Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Drug Addiction

The 2025 Journey Short List 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. 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 2025 Journey Non-Fiction Long List to the 2025 Journey Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2025 Journey Semi-Finalists. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC26).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 28 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 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2025 CIBAs.
- Amanda Carrasco – Becoming the Brave One
- Amy Mackin – Henry’s Classroom: a Special Education in American Motherhood
- Ana Hebra Flaster – Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio To a New Hampshire Mill Town
- Anne Abel – High Hopes
- Anselm Ezemson – Chasing Closure: a Life on the Edge of Belonging
- Baldur Einarsson – Ice and Fire: Thawing a Murderer’s Heart
- Barbara Jenkins – So Long As It’s Wild
- Beth Granger – Born and Razed: Surviving the Cult Was Only Half the Battle
- Brandi Dredge – Girl Uncoded: a Memoir of Passion Betrayal and Eventual Blessings
- Brian J. Quattlebaum – A Mad Box of Rain
- Carl Gorham – My Life in a Garden: Love, Loss, and Mulch: a Single Dad Seeks Answers in Nature
- Carol Odell, LICSW – Girl Groomed: a Therapist’s Memoir of Trauma
- Carolyn Saletto – One Hazel Green Eye
- Casey Mulligan Walsh – The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted Everything I Feared
- Chanchal Garg – Unearthed: the Lies We Carry & the Truths They Bury
- Cheryl Landes – The Best I Can Do: A True Story of Navigating the Complexities of Mental Illness and Homelessness
- Christine Amoroso – Bare Naked in Public: a Memoir
- Cynthia Moore – Dancing on Coals: a Memoir of an Overperformer
- Cynthia Waine Brandt – Song of the Cardinal: a True Story of Miracles and Magic After Heartbreaking Loss
- Damien Thompson – And Then I Would Fly
- Debbie Hartung – The Factory of Maladies: Seven Days on a San Francisco Psych Ward
- Deborah M. Foster – What’s So Bad About Being Poor: Our Lives in the Shadows of the Poverty Experts
- Diane C Pomerantz Ph.D. – Lost in the Reflecting Pool: Surviving Narcissistic Emotional Abuse
- Emily Sayre Smith – Smartass: Memoir of a Mouthy Girl
- Franke James – Freeing Teresa: A True Story about My Sister and Me
- Gavin O’Donnell – Father’s Day
- Heidi Yewman – Dumb Girl
- Hendrika De Vries – Open Turns
- Jacquelyn Dickey – The Dash
- Jane Cafarella – Cleaved: a Story of Loss, Legs, and Finding Family
- Janine Kovac – The Nutcracker Chronicles
- Jennifer Celeste Briggs – Watching Sarah Rise a Journey of Thriving with Autism
- Julie Randall – Patient 71: an Inspiring True Story of a Mother’s Love That Fueled Her Fight To Stay Alive
- Kathy Sechrist – Sara’s Redemption: A Journey of Courage Resilience and Hope
- Kelly-Anne Kerley – Breaking Up with My Wheelchair
- Lucie Frost – How the Hell Did I Not Know That: My Midlife Year From Couch To Curiosity
- Marti Tote – Can You Ride a Raindrop To the Ocean
- Mary Garden – My Father’s Suitcase
- Mary Jumbelic M.D. – Speak Her Name
- Mia Bolton – As We Bloom: Wisdom From Extraordinary Everyday Women & Gender Nonconforming People
- Mitchell Raff – Little Boy I Know Your Name
- Nin Mok – Suddenly Silent and Still
- Peter Flom – Twice as Weird: A Memoir about Twice Exceptionality
- PJ Hamilton – From the Piney Woods 2nd Edition
- Robert Carney – Unscarred
- Robert Macauley – Because I Knew You: How Some Remarkable Sick Kids Healed a Doctor’s Soul
- Ryan Mcdermott – Downriver: Memoir of a Warrior Poet
- Sondra R. Brooks – Not Good Enough Girl: A Memoir of an Inconvenient Daughter
- Stacey Hettes – Dispatches From the Couch
- Steven Simmons Shelton, MA, JD – Memoir of a Mangled Mind: How Concealing My Dissociative Identity Disorder Unleashed Multiple Personalities
- Wendy Crockett and Ian McPhee – Pushing Miles: A chronicle of Motorcycles, Mayhem, and Mettle
- Wilma Macliver – Life Behind the Masks
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.

