Tag: Grand Prize Winner

  • The 2025 Gertrude Warner Spotlight for Middle Grade Fiction

    Adventures Await Between Childhood and Adolescence

    The Boxcar Children from the famed series by Gertrude Warner

    The Gertrude Warner Awards Celebrate Middle Grade Excellence

    The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Gertrude Warner closes on September 30, 2025!

    Middle grade readers occupy a unique space in the literary world where they are no longer content with picture books, but not quite ready for the intense emotional landscapes of young adult fiction. Typically ages 8-12, these readers are navigating friendships, family dynamics, school challenges, and the growing awareness that the world is both more complex and more wonderful than they previously understood. The Gertrude Warner Awards celebrate the authors who craft stories for this special audience with the perfect blend of adventure, authenticity, and age-appropriate depth.

    Named for the creator of the beloved Boxcar Children series, these awards honor books that capture the curiosity, resilience, and growing independence that define the middle grade experience. The best middle grade fiction respects young readers’ intelligence while acknowledging their developmental needs, creating stories that entertain, educate, and empower without overwhelming or talking down to their audience.

    The Art of Speaking to Growing Minds

    Writing exceptional middle grade fiction requires a delicate balance that addresses real-world challenges that resonate with young readers while maintaining the hope and possibility that characterize the best children’s literature. Middle Grade Readers are sophisticated enough to handle complex emotions and situations, but they still need stories that ultimately affirm their ability to navigate challenges and find their place in the world.

    The most successful middle grade books feature protagonists who face genuine problems such as friendship conflicts, family struggles, identity questions, or external adventures, all while demonstrating the problem-solving skills, courage, and resilience that young readers can admire and emulate. These stories often explore themes of belonging, self-discovery, friendship loyalty, and family relationships in ways that feel authentic to the middle grade experience.

    Whether set in contemporary schools, fantastical realms, historical periods, or mystery-filled neighborhoods, the best middle grade fiction helps young readers see themselves as capable protagonists in their own life stories while providing the escapism and entertainment that makes reading a joy rather than a chore.

    Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

    Back to Bainbridge cover by Norah Lally

    We’re thrilled to honor Norah Lally, whose emotionally rich novel Back to Bainbridge claimed the 2024 Gertrude Warner Grand Prize with a story that Publishers Weekly’s BookLife called “a moving, empathetic must-read about growing up and discovering what matters.” The novel follows fourteen-year-old Vicki as she navigates life in a cramped apartment shared with siblings, worries about her struggling mother, and dreams about an absent father while searching for her place in the world.

    What makes Back to Bainbridge exemplary middle grade fiction is its authentic portrayal of real challenges many young readers face – housing insecurity, family stress, and the universal desire to belong – while maintaining hope and discovering that sometimes the treasures we seek are already within reach. When Vicki meets Rosa from Apartment 1A and discovers the building’s basement full of forgotten stories and secrets, the novel beautifully demonstrates how friendship and imagination can transform difficult circumstances into opportunities for growth and connection. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Back to Bainbridge will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Norah Lally will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and Back to Bainbridge will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.

    Categories That Capture Every Middle Grade Adventure

    The Gertrude Warner Awards welcome middle grade fiction across every genre and format:

    • Contemporary Middle Grade – Stories set in today’s world that explore the real challenges and joys of growing up
    • Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Paranormal Middle Grade – Imaginative tales that transport readers to other worlds while exploring universal themes
    • Mystery Middle Grade – Puzzle-solving adventures that engage young readers’ problem-solving skills and curiosity
    • Historical Middle Grade – Stories from the past that help young readers understand different times and cultures
    • Adventure Middle Grade – Action-packed tales that showcase courage, friendship, and personal growth
    • Graphic Novels for Middle Grade – Visual storytelling that combines compelling narratives with engaging artwork
    • First-Third Grade Readers (10,000-20,000 words) – Longer works for beginning independent readers making the transition to chapter books

    Each category serves the diverse interests and reading levels within the middle grade spectrum, ensuring that every young reader can find stories that speak to their experiences and interests.

    Complete Youth Literature Recognition

    The Gertrude Warner Awards bridge the gap in Chanticleer’s comprehensive youth literature celebration:

    Little Peeps Awards – Picture books and early readers that introduce children to the joy of reading

    Dante Rossetti Awards – Young adult fiction for teen readers navigating the transition to adulthood

    Together, these three divisions ensure that exceptional youth literature receives recognition at every developmental stage, supporting readers from their first picture books through their teenage years.

    Looking at Middle Grade Excellence

    Check out some of these outstanding middle grade books we’ve celebrated recently!

    The Ghost in the Garden Cover

    The Ghost in the Garden
    By Alisse Lee Goldenberg

    In Alisse Goldberg’s engaging young adult mystery, The Ghost in the Garden, a curious 11-year-old must face the challenges of moving to a new city, losing old friends, making new ones, and encountering historic specters in her new home.

    Sophie Madison seems none too happy about her recent move from the bustling city of Calgary, Ablerta to the smaller, quieter landscape of Stratford, Ontario. But upon arrival with her parents, she begins noticing the charm of the place, appearing like a step back in time. Their new house in particular catches her interest, with its tall turret topped by stained glass window panes where Sophie’s bedroom will be. In addition, the wild beauty of the backyard garden draws her in.

    Soon, a mysterious blonde-headed girl named Tabitha appears in the garden.

    Read More Here

    Book of Leprechauns Cover

    Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers
    By Jonathan Uffelman

    An Ozma First Place Winner!

    Three leprechauns, Molly, Shaun, and Dorker, have their lives turned upside down when a sinister figure returns to their peaceful village with greed and revenge on his mind. In Jonathan Uffelman’s middle-grade fantasy, Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers, they embark on a treacherous journey to recover their lost home.

    Shaun McClanahan struggles to support his daughter Molly as she fails a crucial test for young Lore Gatherers—a subculture of Leprechauns who respect the power of stories. Though he’s weighed down by his responsibilities as the protector of his village’s communal gold stash, Shaun tries to overcome his worrying nature by trusting Molly to check on the gold by herself, hopeful that she can prove her worth to the village.

    But when Molly follows her father’s magical instructions to the letter, she discovers with horror that the treasure is missing, save one ancient Roman coin.

    The theft means exile for both Molly and Shaun, as gold is the catalyst for Leprechaun magic. A dangerous and unwelcoming world awaits them beyond the village’s protection.

    Read More Here

    The Greatest Matchmaker in Space Cover

    The Greatest Matchmaker in Space: Eudora Space Kid Book 4
    By David Horn

    David Horn’s Eudora Space Kid series continues with another fabulous middle-grade Sci-fi novel, The Greatest Matchmaker in Space.

    Horn takes us back to the decks of the Athena, an AstroLiner and the flagship for the Astrofleet of the planetary Republic. The intrepid Eudora is ready to fly into another adventure, this time as a matchmaker for Captain Jax.

    Eudora loves math and science, and even though she’s only in third grade, she dreams of becoming a chief engineer on an AstroLiner. But, she would settle for Captain if that’s what they offered her. When she visits Cafeteria 1 for dessert, she finds Captain Jax, who, per usual, yells, “Get off my bridge.” He’s used to kicking Eudora off the bridge while he’s working, but he must be deeply distracted to confuse it with the cafeteria.

    She notices his sad eyes and dejected manner and asks what’s wrong. To her surprise, he invites her to sit with him, and she excitedly realizes the Captain of the Athena is going to confide in her.

    Read More Here

    Mystery Force - Volume One Cover

    Mystery Force: Volume One
    By Ted Neill; Illustrated by Suzi Spooner

    2022 Gertrude Warner Grand Prize Winner!

    Set in a world where magical talking creatures are a normal part of society, the Mystery Force series by Ted Neill is a must-read for any animal-loving kid.

    Book One, Mystery Force, Assemble!, begins with warehouses of previously unheard-of magical creatures being discovered and freed. Out of fear, these new creatures continue to hide, and a group of curious kids – Rasheed, Jonathan, and Jojo – decide to get to the bottom of the mystery!

    In book two, The Case of the Stolen Horn, Rasheed, Jonathan, and Jojo are on the case after their unicorn drama teacher, Mr. Twinkles, is attacked, with their pegasus geometry teacher Ms. Weymont being arrested for the crime. The Mystery Force kids are determined to clear Ms. Weymont’s name by finding the real culprit.

    Book three, Blazing Blizzards, confronts the Mystery Force gang with an unusual May blizzard. They waste no time in investigating the cause, trying to save their town and a newly discovered magical creature from the forces behind the terrible weather.

    Read More Here

    These works demonstrate how the best middle grade fiction combines age-appropriate storytelling with genuine respect for young readers’ intelligence and emotional capacity.


    See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

    We’re excited about all the exceptional middle grade books we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

    The Gertrude Warner Awards recognize the special skill required to write for middle grade readers, the ability to create stories that acknowledge young people’s growing sophistication while providing the adventure and engagement that make reading a treasured activity. Whether you’re exploring contemporary challenges, historical adventures, or fantastical quests, these awards celebrate books that respect and nurture growing minds.

