Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer Book Awards

The 2019 GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – The Short List
The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of middle-grade readers, fiction and non-fiction, that compel children to read and explore. The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs).

Named in honor of the author of the quintessential children’s series – The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Warner.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience between the ages of about eight to twelve. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Adventure we will put them to the test and choose the best Middle-Grade Books among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards LONG LIST and now have progressed to the 2019 SHORTLIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. The Semi-Finalists will be announced and recognized at the CAC20 banquet and ceremony. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 16 CIBA divisions Semi-Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

These titles have been Shortlisted for the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Fiction
- Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
- Joyce Major – The Orangutan Rescue Gang
- Nancy McDonald – Boy from Berlin
- Veronica Myers – Flight of Maldar
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Serious Business
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Minor Misdemeanors
- Mobi Warren – The Bee Maker
- Amber L. Wyss – Phoenix Rising
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Tudor Rose
- Sue Bough – Norman Snodgrass Saves the Green Planet
- Kit Bakke – Dancing on the Edge
- M.J. Evans – PINTO!
- M.J. Evans – The Stone of Wisdom – Book 4 of the Centaur Chronicles
- Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate
- Lis Anna-Langston – Maya Loop
- Lexi Rees – Eternal Seas
- Catherine Mallette – Don’t Ask Me
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Volcano
- Diane Rios – Return of the Evening Star
- C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
- Kay M. Bates’ – ‘B’ is for Baylee
- Alexander Usher – Katie Hope: Blood Bonds
- Susan Brown – Sammy and the Devil Dog
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Pyramid
- Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale
- L.S. Barron – Harper T and the Timewave
- Maria Ashworth – SUSHI KITTY
- Gregory Saur – Diving Catch
- Liana Gardner – 7th Grade Revolution
- Liana Gardner – The Journal of Angela Ashby
- L.M. Kemp – Skye’s Journey
- Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
- Leanne M. Pankuch – Dragon’s Truth
- Alex Paul – The Valley of Death, Book 5, Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers?

These titles are in the running for the Semi-Finalists positions of the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The 16 divisions of the 2019 CIBAs’ Grand Prize Winners and the Five First Place Category Position award winners along with recognizing the Semi-Finalists will be announced at the April 18th, 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2020 Gertrude Warner Awards Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is May 30th, 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2021.

Please click here for more information.

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com.
November 14, 2019
The 2019 CHAUCER Book Awards for pre-1750s Historical Fiction–the Long List for the CIBAs
The CHAUCER Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in pre-1750s Historical Fiction. The CHAUCER Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

The Chaucer Book Awards competition is named for Geoffrey Chaucer the author of the legendary Canterbury Tales. The work is considered to be one of the greatest works in the English language. It was among the first non-secular books written in Middle English to be printed in 1483.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking for the best books featuring Pre-1750s Historical Fiction, including pre-history, ancient history, Classical, world history (non-western culture), Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Tudor, 1600s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2019 CHAUCER Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for 2019 CHAUCER Shortlist. The ShortListers’ works will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. Semi-Finalists will be announced and recognized at the CAC20 banquet and ceremony. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 16 CIBA divisions Semi-Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2019 CHAUCER Book Awards for pre-1750s Historical Fiction. Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
- James Conroyd Martin – Fortune’s Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora
- Gail Avery Halverson – The Skeptical Physick
- William S. Roberts – Hatchepsut, Female Falcon Over Egypt
- Susanne Dunlap – Listen to the Wind
- JC Corry – The Storyteller’s Reputation
- K.M. Pohlkamp – Shadows of Hemlock
- E. L. Diamond – The Wolf of God
- Linda Cardillo – Love That Moves the Sun: Vittoria Colonna and Michelangelo Buonarotti
- Alexander Geiger – Flood Tide: An Epic Novel of the Greek Invasion of Persia
- Stephanie Renee dos Santos – Cut from the Earth
- Cryssa Bazos – Severed Knot
- Kate Murdoch – The Orange Grove
- June Hall McCash – Eleanor’s Daughter: A Novel of Marie de Champagne
- Michelle Toohey – Dark Madonnas
- Catherine Mathis – Death in Coimbra
- Patricia J. Boomsma – The Way of Glory
- Brianna Nichole – The High Priestess and the Half-Blood Prince
- A.L.Cleven – 26.2
- C. K. Ruppelt – From Darkness – A Novel of the Ancient Roman World
- Alexandrea Weis – Realm
- F. Scott Kimmich – The Magdalene Malediction
- Susan Heldt Davis – The Mother’s Tale
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Sugar Merchant
- Vince Pantalone – Incident on the Road to Canterbury
- Robert Cole – The Falcons of Gebtu
- Anna Belfrage – The Cold Light of Dawn
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2019 Goethe Book Awards for post-1750s Historical Fiction?

The 16 divisions of the 2019 CIBAs’ Grand Prize Winners and the Five First Place Category Position award winners along with recognizing the Semi-Finalists will be announced at the April 18th, 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2020 CHAUCER Book Awards for pre-1750s Historical Fiction. The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2020. The 2020 winners will be announced in April 2021.