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

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2024 JOURNEY Awards is:

Unfollow Me

By Kathryn Caraway

See the full list of 2024 First Place Journey Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! 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 and discover why!
December 8, 2025
The 2025 Journey Long List for Non-Fiction Overcoming Adversity
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. 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 all 2025 Journey Non-Fiction entries to the 2025 Journey Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2025 Journey Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC26).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 28 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 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2025 CIBAs.
- Amanda Carrasco – Becoming the Brave One
- Amy Mackin – Henry’s Classroom: a Special Education in American Motherhood
- Ana Hebra Flaster – Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio To a New Hampshire Mill Town
- Ann Michelle Mracek – Unpacking the Attic
- Ann Van Hine – Pieces Falling: Navigating 9/11 with Faith Family and the FDNY
- Anne Abel – High Hopes
- Anselm Ezemson – Chasing Closure: a Life on the Edge of Belonging
- Baldur Einarsson – Ice and Fire: Thawing a Murderer’s Heart
- Barbara Jenkins – So Long As It’s Wild
- Beth Granger – Born and Razed: Surviving the Cult Was Only Half the Battle
- Brandi Dredge – Girl Uncoded: a Memoir of Passion Betrayal and Eventual Blessings
- Brian J. Quattlebaum – A Mad Box of Rain
- Carl Gorham – My Life in a Garden: Love, Loss, and Mulch: a Single Dad Seeks Answers in Nature
- Carol Odell, LICSW – Girl Groomed: a Therapist’s Memoir of Trauma
- Carolyn Saletto – One Hazel Green Eye
- Casey Mulligan Walsh – The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted Everything I Feared
- Celia LaVon Belt – My ValHalla: Angels Are No Strangers To Chains
- Chanchal Garg – Unearthed: the Lies We Carry & the Truths They Bury
- Cheryl Landes – The Best I Can Do: A True Story of Navigating the Complexities of Mental Illness and Homelessness
- Cheryl Lynn – Washing the Inside of the Cup: My Journey of Walking in the Spirit
- Christine Amoroso – Bare Naked in Public: a Memoir
- Cynthia Moore – Dancing on Coals: a Memoir of an Overperformer
- Cynthia Waine Brandt – Song of the Cardinal: a True Story of Miracles and Magic After Heartbreaking Loss
- Damien Thompson – And Then I Would Fly
- Dan Gold – Game Changers Inspirational Sports Stories
- Debbie Hartung – The Factory of Maladies: Seven Days on a San Francisco Psych Ward
- Deborah M. Foster – What’s So Bad About Being Poor: Our Lives in the Shadows of the Poverty Experts
- Diane C Pomerantz Ph.D. – Lost in the Reflecting Pool: Surviving Narcissistic Emotional Abuse
- Dr. Deb Miller – Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness
- Dr. Kirsten Viola Harrison and Sean/a Smith – I, Sean/a: the Story of a Homeless Intersex Woman Who Inspired a Community
- Dylan Nigh – Fool’s Gear: a Completely Devastating Thing I’ll Probably Do Again
- Elizabeth Fulgaro – Learning to Love (Not Loathe) Me
- Emily Sayre Smith – Smartass: Memoir of a Mouthy Girl
- Franke James – Freeing Teresa: A True Story about My Sister and Me
- Gavin O’Donnell – Father’s Day
- Heidi Yewman – Dumb Girl
- Hendrika De Vries – Open Turns
- Jacquelyn Dickey – The Dash
- James B. Wells – Because: A CIA Coverup & A Son’s Odyssey To Find the Father He Never Knew
- Jane Cafarella – Cleaved: a Story of Loss, Legs, and Finding Family
- Janine Kovac – The Nutcracker Chronicles
- Jennifer Celeste Briggs – Watching Sarah Rise a Journey of Thriving with Autism
- Jia Apple – The Tell
- Joshua Storment – MENtal: My Entropic Nuances Towards Another Life
- Julie Randall – Patient 71: an Inspiring True Story of a Mother’s Love That Fueled Her Fight To Stay Alive
- Kathy Sechrist – Sara’s Redemption: A Journey of Courage Resilience and Hope
- Kelly-Anne Kerley – Breaking Up with My Wheelchair
- Lucie Frost – How the Hell Did I Not Know That: My Midlife Year From Couch To Curiosity
- Maggie Enriquez – The Rebirth of a Phoenix
- Marti Tote – Can You Ride a Raindrop To the Ocean
- Mary Garden – My Father’s Suitcase
- Mary Jumbelic M.D. – Speak Her Name
- Mia Bolton – As We Bloom: Wisdom From Extraordinary Everyday Women & Gender Nonconforming People
- Mitchell Raff – Little Boy I Know Your Name
- Nin Mok – Suddenly Silent and Still
- Peter Flom – Twice as Weird: A Memoir about Twice Exceptionality
- PJ Hamilton – From the Piney Woods 2nd Edition
- Robert Carney – Unscarred
- Robert Macauley – Because I Knew You: How Some Remarkable Sick Kids Healed a Doctor’s Soul
- Ryan Mcdermott – Downriver: Memoir of a Warrior Poet
- Sondra R. Brooks – Not Good Enough Girl: A Memoir of an Inconvenient Daughter
- Stacey Hettes – Dispatches From the Couch
- Steven Simmons Shelton, Ma, Jd – Memoir of a Mangled Mind: How Concealing My Dissociative Identity Disorder Unleashed Multiple Personalities
- Valerie Foster – The Risk of Sorrow: Intimate Conversations with a Holocaust Survivor
- W. Hector Rivera – An Island I Don’t Want To Be on: Surviving the Riptide of Bipolar Disorder
- Wendy Crockett and Ian McPhee – Pushing Miles: A chronicle of Motorcycles, Mayhem, and Mettle
- Wilma Macliver – Life Behind the Masks
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.

