What is lurking in the shadows? When did these footprints appear outside her house? Anna is sure she’s being followed again in Courtney Leigh Pahlke’s mystery thriller, Life Force Preserve.
What is it that follows her? She’s still recovering from the last dire, grave accident. Now Anna can only wonder if that dark day, the worst day of her life, even was an accident. Someone or something is after her. With no idea why, Anna doesn’t know where to turn for help. How will she find her way, now that something beyond her control has knocked the life she loved out from under her?
Anna is suffering from disabling injuries after a shocking car accident that killed her beloved mother. Her father, brother, and best friend are all a phone call away and dedicated to helping Anna recover. Sometimes it’s surprising how far away that phone call can be. When Anna takes a terrible fall in the snow outside her house and regains consciousness, there’s a figure rushing nearby her, moving erratically and watching her. She can’t get a good look at it. Is it her imagination? She has to get away, to find safety. She has to get herself back to the hospital where they can help her.
Anna is able to make it to a cab and the hospital. What she discovers there is good news and bad news.
Tests reveal that her healing is miraculously ahead of schedule. It’s truly a mystery to the doctors how she is mending. They order more tests and procedures to be sure what they’re seeing is real. For Anna, this heartening news is quickly overshadowed by suspicious strangers in the hospital corridors. An ominous movement in her direction, a watchful stare, several others giving her too much attention and Anna is once again on the alert and on the run.
Anna’s fears are confirmed when she’s approached by Bryan. He’s a stranger yet knows about her situation. His concern and his actions to help are puzzling, but he convinces her to trust him. They leave for a safe place where Bryan introduces his associates. That’s when he explains what is after Anna and why. Her only hope, according to Bryan, is to join them in their own desperate fight against these brutal beings. Their efforts are the last chance to stop these villains from achieving their terrifying goal. Bryan offers no guarantees, and Anna must decide if she can trust him.
Author Courtney Leigh Pahlke’s Anna is a most thoughtful and courageous protagonist confronting a life altering crisis.
Now we see how Anna has to rethink what remains of her life and gather her remaining strength and judgement to find her way forward into a turbulent future. The author skillfully immerses the reader deep into Anna’s point of view so we can see the world around her as she does, feel her emotions, and weigh her choices right along with her. Anna is surrounded by an engaging group of characters. The plot pacing builds subtly at first, then intensifies with the suspense of what may be following Anna. The excitement compounds with the revelation that the risk is even bigger than Anna ever imagined. As threats close in, Life Force Preserve stands guard.
The Gertrude Warner Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Middle Grade Fiction. The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Contemporary Middle Grade, SFF & Paranormal Middle Grade, Mystery Middle Grade, Historical Middle Grade, Adventure Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards here and for Children’s Literature see our Little Peeps Awards here.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Fiction Book Awards to the Finalists positions. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
Announcing the 2021 Gertrude Warner Finalists for Middle-Grade Readers
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Mary K. Savarese –The Girl in the Toile Wallpaper
Didem Saracel – Story of Carbon
Murray Richter –Fishing for Luck
J. B. Spector –The Sunlit Curse, Book 1 of The Mer-Prince Adventures
Sean March –Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
Ben Gartner –Sol Invictus
KS Mitchell –The Mystery of the Golden Ball: Pen & Quin International Agents of Intrigue
Jay Spenser –The Phantom Airplane Mystery
Gloria Two-Feathers – Buck: Keeper of the Meadow
Susan McCormick –The Antidote
B.L. Smith –Serious Business on Albatross Lane
Moira Siobhan –Dilly Cooper Hat-astrophe
Emmett J Hall –RUNAWAY
Dane S. Skorup – Kid Kingmaker
Good luck to All!
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE and GRAND PRIZE WINNERS of the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards novel competition for Middle Grade Fiction!
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle Grade Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
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.