    Your Middle Grade Adventure Awaits

    Middle grade readers are some of the most enthusiastic and loyal book lovers, and, when they discover a story that speaks to them, they become passionate advocates, sharing their favorites with friends and rereading beloved books until the covers fall off. Your middle grade novel could be the book that transforms a reluctant reader into a book lover or provides comfort and understanding to a young person navigating their own challenges.

    The Boxcar Children from the famed series by Gertrude Warner

    Help us celebrate the bridge between childhood and adolescence—the deadline is September 30, 2025!

    You know you want it…

    Submit to the Gertrude Warner Awards today and join the tradition of exceptional middle grade literature!

  • The 2025 Goethe Hall of Fame for Late Historical Fiction

    The Goethe Hall of Fame

    Celebrating the Best Late Historical Fiction with the Goethe Awards!

    Goethe as the badge for the Post 1750s Historical Fiction Awards

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

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

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

    For our other Historical Fiction Divisions, See the Chaucer Award for Pre-1750, Hemingway for 20th & 21st Century Wartime and Laramie for Western and Americana

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

    Abigail’s Song
    By Alina Rubin

    Our review for the newest Grand Prize Winner is forthcoming. In the meantime, here is what some GoodReads readers have been saying:

    “Abigail’s Song is a powerful novel about Jewish/Gentile relationships set in 1800s England. The novel’s protagonist Abigail is a sixteen-year-old orphan who is taken in by a Jewish family after becoming severely ill on the streets. Abigail is skeptical of Jews at first but soon realizes that her prejudices were wrong and that she has been taken in by a family who genuinely loves and cares for her.

    The novel offers great chemistry between Abigail, David, and the rest of David’s family. Rubin has a penchant for writing sharp dialogue and an excellent eye for detail when observing Jewish customs.” -Eric

    ABIGAIL’S SONG is a tender, heart-warming novel about young Abigail, an impoverished Catholic orphan in early 19th century England. Her path to happiness and fulfillment is blocked by death, neglect, prejudice, and ignorance, but in an almost true-Dickensian turn-of-events, she is found and adopted by a devoted, talented, and close-knit Jewish family.

    Acceptance, love, music, and even romance, comes Abigail’s way, and through the course of the novel she blossoms from a needy child into a young woman who not only knows how to harness her emotional strength, but can help others do the same.” -Ana

    See more here!

    If Someday Comes
    By David Calloway

    David Calloway’s moving historical fiction, If Someday Comes: A Slave’s Story of Freedom, tells the true story of his great-grandfather George Calloway, born into slavery on January 8, 1829. in Cleveland, Tennessee.

    It is a tale of determination, perseverance, and achievement before and during the Civil War. If Someday Comes covers George’s final years in slavery; detailed accounts of the Civil War and its impacts on George and his family, both Black and White.

    It is a family saga of survival and endurance.

    The story begins in Cleveland, Tennessee, March 6th, 1857. We meet George and his family, his wife Elizabeth, their infant daughter Baby Caroline, and the stratified world of slavery in which they live. Thomas Howard Calloway (Marsa Thom), is their White owner who owns the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, the South’s only copper mines, and the local bank. He is one of Cleveland’s prominent town leaders.

    Read More Here

    After The Rising & Before The Fall
    By Orna Ross

    After the Rising and Before the Fall Cover

     

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

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

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

    Read More Here

    The Aloha Spirit
    By Linda Ulleseit

    Cover of The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit

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

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

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

    Read More Here

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

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

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

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

    Read More Here


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

    Remember to add your next reads to your StoryGraph or Goodreads account! Now that you’re set on your next five reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Goethe Winners is **Send Us Your Story by the end of August!**

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

    Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians!

    Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

    The Best Books Grand Prize Book Award Badge
    You know you want it…

    If you have a great Post 1750 Historical Fiction Story, submit it to us before the end of August to enter the 2025 CIBAs!

  • The 2024 Goethe First Place Roundup for Late Historical Fiction

    Post 1750s Historical Fiction AwardThe Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Late Historical (Post 1750s) Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Alina Rubin’s book, Abigail’s Song will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Goethe 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 Goethe 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 Goethe Winners!

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Janis Robinson Daly – The Path Beneath Her Feet

    Steeped in rich historical detail, Dr. Eliza Edwards, the ingénue student in The Unlocked Path, becomes the mature mentor, steadfast in her calling to effect social change by addressing women’s health issues and guiding others to realize their dreams. In 1936, as the Depression ravages careers, Eliza re-defines her abilities, traveling to Georgia and Tennessee as she reclaims her purpose and rediscovers her ambitions. Returning to Boston, she endures heartbreak with the eruption of World War II, bringing chaos to the world and sending her sons into battle. Will her unyielding pursuit to limit suffering and save lives sustain her amid the tumultuous landscapes of 1930s and 1940s America?

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Sandra Wagner – Wright- Sea Tigers and Merchants

    Sea Tigers & Merchants

    Also a 2024 Series Award Winner!

    In 1790 the United States has a new Constitution. George Washington presides as the first elected president. Abroad, France and Britain are at war. And by 1795 seafaring Americans are accosted on the high seas by French privateers and British naval ships.

    Tensions rise as American merchants continue to trade. Among them, Hasket Derby and Captain George Crowninshield acquire wealth and build maritime empires while their sons and other adventurous young men take risks on the high seas and in the exotic ports at Isle de France, India, and China dodging accidents, disease, British warships and French privateers. A rich cargo, the turn of a card, or an unlucky storm can make or break a young man’s career. But men like Nath Silsbee fight for the chance to make their fortune and become part of America’s promise.

    Women are equally determined and adventurous. Orphaned Lizzie Rowell takes a job at Ship Tavern, and meets the dashing Captain George Crowninshield Jr., a man far above her station in life. Torn between duty and desire, Geordie must choose between his family’s expectations and his growing affection for a mere tavern maid.

    In this historical page-turner, family bonds are tested and romantic dreams challenged against the backdrop of ambition and adventure on the high seas. Immerse yourself in the captivating world of trade and intrigue in the new United States of America.

    From Chanticleer:

    Sandra Wagner-Wright’s audible version of Sea Tigers & Merchants: A New American Generation, Salem Stories Book 2 continues the sagas of two prominent families that dominate the shipping industry of young Salem. Narrator Christa Lewis fully embodies the unique characters of this swashbuckling historical adventure.

    Wagner-Wright takes us back to 1790. In recently independent America, the next generation of the Crowninshield and Derby families try to continue building their fortunes on the treacherous high seas. Threats of pirates, storms, and ever-changing economies drives their fates, their successes, and their failures. Wagner-Wright’s skillful pen brings to life each young person, female and male, as they variously seek out or shun a chance at love on shore.

    Captain George Crowninshield and Haskett Derby duke it out for power and control of the Eastern Seaboard, with their families caught up in the contest.

    Wagner-Wright shows how these merchants brave great risk through maritime exploits in France, the Netherlands, the West Indies, Africa, and Asia. During their adventures on the sea, these captains fight relentlessly for the vessels—which become as famous as those captains themselves.

    Read More Here!

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    James Conroyd Martin – Napoleon’s Shadow Wife: A Novel of Countess Marie Walewska

    Embark on a voyage through unconditional love, power, and betrayal!

    How could an emperor like Napoleon Bonaparte be so captivated by the twenty-year-old Polish Countess Marie Walewska—admittedly a rare beauty but of minor nobility—that their affair would last through both his marriages? And if it wasn’t romance that first drew Marie to Napoleon, what was it?

    At just eight years old, Marie finds her life forever changed by the death of her father, killed in battle against the Russians. This tragedy sparks a deep, lifelong patriotism in her as Poland is fragmented and divided among Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

    A fan of Napoleon since her school days, Marie eagerly seizes the opportunity to meet him when he passes through the former Poland, his intention to secure military support for his campaign to conquer Russia. She seeks only to express Poland’s gratitude and hope he would restore the nation’s independence. She never imagined a romantic entanglement. But Napoleon, taken with her patriotism, youth, and beauty, soon sets his sights on her—and begins a campaign to win her heart.

    Though Marie resists, powerful forces pressure her—just as they had in her marriage—to give in to the emperor’s desires.

    Expect to be immersed in Marie’s world, where love and loyalty collide amidst a galaxy of powerful aristocrats, politicians, and military leaders. You’ll journey from Marie’s manor house on the plains of Poland to cosmopolitan Warsaw, through grand palaces in Austria, France, and Italy—before sailing to the Island of Elba, where destiny awaits.

    Find it on Bookbub and Amazon!

    Florence Reiss Kraut – Street Corner Dreams

    A suspenseful family saga, love story, and gangster tale, wrapped into one great book club read . . .

    Just before WWI, Golda comes to America yearning for independence, but she tosses aside her dreams of freedom and marries her widowed brother-in-law after her sister dies giving birth to their son, Morty.

    In the crowded streets of Brooklyn where Jewish and Italian gangs demand protection money from local storekeepers and entice youngsters with the promise of wealth, Golda, Ben, and Morty thrive as a family. But in the Depression, Ben, faced with financial ruin, makes a dangerous, life-altering choice. Morty tries to save his father by getting help from a gangster friend but the situation only worsens. Forced to desert his family and the woman he loves in order to survive, Morty is desperate to go home. Will he ever find a safe way back? Or has his involvement with the gang sealed his fate?