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

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 2024 JOURNEY Awards is:

Unfollow Me

By Kathryn Caraway

See the full list of 2024 First Place Journey Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! 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 and discover why!
September 25, 2025
10 Days Left: Nellie Bly, Hearten, Journey, and Military & Front Line Book Awards close soon!
The First set of Non-Fiction Divisions closes soon!

Don’t let your book miss out!
Only 10 days left to submit your books to these prestigious CIBA Divisions 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, Hearten, Military and Front Line and The Nellie Bly Awards are still open!

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Journey Awards for Overcoming Adversity!
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of Sun, Surf and Skin Cancer
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Journey Grand Prize Winner:

Unfollow Me

By Kathryn Caraway

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Hearten Award for Uplifting Non-Fiction!
- Genét Simone – Teaching in the Dark
- David Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
- Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Susan Cole – Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
- Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
And a huge round of applause for our 2024 Hearten Grand Prize Winner:

Elk Love: A Montana Memoir

By Lynne Spriggs O’Connor

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Nellie Bly Award for Long Form Journalism!
- Carla Conti – Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir
- Kori Reed – Men-in-the-Middle Conversations to Gain Momentum with Gender Equity’s Silent Majority
- Bonnie Bley – Stolen Voices: Missing and Murdered in Big Horn County
- Sarah Towle – Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Nellie Bly Grand Prize Winner:

The Sing Sing Files:

One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice

By Dan Slepian

Congratulations to our 2024 Winners of the Military and Front Line Award for Service to Others!
- Roderick S. Haynes – Unauthorized Disclosures a Navy Memoir of the 1980s
- David Huntley – The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: a WWII Final Honor
- Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, You Say?
- Shari Biery – It’s Your Turn How To Rediscover Yourself Prioritize Your Well-Being Thrive with Purpose
- Max Lauker & Antonio Garcia – Number 788: My Experiences in Swedish Special Operations – Preparing for NATO and the War on Terror
- Bibi LeBlanc – Wings of Freedom – The Story of the Berlin Airlift | Flugel der Freiheit – Die Geschichte der Berliner Luftbrucke
And a huge round of applause to the 2024 Military and Front Line Grand Prize Winner!

Memoirs From The Front Lines:

Four states, Two years, One pandemic

By Kim Sloan

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!

Your book deserves to be discovered

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!
August 21, 2025
The 2025 Journey Hall of Fame for Non-Fiction Overcoming Adversity

Recognizing Resiliency

Chanticleer International Book Awards

Journey Book Awards

Narrative Non-Fiction Division for Overcoming Adversities and Challenges

The Journey Awards Closes at the end of June. Enter today!

