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 Dante Rossetti Award for Young Adult Fiction and The Little Peeps Awards for Children’s and Early Readers are still open!
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction!
Kerry Chaput – Chasing Eleanor
Lynn Yvonne Moon – Fish Scales
Sophia Krich-Brinton – A Song Like the Wind
J.A. Nielsen – The Claiming
Trish MacEnulty – Cinnamon Girl
S.R. Klusman – Luna: Book 2 of The Adventures of Rhone & Stone
And a huge round of applause for the 2023 Dante Rossetti Awards Grand Prize Winner:
Sour Flower
manuscript
by Maryanne Melloan Woods
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Little Peeps Awards for Children’s and Early Readers!
Beth Davis – Lacinda the Lion is a Super Youneek Beast
Adalgisa and David Nico – Fish in the Desert: The Untold Story of the Death Valley Pupfish
Ruth Amanda – Geckos in the Garden
Jonna Laster – Nutshell Regatta
Shaziya M. Jaffer, Brad W. Rudover , Jessica Alexanderson – The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans
T.K. Sheffield – The Night Icelandic Horses Saved Christmas Eve
Raven Howell – Friends Come in all Sizes
And a huge round of applause for the 2023 Clue Awards Grand Prize Winner:
The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans
by Shaziya M. Jaffer, Brad W. Rudover, Jessica Alexanderson
The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.
We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.
Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 3-6, 2025) where Winners from all 25 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.
In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.
The Clue Award is our Division for the more gritty, darker, crime noir type mystery novels. For the light hearted, cozy mysteries see the Mystery & Mayhem Award.
While most of our categories in this Award are for fictional mysteries, unlike the other Fiction Divisions, Clue also has a Non-Fiction category for True Crime and Investigation books. Instead of putting it into a Non-Fiction Division we took a note from what many bookstores do and put the Non-fiction Mysteries with the Fictional ones.
Book Riot featured the differences between True Crime and Thrillers:
True crime aficionados liked the deep dive into the psychology of it all. Jack El-Hai, a true crime writer who recently published The Lost Brothers, wrote, “I’m only an occasional reader of murder mysteries. Many fictional works about murder are about finding out who did it, and the narrative concludes with that discovery or with catching the perpetrator. I’m more interested in why they did it and the aftermath for everyone affected by the crime.”
True Crime books can also be very important on bringing light to unsolved crimes and helping to solve them. Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, which after the authors death, her husband, actor Patton Oswalt, worked with some other writers to finish the book. It was finally published 2 months before the arrest of The Golden State Killer. While her book did not directly affect finding the perpetrator, it did bring crucial publicity towards a largely forgotten case. It was later turned into an HBO documentary series!
Raymond Paul Johnson – The Raven Society: Conspiracy Ignited
Margaret Mizushima – Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 CLUE Awards is:
The Other Murder
By Kevin G. Chapman
We’re excited to feature Kevin and our other winners, but before we do that, here are some of the best reviewed Thrillers that have come our way recently!
ECHO From A BAYOU
By J. Luke Bennecke
John Bastian’s life is falling apart, but after a serious accident, he gains another one. In J. Luke Bennecke’s suspense thriller, Echo from a Bayou, John must tie up the loose ends of a man who died decades ago.
One misfortune after another beats John down. His wife divorces him, and his California business is going bust. On a ski trip to boost his mood, he fails to save a man from falling to his death out of a slopes-bound cable car. The next day, on the mountain, John slams head-first into a tree.
He’s not the only one who wakes up in his hospital bed.
The Excursion by T.O. Paine is a horror thriller with enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most jaded reader.
Two people tell this story. Charly, a woman in her 30s, faces her emotionally damaged family. Randall, meanwhile, works as an agent of Zaroff Excursions, a hunting club for the uber-wealthy with an interest in an extreme form of hunting where the prey is much more intelligent than a deer or bear.
On a cold Thanksgiving weekend, Charly and a few other members of her family travel to an isolated cabin in the mountains above Denver. Her car gets stuck in a snowdrift, leaving her stranded, but that’s only the start of her trouble. She finds that the cabin has been rented by Randall’s company for that same weekend, forcing her family to share the lodge with strangers.
