Tag: Chanticleer International Book Awards

  • November is for Non-Fiction! Non-Fiction division deadlines extended

    November is for Non-Fiction! Non-Fiction division deadlines extended

    November is For Non-Fiction!

    We tend to be a little more high tech at Chanticleer

    New Deadline for 5 of our Nonfiction Divisions: the Instruction and Insight Awards, Nellie Bly Awards, Harvey Chute Awards, Mind and Spirit Awards and Military and Front Line Awards : November 30, 2024

    At the request of both our Authors and our Readers we have moved the closing date of some of our Awards to November 30, 2024!

    If you have an Instructional, Journalistic, Business, Enlightening, or Military and Community Service worker Non-Fiction Work, you still have time to submit!

    As we settle into this new schedule, we’re hearing great feedback from authors regarding the best times for them to submit their work. This depends on conferences and workshops (many of which are genre specific) where they can regularly receive feedback and writing retreats that allow them to finish their manuscripts.

    Thank you to everyone who reaches out and makes our Awards a success every year!

    To celebrate the deadline change, lets take a look at some recently reviewed Non-Fiction Works!

    A Path To Excellence
    By Tony Jeton Selimi
    Hearten 1st Place Winner

    On the belief that life isn’t just the random cards one is dealt, A Path to Excellence by Tony Jeton Selimi offers a blueprint—the octagon of excellence—to succeed personally, professionally, and spiritually.

    Transcending the pitfalls and spontaneous stumbling blocks along the path of life can open the door to self-actualization and progression. As someone who experienced bullying, sexual abuse, early disability, and homelessness, Selimi sets on to become a beacon of light to the hopeless and marginalized.

    Within each soul lies a bud of genius waiting to blossom. This book focuses on purpose, vision, and persistence to clear the way to that fullest potential. Affirming challenges as immutable truths of life, Selimi employs Buddhist teaching and personal anecdotes to encourage a head-on confrontation with one’s struggles and promotes a feeling of gratitude. As a blend of philosophical wisdom and practical experience, the initial chapters help readers acknowledge their current life situation, perceiving challenges as epochs of potential.

    Read More Here

    The Doctor’s Voice
    By Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli
    Harvey Chute 1st Place Winner

    Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli speaks out on serious professional issues faced by modern healthcare workers, in The Doctor’s Voice.

    Doctors deal with overwhelming stress, leading to burnout, illness, many of them leaving the profession, and even a higher-than-average rate of suicide. The Covid19 pandemic both heightened and helped illuminate some of the causes of this stress, prompting author Garbelli to write this book as a set of advice for his colleagues and as advocacy for broader changes in hospitals and other healthcare systems.

    Garbelli highlights a common disconnect in communication—administrators and higher-ups telling doctors what to do while those doctors don’t have much opportunity to bring up the problems they encounter day-to-day.

    Read More Here

    Finding the Light Cover

    Finding The Light
    By Kasey J. Claytor

    Some stories are impossible to look away from, and from its very first sentence, Finding the Light, Navigating Dementia with My Son by Kasey J. Claytor proves itself one of them. “…when my 49-year-old son, Justin, was first diagnosed with a form of early-onset dementia, I was stunned.” Without hesitation, the book draws readers into a saga of family, illness, and resilience.

    Although a memoir, Finding the Light is in many ways an instructional text, too. Readers don’t need similar medical situations to draw from Claytor’s lessons of improvement. The conversational, approachable writing style serves this purpose well.

    Although it’s in chronological order, this is an unconventional, modern text.

    Traditional scene-based paragraphs are offset by poetry, informative sidebars, and even the full text of letters sent throughout Justin’s illness. Claytor deftly shifts between these sections, building a cohesive narrative from which readers can easily learn.

    Read More Here

    Combat Missions
    By Burl Harmon
    Military and Front Line 1st Place Winner

    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

    Chasing the Daylight Cover

    Chasing The Daylight
    By Joanna Rakowski
    Military and Front Line Grand Prize Winner

    Chasing The Daylight by Joanna Rakowski is a revealing memoir that captures the rigor, intensity, and ferocity of military training in a salient style.

    Ever wondered what it takes to become a soldier in one of the most powerful armies in the world?

    Joanna Rakowski was born in Poland and grew up practicing dance from a young age, eventually becoming a professional classical ballet dancer and teacher. Upon her migration to the US in 1995 and the painful fallout with her friend and mentor, Chris, Joanna knew she needed to make a drastic change in her life. Her great awakening came when she decided to transform from a fragile and sensitive ballerina into a steadfast U.S. Army soldier, a goal that many close to her doubted she could accomplish.

    With arresting insights, the text builds from Rakowski’s striking introduction as it describes her first day of enlistment, which was filled with uncertainties.

    Read More Here


    A big thank you to all these authors for sharing their lives and wisdom with us! Your books matter!

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs

    Got a great Non-Fiction Book to Share?

    Enter the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards today!

    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

  • The 2024 Little Peeps Awards Long List for Early Readers and Children’s Books

    The 2024 Little Peeps Awards Long List for Early Readers and Children’s Books

    Early Readers and Picture booksThe Little Peeps Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Children’s Fiction. The Little Peeps Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience for Early Readers. Story books, Beginning Chapter Books, Picture Books, Activity Books, and Educational Books. These books have advanced to the Long List for the 2023 CIBAs. (For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards, for Middle Grade Readers see our Gertrude Warner Awards.)

    These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2024 LITTLE PEEPS entries to the 2024 Little Peeps Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 Little Peeps Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

    We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Bellingham Yacht Club sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference

    A Wreath with the words "CAC 2025" on it to celebrate the Chanticleer Author's Conference!