One of seven of the Non-Fiction Divisions for the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) is the Journey Awards. This division deals with some of the most difficult experiences people are challenged with. The Journey Book Awards was the first non-fiction division of the CIBAs. As we received a considerable number of submissions that were uplifting and inspiring as well as those that focused on overcoming adversities, we decided to offer two divisions of narrative non-fiction. To be able to recognize these fully, we split off the more heartwarming works into the Hearten Awards, while continuing to recognize and discover works that give accounts of immense challenges and personal stories of the power resiliency and overcoming adversity (some of which should come with trigger warnings) in the Journey Book Awards.

Chanticleer is looking to discover exceptional Non-Fiction dealing with Overcoming Adversity, Dysfunctional Families, Societal Issues of Race and Class, Personal Journeys, and Experiences relating to PTSD, Drug Addiction, Sexual Abuse, and Childhood Trauma. If you have a Non-Fiction Book with different themes, you can see our full list of Non-Fiction Awards here. Truth matters now, more than ever!

Check out these exceptional reads and experiences from previous Journey Grand Prize Winners

Unfollow Me
By Kathryn Caraway

When you’re a target of stalking, “Each day is a fight to stay alive. Even while sleeping, you must be ready.” So reveals Kathryn Caraway in Unfollow Me, a spine-tingling true crime novel tracing a life shattered by severe stalking.

Although the author uses the pseudonym “Kathryn Caraway” throughout this novel to protect her identity, her harrowing tales of being the target of a stalker and fighting for her rights to freedom and safety are a testament to the real danger she was exposed to. Caraway’s experience creates a compelling story of one woman’s brave quest for justice against her torturer.

Kathryn emotionally, mentally, and physically falls apart at the hands of a violent, ubiquitous presence. Despite the severity of the crimes committed against her, Kathryn’s concerns are routinely dismissed as irrational and hysterical by law enforcement officials, lawyers, and even long-time friends.

Before a malicious intruder targets her, Kathryn is a beloved mother, a wonderful friend, and a confident employee. But after she is introduced to Todd, he begins to slowly strip her life from her control.

Read More Here

To see more from this author, including her upcoming fictional sequel to Unfollow Me, visit her website!

Barbed
By Julie Morrison

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.

Visit Julie’s website here to learn more!

A Fraction Stronger
By Mark Berridge

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. He lost control of the bike over a piece of slippery road patch work, he wrecked falling into an open culvert, striking his head; conscious, but unable to move his feet and legs. The left side of his helmet was crushed, his spinal cord injured, and numerous bone broke. 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.

Read more here!

Visit Mark’s website to learn more about where he’s speaking here!

Better off Bald
By Andrea Wilson Woods

There exists a bond between sisters, and often that bond becomes a connection so strong that time cannot erase the love and the longing for the other. Andrea Wilson Woods defines such a bond in Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days.

Woods details the choreographed life she lives with her sister Adrienne, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Together they begin their dance, pirouetting around IV ports and long lists of medications. Sisters in life, love, and an all-out war against liver cancer.

Woods retells her story with compassion and a rational eye for detail while embracing all the deep emotions that ravage her as she records every one of the 147 days after the initial diagnosis.

Continue Reading here.

You can learn more about Woods’ journey and even hear early parts of the book on her website here.

The Parrot’s Perch — A Memoir of Torture and Corruption in Brazil
By Karen Keilt

Karen Keilt led a life of privilege, a life that most of us only dream of, but she turns the dream upside down in her memoir The Parrot’s Perch: A Memoir of Torture and Corruption in Brazil, where she exposes the seamy underside of that life and the corrupt government under which she lived. Keilt takes us from her childhood filled with the horses she loved, to her marriage to a man she adored, to the fatal incident that destroyed the world she knew.

The memoir moves between New York and Sao Paulo as Keilt sets the stage for an incident that occurs shortly after her marriage. Keilt places no blame, but tells her story with an objective eye, while expressing the confusion she held of her experiences: the kidnapping, torture, rape, and interrogation by the police for “…forty-five days of hell. Three million, eight hundred and eighty-eight seconds.”

Karen Keilt presents a memoir that is tough and unapologetic. She sandwiches her story within an interview at the UN, which is smart because some of the events are so intense and violent, they call for a breathing space where readers can decompress.