REVELATIONS: Ro Delahanty Series Book 6
By Dave Lager
Ro Delahanty bears heavy weights on her shoulders—a decades old conspiracy, the complexities of polyamorous love, and troubling family secrets—all of which she will begin to face in Revelations, book 6 of Dave Lager’s Ro Delahanty series.
The wealthy, powerful Pribyl family is up to something sinister in their new scrap shipment business, Ro is sure of it. But she has to prove it to herself before she can even start to convince anyone else. And as much as she’d like to dive head-first into that mystery, she has many more problems to solve as a Fort Armstrong County Sergeant Deputy.
An unsanctioned party threatens to become a dangerous mob, setting fire to a half-constructed house. Ro’s bold, decisive nature comes under fire from a rival at the Sheriff’s office. Worse, a major change in that office could upend the foundation of Ro’s life and even rob her of the comradery she and her colleagues rely on.
Identified by John Wilander is a dystopian novel about the omniscient power of our potential cyber future.
West, a young man, spent 15 years in prison for hacking government systems. His mother, a highly visible activist against his imprisonment, is also trying unsuccessfully to get her health insurance to pay for her fight against a deadly medical condition. In Identified West believes the government is responsible for illegally blocking her insurance and vows to find out who’s behind the effort and put his mom back on the insurance rolls.
This is no easy task. Cybersecurity is now a fully linked global enterprise called the G20S, an expansion of today’s G20 nations. Virtually every form of human activity across the world can be logged by the system. It will take a small crew of talented hackers who call themselves the Survivors to develop unique hacker tools for West to break into the system, find the guilty, and get his mother insured. At every point, success could slip out of their grasp.
This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs Levels of Achievement is so worthwhile! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each list is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter!
The Little Peeps Awards is our Division for the Children and Early Readers in your life. Introducing books from a young age creates lifelong Readers!
Finding the best books for a child is hard. While these books may be small, writing for children provides it’s own challenges. Needing to provide a moral to the story, something that teaches the reader without being obvious. Plus, adorable, bright and colorful art to go along with the story. For this age range, books need to stimulate imagination, creativity, and learning.
We also have some other Divisions aimed at younger age ranges. For Middle Grade (ages 6-13) see Gertrude Warner. For Young Adult (ages 14-18) see Dante Rossetti.
We’re excited to celebrate all the wonderful children’s books that are submitted to us!
Check out these great Early Reads!
ISLAND MOON By Ruth Amanda
Ruth Amanda’s Island Moon is a magical moment captured in a poem.
The narrator lives on an island where the moon sings of fairies and the magic of the night. While out on a nighttime walk, the narrator breathes in the island scents and hears the waves kissing the shore. In the froth of the waves, and in the moon’s magical light reflecting on the water, the narrator sees the fairies dancing.
LET’S WORK SMARTER: Harmony Lane Adventures Book 2
By Katharine Mitropoulos
Katharine Mitropoulos’s Let’s Work Smarter, the second book of the Harmony Lane Adventures series, begins on a beautiful day at the Harmony Lane Farmer’s Market. There the residents are hoping to reach their fundraising goal to fix up the local playground.
The next day, after having met their fundraising goal, Mouse takes charge dividing everyone into groups, each with their own job to do. Kangaroo, Frog, and Kitten are tasked with planting a flower garden, which turns out to be hard work! They decide they just need to work harder to get the job done but end up making a mess. Cheetah and Mole work hard while cleaning up the sandbox, causing sticks and leaves to get all over the place. Painting the fence are Giraffe, Bear, and Bunny, who all have their own plan for the design.
YIMBY: Yes! In My Back Yard!
By Sheryl Recinos, illustrated by Amanda Ravensdale
In YIMBY! Yes In My Back Yard!, Sheryl Recinos presents a simple yet powerful story that speaks to the heart of human kindness and the need to help our fellow man.
Most people are familiar with the term NIMBY, the acronym for “Not In My Back Yard”, referencing opposition to the construction of something perceived as undesirable in one’s neighborhood. But this passionate and heart-warming children’s book offers a positive transformation to the word.
With their park damp from the rain, seven snails line up for their next thrilling race in Ruth Amanda’s Ess-Car-Go!
Frogs, bugs, birds, and even a curious cat come to cheer on the famous snail racers, from the stylish Sterling to the easily-distracted Sherlock. And as each one runs into their own kind of trouble; this trophy could go to anybody!
