can’t believe that the whole adventure starts again when the first Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards close on June 30, 2024.

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

Submit to the Cygnus Awards today!
May 29, 2024
The 2023 SOMERSET Book Award WINNERS for Literary and Contemporary Fiction
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the final judging rounds.

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by [enter] on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Seasons By Sheraton in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2023 LIST of the SOMERSET BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the SOMERSET Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following award-winning authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Judy Keeslar Santamaria – You Can’t Fool a Mermaid
- David Fitz-Gerald – If It’s the Last Thing I Do
- J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas
- B. Lynn Carter – Jus Breathe
- Leslie Liautaud – Black Bear Lake
- James Gish, Jr. – When Blackbirds Dream
- Jennifer Gold – Halfway to You
- Donna Norman-Carbone – All That is Sacred
- Nova Garcia – Not That Kind of Call Girl
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 SOMERSET Awards is:

You Can’t Fool a Mermaid

by Judy Keeslar Santamaria

You can see all of our amazing 2023 Somerset Finalists! Congratulations to all and thank you for submitting!

Well done climbing the CIBA Levels of Achievement!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews

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

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in June. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

NOTE: We will post at least two 2023 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 24, 2024. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2023 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.

Thank you for participating in the 2023 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

The Chanticleer Team
May 8, 2024
The 2023 JOURNEY Book Awards WINNERS for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

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

This is the OFFICIAL 2023 LIST of the JOURNEY BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the JOURNEY Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following award-winning authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Lori Lee Peters – God, the Mafia, My Dad and Me
- Antonia Deignan – Underwater Daughter: A Memoir of Survival and Healing
- Nanette J. Davis Ph.D. – Raging Currents: Mental Illness and Family
- Barbara Wolf Terao – Reconfigured: A Memoir
- Sarah Martin – Dear Psychosis,
- Julie Morrison – Barbed: A Memoir
- Erika Shepard – Trans-Formations: From Field Boots to Sensible Heels
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 JOURNEY Awards is:

Barbed: A Memoir

By Julie Morrison

You can see all of our amazing 2023 Journey Finalists! Congratulations to all and thank you for submitting!

Well done climbing the CIBA Levels of Achievement!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews

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

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in June. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

NOTE: We will post at least two 2023 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 24, 2024. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2023 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.

Thank you for participating in the 2023 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

Team Chanticleer
May 7, 2024