Continue Reading here.

Visit Karen Keilt’s website here to learn more!

Thank you for celebrating our Journey 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!

You know you want it…

If you have a great Narrative Non-Fiction Book about Overcoming Adversity, submit it to us before the end of August to enter the 2025 CIBAs!

July 25, 2025
The Journey 2024 First Place Round Up for Overcoming Adversity!

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, Kathryn Caraway’s book, Unfollow Me 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 2024 Journey Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2024 First Place Journey Winners!

Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms and the Open Road

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Kirsten, a happily married mother of two, receives an unsolicited message foretelling the collapse of her life as she knows it. This startling news is delivered by the unseen guides who have been with her for over 14 years.

In the devastating aftermath of their prediction, these same guides return to offer Kirsten an unconventional path forward through her grief: a yearlong road trip around the country in an RV―something she has never owned, wanted, or even driven before.

Though anxious and uncertain, she decides to heed their advice to sell her home and head out into the unknown in 300 square feet of living space with her two young sons, two large dogs, and one aging flower-child mother.

On this wild and often harrowing journey, Kirsten discovers the true depths of her resilience and a way to finally reclaim her life.

From Chanticleer:

In her stunning memoir, Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road, Kirsten Throneberry weaves together the highs and lows of a road trip packed with life wisdom, where she explores grief, spirituality, and rekindled hope.

Throneberry’s achingly vulnerable memoir splits its readers’ hearts and tenderly sews them back together.

In the aftermath of the devastating loss of her husband, Kirsten sells her home and takes her two small sons, two elderly pups, and eccentric mother on a year-long road trip around the United States in their new-to-them Bigfoot RV.

Encouraged by the same spirit guides whose earlier advice for her husband’s health left her broken and untrusting, Kirsten must learn to face the open road with an equally open heart and mind.

Read More Here!

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis

Jennifer Gasner is seventeen when her dreams are shattered overnight.
Receiving a diagnosis of Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare genetic neuromuscular disease, means she must prepare herself for a life of loss. When she starts college, she can still walk on her own, but as her disease progresses, she spirals further into sadness, denial, and alienation. She turns to alcohol and a toxic relationship to distract her from what she refuses to accept—that her body, her self-esteem, and her hope for her future are failing.

When Jennifer develops a friendship with rock star Dave Matthews, her outlook changes. She begins to understand that using a wheelchair doesn’t mean her life is over. In fact, when she discovers disability culture, she realizes it’s not her body that needs to be fixed but her assumptions about being disabled.

In her captivating memoir, My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis, Jennifer invites you into her world, where she must learn to view her changing body with compassion and choose gratitude over anger as she finds strength and acceptance in a whole new way of moving through life.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of Sun, Surf, and Skin Cancer

Also a 2024 Chanticleer Cover Design First Place Winner!

After living an average Aussie life playing sport, spending languid days on the beach, and falling in love with ocean swimming, Anne Gately received unwelcome news. She had Stage IV melanoma.

Yet Anne is one of the lucky ones. After a dire prognosis, she dug deep to face the clear and present prospect of death, head-on. In Sunburnt, her revealing memoir, Anne recounts the emotions and challenges of her life-saving immunotherapy treatment under the care of Professor Georgina Long to come through the other side.

Not only has Anne survived, she is issuing a clarion call for a change to the bronzed Aussie culture. In Sunburnt Anne combines a nostalgic view of a charmed Aussie childhood, a jolting review of Australia’s sun-worshipping norms, and enough scientific research to encourage us all to redefine our relationship with the sun.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Sonja Wasden and Rachel Siddoway – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness

Also a 2024 Hearten First Place Winner!

An award-winning and best-selling memoir, An Impossible Life, tells the powerful true account of one woman’s descent into depressive and manic episodes and how she found lifesaving therapy and medication to overcome and triumph. When thirty-five-year-old Sonja Wasden is involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital by her husband and father, she is sure it is a mistake. Wife of a CEO, mother of three, and living in a beautiful suburb, Sonja’s life appears ideal. How did she get here?

In this gripping and breathtaking narrative that makes the reader feel as though they are listening in on a private conversation, Sonja reveals her delusions and battles with mental illness, motherhood, and marriage. When all hope seems lost, this true story of perseverance is inspiring and unforgettable.