In Nutshell Regatta by Jonna Laster, the narrator’s grandmother reveals adventures in nature that could easily be missed without her watchful eye.
With her wise guidance, clouds turn into campers, dandelions hold moon yokes, leaves sing, and a broken branch takes on the form of a fox. Most importantly, twigs and pebbles become sailors who embark on a grand regatta in their nutshell sloops and sailboats.
Thank you for joining us to celebrate these wonderful works for children!
This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs Levels of Achievement is so worthwhile! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each list is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter!
A Chanticleer Happy BirthdayTo the Mother of Science Fiction and all things Paranormal
Mary Shelley!
The Update
We long have wanted a person to name the Paranormal Awards after, but it’s difficult to make the decision. However, two years ago, we floated the idea of Mary Shelley, and since then we’ve been waiting for the stars to align. And now they are!
What to know
If you have received a Paranormal Award in the past, that is still good! You can reach out to us for new graphics that say “Shelley Awards” instead for Finalists, First Place, and Grand Prize Winners. You are also welcome to keep using the “Paranormal Awards” branded promotions you have won! Those are still good, and we will continue including information about the change in name for years to come to help alleviate confusion.
On to Mary Shelley!
Mary Shelley, one of literature’s most revolutionary figures, was born on August 30, 1797. It was a time of extreme weather in her birth city of London. Today’s meteorologists have determined the city was experiencing a “very thundery” year, with strong rain and hail storms that caused flooding throughout England.
Dark clouds casting shadows over dark streets. Is it any surprise Shelley would grow up to write nightmare-inducing, Gothic novels like her groundbreaking story Frankenstein?
As we honor her birth, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on Shelley’s extraordinary literary contributions and the enduring legacy that continues to inspire writers.
A Literary Trailblazer
Mary Shelley’s entry into the literary world was as unconventional as her most famous creation. The daughter of renowned intellectuals William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, Shelley’s upbringing was steeped in new, radical ideas during a time of science and paranormal romanticism. She married author Percy Shelley in 1816 and traveled to Lake Geneva that summer for a honeymoon at the home of another writer, Lord Byron. It was there that a writing challenge among friends led to the creation of Shelly’s most famous work, Frankenstein.
The Birth of a New Genre
Published in 1818, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus was revolutionary for its time. Inspired by her own miscarriage and the death of her mother eleven days after Shelley’s birth, Frankenstein is not just a tale of a scientist who creates life but a profound exploration of ambition, responsibility, and the moral implications of scientific advancement.
Shelley went onto write “The Last Man” and “Valperga,” exploring the themes of dystopia, history, and social critique, as well as numerous short stories, essays, and travelogues. Her style, characterized by rich, evocative prose and a deep psychological insight, earned her a respected place among the Romantic literary elite during a time when women authors were not typically recognized.
Celebrating Her Life and Works
As we commemorate Mary Shelley’s birthday, we acknowledge not only her literary achievements but also her courage and vision. Her life was marked by personal trials and societal challenges, many brought about by the scientific advancements that fueled her imagination. Yet she channeled these experiences into profound contributions to literature.
In celebrating Mary Shelley’s birthday, we honor a trailblazer who, though born into a dark and foreboding world, was inspired to write stories that changed the landscape of fiction and brought about the new horror genre, leaving an enduring imprint on our collective imagination.
Happy birthday, Mary Shelley!
Interested in stories that keep you awake at night? Here are a few horror, paranormal, and supernatural stories from Chanticleer authors.
Merging Paths By Vince Bailey
Series Awards Grand Prize WInner
Having escaped unjust imprisonment at the Fort Grant facility for juveniles, Curtis Jefferson is on the run, inMerging 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.
The Street Between the Pines By J.J. Alo
Paranormal [Shelley] Awards Finalist
Something strange and terrible stirs in Frank Cavanaugh’s basement, in J.J. Alo’s psychological-thriller,The Street Between the Pines.
The giant hole at the bottom of Frank’s house wasn’t there before. Something so very ugly and dangerous is down there. Something with bright, glowing eyes. Adrenalin pumps through Frank’s aging body as he scrambles for the exit. Behind him, a low gurgling growl.