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Little Peeps Book Awards novel competition for Children’s Fiction!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • Claire Annette Noland – Nancy Bess Had a Dress
    • Ann Marie Perales Thompson – Halloween Pumpkins in Spring
    • Lynne Gobioff – Bad Luck Kitty
    • Michele L. Sayre – Along Came Spider the Making of a Superhero the Web Society
    • Michele L. Sayre – Oh No Bunny You’re Still Not Funny Happy Tails
    • Jack Wiens – What Bear Said
    • Anne Lacourrege – The Greatest Treasure
    • Rory Foresman – Timber and Loony Moony Night Rescue Book 2
    • Kimberley Lovato – Pisa Loves Bella a Towering Tale of Kindness
    • Anita Dromey – Littlest Mano at Bedtime
    • Kristen J Anderson – Lorelei the Lorelei: The First of Many Firsts
    • Ollie Miller – What is This?
    • Miki Taylor – Bentley Makes a Dump Cake
    • Elizabeth Fulgaro – Santa Claus Celebrates Jesus’s Birthday
    • Robyn McCullough – The Journey of the Wee Shell
    • Tracy Spring – Love Doesn’t Care Who You Love
    • Raven Howell – Keep Trucking
    • A.J. Chilson – Mary the Merry Miracle
    • Ben St. James – Guinea Pig Power
    • Brian Cleven – Kenzie Runs the World
    • Grace Wolf – May I Come to Your Party?
    • Stephen G. Bowling – Grandma’s House is Haunted
    • P.E. Calvert & Charlotte Calvert Piel – WWCC Heroes: Pablo’s Adventure
    • Irit Tal – Popina & Slumberina
    • Lexie Kattelman – Grace’s Groceries: An Introduction to Intuitive Eating
    • Dave O’Hare – Quigley Lopez, Saving Perseverance
    • Yolanda S Pascal – High Hopes Big Dreams
    • Anthony Delauney – Iver and Luke and the Friends-for-Others-Club
    • Julie Lomax – Melissa Moo Moo’s Special Lesson
    • Sara H. Fowler – Castle of Knots
    • Samantha Pillay – When I’m the President
    • Melissa Rousu – Grandpa Loved Wild Things
    • Daryllen Stone – Sienna the Spotless Giraffe
    • Ruthie Godfrey – Grumpy Grump
    • Regina Tranfa – My Dad Took Me To Dinosaur land
    • Adalgisa and David Nico – Frogs on the Mountain: The Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs in Yosemite
    • Shane Svorec – Acorn Adventures
    • Sheryl Bass – Baby Dragon Finds His Family
    • David Huerta – Why Max “Meows” and Risa “Nyaas”?: Cracking the Code of Animal Sounds Across Cultures
    • Lynn Helton – Min: the Cat Who Guards the Castle
    • Jeff Dorrill – Brunt and Eggbert
    • Jill Neimark – Forest Joy: Mindfulness in Nature
    • C.L. Olsen – Old Crabby Turtle’s Big Rescue
    • Katharine Mitropoulos – Let’s Work Smarter
    • Ruth Amanda – Ess-Car-Go!
    • Ruth Amanda – Island Moon
    • Ruth Amanda – There’s a Pigeon in St Pancras
    • Mike Darcy – Little Joe and the Big Rain
    • Nico Altamirano – The Crocodile Choir
    • Leila Summers – Mog and Tom
    • Milt Lowe – The Hippo Who Hated To Fight
    • A.J. Chilson – When Un-Bear-Able Braxton Bullied Me
    • Dr. Gerry Haller – Will’s Adventure to the Candy Mountain
    • Mary Brodsky – Dew Falls Lightly
    • Kat Chen – Play Outside With Me
    • Annette Gagliardi – Resourceful Erica
    • Kathleen J. Shields – The First Unicorn – Bedtime Inspirational
    • Dee Write – Little Ruth First Day of School
    • Roni McFadden – Romeo and Emilia
    • Anna Casamento Arrigo – My Mocha Skin
    • Anna Casamento Arrigo – Tessy Turtle
    • Ashley Wall – The Day I Had a Dinosaur
    • Shaziya M. Jaffer, Jessica Alexanderson and Brad W. Rudover – A Recycling Adventure to the Scrapyard!
    • Deborah L. Staunton – Owls Can’t Sing
    • Alysson Foti Bourque – Alycat and the Sunday Scaries
    • Anthony C. Delauney – Akash and Mila and the Big Jump
    • Rae St. Clair Bridgman – Good Night, Good Night, Victoria Beach
    • Carrie A. Buck – Ivy’s Dinosaur Tea Party
    • Mike Mirabella and Lenny Lipton – I Used to Be Shy
    • J.E. Rogers – Dressing for Dreamtime
    • Antwinette Scott – When I Was
    • Antwinette Scott – The Land of Hearts
    • Ann P. Borrmann – Chester the (almost) Pirate
    • Sands Hetherington – Night Buddies and Evil School Bus #264

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2023 Little Peeps Grand Prize Winner

    The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans

    By Shaziya Jaffer, Brad Rudover and Jessica Alexanderson

    blue and gold badge recognizing The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans by Scrap University for winning the 2023 Little Peeps Grand Prize

    Click here to see the full list of 2023 Little Peeps Book Award Winners for Children’s Fiction.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Little Peeps Book Awards for Children’s Fiction.

    Please click here for more information.

    Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

    Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887)  has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

    Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!

     

  • The 2024 Shelley Long List for Paranormal Fiction!

    The 2024 Shelley Long List for Paranormal Fiction!

    The Shelley Awards for Paranormal Fiction features an image of Mary Shelley at her writing deskThe Shelley Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Paranormal Fiction. The Shelley Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    The Shelley Awards were formerly known as the Paranormal Awards. We are delighted to be able to honor the mother of science fiction with this award!

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring magic, the supernatural, weird other-worldly stories, super humans (ex. Jessica Jones, Wonder Woman), magical beings & supernatural entities (ex. Harry Potter), vampires & werewolves (ex. Twilight), angels & demons, fairies & mythological beings, magical systems and elements. We will put them to the test and discover the best among them for the 2024 Paranormal Book Awards!

    These titles have moved forward in the first readers of the 2024 Shelley Supernatural Fiction entries to the 2024 Shelley Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 Shelley Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

    We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Bellingham Yacht Club sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference

    A Wreath with the words "CAC 2025" on it to celebrate the Chanticleer Author's Conference!