    Another stunning work of historical fiction by Florence Reiss Kraut, Street Corner Dreams is an exploration of a timeless question: how much do we owe the families that have sacrificed for and shaped us—and does that debt outweigh what we owe ourselves and our own hopes and dreams for a better life?

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Leo Daughtry – Talmadge Farm

    It’s 1957, and tobacco is king. Wealthy landowner Gordon Talmadge enjoys the lavish lifestyle he inherited but doesn’t like getting his hands dirty; he leaves that to the two sharecroppers – one white, one Black – who farm his tobacco but have bigger dreams for their own children. While Gordon takes no interest in the lives of his tenant farmers, a brutal attack between his son and the sharecropper children sets off a chain of events that leaves no one unscathed. Over the span of a decade, Gordon struggles to hold on to his family’s legacy as the old order makes way for a New South.

    A sweeping drama that follows three unforgettable families navigating the changing culture of North Carolina at a pivotal moment in history, readers have been raving that Talmadge Farm is one they cannot put down. Perfect for fans of Wiley Cash and Amor Towles.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Jeza Belle – Blood Rouge

    Josef Dietrick lives with his self-absorbed mother, abusive step-father, and bullying step-brother, Marteen, in 1930s Berlin, Germany. When a brutal sexual attack at the hands of Marteen’s friend, Tielo, sends Josef homeless into the streets, he is taken in by the kind-hearted Lucas and his sister Anke.

    Over time, gender-fluid Josef transforms into die blaue blume, the blue flower of Schöneberg, at one of the last underground cabarets for gay men and their entertainers, known as dolls.

    A raid on the Rote Schwein leads to the capture of both Josef and Lucas who are violently carted off to Dachau, the notorious death camp. Here Josef is forced to choose between his lover Lucas or his now-Nazi childhood assaulter, Tielo. Forced into a form of slavery, Josef hatches a desperate plan to save both Lucas and himself forever.

    Will Josef choose self-preservation or to live authentically? Can he do both?

    Warning: contains sexual assault.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    R.W. Meek – Sabrine and Vincent Van Gogh, Book 2 of the Dream Collector

    Sabrine, hospitalized for five years at the infamous Salpêtrière Asylum for Women, gains her release due to the intervention of her sister Julie Forette and a young Sigmund Freud. The reunited sisters are introduced to the dazzling art milieu of 1886 Paris, and soon become close friends to the leading Impressionists. Sabrine attracts a cult following as a poetess, the enigmatic “Haiku Princess.” Seemingly cured by Freud of her Grand Hysteria, Sabrine soon enters into a tumultuous relationship with Vincent van Gogh.

    Jule and Sigmund Freud, alarmed by the eerie parallels between the emotionally volatile couple and their self-destructive impulses, begin an urgent search to discover the root causes for Sabrine and Vincent’s growing psychoses. Julie, ‘The Dream Collector’ seeks their most unforgettable dream for Freud’s interpretation and revelations occur.

    The Dream Collector is an exploration of the psychological consequences of betrayal, abandonment–and the redemptive power of art.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Sherry V. Ostroff – The Wall at the Sugar Factory

    When Shaindel Pogrebiski’s life is shattered and uprooted by the senseless looting and murder that follow the civil war in Ukraine in 1919, she needs to figure out how to survive. With only her young daughter, Shaindel must flee the turmoil. But where will she go? While the world seems indifferent to the bloodbath upending Shaindel’s homeland, who will take in the refugees fleeing for their lives?

    The era of the anti-Jewish riots, the pogroms in Ukraine from 1918-1921, has taken on new scrutiny. Some scholars suggest that this period which resulted in great atrocities against the shtetl Jews, perpetuated by their neighbors, was really the beginning of the Holocaust. The pogroms normalized the slaughter and created ready and willing executioners for the Nazis. Their goal of making Europe Judenrein became easier.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!


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

    Post 1750s Historical Fiction Award

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

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs

    Got a great Historical Fiction Story?

    The 2025 Goethe Book Awards are open through the end of August!

    Blue button that says Enter a Writing Contest
    Submit to the Goethe Awards Today!
  • The 2025 Goethe Spotlight for Late Historical Fiction

    Where History Comes Alive on the Page

    Post 1750s Historical Fiction Award

    The Goethe Awards Celebrate Late Historical Fiction Excellence

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

    From the elegant ballrooms of the Regency era to the trenches of the Great War, from Victorian drawing rooms to the tumultuous changes of the early 20th century, the Goethe Awards celebrate the rich tapestry of late historical fiction. Named for the great German writer who understood that literature must capture the spirit of its age, these awards honor authors who bring post-1750s history to vivid, authentic life.

    Late historical fiction occupies a unique space in literature: close enough to our modern world that we can trace the roots of contemporary society, yet distant enough to feel like stepping into another universe entirely. These are the periods that shaped our current world: the rise of industrial society, the emergence of modern democracy, the birth of contemporary romance, and the social movements that defined human progress.

    The Art of Bringing Recent History to Life

    Writing compelling late historical fiction requires a delicate balance of thorough research and engaging storytelling. Authors must master not just the major historical events, but the daily details that make a world feel authentic—how people dressed, spoke, courted, worked, and dreamed. The best late historical fiction doesn’t just tell us what happened; it helps us understand how it felt to live through transformative periods of human history.

    These stories resonate with modern readers because they explore themes that remain relevant today: social class struggles, religious freedom, women’s rights, immigration, and the eternal human desires for love, family, and belonging. Whether set in Napoleonic England or Jazz Age America, these novels illuminate both how much the world has changed and how much human nature remains constant.

    The research required for excellent late historical fiction is extraordinary! Authors often spend years studying everything from period clothing to social customs, from political movements to technological innovations, ensuring that every detail serves both historical accuracy and narrative power.

    Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

    We’re delighted to honor Alina Rubin, whose moving novel Abigail’s Song claimed the 2024 Goethe Grand Prize with a beautifully crafted story set in 1809 England. The novel follows orphaned Abigail Jones, who after losing her mother and being cast out on Christmas Eve, finds refuge with medical student Oli Higgins (born David Fridman), who is hiding his Jewish identity to pursue his profession. Through Oli’s devout, loving Jewish family, Abigail discovers both belonging and her musical talents.

    Rubin masterfully explores the complex social dynamics of early 19th-century England, particularly the challenges faced by religious minorities and the rigid class structures that determined life opportunities. As Abigail grows up caught between worlds, “not Christian enough for the Gentiles, but as a non-Jew, she has no hope of marrying David.” The novel examines themes of identity, belonging, and the healing power of music that resonate across centuries. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Abigail’s Song will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Alina Rubin will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and Abigail’s Song will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.

    Categories That Span the Modern Historical Era

    The Goethe Awards welcome historical fiction across the transformative periods of recent history:

    • Regency & Georgian – The elegant world of Jane Austen and beyond, featuring social refinement and romantic complexity
    • Turn of the Century – The pivotal period when the 19th century gave way to the modern world
    • 20th Century – The dynamic decades that shaped contemporary society (excluding wartime, which belongs to Hemingway)
    • World/International History – Global perspectives on historical events and cultural movements
    • U.S. History – American stories from the colonial period through modern times
    • 1830s-1900s, Victorian Era & Edwardian – The height of empire, industrial revolution, and social transformation

    Each category represents a different window into the forces that created our modern world, from intimate personal stories to sweeping social movements.

    Explore All Historical Fiction Divisions

    The Goethe Awards are part of Chanticleer’s comprehensive celebration of historical fiction across all time periods:

    Whether your historical fiction spans ancient civilizations or recent decades, Chanticleer offers a home for every period and perspective.

    Looking at Historical Excellence

    Check out some of these outstanding late historical fiction works we’ve celebrated recently!

    Tsarina's Jewels Cover

    Tsarina’s Jewels
    By Jerena Tobiasen

    Viscount Simon Nightingale-Temple seeks a life of peace with his beloved Mary after the harrowing years of the Bolshevik Revolution. But in Tsarina’s Jewels, the second book in Jerena Tobiasen’s The Nightingale and Sparrow Chronicles, Simon is dragged back into global conflict through his very family.

    While serving in the British Embassy in Petrograd, Simon witnessed firsthand that bloody revolution and the assassination of the Tsar’s family—all but one daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, the beautiful woman who became his wife.

    Maria, “Mary”, hides in plain sight among the British aristocracy, and the couple hope to settle into their lives with Simon’s parents. However, soon after his return, the highest levels of the British government force Simon into service for the newly minted MI6.  Under threat of being blamed entirely for the Romanov family’s execution, Simon has no choice but to accept.

    Little does Simon know he’ll soon be spying on his own brother.

    Read More Here

    See our Review of Book 1 Here

    Sea Tigers & Merchants

    Sea Tigers & Merchants
    By Sandra Wagner-Wright

    A Goethe and Series First Place Winner!

    Two families vie for power in mercantile 18th-century Salem. Sea Tigers and Merchants, the second book in Sandra Wagner-Wright’s Salem Stories series, returns to a world of treacherous storms, tantalizing wealth, and the demands of high society on its children.