The Insane God By Jay Hartlove
Cygnus Awards Finalist
Sarah, a transgender schizophrenic teenager, has spent the past seven years in a psychiatric ward. When all her symptoms of schizophrenia disappear after receiving a special necklace from a nurse, she must learn to live in a world that moved on without her, in The Insane God by Jay Hartlove.
She receives strange visions of two opposing gods in battle with each other, which Sarah and her brother Nate work together to understand. The reality of these visions threatens to endanger the lives of everyone on Earth unless they change the course of an eternal battle.
Annihilation: Book 2, Gehenna Series By Kaylin McFarren
Paranormal [Shelley] Awards First Place Winner
Samara Daemonium tries to break free from her father’s control as the realms of Heaven and Hell prepare for war, in Kaylin McFarren’s erotic supernatural novel,Annihilation.
Lucinda, the daughter of Satan, rules Hell with an iron fist. She sits on the throne thanks in part to the angel/demon hybrid Crighton and his angel soulmate Ariel. However, power changed Lucinda. She no longer stands as a brighter future in Hell, but rather as a demagogue driving her demons to rise up in battle against the hosts of Heaven. Crighton struggles between his loyalty to Lucinda, and his responsibility for his family—especially his pregnant soulmate. He doesn’t yet know the depths of Lucinda’s deception.
A cosmic force of evil is rising, come to consume whole worlds and plunge them into darkness. Earth is next, and the only chance for humanity to survive is a pair of young, destined heroes who have no idea what dangers lurk in their future.
Kevin Knight is a sixteen-year-old savior, the warrior foretold in an alien prophecy who will combat the Dragon. He’s also afraid of the dark and suffers the routine abuse of his stepdad. Though his mother Sara insists her son will have a bright future, Kevin refuses to believe it until the day his life is shattered. Kevin comes face to face with aliens, monsters, and a staggering truth about humanity. He must follow Robert’s teachings, an alien Changeling who reveals just as much as he keeps hidden. Oh, Kevin must also face down the very forces of Hell.
Thank you for joining us in celebrating a literary icon, Mary Shelley!
Do you have a book that deserves to be discovered? You can always submit your book for an Editorial Review with Chanticleer!Chanticleer Editorial Review Packages are optimized to maximize your digital footprint. Reviews are one of the most powerful tools available to authors to help sell and market their books. Find out what all the buzz is about here.
Is your book an Award Winner?
Submitting to Book Awards is a great way to get your book discovered! Anytime you advance in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards, your name and book are promoted right here on our website, through our newsletter, and across social media. One of the best ways to engage in long tail marketing!
Thank you again to the authors who wrote these wonderful books, and to Mary Shelley, whose imagination and literary skill created a new genre that continues to make us think, question, and be scared of those bumps in the night!
“What’s a Chatelaine?” A Chatelaine is a small belted chain used to hold on to useful objects. The image we used for the Awards is a painting of Jane Morris, drawn by Dante Rossetti with whom she had a passionate love affair. Her life was the inspiration of Pygmalion which became My Fair Lady.
The Shorts Awards accepts Fiction and Non-Fiction!
The Shorts Awards are fairly self-explanatory. Individual works are $45 and collections are $99. We do accept collections and anthologies, and you can even sneak poetry into the mix! Some incredible creative work has come through the Shorts Awards, and we’re delighted to have it as the fastest growing new Book Award Division!
Named for the Author of The Boxcar Children Series. While Gertrude Warner wrote the original 19 books, books in the series are still being written, 100 years after the first (the first book was published in 1924), with over 200 Boxcar children books now published by other writers. Warner (1890-1979) was a Sunday School teacher until 1918, when the male teachers in her community of Putnam, Connecticut were being called to serve in WW1. She continued to be a grade school teacher until 1950. She started writing the Boxcar Children while home sick, and many of the aspects of her books have inspiration in her life.
The Categories of The Gertrude Warner Awards are:
Contemporary Middle Grade
Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Paranormal Middle Grade
Mystery Middle Grade
Historical Middle Grade
Adventure Middle Grade
Graphic Novels for Middle Grade
First-Third Grade Readers
Long time submitters to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards know that there’s the official date, and then the date where the change over happens. Until the year has been updated to 2025, your work will still be considered for the 2024 Awards. Reach out to info@ChantiReviews.com with any questions!