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Shelley Book Awards novel competition for Paranormal Fiction!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • Peter B. Dedek – Captives of the River
    • Stephanie Edwards – Lowcountry Charm
    • Jennifer Anne Gordon – Pretty Ugly
    • E.S. Magill – Magica Book Rise of the Cult
    • Evette Davis – The Gift
    • Charles Allen – Maid of the Feast
    • Kristin Homer – A Taste for Fear
    • D. L. Wilburn Jr – Vulture House
    • Miki Mitayn – Heated Earth Aedgar Moves In
    • Peter B. Dedek – Possessed
    • Jenny Allen – The Lotus Tree Book 3 in the Lilith Adams Series
    • C.W. James – Mindfield: a Paranormal Thriller for Teens
    • L.E. Brooks – Avelina, The Cult of Anick: Book One
    • Alexander Fernandez – Above the Ashes
    • Gracie Dix – Vork Chronicles Welcome to Superhero School
    • Keith Steinbaum – In Lieu of Flowers
    • Tim Facciola – Ghosts of Rheynia
    • Beth Castrodale – The Inhabitants
    • AA DaSilva – Periphery
    • Anika Savoy – Mayhem in Disguise
    • Derek Wachter – Hidebehind
    • Charles Allen – A Graveyard of Ships
    • R.F PINA – Tears of the Aeon The Gothic War
    • E. L. Werbitsky – The Marsh Keeper
    • Derek Wachter – Solipsism
    • Mark Sabbas – The Monarchs
    • Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – Vein Pursuits
    • Sharon Barnes – Shanghai Sunset
    • Evette Davis – The Others
    • Brian Blackwood – Fractured
    • Mike Fiorito – For All We Know: A UFO Manifesto
    • W.B.J. Williams – Johnny Talon and the Goddess of Love and War
    • Sherri L Dodd – Murder Under Redwood Moon
    • Bradford Tatum – Hot Berry Punch
    • LS Delorme – Bright Midnights
    • Omayra Vélez – The General’s Gift
    • Dennis D. Skirvin – Nicholas Knocker
    • Joy Ross Davis – The Singer Sisters
    • Shami Stovall – Time-Marked Warlock
    • L. J. Aldon – Riddle of the Haunted Hoard

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

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2023 Paranormal Grand Prize Winner

    Becoming Crone

    By Lydia M. Hawke

    Blue and Gold Badge recognizing Becoming Crone by Lydia M Hawke for the 2023 Paranormal Grand Prize

    Click here to see the full list of 2023 Paranormal Book Award Winners for Supernatural Fiction.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Shelley Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction.

    Please click here for more information.

    Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

    Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887)  has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

    Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!

     

  • The 2024 I&I Book Awards Spotlight for Instruction & Insight Non-Fiction

    The 2024 I&I Book Awards Spotlight for Instruction & Insight Non-Fiction

    How-To Market your How-To Book?

    I&I or Instruction & Insight Awards CIBA Badge

    The I&I Awards are the first step!

    Whether self-help, how-to, or just plain good advice, your great book won’t sell unless readers discover it!

    Submit Your Work Today!

    We are Delighted to Celebrate the 2023 Winners of the Instruction and Insight Award!

    • Wendela Whitcomb Marsh – Relating While Autistic: Fixed Signals for Neurodivergent Couples
    • Andy Chaleff – The Connection Playbook: A Practical Guide to Building Deep, Meaningful, Harmonious Relationships
    • Dr. Kelly Rabenstein – Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success
    • Jennifer M Sukalo – Claim Your SWAGGER: Stop Surviving and Start Thriving

    The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 I&I Awards is:

    Eating Together Being Together:
    Recipes, Activities, and Advice from a Chef Dad and Psychologist Mom

    by Julian C.E. Clauss-Ehlers and Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers

    blue and gold badge recognizing Eating Together Being Together by Julian C E Clauss-Ehlers and Caroline S Clauss-Ehlers for winning the 2023 Instruction and Insight Grand Prize

    These know-how smarty authors will be celebrated in their own posts soon enough! In the meantime, we’re here to cheer on some of our favorite books that have come in for review!

    THE DOCTOR’S VOICE
    By Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli

    Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli speaks out on serious professional issues faced by modern healthcare workers, in The Doctor’s Voice.

    Doctors deal with overwhelming stress, leading to burnout, illness, many of them leaving the profession, and even a higher-than-average rate of suicide. The Covid19 pandemic both heightened and helped illuminate some of the causes of this stress, prompting author Garbelli to write this book as a set of advice for his colleagues and as advocacy for broader changes in hospitals and other healthcare systems.

    Garbelli highlights a common disconnect in communication—administrators and higher-ups telling doctors what to do while those doctors don’t have much opportunity to bring up the problems they encounter day-to-day.

    Read more here!

    RECONFIGUREMENT™
    By E. Alan Fleischauer

    Reconfigurement Cover

    A guide to achieving financial freedom in retirement, E. Alan Fleischauer’s bestseller Reconfigurement™ reveals a roadmap guided by the Mantra, “Navigate, Customize, and Thrive.”

    Advances in medicine, nutrition, and longevity planning now offer unparalleled possibilities to live longer, higher-quality lives. However, looming over this rosy image is a genuine concern: the financial ramifications of a longer retirement term. More alarming is that a sizable portion of the American populace is not harnessing their 401(k) retirement plans.

    In light of this scenario, can traditional investment programs with fraying safety nets, such as pensions, remain viable? Reconfigurement combines the emotional fulfillment of making retirement dreams a reality with practical guidance that rejects the notion of a set retirement age of 65. This work’s personal tales and sound financial guidance entice readers away from the constraints of traditional retirement approaches.

    Read more here!

    ABOVE THE DIN (Diary of the HepC Wonder Drugs)
    By Labar Laskie

    Above the Din Book Cover

    Labar Laskie closely explores the experience of chronic HepC in her unique memoir, Above the Din.

    These days, Hepatitis C infection is curable with a simple treatment that lasts only a few months. In 1999, when author Labar Laskie receives her diagnosis, she sees no good option. The only possibility for a cure lies in a treatment with dismally low success rates and poses a significant danger. Not wanting to jeopardize her life, Labar embarks on a fifteen-year-long search for an alternative cure, hoping to find a wonder drug. Her waiting ends in 2014 when she begins her three-month-long treatment of two pills daily while keeping a journal of each day’s progress.

    She goes through a string of doctors, many urging her to do the toxic treatment.

    Read more here!