    Elias Hasket Derby, Sr. has kept his promise to his wife Eliza—they rule Salem. Hasket’s merchant ships bring in great fortune, while Eliza holds court as the most influential woman in the city’s social spheres. And their ambitions have grown to meet their station. Hasket launches his riskiest endeavor—the Grand Turk, a ship so massive she’s nearly too heavy to be pulled out of the docks. Meanwhile Eliza, snubbed by George Washington’s stay at another family’s mansion, insists they build a house so grand it will put all others to shame.

    Such success, of course, draws the envious eye of Hasket’s competitor.

    The Crowninshield family has an uphill battle before them. The patriarch, George, Sr., is unable to employ all his own sons as captains of his small fleet—leaving them to work for their uncle Hasket. But George shares Hasket’s ambition. With the support of his wife, Hasket’s sister Mary, he builds greater ships of his own. If only he could get his eldest sons to follow his wishes, all his goals would fall into place.

    Read More Here

    See our Review of Book 1 Here

    If Someday Comes Cover

    If Someday Comes
    By David Calloway

    The 2023 Goethe Grand Prize Winner!

    David Calloway’s moving historical fiction, If Someday Comes: A Slave’s Story of Freedom, tells the true story of his great-grandfather George Calloway, born into slavery on January 8, 1829. in Cleveland, Tennessee.

    It is a tale of determination, perseverance, and achievement before and during the Civil War. If Someday Comes covers George’s final years in slavery; detailed accounts of the Civil War and its impacts on George and his family, both Black and White.

    It is a family saga of survival and endurance.

    The story begins in Cleveland, Tennessee, March 6th, 1857. We meet George and his family, his wife Elizabeth, their infant daughter Baby Caroline, and the stratified world of slavery in which they live. Thomas Howard Calloway (Marsa Thom), is their White owner who owns the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, the South’s only copper mines, and the local bank. He is one of Cleveland’s prominent town leaders.

    Read More Here

    The Last Dahomey Warrior Cover

    The Last Dahomey Warrior
    By Dr. Amy Holda Gueye

    The Last Dahomey Warrior by Dr. Amy Holda Gueye is the gripping story of a group of fearless and feared female soldiers of the Dahomey kingdom—and the young girl who withstands grave peril to stand among them.

    At age 11, Nanissa becomes the youngest candidate ever chosen to be one of the legendary Dahomey Akodgjie, an all-female elite class of warriors who protect their king and the Kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin).

    Left in the sacred forest with no weapons or food, Nanissa must survive ten days to earn her place on the path to becoming a Dahomey warrior. She encounters dangers during her test, but by listening to the voice of her mother she not only survives but is endowed by the spirit of the Leopard, which serves her well in battles to come.

    Nanissa learns to listen to more than just the teachings of her mother. The Queen Mother, Ahosi, who trains the Akodgjie warriors also serves as mentor to the young warrior. “Observe carefully, learn quickly, listen more, speak less…If you can learn what one does not say, memorize what one never teaches, and trust your gut, the voice right here in your chest… then you will make an excellent warrior.”

    Before Nanissa faces her first battle as a young woman, the Chief of a smaller tribe comes to the Palace with word that the French are coming—prepared for battle with armor and rifles.

    Read More Here

    These works demonstrate how the best historical fiction combines meticulous research with compelling storytelling to transport readers across time.


    See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

    We’re excited about all the exceptional historical fiction we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

    The Goethe Awards recognize the extraordinary research and storytelling skill required to bring recent history to authentic life. Whether you’ve spent years researching Victorian social customs, Georgian political movements, or early 20th-century cultural changes, these awards celebrate both your historical scholarship and narrative artistry.

    Your Historical Vision Awaits Recognition

    Post 1750s Historical Fiction Award

    Great late historical fiction doesn’t just recreate the past—it helps us understand how we became who we are today. Whether your story explores the drawing rooms of Regency England, the immigrant experience in turn-of-the-century America, or the social transformations of the early 1900s, the Goethe Awards celebrate the authors who make history feel immediate and alive.

    Bring your historical vision to life—the deadline is August 31, 2025!

    You know you want it…

    Submit to the Goethe Awards today and help us celebrate the artistry of late historical fiction!

  • VERMILION HARVEST: Playtime at the Bagh by Reenita M. Hora – Historical Romance, Indian Independence, Cultural Conflicts

     

    Reenita M. Hora’s Vermilion Harvest weaves love and liberation into literary gold.

    “Why do love and freedom have such a complicated relationship?” This haunting question pulses through every page of Vermilion Harvest, Hora’s breathtaking debut that creates, in one of history’s darkest moments, a luminous testament to the power of love in transcending boundaries.

    A star-crossed romance sparks against the backdrop of empire.

    Set in 1919 Amritsar, Vermilion Harvest introduces readers to Aruna Duggal, a nineteen-year-old Anglo-Indian schoolteacher caught between worlds—too brown for British acceptance, too white for Indian belonging. Born from violence, raised in the shadows between communities, Aruna navigates life’s margins until she meets Ayaz Peermohammed, a passionate Muslim law student from Lahore. Ayaz’s dreams of Indian independence ignite something revolutionary within Aruna’s heart.

    Their love story blooms like a flower in defiance of winter—beautiful, tender, and heartbreakingly fragile. Hora captures the exquisite tension between personal desire and political reality as Aruna and Ayaz discover that in a country divided by religion, race, and colonial rule, love itself becomes an act of rebellion.

    The masterful prose in Vermilion Harvest transforms historical tragedy into profound art

    Hora’s literary craftsmanship elevates this novel far beyond typical historical romance. Her prose shimmers with intelligence and emotion, creating an intimate portrait of a young woman’s awakening consciousness against the violent fractures in her society. Through Aruna’s compelling voice, readers experience the complex interior landscape of someone perpetually displaced, seeking belonging in a world determined to categorize and divide.

    Hora approaches the Jallianwala Bagh massacre with remarkable literary courage. She threads historical horror into a deeply personal narrative that honors both individual suffering and collective trauma. This nuanced exploration of identity, belonging, and resistance resonates powerfully in our contemporary moment.

    The characters of Vermilion Harvest pull together in an urgent love story racing against a bloody turning point in history.

    As political tensions escalate and Colonel Dyer’s military orders loom, Aruna faces an impossible choice between safety and love—the peripheral privilege of her Anglo-Indian status and the dangerous freedom Ayaz represents. The novel’s final act builds to a devastating emotional crescendo as love and liberation collide in the gardens of Jallianwala Bagh.

    Vermilion Harvest succeeds brilliantly as both intimate love story and sweeping historical epic.

    Hora has crafted a novel that makes the personal political and the historical immediate, creating characters so vivid and emotions so raw that readers will find themselves completely invested in Aruna and Ayaz’s fate.

    For readers seeking high-caliber fiction with both gorgeous prose and compelling storytelling, Vermilion Harvest delivers an unforgettable reading experience. A new novel from an author of major literary talent, offering historical insight and timeless truths about love’s power to transform and transcend.

    Vermilion Harvest by Reenita M. Hora won the 2024 CIBA Overall Grand Prize.

     

  • One week left to enter 3 Mystery Divisions and more!

    One week left to enter 3 Mystery Divisions and more!

    Three excellent divisions close at the end of July! Don’t let your book miss out!

    Only 1 week 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 Clue Awards, The Global Thriller Awards, and the Mystery and Mayhem Awards are still open!

    Best Book Grand Prize for the Chanticleer Int'l Book AwardsCongratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Clue Award for Suspense/Thrillers!

    Thriller Suspense Fiction Award

    • Pamela Beason – If Only
    • Jeff Nania – Musky Run
    • Sean Hagerty – Jones Point
    • Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
    • Carl Vonderau – Saving Myles
    • Shanessa Gluhm – A River of Crows
    • Michael Pronko – Shitamachi Scam

    And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Clue Grand Prize Winner:

    Enemies Domestic by John DeDakis

    Enemies Domestic Cover by John DeDakis

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Global Thriller Awards!

    Global Thriller

    • T.O. Paine – The Delusion
    • Charlie Robinson – Heavy Hysteria: A Novel of Corporate Intrigue Involving the Minerals of this Sacred Earth
    • Tony Ollivier – The Tokyo Diversion
    • Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Change of Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Novel
    • Ron Singerton – Ruptured
    • Sheri T. Joseph – Edge of the Known World
    • Carla Seyler – A Place Unmade
    • Randall Krzak – Frozen Conquest

    And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Global Thriller Awards Grand Prize Winner:

    A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Mystery & Mayhem Awards!

    Cozy Mystery Fiction Award

    • Patrick E. Craig – The Boy In Blue Denim
    • Lori Roberts Herbst – Graven Images
    • Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge – A Drew Davies Railway Mystery – Book 2
    • M. K. Graff – Death in the Orchard: A Trudy Genova Mystery
    • Miriam Verbeek – The Forest
    • Kari Bovee – The Pryce of Conceit

    And a huge round of applause for the 2024 M&M Grand Prize Winner:

    If Two Are Dead by Jeanne Matthews

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    At Chanticleer, we see your success as our success. The CIBAs provide dedicated promotion at every advancement tier, from our highly anticipated Long Lists to our prestigious Grand Prize Winners. We work tirelessly to maximize your digital footprint through our high-traffic website, social media campaigns, and newsletter features that energize both authors and readers.