Only days remain 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 Chatelaine Awards for Romantic Fiction, the Shorts Awards, and the Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle Grade Fiction are still open! Will your book make the cut?
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.
Let’s dive into the Tiers of Achievement!
The Long List
At the Long List looks to celebrate work that has some sort of gem that pulled it forward and speaks to our first readers. There is no limit for us on how many people can make a Long List, though that’s no guarantee of making it through!
The Short List
The Short List offers all the benefits of the Long List: Promotion on our high traffic website, featured social media posts, and in our wide-reaching newsletter. Additionally, authors are now eligible for the first of our digital badges!
The Semi-Finalists
The Semi-finals repeats all the benefits of before, bringing the number of times your book has been promoted up to three times in three different places across the web! We do this to maximize your digital footprint and honor our commitment to long-tail digital marketing for our incredible authors!
The Finalists
There’s a definite change in tone when we reach the Finalist stage. At this point, the competition boils down to who will be the First Place Category Winner! Finalists receive discounts for the Chanticleer Authors Conference and even on our Editorial Book Reviews. And, of course, their badge and stickers are updated for their new status, as well as receiving a fourth round of promotion.
The First Place Winners
One of the most coveted positions. The First Place Winners receive an even better discount on reviews, a huge discount on our membership program, and our Blue Ribbon Winners package! They’re promoted again in our annual Round Up articles celebrating winners for each division as they close, and are linked to in each list the following year.
The Grand Prize Winner
There can only be one (per division)! The Grand Prize Winners receive everything above as well as being featured on the Book Award page for the entire year, an Awarded Editorial Review, and an Author Interview to help promote their work! Then they’re featured in our annual Hall of Fame posts for the next five years. We also ask Grand Prize Winners to share any of their success stories with us for us to promote and share on our website!
You know you want it…
The Overall Grand Prize Winner
Truly, only one. The Overall Grand Prize Winner receives all the promotion above as well as a $1000 cash prize and invitation to present at the following Chanticleer Authors Conference.
After all is said and done, we give away over $30,000 in prizes to the incredible authors who submit to the CIBAs! We can’t wait to have you join them!
Congratulations again to the 2023 Overall Grand Prize Winner
Tim Facciola for A Vengeful Realm
We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.
Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 3-6, 2025) where Winners from all 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.
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Magic, Steampunk and Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. Our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from the 2024 OZMA Book Awards long list to the SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 Ozma Semi-Finalists List. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2024 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
K.N. Salustro – A Whisper from the Edge of the World
Susannah Dawn – Search for the Armor of God
Chloé A.H. Lewis – The Covenant Of Saints
Helen Garraway – Sentinals Banished
James McKenna – An October’s Journey: Poe’s Final Gift
Roxana Arama – The Exiled Queen: A Roman Era Historical Fantasy
Elana Gomel – Nine Levels
Anton Anderson – The Seekers: Kirin
Jenn Lees – Of High Kings and Mages: Arlan’s Pledge Book Three
Curt Locklear – Treasure and Murder In Ireland
Shami Stovall – Time-Marked Warlock
Charles Allen – A Graveyard of Ships
Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – An Unexpected Hero
Lynne Shaner – Journey to Everland Bay
A.S. Norris – The Hunted Mage: The Adventures of Jack Wartnose
Glen Dahlgren – The Realm of Gods
David V Mammina – Death or Volentus: Macabre Masquerade (Book 2)
David V Mammina – Death or Volentus
Kolton Fitz-Gerald – Leon Sharp: The Scourge of Night
Kolton Fitz-Gerald – Leon Sharp: The Tides of War
Alan B. Gibson – Summer Storm (Magic at Myers Beach, Book 2)
Zakary Bennett – Spirits of Leuun Shadows of the Chimera Vol 1
J.A. Nielsen – The Winter Heir (Fractured Kingdoms, Book 2)
Susan Wands – High Priestess an Empress, Book Two, Arcana Oracle Series
R. M. Krogman – Liberation
James Malone – The Song of Theodore-Return to Rainbow Gardens
Ross Hightower – Spirit Light Volume 1
Ross Hightower & Deb Heim – Desulti
Mark Stanley – Elven Blood: Volume 1 of the Vellhor Saga
Erin Lark Maples – A Circle of Stars
Evette Davis – The Others
M.D. House – Crossroads of Awakening Memory
Ryan Schuette – A Seat for the Rabble
Rae St. Clair Bridgman – Fish & Sphinx
Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The Serpent’s Spell
S.G. Blaise – Proud Pada
Logan D. Irons – Oaths of Blood
Joseph P Macolino – The Battle for Erathal
Prue Batten – The Red Thread
Joy Ross Davis – The Goddess of Weaver Street
S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages
W.B.J. Williams – Johnny Talon and the Goddess of Love and War
T.E. MacArthur – A Place of Fog and Murder
Shami Stovall – Academy Arcanist
J.A. Nielsen – The Claiming
C.V. Vobh – The Yawning Gap
David Scidmore – Aylun
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Short Story Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Short Stories, Collections and Novellas. The Grand Prize Winners, Mack Little’s book, Shelter in A Hostile World and Catherine Brown’s story The Heart of Kublai Khan’s Menagerie Keeper will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Shorts 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!