As always, please contact us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!
August 29, 2019
The 2019 GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – The Long List
The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of middle-grade readers, fiction and non-fiction, that compel children to read and explore. The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs).

Named in honor of the author of the quintessential children’s series – The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Warner.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience between the ages of about eight to twelve. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Adventure we will put them to the test and choose the best Middle-Grade Books among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for 2019 Gertrude Warner Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. The Semi-Finalists will be announced and recognized at the CAC20 banquet and ceremony. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 16 CIBA divisions Semi-Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers. Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
- Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
- Joyce Major – The Orangutan Rescue Gang
- Nancy McDonald – Boy from Berlin
- Veronica Myers – Flight of Maldar
- Jason Otis – Monkey and Moose & the Pirates of Pine Point
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Serious Business
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Minor Misdemeanors
- Emily Mack – S.T.E.M. MYSTERIES #1 – Fibonacci’s Funhouse
- E. Merwin – Wings, A Brother’s Tale
- Jason Colpitts – Corrine and the Underground Province
- Mobi Warren – The Bee Maker
- Amber L. Wyss – Phoenix Rising
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Tudor Rose
- Sue Bough – Norman Snodgrass Saves the Green Planet
- Kit Bakke – Dancing on the Edge
- M.J. Evans – PINTO!
- M.J. Evans – The Stone of Wisdom – Book 4 of the Centaur Chronicles
- Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate
- Lis Anna-Langston – Maya Loop
- T.X. Troan – Sophia Freeman and the Mysterious Fountain
- Lexi Rees – Eternal Seas
- Rachel VanZandt – P.J. O’Breslin’s Pirate Journey
- Catherine Mallette – Don’t Ask Me
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Volcano
- O’Dempsey Rynehart – The Seeds of Stone (A Sliver of Dark and Bright Series #1)
- Diane Rios – Return of the Evening Star
- C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
- Kay M. Bates’ – ‘B’ is for Baylee
- Alexander Usher – Katie Hope: Blood Bonds
- Susan Brown – Sammy and the Devil Dog
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Pyramid
- R. B. Maxwell – The Invisible Agent
- Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale
- Francis B. Glad – Ernie Germy Jenkins
- L.S. Barron – Harper T and the Timewave
- Maria Ashworth – SUSHI KITTY
- Gregory Saur – Diving Catch
- Liana Gardner – 7th Grade Revolution
- Liana Gardner – The Journal of Angela Ashby
- Jeff Orlowski – Avery Green And The Nightmare Busters
- L.M. Kemp – Skye’s Journey
- Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
- Leanne M. Pankuch – Dragon’s Truth
- Alex Paul – The Valley of Death, Book 5, Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers?

The 16 divisions of the 2019 CIBAs’ Grand Prize Winners and the Five First Place Category Position award winners along with recognizing the Semi-Finalists will be announced at the April 18th, 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2020 Gertrude Warner Awards Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is May 30th, 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2021.

Please click here for more information.

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com.
July 30, 2019
The OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction Novels – Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners – CIBAs 2018
We are excited and honored to officially announce the Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Winners for the 2018 OZMA Book Awards at the annual Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards ceremony. This year’s ceremony and banquet were held on Saturday, April 27th, 2019 at the Hotel Bellwether by beautiful Bellingham Bay, Wash.

We want to thank all of those who entered and participated in the 2018 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction Novels, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs).

J.D.Barker, the international best-selling author of Dracul, announced the 2018 OZMA Award Winners at the Chanticleer International Book Awards Banquet and Ceremony.

PublishDrive and Hindenburg Systems awarded additional prizes to the 2018 OZMA Book Award winners. Thank you!

Congratulations to the 2018 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction Novels First in Category Winners!
- Virtuous Souls by Pamela LePage
- RAGNAROK: Demon Seed by Ea Bishop
- Money Jane by T.K. Riggins
- Heart Of Shadra by Susan Faw
- Dragon Speaker by Elana A. Mugdan
- Into the North: A Keltin Moore Adventure by Lindsay Schopfer
- Antler Jinny and the Raven by Chris Dews
- Luminess Legends: Dragon Ascendants by Paul E. Vaughn
And now for the 2018 OZMA Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Fantasy Fiction Novels:

Dragon Speaker by Elana A. Mugdan

took home the OZMA Grand Prize Ribbon

An email will go out to all First Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Winners with more information, the timing of awarded reviews, links to digital badges, and more before May 31st, 2019 (approximately four weeks after the awards ceremony). Please look for it in your email inbox.

When we receive the digital photographs from the Official CAC19 professional photographer, Dwayne Rogge of Photo Treehouse, we will post the photographs of Ozma award winners on this page.

Click here for the link to the Ozma Semi-Finalists.

This post will be updated with photos and more information. Please do visit it again!

The deadline for submissions into the 2019 OZMA Book Awards is October 31, 2019 Midnight (PST).

Our next Chanticleer International Book Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 18th, 2020, for the 2019 CIBA winners.