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs (Chanticleer Int'l Book Awards)

    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, 2026) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

    Readers are always searching for their next great thriller, and your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

    Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

      The Global Thriller Awards, Clue Awards, and M&M Awards await! 

    Below are all the divisions scheduled to close at the end of July. We accept both manuscripts and published work!

    Your book deserves to be discovered

  • Ten days remain! The countdown continues with Series, Shorts, and Collections

    Three Divisions Close at the end of July

    Three excellent divisions close at the end of July!

    Discovery is just a click away!

    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 Series Awards, The SEA Shorts Awards, and the Collections and Anthologies Awards are still open!

    Best Book Grand Prize for the Chanticleer Int'l Book AwardsCongratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Series Award for Fiction and Non-Fiction!

    A stack of books flying into the blue sky for the Book Series Awards

    And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Series Grand Prize Winner:

    A Vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola

    See the full list of 2024 Book Series Winners here!

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 SEA Shorts Awards!

    And a huge round of applause for the 2024 SEA Shorts Awards Grand Prize Winners:

    Something About Lizzy by Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi

    Something About Lizzy cover by Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi

    Dream Rut: Navigating Your Path Forward by Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro

    Illustrated by Jieyu Deng

    Dream Rut Navigating Your Path Forward cover by Yumiko Shimabukuro

    See the SEA Shorts Winners for shorter work here and for longer work here!

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    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.

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs (Chanticleer Int'l Book Awards)

    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. Enter to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 2026) where Winners from all 28 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!

     

    The Series Awards, The SEA Shorts Awards, and The Collections and Anthologies Awards

    Your book deserves to be discovered

  • Chanticleer 10 Question Author Interview Series with Steven Mayfield – Grand Prize Award-winning Author of Delphic Oracle

    CHANTICLEER 10 QUESTION AUTHOR INTERVIEW SERIES
    with Award-Winning Author, Steven Mayfield

    Happy Summer Chanticleerians! We’re thrilled to bring you another fantastic interview with Humor & Satire Grand Prize Winner Steven Mayfield!

    From writing “bad poetry” at age nine to authoring award-winning novels, Steven Mayfield has taken quite the journey—including a two-decade detour through medical school and scientific writing. Here, he shares how that medical training actually made his fiction stronger, where he finds his story ideas (hint: be careful what you say around him!), and why he believes readers should give stories more than just one page to capture their attention.

    While Mayfield won the Humor & Satire Grand Prize for his book Delphic Oracle, he also received Chanticleer recognition for his book The Penny Mansions, and his new book Sixty Seconds is available now!

    Chanti: Steven, let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us a little about yourself and how your writing journey first began?

    Mayfield: I began writing bad poetry when I was nine years old and started a novel at twelve. I drew from that history to create the protagonist of my next book. He also starts a novel at a tender age, which he describes it as “plagiarism by paraphrase.” That pretty much nails my early efforts, as well. In college and for a couple of years afterward, I wrote more poetry and short stories, began another novel, and wrote sketch comedy. I then gave up creative writing and went to medical school. Over the next two decades I authored or co-authored a number of medical and scientific pieces, and as a result, when I resumed writing fiction in the early ’90s, my work was tighter and more disciplined. I’ve been solely a writer for the last twenty years.

    Chanti: That’s such an interesting path from medicine back to creative writing! There’s often a moment when writers truly believe they can do this professionally. When did that realization hit for you—when did you truly believe you were an author?

    Mayfield: For me, the question is “When did I believe I could write?” After completing a sophomore college assignment to write a book review, the professor asked me if I’d ever thought about writing as a profession. I had but didn’t think it realistic until that moment. A year later, one of my short stories won the Mari Sandoz competition. After that, I always thought of myself as a writer, regardless of what I did to make a living.

    Chanti: The support from our educators can truly be all it takes to have that pivotal moment. Your background in medical writing is fascinating. Do you find that scientific training makes you more of a rule-follower, or do you like to break the conventional writing rules?

    Mayfield: Writing for the scientific and medical literature forced me to strictly adhere to rules of grammar and syntax. As a result I think it’s important to know those rules so that when you break them, it’s for a reason; e.g. using sentence fragments for emphasis or rhythm.

    red, pen, paper

    Chanti: That’s such a smart approach—knowing the rules so you can break them intentionally. I’m curious about your creative process. Where do your story ideas come from? How do you find those sparks of inspiration?

    Mayfield: I shamelessly exploit things people say or do. I’m being flippant but not entirely inaccurate. I wrote Treasure of the Blue Whale (Regal House 2020) after some friends told me an apochryphal story over dinner about the alleged discovery of whale ambergris on a beach in Northern California back in the 1920s; The Penny Mansions (Regal House 2023) was inspired by the Italian towns that are trying to stabilize their populations by offering one Euro houses for renovation; and Sixty Seconds (Regal House, July 2025) was prompted after I saw the movie, A Royal Night Out. My current work-in-progress, “The Bank House, was born from a conversation with a neighbor in my old Portland neighborhood who grew up in an Irish village where the bank was part of a residence provided to the bank manager. So…people should be careful about what they say when I’m within earshot. They might end up in a book.

    Chanti: I love that you’re constantly mining conversations and experiences for material! When it comes to the actual writing process, how structured are you? Do you have a daily routine or specific approach?

    Mayfield: I think I’m fairly structured. When I begin a book, I set up a log to track my daily word counts. I aim for a minimum of 250 words/day, a modest goal, but one that keeps me going on days when I don’t feel inspired. I then try to write every day, beginning by revising what I wrote the previous day and then adding new material. As the story builds, the daily word count builds with it, and once the first draft is done, I have typically averaged about 750 useable words/day.

    Chanti: That’s a strong and sustainable approach. Every writer has their literary heroes. Can you share five authors who have really shaped your work and tell us how they’ve influenced your writing?

    Mayfield: Muriel Spark: Does more with the simple declarative sentence than anyone I’ve read.

    Sinclair Lewis: Unmasks puffery, hypocrisy, and injustice.

    Kurt Vonnegut: Gives other writers permission to stray off-point as long as the reader is kept beside you and you don’t waste their time.

    Jean Shepherd: Like me, a yarn-spinner.

    From left to right we have Muriel Spark, Sinclair Lewis, Kurt Vonnegut, and Jean Shepherd

    A cumulative fifth choice comprised of several writers who share my publisher, Regal House: 1. Barbara Quick, whose elegant prose blends history and fiction, 2. Michael Strelow, whose command of language awes me, 3. Richard Martin, whose prose is inimitable, wise, and hilarious, 4. Michael Bourne, who has the ability to make unlikeable protagonists likeable, 5. Mimi Herman who is funny and understands how to mine small towns for literary gold.

    Chanti: What a diverse and thoughtful group of influences! I love the shoutout to your follow authors! Writing is definitely a craft that requires constant development. Beyond reading great authors, what do you do to keep growing and sharpening your skills?

    Mayfield: I listen when someone gives me feedback. If a reader is lost or bored, it’s my job to fix my work, not their job to guess what I was thinking when I wrote it. It’s also important to read work by other people and to workshop material in progress. I’ve been in the same workshop group for thirty-one years and their input is invaluable.

    Chanti: Thirty-one years with the same workshop group is incredible dedication! What exciting projects are you working on now? What can your readers look forward to seeing from you next?

    Mayfield: I’ve been engaged in final editing and pre-release marketing for Sixty Seconds (Regal House, July 2025) and I’ve just finished a sixth draft of a new novel, The Bank House. It follows a few months in the life of a thirteen-year-old boy who moves to a new town where his family will live in a former mansion that now has a bank in its living room. It’s a coming-of-age novel with my usual brand: heart, humor, and a dash of crime. I’m hoping for a spring/summer 2027 release.

    Chanti: The Bank House sounds absolutely intriguing, and I’m looking forward to reading Sixty Seconds now that it’s come out. You mentioned earlier that it’s the writer’s job to make things clear to the reader, but what is the most important thing a reader can do to support a writer they enjoy?

    Mayfield: Give us a chance. Agents would have us believe that a reader must be captured in the first page, but that’s marketing advice and doesn’t necessarily relate to good story-telling. It took me 100 pages to get into A Soldier in the Great War by Mark Helprin, one of my favorite books.

    Chanti: That’s such wise advice about patience with storytelling! Finally, on a more personal note—what excites you most about the actual process of writing?

    Mayfield: I can create a world where everyone does exactly what I want. Such power has always been restorative, but in our present climate of political chaos and heartlessness, it’s better and far cheaper than psychotherapy.


    Steven Mayfield is a past recipient of the Mari Sandoz Prize for Fiction and the author of over fifty scientific and literary publications. After a short stint as a sketch writer in Los Angeles, he attended medical school at the University of Nebraska followed by post-doctoral training and teaching/research appointments at the University of Iowa, Brown University Program in Medicine, and the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. After a hiatus away from creative writing that lasted almost twenty years—during which he published forty-two scientific articles, abstracts, chapters, and reviews—Steven began to again write fiction in 1993 with short stories appearing in literary journals and anthologies since 1994. He retired from medicine in 2004 and spent several years working as a free-lance editor before publishing Howling at the Moon in 2010 (Mount Parnassus Press). Regal House has been his publishing home since 2020 for three novels: Treasure of the Blue Whale (2020), Delphic Oracle, U.S.A. (2022), and The Penny Mansions (2023). A fourth novel, Sixty Seconds, is out now from Regal House!.