Who knows what treasures will be found when this ancient trunk is finally Unlocked?
In much the same manner as Pandora, each Paper Lantern Writer takes a turn opening an old wooden chest, digging out stories spanning seven centuries. The individuals in these tales—heroes, villains, and in between—are more than people from the past. Whether they are making mayhem, waging war, or quietly holding their families together, their strength and fortitude shines on the page. From the Swinging Seventies to the Middle Ages, these characters gather, keep, and spill the secrets of their souls.
Moving, bold, and funny, this collection of essays by Elizabeth Rau captures the poignancy of ordinary life through the voices of everyday people–children, friends, neighbors, and even the mail carrier. In vivid and lyrical prose, she chronicles her childhood in the Midwest, her many years as a newspaper reporter, and, above all, her plunge into motherhood in middle age. At a time when some writers tend to grouse about raising children, Rau revels in her good fortune and the day-to-day: teaching her younger son how to read using “Garfield” comic books; encouraging her older son to design his grandmother’s gravestone; observing the motley crew of boys who patronize “the yellow house” for years, bringing their wit, charm, and stuff, from yo-yos to baseball gloves. Along the way we meet characters in her neighborhood, like Ed the mailman whose true passion is growing and selling daylilies because they are “beautiful and resilient and won’t die on you.” Engaging, yet never indulgent, the collection elevates moments we take for granted into luminous stories about the experience of home.
This work is a manuscript. Sean also won a 2018 First Place in the Journey Award for his Book A Quest For Tears (Find that Locally and our review for it here). He has also recently been awarded with Village Books Literary Citizenship Award. Congratulations Sean!
A dangerous expedition. A precious artifact. A race against time.
Museum curator and expert in antiquities AnaRose Preston accepts the challenge to find one of Christianity’s holy relics concealed in the hilt of a legendary dagger. Traveling throughout contemporary France, she rushes to solve a historical mystery. But members of a secret society stand in her way. AnaRose risks her life to locate the weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.
We’re so caught up in wishful thinking that we fail to acknowledge the drawbacks associated with them. It’s the way of the universe; you need to give up something dear to you in order to achieve something dearer. With that being said, there is a balance that needs to be met for everything to work in perfect harmony. But what happens when you’ve bitten off more than you can chew? What happens when your granted wish has consequences you did not ask for?
Presenting a narrative that begins with a grave warning, condensing into a plot that will send shivers down your spine. A narrative that will toy with you, allowing you to find comfort only to take it away when you least expect it.
Rose is swept off her feet by young German Sebastian, who shares many of her passions and dreams. The world is their oyster—until it is not, with the rising drums of war reinforcing their differences and proving an obstacle to any relationship dreams each may have harbored.
As Rose throws herself into the rigors of being an Army nurse, cleaning up after the infantry’s battles, she can’t help but wonder how the pain and suffering she witnesses fits into the beliefs and ideals she once held.
From issues of patriotism and opportunity to confrontations with the “lottery of fate” that transforms dreams and dreamers alike, A Kind of Homecoming represents a vivid story of war and transformation that will appeal to libraries and readers seeking succinct yet powerful explorations of World War I’s impact on individual ambitions.
From fiction to humor, short-story narrative to poetry —
Brian Feutz has an affinity for the music of words. A wide range of life experiences and interests converge in a lively perspective that challenges conventions and stimulates thought.