An Impossible Life is a lighthouse of hope for those facing an all-consuming mental illness, either for themselves or for someone they love.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Lindsey M. Henke – When Skies Are Gray: A Grieving Mother’s Lullaby

Lindsey Henke is freshly married and a newly practicing psychotherapist when she finds out she is pregnant with her first child. Nine months later, on a cold Minnesota night in December 2012, after a perfect pregnancy, Lindsey goes into labor—only to be told upon arrival at the hospital that her baby has no heartbeat.

After the stillbirth of her daughter, Lindsey grapples with the unbearable agony of losing a child. Unprepared to cope with a sorrow this deep, she uses the only tools she has—her skills as a therapist—to plot her own path through grief. Over the next year and half, as Lindsey mourns the loss of one child while simultaneously trying to hold space for the joy of expecting another baby, she learns that grief can live side by side with joy.

When Skies Are Gray offers a poignant message to any mother who is grieving: Your pain is real. The sharp ache of the grief you feel will soften over time, though your love for the child you lost will always remain. And it’s okay to feel that love; it’s a mother’s love, and like lullabies, a mother’s love never dies.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World

By age four, Claudia Marseille had hardly uttered a word. When her parents finally had her hearing tested and learned she had a severe hearing loss, they chose to mainstream her, hoping this would offer her the most “normal” childhood possible. With the help of a primitive hearing aid, Claudia worked hard to learn to hear, lipread, and speak even as she tried to hide her disability in order to fit in. As a result, she was often misunderstood, lonely, and isolated—fitting into neither the hearing world nor the Deaf culture.

This memoir explores Claudia’s relationships with her German refugee parents—a disturbed, psychoanalyst father obsessed over various harebrained projects and moneymaking schemes and a Jewish mother who had survived the Holocaust in Munich—and with her own identity. Claudia shares how she emerged from loneliness and social isolation, explored her Jewish identity, struggled to find a career compatible with hearing loss, and eventually opened herself to a life of creativity and love.

But You Look So Normal is the inspiring story of a life affected but not defined by an invisible disability. It is a journey through family, loss, shame, identity, love, and healing as Claudia finally, joyfully, finds her place in the world.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

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

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

Got a great Non Fiction Book? The 2025 Journey Book Awards are open through the end of August!

Submit to the Journey Awards Today!

July 23, 2025
The 2025 Journey Award Spotlight for Overcoming Adversity
The Courage to Transform Pain into Purpose

The Journey Awards Honor Stories of Resilience and Survival

The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Journey closes on August 31, 2025!

Some stories demand to be told, not because they’re easy to share, but because silence serves no one. The Journey Awards, Chanticleer’s oldest non-fiction division, honor the extraordinary courage it takes to transform personal trauma into powerful narrative, giving voice to experiences that too often remain hidden in shadows.

These are the memoirs that refuse to let suffering be meaningless, the true stories that illuminate paths forward for others walking similar roads, and the brave testimonies that demand society confront uncomfortable truths. When authors choose to share their most difficult journeys, they create lifelines for readers who need to know they’re not alone.

The Power of Survival Stories

Every Journey Award submission represents an act of tremendous courage. To transform trauma into narrative requires not just writing skill, but the strength to revisit painful experiences, the wisdom to find meaning in suffering, and the generosity to share hard-won insights with the world.

These stories matter because they break silence around experiences that too often remain hidden. They provide validation for survivors, education for supporters, and hope for those still struggling. When authors transform their most difficult experiences into compelling narrative, they perform a profound service—proving that healing is possible and that survival can become a form of advocacy.

Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

We’re honored to recognize Kathryn Caraway, whose brave memoir Unfollow Me claimed the 2024 Journey Grand Prize by shining necessary light on the devastating crime of stalking. Writing under a pseudonym to protect her identity, Caraway documented three years of terror as she fought for survival against a stalker whose escalating crimes systematically destroyed her sense of safety. As she writes, “Each day is a fight to stay alive. Even while sleeping, you must be ready.”

Despite having her concerns dismissed by law enforcement and friends, Caraway refused to remain silent. She documented hundreds of incidents and ultimately transformed her nightmare into a powerful story that brings much-needed awareness to stalking as a serious crime. Unfollow Me demonstrates how the most difficult stories can become the most important ones—transforming one person’s fight for survival into practical guidance and hope for others. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Unfollow Me will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Kathryn Caraway will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview and receive continued recognition across our promotional platforms.