The Gertrude Warner Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Middle Grade Fiction. The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Contemporary Middle Grade, SFF & Paranormal Middle Grade, Mystery Middle Grade, Historical Middle Grade, Adventure Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards here and for Children’s Literature see our Little Peeps Awards here.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Fiction Short List to the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Semi-Finalists. Finalists will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
Announcing the 2021 Gertrude Warner Semi-Finalists for Middle-Grade Readers
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Mary K. Savarese – The Girl in the Toile Wallpaper
Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
B.L. Smith – Serious Business on Albatross Lane
Didem Saracel – Story of Carbon
K.P. Boardman – The Falling Sisters
Murray Richter – Fishing for Luck
J. B. Spector – The Sunlit Curse, Book 1 of The Mer-Prince Adventures
Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
Ben Gartner – Sol Invictus
Esta Lemon – The Loser Blog
KS Mitchell – The Mystery of the Golden Ball: Pen & Quin International Agents of Intrigue
These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards novel competition for Middle Grade Fiction!
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle Grade Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
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.
Runebinder is a dark post-apocalyptic young adult thriller that follows eighteen-year-old water and earth user Tenn, as he is torn between two opposition sides of a deadly fight for survival.
The discovery of magic caused the old world to disappear forever, leaving a reality where to live is a daily struggle of simply surviving another day. Monsters named Howls roam the world searching for survivors to feast on, but they are nothing compared to the powerful Kin that are waging a violent war against what remains of humanity.
During a food scouting mission, Tenn and his companions become surrounded by Howls. Under orders to not use magic to keep the location of their army secret from the approaching army of necromancers, Tenn’s Water sphere unexpectedly unleashes an unprecedented amount of power, destroying every Howl in the surrounded area instantly. Tenn is confused by how his magic could act on his own, and Tenn is soon sought by the opposing sides in the endless war for survival who both believe Tenn is the key to their success.
The opening installment to The Runebinder Chronicles, Runebinder is a fast-paced action-packed novel that will keep readers wanting to know what happens next.
The world-building descriptions are reminiscent of the quick and drastically changed world of a zombie apocalypse. It has only been a few years since magic reached the point of no return after the creation of the Howls. The decay seems too advanced for the few short years since everything changed, but is believable when considering the power magic has.
Runebinder makes use of the “Chosen One” literary trope, which is arguably an overused plot structure, especially in young adult literature. Perhaps, as the series progresses, Kahler will create a unique take on the “Chosen One” storyline, but in Runebinder alone, it is not. The characters are developed well and quite complex once far enough into the story. The style and tone flow easily, which makes for a quick page-turning experience.
It’s hard not to view Runebinder, which was first published in 2018, differently after living through a global pandemic, but reading it now makes it more accessible and engrossing.
Tenn’s world changed forever in an instant. Magic emerged and grew slowly, but the world Tenn knew died suddenly once it reached a critical point. There’s a theme in Runebinder of the feeling of never feeling safe after losing normalcy. How does one keep going when everything seems hopeless and there is nothing left to fight for? Yet, Tenn keeps fighting to survive and life another day in the smallest hope that a better world will one day be possible.
Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler is a post-apocalyptic young adult story about the power of hope in a world where no hope should exist, yet does despite all odds.
The Gertrude Warner Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Middle Grade Fiction. The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Contemporary Middle Grade, SFF & Paranormal Middle Grade, Mystery Middle Grade, Historical Middle Grade, Adventure Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards here and for Children’s Literature see our Little Peeps Awards here.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Fiction Long List to the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards 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 (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards novel competition for Middle Grade Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Didem Saracel – Story of Carbon
Clayton Marshall Adams – The Mask
Mary K. Savarese – The Girl in the Toile Wallpaper
Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
B.L. Smith – Serious Business on Albatross Lane
K.P. Boardman – The Falling Sisters
Murray Richter – Fishing for Luck
J. B. Spector – The Sunlit Curse, Book 1 of The Mer-Prince Adventures
Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
James Love – Max Voltage: Multiverse Mayhem
Ben Gartner – Sol Invictus
Ronnie Swire Siegel – Displaced: A Story About Climate Change and How Displaced Animals Ring the Alarm
Esta Lemon – The Loser Blog
KS Mitchell – The Mystery of the Golden Ball: Pen & Quin International Agents of Intrigue
D. H. Timpko – The Firma Twins and the Flute of Enchantment
Susan McCormick – The Antidote
Gloria Two-Feathers – Buck Keeper of the Meadow
Jay Spencer – The Phantom Airplane Mystery
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle Grade Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
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.