    THE SOUND Of The FUTURE: The Coming Age of Voice Technology
    By Tobias Dengel with Karl Weber

    The Sound of the Future Cover

    The Sound of the Future: The Coming Age of Voice Technology by Tobias Dengel with Karl Weber presents elaborate insight into the evolution of voice technology, showing it to be the next big innovation in the tech world.

    Dengel begins by stating that long-distance vocal communication was unattainable for a long time, and now can seamlessly liberate humans from familiar but ‘clumsy’ tools such as keyboards, knobs, pedals, buttons, and levers. It has been well articulated by various news quarters that voice recognition is gaining a reputation and growing usage with the rise of artificial intelligence and intelligent aids, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. This technology has for the first time allowed consumers to interact with technology simply by conversing with it, facilitating hands-free propositions, reminders, and other simple duties.

    This technology is presently in a major shift, as numerous industries worldwide are incorporating it into their daily routines and procedures.

    Read more here!

    A PATH To EXCELLENCE
    By Tony Jeton Selimi

    On the belief that life isn’t just the random cards one is dealt, A Path to Excellence by Tony Jeton Selimi offers a blueprint—the octagon of excellence—to succeed personally, professionally, and spiritually.

    Transcending the pitfalls and spontaneous stumbling blocks along the path of life can open the door to self-actualization and progression. As someone who experienced bullying, sexual abuse, early disability, and homelessness, Selimi sets on to become a beacon of light to the hopeless and marginalized.

    Within each soul lies a bud of genius waiting to blossom. This book focuses on purpose, vision, and persistence to clear the way to that fullest potential. Affirming challenges as immutable truths of life, Selimi employs Buddhist teaching and personal anecdotes to encourage a head-on confrontation with one’s struggles and promotes a feeling of gratitude. As a blend of philosophical wisdom and practical experience, the initial chapters help readers acknowledge their current life situation, perceiving challenges as epochs of potential.

    Read more here!


    A big thank you to all these authors for sharing their lives and wisdom with us! Your books matter!

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs

    Got your own knowledge to share?

    Enter the I&I Awards today!

    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

  • The 2024 Mind and Spirit Spotlight on Non-Fiction that makes life better

    The 2024 Mind and Spirit Spotlight on Non-Fiction that makes life better

    Change Your Trajectory

    Mind and Spirit Non-Fiction Awards CIBA Badge

    Your Experience is worth Sharing

    Enter the Mind & Spirit Awards today!

    The Categories of the Mind & Spirit Awards are:

    • Enlightenment
    • Motivational/Self-Help
    • Spirituality
    • Mindfulness
    • Well-Being
    • Meditation
    • Energy
    • Other

    These books help others live their best life, whether through the author’s personal experience, or through a life of research and dedication to a particular topic – often drawing on both! Books that enter Mind & Spirit Awards embody this and change lives.

    We are delighted to celebrate the 2023 Winners of the Mind & Spirit Awards!

    • Kelly Bulkeley – The Spirituality of Dreaming: Unlocking the Wisdom of Our Sleeping Selves
    • Pierre Pradervand – The Gentle Art of Spiritual Discernment – A guide to discovering your personal path
    • Maureen Kane – A Guide Back to You
    • Kasey J. Claytor – The Money Map, A Spiritual Guide for Financial Success
    • Melo Calarco – Beating Burnout, Finding Balance

    The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 MIND & SPIRIT Awards is:

    Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success

    by Dr. Kelly Rabenstein

    Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success

    Blue and Gold badge recognizing Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success by Dr Kelly Rabenstein for winning the 2023 Mind and Spirit Grand Prize

    Articles celebrating both the First Place and Grand Prize Winners will continue to come, but, in the meantime, we would like to focus in on some of the great work that has come our way recently and improved our lives!

    RUNNING AWAY From The CIRCUS
    By Nove Meyers

    Running Away from the Circus Cover

    Debut author Nove Meyers breathes life into the big tent of human aspirations and desperations, from his birth into a raucous circus atmosphere to his diligent study for Catholic priesthood.

    Running Away from the Circus is a vibrant chronicle that opens with a vignette of his grandmother, clad in sequins and flying on a trapeze. She spun like a top to enthusiastic applause under the circus tent, until the fateful day when she included her young child in the act, dropping her thirty feet to the sawdust-covered floor below. But this did not prevent Nove Meyers from being born and having a story to tell.

    The boyhood described was as wild as the circus acts. He was encouraged to smoke cigarettes like his father and watched in astonishment as his mother burned up paper money, possibly to protect his uncle, a counterfeiter. Yet despite his unusual upbringing as one of the family’s third generation of circus owners, Meyers was taken regularly to Catholic church services. There, he discovered God, an entity as mysterious as the traveling circus and carnie crowds he was raised among.

    Continue reading…

    FINDING The LIGHT
    By Kasey J. Claytor

    Finding the Light Cover

    Some stories are impossible to look away from, and from its very first sentence, Finding the Light, Navigating Dementia with My Son by Kasey J. Claytor proves itself one of them. “…when my 49-year-old son, Justin, was first diagnosed with a form of early-onset dementia, I was stunned.” Without hesitation, the book draws readers into a saga of family, illness, and resilience.

    Although a memoir, Finding the Light is in many ways an instructional text, too. Readers don’t need similar medical situations to draw from Claytor’s lessons of improvement. The conversational, approachable writing style serves this purpose well.

    Although it’s in chronological order, this is an unconventional, modern text.

    Continue reading…

    THE BEST I CAN DO
    By Cheryl Landes

    The Best I Can Do Cover

    Cheryl Landes’s The Best I Can Do: A True Story of Navigating the Complexities of Mental Illness and Homelessness, follows the devastation of a happy marriage as mental illness slowly takes over the mind of her husband. Landes must then make the journey back to peace.

    Cheryl and her husband, Tom, had known each other since their college days. A classic love story, Landes does a beautiful job with the set up, and then delivers the tragedy of Tom’s spiral into paranoia as their plans for the future begin to fall apart.

    The Best I Can Do tells the story of what happens when Tom insists someone is trailing him, believing a car passes by his and Cheryl’s home every day even though no one else sees it. He claims someone installed listening devices in their house and refuses to speak unless his white-noise devices are on. As his paranoia increases he locks the refrigerator with a chain and a padlock to protect himself from the certainty someone—perhaps Cheryl—wants to poison him.