    Steven’s books have been honored with numerous awards, including an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal, a CIBA Mark Twain Book Awards Grand Prize ribbon, and an Independent Publishers Group Gold Medal. His last three novels were all Foreword Indies Finalists.

    Steven currently resides in Oregon with his wife, Pam. He can order beer in four languages. His wife can say, “Pay no attention to this man” in five.

  • The 2025 Book Series Award Hall of Fame

    Literary Worlds That Keep Readers Coming Back for More

    The Series Awards Hall of Fame Celebrates Multi-Volume Excellence

    A stack of books flying into the blue sky for the Book Series Awards

    ***Submit Your Series Today***

    You have until July 31st to submit to the 2025 CIBAs!

    The greatest series don’t just tell stories—they create literary universes that readers never want to leave. From epic fantasy realms to historical journeys that span generations, from paranormal adventures to deeply personal family sagas, the Book Series Awards Hall of Fame showcases authors who’ve mastered the unique art of sustained storytelling across multiple volumes.

    These Grand Prize Winners prove that exceptional series require more than just writing multiple books—they demand the vision to build worlds worth revisiting, characters complex enough to evolve across volumes, and the skill to maintain quality while keeping readers surprised. Each series represents a different approach to the challenge of creating literary experiences that grow richer with every installment.

    A Vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola

    The Scales of Balance (book 1), 2023 Overall Grand Prize Winner

    The Scales of Balanceopens with an amnesiac gladiator, a queen certain her husband must die for the sake of the kingdom, and a prince who will do anything to save his father. Tim Facciola’s first novel in the high fantasy seriesA Vengeful Realmis threaded through with plots of assassination and political intrigue, all fueled by a divine struggle for dominance.

    A Vengeful Realmis a study in richness. Its characters, setting, and world-building, the vital elements for a strong fantasy, pull the reader into the land of New Rheynia where the most valuable currencies are loyalty and power.

    Facciola excels at characterization, beginning with an engaging tapestry of backgrounds.

    The gladiator Zephyrus’ first memories are in a temple hearing the words of a prophecy that he can’t understand. Depending on the interpretation, he could bring peace or destruction. His only guide is his iron morality, which he hopes is enough to bring him back to who he once was.

    Read More Here

    While Facciola builds epic fantasy worlds filled with gods and gladiators, historical fiction proves equally powerful for series storytelling…

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    Ghosts Along The Oregon Trail by David Fitz-Gerald

    A Grave Every Mile Cover

    A Grave Every Mile (Book 1)

    Each day’s trumpet blasts the predawn quiet of the sleeping wagon train, demanding that its migrating families face what’s ahead, whether incredible scenery or mortal danger, in David Fitz-Gerald’s A Grave Every Mile.

    This beautifully told story mixes adventure, survival, community, and history, all shown through the eyes of Dorcas, a feisty mother of four. She’s dreamed of hitting the trail to the storied West for so long, but much about this trip and their destination remains unknown.

    Another wagon travels alongside hers. Who are they? Will they remain strangers, or become friends? Now that Dorcas stands with her family at the trail’s starting point and on the brink of changing their lives forever, a tremor of doubt surfaces about what lies ahead. Is her family strong enough to face their future? Will it be everything she and her husband hoped for? That future is 720,000 turns of the wagon wheels away, and there may be A Grave Every Mile. It all starts with that first pull by the team of oxen.

    The action starts on page one when an intense fistfight breaks out amid a crowd of people stocking up their wagons.

    Read More Here

    Lighten the Load Cover

    Lighten The Load (Book 2)

    Once on a grand adventure to a new life with her husband and young family, Dorcas suddenly finds herself the sole shepherd for her children into the unknown, in David Fitz-Gerald’s historical fiction novel, Lighten the Load.

    Owner of a fully loaded wagon, in a train of travelers on the truly wild western trail, Dorcas must give every decision her full attention. She faces immediate life-altering choices, some threatening her own safety and others putting her children at terrible risk. The expedition rolls forward over a mystery yet to be solved and an underlying paranormal mystique.

    On this dangerous venture west, Dorcas is called upon often to help and comfort her fellow travelers. As she and her family face escalating dangers and devastating catastrophes, can she learn to Lighten the Load and accept help when she desperately needs it?

    Read More Here

    Stay with the Wagons Cover

    Stay With The Wagons (Book 3)

    The wheels roll relentlessly westward. In Stay with the Wagons, book 3 of David Fitz-Gerald’s Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series, the families upon those wheels must face not only the consequences of the trail behind them but also new dangers that lie ahead.

    Dorcas, the resilient mother, widow, and adventurer will need to summon forth all her remaining strength– physical and emotional– to survive these new challenges. Especially with her children to protect. Their community of waggoneers have supported each other through great hardship, but cracks are growing between them.

    Amongst its incredible beauty, the country they travel through contains great danger, wild animals, and a hidden evil energized by greed and violence. There is a promise, a hope of happiness on the trail west if you Stay With The Wagons, but nothing is guaranteed.

    Read More Here

    Snarling Wolf Cover

    Snarling Wolf (Book 4)

    In Snarling Wolf, David Fitz-Gerald’s fourth installment of an adventurous migration to Oregon, wagon wheels sidewind along and through the serpentine Snake River.

    It’s summertime, hot and dangerous on the cross-country trails. Wild animals, and the titular Snarling Wolf, ominously share the wilderness with a caravan of travelers. The group has become accustomed to their daily routines, but their remote destination seems almost mystical, moving always farther away, taunting and driving them toward madness.

    Widowed Dorcas Moon is determined to do anything it takes for her beloved children to survive and thrive in a new life in a new land. But this difficult trip takes its toll on her family in surprising ways, and will leave them forever changed.

    Dorcas Moon deeply fears an animal attack on their unprepared people.

    Read More Here

    Rolling Home Cover

    Rolling Home (Book 5)

    David Fitz-Gerald concludes the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series with a grand finale for an eclectic cast of characters, as the long wagon train is finally Rolling Home to their new lives in the wild west of Oregon.

    With the end of the trail just out of reach, however, their hopes dwindle and their hunger rages. The rigor of the western environment continues to test their determination and threaten vows of heartfelt romance. These weary people ache and mourn losses, while seeking new ways to survive and pull each other forward in the face of impending winter.

    This wagon train of travelers will also face venomous villains who have been lurking in the shadows, outlaws waiting for their best opportunity to pounce.

    Read More Here

    Historical series can span different time periods and themes, as demonstrated by our next paranormal historical series…

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    The Curtis Jefferson Series by Vince Bailey

    Path of the Half Moon (Book 1)

    After being charged with burglary and attempted arson, fifteen-year-old African American boxer, Curtis Jefferson, has been sent to Fort Grant, a juvenile detention area in Arizona in Vince Bailey’s Path of the Half Moon.

    All of the creepy stories and whispered warnings about the former US military outpost used by the US cavalry to eliminate the Apache a hundred years ago pale in comparison to the truth Curtis finds there. Curtis faces racism from both inmates and guards, to make matters worse, he is also very aware of the presence of something not of this world. He quickly discovers (though he doesn’t want to admit it) that he is sentient to the fort’s bloody past atrocities. As the site where Pinal and Aravaipa Apaches were slaughtered, the fort seems to be a crossroads where past and present meet. From mournful coyotes to hundreds of circling vultures, Curtis can’t escape the strange visions and events inside and outside the fort. When he attracts the unwanted attention of Harvey Huish, an inmate with unusual abilities, Curtis creates a powerful enemy bent on revenge and humiliation.

    Read More Here

    Courses of the Cursed Cover

    Courses of the Cursed (Book 2)

    Imprisoned in a boys’ institution for a crime he did not commit, Curtis Jefferson must again face his nemesis, Harvey Huish. In Courses of the Cursed, the second installment of Vince Bailey’s paranormal Curtis Jefferson series, the fight comes with much higher stakes.

    Estranged from his constant companion, Randy, Curtis continues his training alone, bewildered as to why Randy believes Harvey to be more than a vicious bully. But as Curtis’s strange visions and dreams increase, he needs Randy more than ever. He begins to question whether Randy has been preparing him for an encounter beyond the violence between boys.

    Unbeknownst to Curtis, he isn’t the only one being tortured by the evil of Fort Grant. A local artist, Ray Cienfuegos, has his own date with destiny. As the last male descendant of his family, Ray’s fate is tied to the massacre that occurred near the fort almost one hundred years ago.

    Read More Here

    Merging Paths Cover

    Merging Paths (Book 3)

    Having escaped unjust imprisonment at the Fort Grant facility for juveniles, Curtis Jefferson is on the run, in Merging Paths, the third installment of Vince Bailey’s gripping, paranormal, Curtis Jefferson Series.

    With only a small jug of water and the clothes on his back, Curtis has to cross the Sonoran Desert and find a way back to his mother and grandmother in Jacobs Well. But his trip is plagued by more than thirst, hunger, and fear of animals. A racist sheriff’s deputy, Myron Aycock, is hellbent on finding Curtis not only for the acclaim such an arrest will give him but also for vengeance against the beating he received at the hands of the aspiring boxer.