Shankar, a recently retired professor of physics, and his wife, Durga, have left Michigan to resettle on Long Island with their son’s family in Debu Majumdar’s award-winning novel, Night Jasmine Tree.
While the migration from the Midwest to the East Coast is a small one, considering both characters moved from India decades before, the move spurs Shankar to ponder the life he left behind and to reassess his relationship with his sisters and parents.
In India, there are many different cultures, the main sprouting from the Hindu faith and political structure, the caste system.
In the West, we may be familiar with this caste system, we mostly are all aware of the ‘untouchables.’ However, what we may not understand, is how rigid the caste systems truly are. Durga and Shankar are not from the same caste. Shankar is Brahmin, his wife is of a lower caste. This difference is enough for Shankar’s family to reject her outright and disown him.
The pain he sustains by their rigid beliefs hurts him deeply, and that pain sustained years of estrangement. Now, however, a letter from his sister causes him to reassess his own role in the dissolution of his family even as he enjoys spending time with his son, daughter-in-law, and young grandchildren.
Carefully organized, the novel is arranged into five parts with the chapters designating a time and place.
Since the plot occurs on two continents, this framework is helpful to the reader. The author adroitly dovetails the past and present by having Shankar share stories of his own childhood with his grandchildren. And what stories they are! Sweet and funny, often involving animals, and the children are riveted by their grandfather’s tales of a childhood spent in India. Shankar was a good student but not above getting into mischief or naively causing trouble. India comes alive for the children as they hear about an encounter with a tiger, the annual celebration involving kite fights, and a haunting but hilarious ghost story. The reader turns the pages as eagerly as the children beg to hear another story.
Consideration of Shankar’s past also involves his having grown up in a household in which the ancient traditions of Hinduism are sacred duties, and any failure to adhere to them is a moral failing.
It is difficult for Shankar to come of age wanting to do what makes him happy but feeling tremendous fear that he won’t live up to his father’s exacting standards. Will he become a “tejya putra,” a son who is rejected by his own father? There’s no worse fate for a Brahmin male. And, yet, shouldn’t his father love him simply because children deserve love, and not because Shankar will one day perform the essential funeral rites for his parents?
Regardless of how affectionate and attentive Shankar’s mother is toward him, he knows that she will always defer to her husband. She will let him dictate the terms of his sisters’ marriages, and she will never allow Shankar to disobey his father. The classic tension between duty and desire is artfully and affectingly rendered. All readers will be able to relate to the hold the past has on us. And like us, until Shankar resolves old animosities with his family, he’ll never indeed be free.
The author is a master craftsman of descriptive writing, especially when contemplating natural settings.
Debu Majumdar deepens characterization by connecting Shankar’s interior and exterior worlds. While contemplating existence through his main character’s eyes, the author gives us a work of lush and searing beauty, wondrously told with compassion, empathy, and truth. Night Jasmine Tree is a highly recommended reading for all.
Today we wanted to honor and recognize Toni Ann Johnson, actress and novelist, for receiving the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, University of Georgia Press.
“Toni Ann Johnson’s Light Skin Gone to Waste is one of the most engrossing short story collections I’ve read in recent memory. These interconnected stories about a black family living in a predominantly white suburb of New York City are impeccably written, incisive, often infuriating and unforgettable. At the center of many of these stories is Philip Arrington, a psychologist who tries to reshape the world to his liking as he moves through it, regardless of the ways his actions affect the people in his intimate orbit. With a deft eye for detail, crisp writing, and an uncanny understanding of human frailties, Toni Ann Johnson has created an endlessly interesting American family portrait.”
Ms. Johnson recently contacted us (2015) about the nomination and credited Chanticleer’s review for its helpful role in getting the work noticed and nominated. We are proud and honored to play a small part in her nomination for this coveted award.