    Continue reading…

    WOMAN STRONG
    By Anna Casamento Arrigo

    Woman Strong Cover

    Anna Casamento Arrigo’s Woman Strong showcases themes of love, heartbreak, death, disease, and political strife.

    In the newly-released audio version, Casamento, with the help of her narrator Valentina Latyna, captures the essence of life and living. Latyna brings these poems to warm, sensuous life. Her accent, at once elegant and romantic, lifts the poems off the page and gives them voice.

    The pearls strung into Woman Strong’s beautiful strand of poetry will stun and amaze readers. Many of them speak to the strength of women, as can be expected from the title, but many others talk about the fragile nature of life, of love, and of time.

    Continue reading…


    We are so grateful to have these wonderful books from these authors.

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs

    We hope to see your work in the 2024 Mind & Spirit Book Awards!

    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!

     

  • The 2024 Ozma Semi-Finalists for Fantasy Fiction!

    The 2024 Ozma Semi-Finalists for Fantasy Fiction!

    Ozma AwardsThe Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Magic, Steampunk and Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. Our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    These titles have moved forward  from the 2024 OZMA Book Awards Short list to the SEMI-FINALISTS. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

    We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Bellingham Yacht Club sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference

    A Wreath with the words "CAC 2025" on it to celebrate the Chanticleer Author's Conference!

    These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2024 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • K.N. Salustro – A Whisper from the Edge of the World
    • Susannah Dawn – Search for the Armor of God
    • Helen Garraway – Sentinals Banished
    • James McKenna – An October’s Journey: Poe’s Final Gift
    • Roxana Arama – The Exiled Queen: A Roman Era Historical Fantasy
    • Jenn Lees – Of High Kings and Mages: Arlan’s Pledge Book Three
    • Curt Locklear – Treasure and Murder In Ireland
    • Shami Stovall – Time-Marked Warlock
    • Charles Allen – A Graveyard of Ships
    • Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – An Unexpected Hero
    • Glen Dahlgren – The Realm of Gods
    • Kolton Fitz-Gerald – Leon Sharp: The Scourge of Night
    • Kolton Fitz-Gerald – Leon Sharp: The Tides of War
    • Alan B. Gibson – Summer Storm (Magic at Myers Beach, Book 2)
    • J.A. Nielsen – The Winter Heir (Fractured Kingdoms, Book 2)
    • Susan Wands – High Priestess an Empress, Book Two, Arcana Oracle Series
    • R. M. Krogman – Liberation
    • James Malone – The Song of Theodore-Return to Rainbow Gardens
    • Ross Hightower & Deb Heim – Desulti
    • Erin Lark Maples – A Circle of Stars
    • Evette Davis – The Others
    • M.D. House – Crossroads of Awakening Memory
    • Ryan Schuette – A Seat for the Rabble
    • Rae St. Clair Bridgman – Fish & Sphinx
    • Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The Serpent’s Spell
    • S.G. Blaise – Proud Pada
    • Logan D. Irons – Oaths of Blood
    • Prue Batten – The Red Thread
    • S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages
    • W.B.J. Williams – Johnny Talon and the Goddess of Love and War
    • T.E. MacArthur – A Place of Fog and Murder
    • Shami Stovall – Academy Arcanist
    • J.A. Nielsen – The Claiming
    • David Scidmore – Aylun

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

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2023 Ozma Grand Prize Winner and Overall Grand Prize Winner

    A Vengeful Realm

    By Tim Facciola

    Blue and Gold Badge Recognizing A Vengeful Realm: Scales of Balance Book 1 by Tim Facciola for Winning the 2023 Overall Grand Prize Award

    Click here to see the full list of 2023 OZMA Book Award Winners for Fantasy Fiction.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction.

    Please click here for more information.

    Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

    Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887)  has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

    Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!

  • The Many Worlds of Ursula Le Guin: Celebrating the Legacy of a Literary Visionary on Her Birthday

    The Many Worlds of Ursula Le Guin: Celebrating the Legacy of a Literary Visionary on Her Birthday

    The Master of Speculative Fiction

    Urusla Le Guin, Black, white, woman, leaning, fist, photographs

    Ursula K. Le Guin is a Literary Magician 

    As the conjurer of complex, imaginative worlds, Ursula Le Guin is recognized as a literary titan of science fiction and fantasy. Spinning  tales that examine the intricacies of familiar societal constructs within new and fantastic worlds is a magic that allowed Le Guin to explore new ways of imagining civilizations. It seems like a daunting task to take on, but Le Guin was born into a family primed for her questions. Last week was her birthday, and it’s never too late to support someone who was such a supporter of authors everywhere!

    Ursula Le Guin, black, white, bowl cut,

    An Early Student of Society and Writing

    Le Guin was born on October 21, 1929 in Berkeley, CA to anthropologist Alfred K. Le Guin and writer Theodora K. Le Guin. Brought up in a house filled with intellectual conversations and discussions about writing was the perfect combination she needed to fortify her vast imagination and endless curiosity and prompting her consideration of high-concept questions and new and innovative alternatives for the problems she witnessed in our own society. This placed Le Guin at the top of her class of speculative science fiction writers.

    Orsinian Tales, ursula Le Guin, short stories, castle, black, gold, collection, book cover

    A Thoughtful Writer

    Le Guin began her publishing journey in 1959 with a collection of eleven short stories, called Orsinian Tales. It was her first step into an imaginary world, writing about the fictional country of Orsinia and examining the right of the individual—sometimes alone, but often in conjunction with others—to his or her own thoughts and emotions, without society, or convention, or the State imposing restrictions. It was an auspicious start to her professional writing career, and established her as an author who was unafraid to explore the depths of philosophical and sociological themes.

    The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed, Earthsea

    Other notable works furthered that journey. The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) explored gender and sexuality through the lens of an alien culture, winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards. The Dispossessed (1974) is a thought-provoking exploration of anarchism and capitalism, and the beloved fantasy series, A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), examined coming-of-age themes and the nature of power.