    Trapped and desperate, Curtis is rescued by a mysterious figure and taken to Isabel and Ray Cienfuegos. After hearing Curtis’s unsettling stories about Fort Grant, the two understand that they have all been fighting the same evil forces – under the control of the sadistic Ezra. In a final confrontation, Isabel faces off against the wicked spirit, but just as they believe their problems are over, a new threat arises under the guise of friendship, and Isabel makes a life-changing decision that will mark her forever.

    Read More Here

    From contemporary paranormal settings, we move to one of literature’s most enduring legendary cycles…

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the nextThe Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy By Nicole Evelina

    Daughter of Destiny (Book 1), 2015 Overall Grand Prize Winner

    Guinevere asks us, the readers, to listen to her words in the prologue of Daughter of Destiny, book one in The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy. She implores, “I will take back my voice and speak the truth of what happened.” So shall the lies be revealed and Camelot’s former glory restored.”

    Daughter of Destiny is the first of three historical fiction novels narrated by Guinevere in the series of Guinevere’s Tale, by Nicole Evelina. Her tale begins during her young turbulent childhood in fifth-century Britain. It is a time of struggling to come to grips with her special powers. She’s studying to become a priestess, competing against her future lifelong enemy Morgana, and coping with the politics and violence ravaging her homeland in England’s fifth century. The novel follows Guinevere as she is separated from her family in Northgallis, during her early years in Avalon. It follows her training in the magical arts and eventual return to her war-ravaged homeland.

    Read More Here

    Camelot’s Queen (Book 2)

    Meet Guinevere: a sage military adviser, a priestess of Avalon, and the mother of a dynasty. In Nicole Evelina’s Camelot’s Queen: Guinevere’s Tale (book two), Guinevere must learn to reconcile her past with her future; what she was with what she must become.

    No longer a young lover with dreams of a home with her former betrothed, Guinevere must quickly learn how to be a queen and to navigate the rocky waters of marriage to the high king, Arthur Pendragon. Over time, Guinevere proves a great success until she cannot give Arthur the heir he needs.

    Kidnapped by a ruthless man bent on revenge, Guinevere must find the strength to hold tight to her sanity while regaining her rightful place. Upon returning from her horrific ordeal, she finds her position as queen in jeopardy and her once-strong relationship crumbling as she struggles to hold her growing restlessness and loneliness at bay.

    Read More Here

    Mistress of Legend Cover

    Mistress of Legend (Book 3)

    In Mistress of Legend, the enticing finale of Nicole Evelina’s Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, matters are life-and-death by the second sentence, pulling readers deep into Guinevere’s fate in this retelling of Arthurian legend.

    We come upon heroine Guinevere in the midst of an ill-fated romance with Lancelot. It’s far from her first troubled entanglement, but the stakes rise as she’s severely injured and faces even more threats, pursued by possible enemies. The novel’s beginning is woven with backstory, which adds suspense to the drama unfolding in Guinevere’s present. This summarizing might be slow for readers familiar with the series, but makes the story accessible for those who haven’t picked up the first two books.

    Many more characters appear, waving the web of intrigue Guinevere finds herself caught in.

    Read More Here

    Legendary retellings showcase one approach to series writing, while historical fiction based on real events offers another profound path…

    The Devil’s Bookkeepers Series By Mark H. Newhouse

    The Devils Bookkeepers The Noose cover Image

    The Noose (Book 1)

    Mark H. Newhouse has created an intense, harrowing, story of love and loyalty surrounding life within the Lodz Ghetto in Poland, established to control a sizeable portion of the Jewish population under Nazi domination in the first book in the series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers: The Noose.

    The author’s viewpoint is focused through the lens of Bernard Ostrowski, an engineer who will join three other men chosen for their related skills to report on daily happenings in the ghetto while secretly codifying incidents that the Nazis would not have wished to have recorded. Ostrowski and his cohort – the distinguished but embittered Oskar Rosenfeld, a noted Zionist, Julian Cukier, a journalist, and Oscar Singer, the youngest of the crew and the most impulsive. As Ostrowski opines privately, “Two Jews are a debate. Three, an argument. Four? A war.” Yet the four will co-exist, all trying in their separate ways to fulfill their assignment and please their highly controversial boss, Chaim Rumkowski.

    Read More Here

    The Devil's Bookkeepers Book 2: The Noose Tightens with Chanticleer Badge

    The Noose Tightens (Book 2)

    Mark H. Newhouse, son of German Holocaust survivors, includes the very personal and poignant first-hand sourced materials made available to him by the Yale University Press in his important historical fiction series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers. This inclusion lends a ribbon of humanity and compassion that raise the series to premiere status – a study, if you will, of the immutable human spirit. Newhouses’ series should encourage all who read it that hope is a gift and kindness and understanding is the answer to hate. It is a gripping story of love and survival that will haunt you until it’s shocking climax.

    From the first day of 1942, the conditions in the Jewish ghetto of Lodz, Poland, deteriorate. In Mark H. Newhouse’s historical fiction novel, The Devil’s Bookkeepers: Book 2, The Noose Tightens, those who thought their situation would get better now wish to survive and save their loved ones, But can they?

    Read More Here

    The Devil's Bookkeepers 3: The Noose Closes, Cover

    The Noose Closes (Book 3)

    In The Noose Closes, book three of the award-winning series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers, author Mark H. Newhouse continues the story of his compelling characters and their difficult predicaments in the closing months of World War II in occupied Lodz, Poland.

    Newhouse is a gifted writer and educator, born in Germany to Holocaust survivors. His series is a fictionalized account of what happened in the Lodz ghetto, a barbed-wire enclosed slum in Poland during the Nazi occupation. As he deftly utilizes the first-hand accounts of those who were there, we witness the ribbon of humanity and compassion woven through each book. This raises the series to premiere status – an exceptional if sobering examination of the immutable human spirit. His series should encourage all who read it that hope is a gift and kindness is the answer.

    Read More Here


    These Authors Mastered the Art of Serial Excellence

    From Tim Facciola’s epic fantasy trilogy that earned both Series and Overall Grand Prize recognition, to David Fitz-Gerald’s five-book historical saga that transforms a dangerous journey into an unforgettable literary experience, these Hall of Fame winners understand what readers crave: the promise that great characters and compelling worlds will continue to evolve and surprise.

    What sets these series apart?

    • Character development that spans multiple volumes
    • World-building that deepens with each installment
    • Consistent quality that rewards reader investment
    • Marketing power that builds loyal readerships

    Your Literary Universe Awaits Recognition

    The Series Awards recognize what publishers and readers already know: successful series create something greater than the sum of their parts. They build communities, generate anticipation, and provide the kind of sustained reader engagement that single volumes rarely achieve.

    Whether you’ve completed a trilogy that ties together all narrative threads or launched an ongoing series that promises years of reader investment, the Series Awards celebrate the vision and commitment required to create literary worlds worth revisiting.

    Don’t let your series remain undiscovered—submit by July 31, 2025!

    A stack of books flying into the blue sky for the Book Series Awards

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

    The Series Awards: Where literary universes find their audience!

  • The 2024 Series First Place Round Up

    A stack of books flying into the blue sky for the Book Series AwardsThe Series Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Genre Fiction (and now Non-Fiction). The Grand Prize Winner, Tim Facciola’s Series, A Vengeful Realm will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Series 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!

    While these Award Winning Series are all Multi-book sagas, we are going to showcase the most important part of a Series. The beginning. Having a good start makes it memorable. The first book is the foundation, laying the first stitches into what later becomes a whole tapestry, telling their story.

    Join us in celebrating the 2024 first in the series of the First Place Series Winners!

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    Karen Inglis – The Secret Lake

    When Stella and her younger brother, Tom, move to their new London home, they become mystified by the disappearances of Harry, their elderly neighbor’s small dog. Where does he go? And why does he keep reappearing wet-through?

    Their quest to solve the riddle over the summer holidays leads to a boat buried under a grassy mound, and a tunnel that takes them to a secret lake.

    Who is the boy rowing towards them who looks so terrified? And whose are those children’s voices carried on the wind from beyond the woods?

    Stella and Tom soon discover that they have travelled back in time to their home and its gardens almost 100 years earlier. Here they make both friends and enemies, and uncover startling connections between the past and present.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Glen Dahlgren – The Child of Chaos

    Nothing can stop the gods of Order… except a roll of the dice.

    The Longing gnaws at young Galen, an irresistible force dragging him toward an ancient vault where Chaos slumbers. He doesn’t crave power, just an escape from Order’s suffocating grip and the twisted nightmares that haunt his sleep. But visions flicker in his mind, painting a world devoured by the very chaos he’s compelled to unleash.

    He’s not alone in this desperate pilgrimage. Another soul thrums with the same Longing, fueled by ambition and vengeance. The race to the vault is a collision course, a clash of desperation and darkness.

    Now, Galen stands at the precipice: trust his wild imagination, a double-edged sword that’s always landed him in trouble, or unleash the torrent that threatens to drown the world… unless, somehow, he can bend the very fabric of chance with a throw of his ancient, wood-carved dice.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Sandra Wagner-Wright – Ambition, Arrogance and Pride

    In 18th Century Salem, Massachusetts, the ambitious Derby and Crowninshield families vie for power amid a shifting social and political landscape.