Here’s what Chanticleer had to say about Johnson’s book:
Remedy for a Broken Angel by Toni Ann Johnson is an intense examination of the troubled personal histories of two beautiful and talented women of color.
Their stories are told in alternating chapters which reveal the mother’s and her daughter’s attempts to reclaim and understand their broken pasts. Each chapter is a revelation into the pain and damage caused by unknown family secrets. Both women struggle with a legacy of shame and self-blame for the price they’re paying for never hearing the truth. Each must learn the lessons found in past years of failure to communicate.
Have a Book that deserves to be discovered? See our 24 Chanticleer Intl’l Book Awards Divisions here and Editorial Book Reviews here!
The 2020 Overall Grand Prize Winner was Rebecca Dwight Bruff for her book Trouble the Water
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be June 23-26, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Congratulations to Elizabeth on the grant she received from the City Artist Corps, a New York City group sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Elizabeth used the proceeds of the grant to publish NEW YORK: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst. The grant recognize the contributions of New York based artists. We couldn’t be happier for her!
You can see some of her Award Winning photography in her book Give Me Your Best or Your Worst: an Anthology and Celebration of the Big Apple, which is currently entered for competition in the Shorts Award (deadline 12/31/21).
Give Me Your Best or Your Worst features photos of and stories and writing from people such as Reed Farrel Coleman, Richie Narvaez, Barbara Krasnoff, Tom Straw, Steven Van Patten, Charles Salzberg, Marco Conelli, Randee Dawn, R.J. Koreto, Triss Stein, and, of course, Elizabeth Crowens. It’s a truly incredible portrait of Crowens’ vision of New York told in photos, fiction, and the perfect amount of poetry. You can find it here.
Crowens with Chanticleer
When not working on art photography books, Crowens writes Hollywood suspense and speculative Fiction, and her book, Silent Meridian, won first place in the Chanticleer Goethe Awards.
You can see her books reviewed by Chanticleer right here:
In addition to being a First Place Winner for the Goethe Awards, Crowens also took home a First Place Blue Ribbon for the 2020 Mark Twain Awards for her book Dear Bernie, I’m Glad You’re Dead.
Currently, she’s on the following Long Lists for the 2021 CIBAs:
Join our Newsletter and keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter as all authors continue to advance, and stay tuned to hear more about our Shorts Awards!
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Spotlight Article on Elizabeth Crowens.
Have a Book that deserves to be discovered? See our 24 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Divisions here and Editorial Book Reviews here!
The 2020 Overall Grand Prize Winner was Rebecca Dwight Bruff for her book Trouble the Water
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be June 23-26, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
At Chanticleer we are looking to discover the best books that feature Paranormal Romance, Urban/Edgy, Magical Beings & Creatures, Supernatural Powers, and Adventure/Mystery/Thriller books! The overlap with Fantasy and Science Fiction is palpable, but we know Paranormal when we see it. Paranormal often delves into the weird, bizarre, and spooky. There’s often a modern touch, similar to urban fantasy where the world looks similar to our world, just with ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures.
Now, some will draw a line between Supernatural Fiction and Paranormal Fiction, saying that Supernatural Fiction is always beyond the realm of science into transcendental subjects like the soul and God. While Paranormal Fiction is also beyond the realm of science, it lives on the lines of possibility, no matter how remote, that one day we might understand something of that strange and magical nature. While knowing this distinction exists, we won’t send a vampire after you if they feel confusing.
And of course, we have reviews of Paranormal reads that can thrill, chill, and fulfill you! Check them out!
SOUL SEEKER By Kaylin McFarren Grand Prize Winner in Paranormal Awards
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.
When 17-year-old high school student, Stevie Wales, suddenly blossoms, she and her best friend, the ever-popular Winter, have some adjusting to do. Sometimes, however, adjusting to new information between friends isn’t possible.