    Ursula Le Guina, Black, white, brick, leaning, fist

    Themes that Continue to Demand Exploration

    The themes of identity, culture, and human nature are still issues that we mere humans grapple to understand. Through Le Guin’s richly developed worlds and complex characters, we come to understand perspectives we may not have thought about previously. Her speculative fiction provides a platform to critique our own societal norms and explore alternative ways of living.

    Futuristic world, planet, ursula le guin, purple, green, orange, mountains

    Le Guin’s Legacy: A Monolith of Science Fiction and Societal Commentary

    Upon Ursula Le Guin passing on January 22, 2028, she had established herself as a significant influence in both science fiction and feminist literature and inspired countless writers and thinkers to consider new societies. Her work has garnered numerous accolades, including the National Book Award, the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, and she has left a profound literary legacy known for their depth and relevance in contemporary discussions on the important issues faced by civilizations.

    Ursula Le Guin, Books, sitting, woman, old, black, white

    Happy 95th birthday, Ursula Le Guin!

    Born October 21, 1929 Berkeley, Calif.  She entered the next dimension on January 22, 2018, Portland, Oregon.


    Interested in exploring new worlds through today’s science fiction authors? We encourage you to dig into stories written by Chanticleer’s authors .

    Unanimity Cover

    Unanimity

    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.

    Continue reading here…

     

    The Last Lumenian Cover

    The Last Lumenian
    By S.G. Blaise
    Cygnus Grand Prize Winner

    Nineteen-year-old Lilla could have an idyllic life, but inThe Last Lumenianby 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.

    Continue reading here…

     

    Terms of Service Cover

    Terms of Service

    “Terms of Service” are those cryptic notes that accompany computer devices and applications, spelling out their rules. The novel,Terms of Service,by Craig W. Stanfill, turns those notices into the foundation of a dystopian horror story where Artificial Intelligence (AI) controls virtually every aspect of human behavior.

    Kim works for a giant AI corporation. It’s her task to train AI systems to interface with human beings, even as those systems make life difficult for the average person. AIs are not alive, not sentient, but they provide the precise terms of service under which every person in major metropolitan areas must live.

    Continue reading here…

     

    Elvia and the Gift of Passion

    Elvia and the Gift of Passion
    By Ruthy Ballard

    Ruthy Ballard’s latest middle-grade novel,Elvia and the Gift of Passion,takes us to another planet in a distant galaxy. But the journey begins grounded on Earth.

    Elvia lives a dull-as-dishwater life with her boring parents, Sally and Earl Hill. She dreams of living in Tanzania (or on Mars) after a DNA test reveals she is 99.1% Zulu, with a dash of Irish to explain her red hair.

    When her mother wins a safari in a work raffle, Elvia’s dreams start to materialize. As the stubborn and dissatisfied daughter of two overprotective parents, Elvia does what any child in her situation would do; she ditches them. In the meantime, her parents try to fit in some relaxation and see the sights without their daughter.

    This trip becomes far stranger than Elvia could have imagined.

    Continue reading here…

    Strider Klusman, stone

    Stone: Rhone and Stone Series, Book One

    Award-winning author, Strider S. R. Klusman’s Stone: Rhone and Stone Series, Book One is set in the high desert outside of the dusty town of Skragmoore.

    With all the trappings of a western, he draws us into the Badlands and takes us on a merry and hair rising journey through lake strewn caves and the dusty little town of Skragmoore. This YA adventure will have readers riveted in place to find out what happens next.

    Rhone has survived alone in the wilderness since his mother’s death, but he has learned to thrive and spends more and more time out of doors under the open sky than at home in his old, dilapidated house. So, when he hears a voice, and no one else is there, he is confused to say the least. Where is the voice coming from and why won’t it shut up?

    Continue reading here…


    Ursula Le Guin, bushes, woman, old, banister

    Thank you for joining us in celebrating the science fiction visionary, Ursula Le Guin!

    Do you have a book that deserves to be discovered? You can always submit your book for an Editorial Review with Chanticleer!Chanticleer Editorial Review Packages are optimized to maximize your digital footprint. Reviews are one of the most powerful tools available to authors to help sell and market their books. Find out what all the buzz is about here.

    Is your book an Award Winner?

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs

    Submitting to Book Awards is a great way to get your book discovered! Anytime you advance in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards, your name and book are promoted right here on our website, through our newsletter, and across social media. One of the best ways to engage in long tail marketing!

    Three Amazing Speculative Divisions are ready for your work!

     

    Thank you again to the authors who wrote these wonderful books, and to Ursula Le Guin, who inspired so many to pick up the pen!

    or(s):
  • The 2024 Shelley Awards Hall of Fame for Paranormal Fiction

    The 2024 Shelley Awards Hall of Fame for Paranormal Fiction

    Looking for a Spooky Read this Halloween Season?

    The Shelley Awards are here to bring you Supernatural Tales!

    ***Send us your spooky tale today!***

    The Shelley Awards (Formerly Known as the Paranormal Awards) are open until October 31st!

    The Shelley Awards for Paranormal Fiction features an image of Mary Shelley at her writing desk

    Let’s celebrate the past winners and visit the Hall of Fame for the Shelley Awards!

    Becoming Crone
    By Lydia M. Hawke

    She wanted purpose. She got dark magic and war.

    Claire Emerson is adrift. After a lifetime as a wife, mother, and grandma, she never saw divorce or loneliness coming and is desperate for some sense of purpose. But when her sixtieth birthday brings a snarky gargoyle, an annoyingly sexy wolf shifter, and an unknown magical calling, she thinks she’s losing the only thing she has left: her sanity.

    Refusing to believe she’s the powerful defender of humankind her so-called protectors claim, Claire attempts a return to her safe life… only to have her powers ignite when she’s attacked by dark supernatural creatures. And without the training she was supposed to have received, she has no idea how she’ll defeat sinister mages plotting her demise.

    Can Claire overcome creaky joints and major hot flashes in time to save the world —and her own life?

    Buy it here

    Cold as Hell Cover

    Cold as Hell
    By Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle

    James Crowley isn’t your average, run-of-the-mill cowboy. Nor is Cold as Hell, by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle, your typical gunslinging western.