See Our Review here:

When you’re a target of stalking, “Each day is a fight to stay alive. Even while sleeping, you must be ready.” So reveals Kathryn Caraway in Unfollow Me, a spine-tingling true crime novel tracing a life shattered by severe stalking.

Although the author uses the pseudonym “Kathryn Caraway” throughout this novel to protect her identity, her harrowing tales of being the target of a stalker and fighting for her rights to freedom and safety are a testament to the real danger she was exposed to. Caraway’s experience creates a compelling story of one woman’s brave quest for justice against her torturer.

Kathryn emotionally, mentally, and physically falls apart at the hands of a violent, ubiquitous presence. Despite the severity of the crimes committed against her, Kathryn’s concerns are routinely dismissed as irrational and hysterical by law enforcement officials, lawyers, and even long-time friends.

Before a malicious intruder targets her, Kathryn is a beloved mother, a wonderful friend, and a confident employee. But after she is introduced to Todd, he begins to slowly strip her life from her control.

Read More Here

Categories That Honor Every Journey

The Journey Awards recognize that trauma takes many forms, and healing happens through many different paths:
- Overcoming Adversity – Personal Journey – Individual stories of resilience against overwhelming odds
- Dysfunctional Family/Siblings – Narratives exploring complex family dynamics and their lasting impact
- Societal/Class/Race Issues – Personal accounts of confronting systemic injustice and discrimination
- Personal Journeys/Experiences/PTSD – Stories of living with and healing from post-traumatic stress
- Drug Addiction – Memoirs of addiction, recovery, and the ongoing journey of sobriety
- Sexual Abuse – Brave testimonies of survival and healing from sexual trauma
- Childhood Trauma – Stories that give voice to experiences from our most vulnerable years
Each category represents not just a literary classification, but a community of survivors whose stories deserve recognition and readers who need to hear them.

Other August Non-Fiction Opportunities

The Journey Awards are part of Chanticleer’s comprehensive celebration of narrative non-fiction, all closing at the end of August:
- Hearten Awards – Uplifting non-fiction that inspires hope and positive action
- Nellie Bly Awards – Investigative journalism and exposé works that uncover truth
- Military & Front Line Awards – Stories of military service and front-line experiences
Looking ahead to September, our prescriptive non-fiction divisions offer opportunities for instructional and guidance works: Instruction and Insight (I&I), Harvey Chute, and Mind & Spirit Awards.

Looking at Journeys of Courage

Check out some of these powerful stories we’ve celebrated recently!

Guided
By Kirsten Throneberry

A 2024 Journey First Place Winner!

In her stunning memoir, Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road, Kirsten Throneberry weaves together the highs and lows of a road trip packed with life wisdom, where she explores grief, spirituality, and rekindled hope.

Throneberry’s achingly vulnerable memoir splits its readers’ hearts and tenderly sews them back together.

In the aftermath of the devastating loss of her husband, Kirsten sells her home and takes her two small sons, two elderly pups, and eccentric mother on a year-long road trip around the United States in their new-to-them Bigfoot RV.

Encouraged by the same spirit guides whose earlier advice for her husband’s health left her broken and untrusting, Kirsten must learn to face the open road with an equally open heart and mind.

Read More Here

Dumb Girl
By Heidi Yewman

In this powerful and heart wrenching memoir Dumb Girl, Heidi Yewman confronts her past to turn the pain and shame of an abusive childhood into resilience and purposeful action. She connects with readers through her transformation and triumphantly advocates for change.

During the #MeToo Movement, Yewman attended a stage production of the well-known “Vagina Monologues.” When audience members were asked to stand if they’d been abused, Yewman felt ashamed about her past but also obligated to rise. It was there that she decided to write her story as a release from that lingering sense of guilt.

Yewman’s narrative takes us on an inspiring journey between her adulthood passion to advocate for gun control, and a traumatic childhood attempting to escape from a cycle of abuse.

Read More Here

Freeing Teresa
By Franke James, Teresa Heartchild and Billiam James

“Let me speak. Let me speak,” says Teresa Heartchild, a self-talk poet, writer, and disability activist with Down Syndrome in the epigraph of the memoir, Freeing Teresa: A True Story About My Sister and Me by Franke James.