    After the heartbreaking loss of their first child, Mary Hodges Derby and her husband Captain Richard Derby are blessed with a healthy son named Richard who is soon followed by four brothers and three sisters. All but one of the Derby boys follow their father to sea to secure their fortunes from America’s lucrative but treacherous trade routes to the West Indies and beyond.

    When Captain Derby’s oldest son comes of age, he decides to retire from the sea and establish a merchant house. Two of Richard’s brothers follow him as captains of their own ships, but Captain Derby keeps his son Hasket ashore to manage the family’s growing trade network.

    George Crowninshield, the youngest of four brothers, sails for the Derby family enterprise and ultimately marries Hasket’s sister Mary. Meanwhile, George’s sister Eliza makes a match with Hasket Derby.

    Though the two families are united by wedlock, rivalries, political turmoil, and questionable choices reveal the complex consequences of unchecked ambition, arrogance, and pride.

    Set during a pivotal time in Salem’s history when Americans broke their colonial ties with Great Britain, this gripping work of historical fiction explores the depth of human relationships through nuanced characters and vivid historical details. Recipes from the era bring the sights and flavors of 18th century Salem to life, while a glossary illuminates the context of the times.

    From Chanticleer:

    Sandra Wagner-Wright’s historical novel, Ambition, Arrogance and Pride, chronicles the rise of some of Salem, Massachusetts’s founding families, through the revolutionary war and beyond as they make their fortunes in far-off ports.

    Wagner-Wright tells this story through several points of view, but it is her strong female characters who carry this story, women like Mary Derby, whose courtship and marriage to George Crowninshield begins this saga.

    We follow Mary as she brings new life into the world while her husband is out at sea as captain of a merchant vessel. Wagner-Wright has done her research, making real the perils of pregnancy and childbirth in the 1700s. In keeping with the time and the rate of infant mortality, we suffer with Mary each time she loses a precious child.

    Men such as Captain Richard Derby and George Crowninshield travel the sea in search of foreign ports, while women like Mary, Lydia, and Eliza hold their families together in this intricate and expertly crafted story.

    Read More Here

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Taryn R. Hutchison – One Degree of Freedom

    Fifteen-year-old Adriana Nicu lives in the sheltered world of Bucharest, Romania, in the year 1987. Under the rule of Communist president Nicolae Ceaușescu, citizens of Bucharest live with the eyes and ears of the government ever present. Adriana’s future, which will involve becoming an engineer, is locked in against her will.

    During a visit to her aunt’s apartment, Adriana walks through a wardrobe into a hidden room filled with stacks of forbidden novels. Stories bring light into the darkest of circumstances as her family begins to unravel and her life strangely parallels those of her novels’ heroines. Adriana’s childhood loyalties and her belief that God doesn’t exist are called into question as her circumstances force her to rethink things she once believed were certain.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Kari Bovee – The Pryce of Conceit

    Also a Chanticleer 2024 Mystery & Mayhem First Place Winner!

    Murder takes center stage!

    1885. Arabella Pryce is struggling with heartbreak. In keeping with her late husband’s final wishes, she must leave behind her dazzling celebrity and breathe new life into their namesake hotel in Colorado.

    But when a beloved town beauty is found dead, all eyes—and suspicion—turn to her.

    With blood-stained evidence, handsome sheriffs, and libelous journalists turning her investigation into a dangerous drama, this determined thespian fears she’s missed her cue for survival.

    Amid whispered betrayals and shadowed secrets, a mischievous ghost guides her through a maze of perilous clues, drawing her ever closer to a truth more shocking than the lies surrounding her.

    Can she unmask the true killer and clear her name before her reputation is ruined forever?

    DiscoverThe Pryce of Conceit, the riveting first installment in The Pryce of Murder historical cozy mystery series, and witness a performance where murder is the main act!

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    J.L. Oakley – The Jøssing Affair

    Chanticleers 2016 Goethe Grand Prize Winner!

    British-trained Norwegian intelligence agent, Tore Haugland, is a jøssing—a patriot—sent to a fishing village on Norway’s west coast to set up a line to receive weapons and agents from England via the “Shetland Bus.” Posing as a deaf fisherman, his mission is complicated when he falls in love with Anna Fromme, a German widow. Accused of betraying her husband, she has a young daughter and secrets of her own. Although the Allies have liberated France, the most zealous Nazis hang on in Norway, sending out agents to disembowel resistance groups. If Haugland fails, it could cost him his life and the lives of the fishermen who have joined him. When Haugland is betrayed and left for dead, he will have to find the one who betrayed him and destroyed his network. He will also have to prove that the one he loves was not the informer. In wartime love and trust are not always compatible.

    From Chanticleer:

    At a time when true identities are carefully protected and information can get you killed, heroes emerge to fight the evils of Nazi-occupied Norway in J.L. Oakley’s highly suspenseful and beautifully penned historical fiction novel,The Jøssing Affair.

    In a quiet Norwegian fishing village during the Nazi occupation, risk lurks everywhere. Most residents are patriotic members of the resistance, “jøssings,” but there are “quislings,” too. Those who collaborate with the Germans and tout the Nazi propaganda of Nordic brotherhood between the nations. Mistaking the two is a matter of life and death.

    At the heart of the narrative is Jens Hansen who is an exceedingly mild-mannered handyman and a deaf-mute. Jens helps his friend Kjell on this fishing boat but mostly keeps to himself, communicating with paper and pencil when asked a question.

    But Jens has a secret. His real identity is that of Tore Haugland, a man who will risk his life repeatedly as a British-trained member of the resistance. He and Kjell coordinate the transport of weapons and agents via the “Shetland bus,” a fleet of small fishing boats and a few American submarine chasers, that make excursions from the coast of Norway to the Scottish Shetland Islands.

    Read More Here

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat

    At the behest of rogue Iranian government officials, two terrorists break into the grave of an American veterans cemetery in the Suresnes suburb of Paris. What they take from that grave could lead to the deaths of millions of Israeli and US citizens, as well as Jews around the world. US Army Major Jake Fortina, a military attaché stationed at the US Embassy in Paris, is called upon by the FBI and French and Italian law enforcement and intelligence officials to help defeat Iran’s nefarious plan. Beginning in Paris, this international drama leads readers from Afghanistan to England, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, and the United States in the scramble to save the world from a terror unknown since the deadly Spanish flu outbreak of 1918.

    From Chanticleer:

    Why would Iranian terrorists break into a Paris cemetery and steal the bones of an American Jewish WWI veteran? The answer lies in the deadly parallel history of WWI and the Spanish flu, but it’s a mystery that Jake Fortina will have to uncover in Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke’s thriller, Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat. 

    During WWI, the Spanish Flu killed millions of people—some estimates as high as 100 million—but a Jewish nurse tossed off the flu like a cold and continued to serve her country. Iran’s leaders believe the DNA in her bones will let them develop a virus that could kill Americans and Israelis by the millions while simultaneously developing immunity for Iran’s own population.

    This threat drives the story as it reaches deep into multiple countries and their governments, who collectively try to figure out the importance of the bones theft and, ultimately, what to do about it.

    Read More Here

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Mike Murphey – Tales of Physics, Lust and Greed

    In the mid-21st century, time travel becomes a reality through a top-secret government-corporate initiative. Enter Marshall Grissom: socially awkward, perpetually overlooked, and unexpectedly thrust into the heart of this groundbreaking project.
    Joined by the alluring and mischievous Sheila Schuler and the dangerous industrial spy Marta Hamilton, Marshall embarks on a journey that challenges everything they thought they knew about time and causality. As evidence mounts that the past may be irreversible, corporate investors demand proof the past can be manipulated—or threaten to pull the plug.

    The unlikely trio is sent back to Marshall’s high school days with a seemingly simple mission: save the life of his unrequited love. But in a world where powerful corporations will stop at nothing to protect their interests, the travelers find themselves in a deadly game of cat and mouse. With time running out and lives on the line, Marshall and his companions must navigate the treacherous waters of temporal manipulation, corporate greed, and their own conflicting motivations. Can they change the past without destroying their future?

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Rose Prendeville – Mistress Mackintosh and the Shaw Wretch

    Also a Chanticleer 2023 Chatelaine First Place Winner!

    In 1725, a secret convent has been established on the Aberdeenshire coast.

    Jory Mackintosh is more excited by healing herbs than husbands or holy prayers. She craves freedom—and a chance to sneak into medical school. Instead, on the eve of her escape, she becomes an unwilling pawn in her family’s schemes with a rival clan.

    Finlay Shaw, the disgraced younger brother of the laird, has spent ten long years atoning for his past failures, but nothing can wash away the stain of fratricide. When the clans order him to escort Jory to her new life as a nun, thus securing an alliance with the freshly formed Black Watch, it’s his last chance for redemption. Too bad for Finn, Jory has no intention of following orders.

    Trapped on the road together, often with only one bed between them, the two butt heads and match wits, forced to acknowledge the dark shadows that have haunted them both for years. Can they learn to trust each other, and themselves, to fly in the face of their families’ wishes, or will they choose the solitary futures they always believed they deserve in this unorthodox runaway bride story?

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!


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

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    Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

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    Got a great Fiction Book? The 2025 Series Book Awards are open through the end of July!

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    Submit to the Series Awards Today!