Enter your book or manuscript in a contest today!
May 9, 2019
DRAGON SPEAKER – Book One of The Shadow War Saga by Elana A. Mugdan – Fantasy, Family Saga, Action/Adventure

Dragon Speaker, Book One of The Shadow War Saga by Elana A. Mugdan won the CIBA 2018 Grand Prize in the OZMA Awards for Fantasy Books! Congratulations!

A young girl is charged with rescuing a dragon and, ultimately, saves her world in this wide-reaching fantasy conception of love, war, danger, and magic. Massive amounts of magic!

Keriya is a simple girl of no great pedigree who lives in Aeria where everyone except her wields some form of magic. At age 14, she knows she will not be selected to prove herself worthy of a greater destiny in the annual Ceremony of Choice. But she has to try. Even though the consequences of failure will be a life of slavery, she yearns for the opportunity. She approaches the selection committee and begs ─no, demands ─ a chance.

Like the others chosen in the Ceremony, she goes alone into the forest to seek her destiny. There she meets the great god Shivnath who assigns her the task of locating and protecting the last of the dragons, Thorion. She must fight against the most pervasive evil; a monstrously powerful force named Necrovar, skulking in the land of Allentria. In giving her the necessary, but unnamed, gifts to accomplish the task, Shivnath gives her shining purple eyes that mark her as unique, perhaps dangerously so.

However, no one believes Keriya’s claim that Shivnath has given her the ability to fight Necrovar without help. But Keriya knows her destiny. She takes the name Soulstar to give herself inner strength, and the adventure begins.

Keriya’s journey is longer and more crooked than she had envisioned, and soon she is joined by her childhood rival, Roxanne who has many magical powers and by Fletcher, whose magic, like his personality, is rather weak. Dangers surround the trio at every turn, and they soon learn that trust must be earned and friendships must be carefully guarded.

Author and award-winning fantasy film-maker Mugdan has been writing this intriguing saga since she was in high school, and perhaps because of that, has retained a remarkable empathy for her teen heroine. Keriya is a multi-faceted character, capable of getting fed up with her shortcomings and ashamed of her failures while maintaining in her spirit the belief that she will have what it takes to act courageously in a crisis. Mugdan movingly depicts Keriya gaining the skills and confidence she will need for cosmic combat. The author also shows this growth in Keriya’s companions Roxanne and Fletcher, who are themselves facing challenges they never dreamt of; and the three are gradually gaining respect for each other.

Mugdan also manages to make the dragon a sensitive, likable player in this fantasy, while at the same time creating some super-unlikeable evil-doers: shadowbeasts, giant slugs, bogspectres, and of course the almost unconquerable Necrovar. Add to this a bit of romance, some supernatural magic, and at least one acrimonious enemy lurking in the background, and you have the recipe for a highly successful first in series fantasy novel.

September 28, 2018
EPSTEIN’S PANCAKE by Bjarne Rostaing – Political Thriller, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, CLUE AWARD WINNER

Styled in the cooling off days of the Reagan era and the still heated Iran Contra imbroglio, Epstein’s Pancake features a street-wise hero afflicted by PTSD and new to the spy vs. spy game. Viet Nam vet Rob Price is not having an easy time with civilian life when a friend introduces him to a mysterious man who wants to hire him for some low-level, well-paid courier work in France – dropping things off, meeting people in airports, that kind of thing.

Of course, it’s espionage and despite how careful Price normally is, he doesn’t hesitate. He has little to lose, though he will gradually realize that even someone with little to lose might find something worth saving. In this case, possibly, the entire world. As he gets more tightly drawn into more secretive levels of the work, Price begins to wonder who the good guys really are. He has one trustworthy supporter, a martial arts teacher name Jennie whose instruction might save his life as he takes on an entire military-industrial complex.

At the core of this multi-layered plot is a scientist playing with something that still seems ultra-futuristic, though it has been around for longer than most people realize: artificial intelligence. In this case, AI is represented by a plate full of genetic mush connected to wires and computers – the eponymous pancake that multi-nationals, dictators and even the leaders of the free world want to control. After numerous near-death experiences and constant switchbacks that force Price to re-learn his playbook almost daily, he will identify the villains in the piece and force their hand. But not without cost to his psyche.

Rostaing, an award-winning author, paints a remarkable picture of the times and the setting of this action-rich, intelligent tale, and is able to convey it in rich language. Doubtless, he has accessed many sources in piecing together a novel that seems entirely accurate down to small but significant details, from everything that was on TV in the late 1980s to how the bigwigs were thinking.

He inserts some believable behind-the-scenes vignettes and a few well-chosen opinions without weighing the narrative, and he has an excellent ear for dialogue. In Price, he has brought to life an enjoyable mix of John le Carré’s cool-headed Smiley and Dashiell Hammett’s hard-bitten Sam Spade.

With international intrigue, a new twist on almost every page, life-threatening danger, and a hard-living hero with a soft heart, Epstein’s Pancake is a smart story solidly in the spy thriller genre that’s bound to garner a loyal readership.

Epstein’s Pancake won First Place in the 2016 Clue Awards for Bjarne Rostaing.

August 12, 2018