In their case, Stevie winds up alienated from Winter and the group in her Puget Sound Island community. She decides to become what she believes they all see – the weird girl. As her oddity status rises, so does her anger. When she takes a job at an equine therapy ranch, tending the horses used in the program, she discovers her unusual ability to take away pain in both animals and humans.
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.
No ordinary guy, Boone makes a living as a handyman and swashbuckling knight at Renaissance Faires around Missouri. He’s also uniquely gifted with a form of eidetic memory coupled with synesthesia. What’s that? Simply put, synesthesia allows people to see colors and taste things when they hear music – and an eidetic memory allows folks to memorize whatever they’ve seen or heard one time. But that’s not all. Boone can time-travel, make friends with almost any feline or shapeshifter, and convince a certain immortal he’s worth more as an ally than a snack. No kidding, Baba Yaya loves human meat.
WRITING IS MURDER: An Emlyn Goode Mystery by Susan Lynn Solomon First Place Winner in M&M Awards
A perfect seasonal read, Susan L. Solomon’s mystery, Writing is Murder: An Emlyn Goode Mystery delivers a witty, intuitive red-headed writer who has many connections in her community, a handsome police detective-maybe-lover, a mouthy cat who keeps her grounded, and a Wiccan BFF whom she can trust with her most profound concerns. And, of course, magical abilities inherited from her ancestor, Salem’s legendary accused witch Sarah Goode, adds layers of mystique.
When Roger Frey interrupts Emlyn Goode battling her recalcitrant muse, she can’t be upset. Roger, aka Police Detective Roger Frey, her next-door neighbor and sometimes sleep-over boyfriend, stumbles on the hunt for coffee, a good-morning kiss, and a sympathetic ear, in that order. He’s bored at work and wants to complain.
The MADWOMAN of PREACHER’S COVE By Joy Ross Davis Grand Prize Winner in Paranormal Awards
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!
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
Also remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
The Gertrude Warner Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Middle Grade Fiction. The Gertrude Warner Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Contemporary Middle Grade, SFF & Paranormal Middle Grade, Mystery Middle Grade, Historical Middle Grade, Adventure Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards here and for Children’s Literature see our Little Peeps Awards here.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Fiction entries to the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Gertrude Warner Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the FINALIST positions. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards novel competition for Middle Grade Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Didem Saracel – Story of Carbon
Didem Saracel – Story of Oxygen
Ryan O’Connor – Ting Ting, the Girl Who Saved China
Clayton Marshall Adams – The Mask
Mary K. Savarese – The Girl in the Toile Wallpaper
Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
McKemie Huston – Return of the Last Prism
M.L. Smith – Serious Business on Albatross Lane
B.L. Smith – Irritating Adventures on Albatross Lane
K.P. Boardman – The Falling Sisters
Murray Richter – Fishing for Luck
J. B. Spector – The Sunlit Curse, Book 1 of The Mer-Prince Adventures
J. B. Spector – The Amethyst Tower, Book 2 of The Mer-Prince Adventures
Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
Ronnie Swire Siegel – Displaced: A Story About Climate Change and How Displaced Animals Ring the Alarm
James Love – Max Voltage: Multiverse Mayhem
Ben Gartner – Sol Invictus
Esta Lemon – The Loser Blog
KS Mitchell – The Mystery of the Golden Ball: Pen & Quin International Agents of Intrigue
D. H. Timpko – The Firma Twins and the Flute of Enchantment
Susan McCormick – The Antidote
Raea Gragg – Mup
Gloria Two-Feathers – Buck Keeper of the Meadow
Barbara Glazier-Robinson – Grace from Space: A Race to Save Earth(Dream Catcher Series, Book One)
Jay Spencer – The Phantom Airplane Mystery
Laura Gerhardt Schonberg – Joker
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle Grade Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
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.
What is lurking in the shadows? When did these footprints appear outside her house? Anna is sure she’s being followed again in Courtney Leigh Pahlke’s mystery thriller, Life Force Preserve.
Runebinder is a dark post-apocalyptic young adult thriller that follows eighteen-year-old water and earth user Tenn, as he is torn between two opposition sides of a deadly fight for survival.