    Although he’s got all the right characteristics – tough exterior, snarky personality, and commitment issues – Crowley is much more than he appears. Resurrected to immortality straight from death’s “sickly sweet aroma,” Crowley is duty-bound as a Hand of God to serve the White Throne in its shadow war against demonic presences called the nephilim unleashed by freezing hell.

    But it’s not all ‘good guys versus bad guys’. As Crowley learns, “good choices don’t always mean doing right or wrong things. Especially when it comes to serving a Master like [the White Throne].” Forced to be the middle man between God and the Devil, Crowley has to decide for himself how to care for the people around him and bring true justice to fruition. Forced to be the middleman between God and the Devil, Crowley has to make his own choices about how to care for the people around him and bring justice to fruition. 

    Jam-packed with simmering romance, evil yetis, reckless bar fights, and other outlaw shenanigans, Cold as Hell will warm readers’ hearts as it freezes them to their seats with anticipation.

    Read More Here

    The Devil Pulls the Strings Book Cover

    The Devil Pulls The Strings
    By J.W. Zarek

    The protagonist and all-around decent guy, Boone Daniels, is in a heap of hurt in JW Zarek’s new Young Adult novel, The Devil Pulls the Strings.

    One would think being plagued by an evil spirit wendigo since age six would be enough inconvenience to last a lifetime, but when Boone jousts with his best bud at a Ren Faire and accidentally deals a mortal blow, the hurt he experiences suddenly lands on a sliding scale of 1 to 1 million. And Boone Daniels becomes a millionaire, so to speak.

    Read More Here

     

    Soul Seeker
    By Kaylin McFarren

    The realms of demons and angels clash, as the possibility of romance, plunges the beings of Hell into chaos. Kaylin McFarren’s Soul Seeker follows the otherworldly set as they flee for their lives, uncover millennia-old secrets about one another, and face the possibility of love in a very dangerous world.

    But first, the demon, Crighton, wreaks havoc on his human target, a man named Poe, devastating the man and his family. You could say, Crighton’s at home collecting wicked souls for his boss, Lucifer. His villain persona is put into question when he meets the angel, Ariel. At first, Crighton believes the angelic Ariel would make an excellent prize for the prince of darkness, as the demon is well aware that his master adores ruining pretty things. However, when an undeniable attraction emerges between them, they wrestle with each other, pitting strength against strength. Beware any who would do anything to tear these two apart—that would spell certain death.

    Read More Here

     

    Abigail’s Window
    By Susan Lynn Solomon

    Katy Novacs is haunted, both by her past and the laughing specter that reminds her of it. When her friends bring her to Niagara-on-the-Lake in the hopes of lifting her spirits, she finds that their inn has a ghost of its own who has a tale that might save her.

    Katy comes to the Niagara Inn in a mire of sorrow, fear, and trauma. Though her friends try to help her move forward with her life, to fall in love and open herself up to other people again, Katy’s stay at the inn only seems to drain her further. Both she and her friends question her sanity as she becomes certain that she’s sharing a room with the spirit of a dead woman, but when Abigail eventually reveals herself, it is to tell Katy a story that she needs to hear—that of Abigail’s life.

    Read More Here

     

    The Madwoman of Preacher’s Cove
    By Joy Ross Davis

    Award-winning author, Joy Ross Davis’ latest work, The Madwoman of Preacher’s Cove, ventures beyond the paranormal into the surreal. Like Medusa on a bad hair day, the lives of characters are intertwined and twisted in a snaky snarl of conflicting human desires, terrifying inexplicable events, and the lingering afterlives of ancient, supernatural beings.

    Davis gifts us with a 21st-century legend, replete with mythological themes and creatures, and snippets of folklore and superstition melded with documented vagaries of weather, obscure herpetology, and creates a mystical potion worthy of Circe. In other words, Davis gives us a thrilling read!

    Rumors about suspicious deaths have put Preacher’s Cove, Alabama, a small, historic town notorious for powerful, killer storms, on the map. Hap Murray, Huntsville’s Channel 12 field reporter, with family ties to the Cove, arrives in town on assignment, armed with only limited knowledge of the town’s history of inexplicable deaths. The rumors speculate that the local pastor may be involved.

    Read More Here


    Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Shelley Winners is to submit today!

    Note: The Awards don’t officially close until the deadline changes on the website! Don’t miss out!

    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! Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

  • The 2024 JOURNEY Awards Semi-Finalists for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction

    The 2024 JOURNEY Awards Semi-Finalists for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction

    Journey Narrative Non-Fiction CIBA BadgeThe 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. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2024 Journey Non-Fiction SHORT LIST. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).

    The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

    We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference

    A Wreath with the words "CAC 2025" on it to celebrate the Chanticleer Author's Conference!

     

    These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

    Join us in celebrating the Semi-Finalist authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.

    • Michael Salsbury – Running From Tragedy
    • Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
    • Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
    • Tamra McAnally Bolton – His 100th Year
    • Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
    • Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays
    • Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
    • Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
    • Jill Vanneman – The Betterment Campaign
    • Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
    • Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond – The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
    • Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
    • Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
    • Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
    • Natalie Kohlhaas – Hello Anxiety My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower
    • Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
    • Léonie Rosenstiel – Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp
    • Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
    • Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
    • Kathi N. Miner – The Committed Professor – My Fall from the Lectern to the Ward
    • Bridey Thelen-Heidel – Bright Eyes
    • Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
    • E. Adrienne Wilson – I’d Rather Be Dead Than Deaf: A Young Woman’s Journey with Liver Cancer
    • Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
    • Heidi Beierle – Heidi Across America – One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
    • Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
    • Mary Jumbelic, M.D. – Here, Where Death Delights
    • Lisa Rhyne – Coming Out of the Metaphysical Closet
    • Tracy Mayo – Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self
    • Marsha Jacobson – The Wrong Calamity
    • David Vass – Liar, Alleged

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

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

    The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 JOURNEY Awards is:

    Barbed: A Memoir

    By Julie Morrison

    Journey Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction Grand Prize Badge for Barbed by Julie Morrison

    See the full list of 2023 First Place Journey Winners here!

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

    Please click here for more information.

    Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

    Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887)  has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

    Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!

  • The 2024 Global Thriller Hall of Fame for High Stakes Suspense!