And speak she does, freeing herself from the boundaries set by other family members and the healthcare system. “In this heart-wrenching audiobook, a cast of thirteen actors recount the journey of Teresa’s unfortunately common experience. She was a victim of unjust medical treatment and nonconsensual housing placement—both by the Ontario government and her immediate family members. Actor Jackie Blackmore plays Franke James, the author and environmental activist. Teresa is played by the U.S. star Lauren Potter, and Dayleigh Nelson plays James’s husband, Bill.

By elevating Teresa’s activist voice as a prominent feature in the story, Freeing Teresa reveals how injustice and ableism can tear a family apart—but also how courageous love and the decision to listen to those who have been marginalized serves to build unbreakable bonds.

Franke James writes, “It all began with the question, ‘Where will Teresa live?’” In Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2013, six siblings wondered how to care for their youngest sister with Down Syndrome following their father’s anticipated death. Unfortunately, as is too often the case, these conversations took place without the knowledge and input of those directly involved: Teresa and her caretaker father.

Read More Here

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.

The past is vibrant and immediate: Claytor chronicles events in rich yet simple prose as Justin falls deeper into frontotemporal dementia, or FTD.

Read More Here

These works demonstrate how personal narrative can transform individual suffering into universal understanding and hope.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re honored to receive the courageous stories that authors trust us with each year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

The Journey Awards provide more than literary recognition—they offer validation that your story matters, that your survival has meaning, and that your courage to speak deserves to be heard. Whether you’re sharing your own journey or amplifying the voices of others, these awards celebrate the transformative power of truth-telling.

Your Story Matters

To every author considering sharing their journey: your courage to transform pain into purpose serves a vital function in our world. Your story may be the one that helps another survivor realize they’re not alone, that shows a supporter how to help, or that opens society’s eyes to injustices that must be addressed.

The courage to share your journey deserves recognition—the deadline is August 31, 2025!

Submit to the Journey Awards today and help us honor the transformative power of survival stories!
July 21, 2025
The 2024 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 Erika Shepard on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 at the Bellingham Yacht Club in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2024 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 2024 CIBAs.
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of Sun, Surf and Skin Cancer
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2024 JOURNEY Awards is:

Unfollow Me

By Kathryn Caraway

You can see all of our amazing 2024 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 website, social media posts, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the new CIBA Hall of Fame for Divsion 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. Our handle is @ChantiReviews

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in May. We will email you in the next few weeks with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information. To receive your CIBA Blue Ribbon Package, you must reply to the email that verifies your address and contact information.

NOTE: We will post at least two 2024 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 14, 2025. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2024 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. If you have any questions, please email either Kiffer Brown at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or DBeaumier@ChantiReviews.com. We also have a Support Desk at Info@ChantiReviews.com

Snail Mail:

Chanticleer Reviews, LLC

1050 Larrabee Ave
Suite 104 #334
Bellingham, WA, 98225
United States

Thank you for participating in the 2024 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Team Chanticleer
April 24, 2025
The 2024 JOURNEY Awards Finalists 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. 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 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.

These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE and GRAND PRIZE WINNERS of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Finalist authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
- 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
- Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
- Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
- 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
- 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

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!
November 22, 2024
The 2024 JOURNEY Awards Semi-Finalists 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. 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.

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

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!
October 30, 2024
The 2024 Short List JOURNEY Book Awards 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. 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 LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 Journey Semifinals 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.

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

Join us in celebrating the Long List 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
- Shannon Bohrer – Judicial Soup
- Judie Dziezak – Petals from Mars: A Memoir of Resilience and Triumph over Adversity
- M. Lorrie Miller – Invitation to Co-Creation: A Spiritual Path from Child Abuse and Religious Trauma to Love, Healing, and Oneness
- 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
- Aja Mia – The Heartbreak of Time Travel
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Jill Vanneman – The Betterment Campaign
- C.J. Hudson – Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street
- 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
- Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, you say?
- 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
- Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
- Bridey Thelen-Heidel – Bright Eyes
- Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
- Deborah L. Staunton – Untethered
- 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
- Ana Manwaring – Saints and Skeletons A Memoir
- David Vass – Liar, Alleged
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!

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

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!
August 18, 2024