    The 2024 Global Thriller Hall of Fame for High Stakes Suspense!

    The World is in Danger

    But your Global Thriller Novel can save it!

    Global Thriller

    ***Submit Your Novel Today!***

    You have until October 31st to enter the 2024 CIBAs before this message will self-destruct!

    We’re here to celebrate the past Grand Prize Winners that showed us just how high stakes the suspense can be!

    Roman Conspiracy cover

    Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy
    By Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke

    Talk about a ripped-from-the headlines thriller in Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy!

    In this multinational geopolitical thriller by Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke, a power-crazed Russian oligarch wants to usurp the current Russian dictator to take his place as the head of the government. He forms his own paramilitary force to steal priceless paintings from a Vatican church with plans to resell them for billions to fund his campaign. But why stop there? He also explodes illicit small-scale atomic weapons to further destabilize the Russian leader and cast himself as the country’s new czar.

    Meanwhile, a crazed U.S. right wing military adjutant buys loads of AK-47s from the Italian mafia to arm U.S. paramilitary groups intent on enforcing their own far-right views in America.

    Read More Here

    Hybrid Hysteria Cover

    Hybrid Hysteria
    By Charlie Robinson

    Two professors uncover a conspiracy to sterilize liberal Americans with specially-manufactured electric cars, in Charlie Robinson’s thriller, Hybrid Hysteria.

    Dr. Theresa Lauzon, endowed assistant professor at SUNY-Canton’s Department of Automotive Engineering, comes to Charlie “CC” Cavanaugh, university Chaplain and physics PhD, with two troubling revelations.

    First, while testing an electric car donated by the Gauss Hybrid Electric Automobile Company (GHEA), she’d discovered troubling spikes in its battery’s electromagnetic field. She connects these spikes to a rash of infertility and miscarriages along the Pacific coast, where GHEA cars have boomed in popularity.

    Second, Theresa is pregnant, and the father is GHEA’s technician-on-loan to SUNY-Canton, Jay Fish. And though Fish recently disappeared from campus, Theresa has much more complicated problems.

    Read More Here

     

    The Chameleon Cover

    The Chameleon
    By Ron McManus

    The Chameleon: A Jake Palmer Novel by Ron McManus takes on one of the most terrifying issues in the modern world: nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists.

    Amidst the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan, the world’s superpowers recognize that both nations possess large nuclear arsenals, which intelligent, well-armed fanatics threaten to steal for their own nefarious purposes. If these weapons went off, they could easily lead to World War III. To prevent this, the U.S. eagerly takes on the role of supervising the security of these weapons in both countries.

    In this terrorism thriller, India and Pakistan clash over the disputed Kashmir region. Pakistan’s leaders decide to secretly deploy a variety of nuclear weapons to the front, sending them along backroads in unmarked trucks. But in a carefully planned attack, terrorists kidnap one of these vehicles containing three nuclear weapons, before substituting a precise duplicate truck to take its place. The theft is not discovered until the decoy truck reaches its destination.

    Read More Here

    Cover of William Maz's The Bucharest Dossier, Chanticleer Grand Prize Global Thrillers Winner 2020

    The Bucharest Dossier
    By William Maz

    Bill Hefflin is a man apart—apart from life, apart from his homeland, apart from love

    At the start of the 1989 uprising in Romania, CIA analyst Bill Hefflin—a disillusioned Romanian expat—arrives in Bucharest at the insistence of his KGB asset, code-named Boris. As Hefflin becomes embroiled in an uprising that turns into a brutal revolution, nothing is as it seems, including the search for his childhood love, which has taken on mythical proportions.

    With the bloody events unfolding at blinding speed, Hefflin realizes the revolution is manipulated by outside forces, including his own CIA and Boris—the puppeteer who seems to be pulling all the strings of Hefflin’s life.

    The Bourne Identity Meets John le Carre’s The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

    Buy it here!

    Solstice Shadows
    By Avanti Centrae

    Something really nasty is afoot in the world as the Russians attempt to build a super quantum computer so powerful that it will be able to hack into America’s computer capabilities, bypassing even our most advanced protection and control or shut down every computer in the U.S.

    As we find out about halfway through Solstice Shadows: A VanOps Thriller, the second book in Avanti Centrae’s VanOps thriller series, they’ve run a test of their capabilities by using a prototype to shut down Manila in the Philippines, a city of nearly 14 million people. The test shuts off its electrical power, lights, traffic signals and causes its citizens to tear the city apart. A fine test case for its potential impact on the USA.

    All they need to complete their evil system is some rare superconductivity material that appears to have come from a meteorite that allegedly landed on Earth at roughly the same time as Moses led his people out of Egypt. The clue to its location is an ancient star map dating back to those times now in the possession of Maddy Marshall, the heroine of the VanOps’ first book. Also in her possession are slivers of the actual meteorite that she can activate with her mind, giving her the ability to meld with the ancient material and hurl deadly fireballs at an enemy.

    Read More Here

    The Moving Blade
    By Michael Pronko

    The Moving Blade by Michael Pronko won GRAND PRIZE in the CIBA 2018 Global Thriller Awards for Lab Lit and High Stakes Thrillers!

    What exactly was Bernard Mattson up to when he committed seppuku* at his Tokyo home – or, was it murder? This is just one of many questions Michael Pronko incites in readers in his latest novel, The Moving Blade.

    Another set of questions: What was so important about Mattson’s collection of rare Japanese shunga—centuries-old erotic art—that someone ransacked the house for it while his family attended his funeral? Or was it all about the significant role that the elderly Mattson had in formulating, then turning against, the SOFA** agreements, and the book he intended to publish about the unfairness of the agreements to Japan today?

    Read More Here


    Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Global Thriller 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!

    Submit to the CIBAs Today!

    Now is your chance to touch the hearts of readers everywhere. Your Thriller story deserves to be discovered, and you can submit to the 2023 Chatelaine Awards by the end of the month. Don’t miss this chance to give your book the recognition it deserves.

    The Global Thriller Awards is your chance to shine!

    The 2023 CIBA Grand Prize Winners!
    The 2023 CIBA Grand Prize Winners!

    And remember! Registration for the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference is open now! Space is limited and seats are already filling up. Sign up and see the latest updates here!