The author of mystery suspense novels, A.J. McCarthy is always on the lookout for new ideas. Her friends and family are cautious, concerned they may become a victim in her next novel. Those who are more adventurous offer up ideas and are willing to sacrifice certain family members for the cause. A.J. bides her time, waiting for the right moment and the perfect victim. She hides behind a quiet façade, and few know what she’s really thinking.
A.J. grew up reading Agatha Christie, Sidney Sheldon, and many other masters of mystery and suspense. A lifelong love of the genre evolved. She’s a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. When she isn’t writing, chances are she is reading.
Some men hold secrets that are far darker than war. An old oath obligates Ulf Bodvarsson to join King Harald Hardrada’s army of Norsemen, seeking to assert his claim to the English crown. Yet near Stamford Bridge, enemies await, seeking to fulfill their own oaths of blood. The struggle that awaits them all will decide who rules and who dies.
This gritty historical fantasy novella gives new readers an excellent introduction to the dynamic grimdark world created by Logan D. Irons. Start the series that is perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin, Bernard Cornwell, Joe Abercrombie, John Gwynne, and Mark Lawrence.
Marie Sutro is was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, which served as the setting for her debut novel, Dark Associations. As soon as she learned to read, she developed an insatiable appetite for books. With each new story, Marie became more fascinated with the transformative power of words. The magic she discovered in those printed pages sparked an ardent desire to write, which continues to this day.
Marie remains committed to sharing the knowledge that has brought so much joy to her life. She volunteers with California Library Literacy Services, helping adults improve their reading and writing skills. Marie is also a member ofSisters in Crime, where she has served on the board of her local chapter. She currently serves on the board of Bouchercon World Mystery Convention.
Writing didn’t become a priority for Robert until recently. In 2023, he published his first novel, “Elodia’s Knife,” a historical epic set in the late 4th century CE, when the Western Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse. The book tells the story of a young Gothic girl who flees her abusive husband and finds refuge in Roman territory. She uses her wits and strength to survive and rise to power in a world that seeks to crush her.
The novel’s ordinary characters are made extraordinary by the world-shaking events of their time. Its unconventional story is bursting with confusion and danger, all precisely framed by the known historical record. “Elodia’s Knife” is a testament to Robert’s love of history, adventure, and suspense.
Troubled family relations, modern social justice issues, deeply personal choices.
Activist Xander Wallace and his straitlaced father do not have an easy relationship. Jim’s views on race, immigration, gender, sexuality and even Millennials alienate his son no matter how hard Xander tries to find common ground. Toss in Jim’s second marriage ten months after Xander’s mother died and it’s a volatile cocktail. How, against this backdrop, will Xander ever dare to bare his soul and reveal his greatest secret?
Robert Phillips passed on August 8, 2024. He is deeply missed. Here is a note from Robert’s family:
Robert retired from his life-long career as a software engineer at the beginning of the COVID lockdown, and immediately focused his time and energy on caring for Mom and writing his first historical fiction novel. Elodia’s Knife was published in 2023, and received numerous local awards and accolades. Not one to let time go to waste, he immediately started writing the sequels.
Dad never stopped missing Mom after her death, and spoke about her with love and reverence regularly. But he also continued to grow his own community here in Bellingham, working out at ProFitness Northwest under the expert care and compassion of our trainer Christy, connecting with writers in Whatcom County through the Village Books writers group, and volunteering his time and energy with the lively set-building crew at the Bellingham Theatre Guild. He travelled to visit friends and family in British Columbia, Alberta, Israel, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Texas, New Mexico, and North Carolina.
Dad and I talked in January of 2024. He was clear and definite in his intentions. He wanted to use whatever remaining time he had to finish the sequels to Elodia’s Knife, to spend time with friends and family, to live fully and pain-free for as long as possible.
If you knew Robert and would like to donate in his memory, his family asks that donations be sent to End of Life Washington,which is a powerful and critical advocacy group here in Washington, and was an incredible support to me as we prepared for his death: https://endoflifewa.org/ or The Bellingham Theatre Guild, which creates incredible local theater with an all-volunteer crew: https://bellinghamtheatreguild.com/.
Reviews for both of the sequels to Elodia’s Knife will be coming soon. We are honored to be able to continue to remember and celebrate Robert and his writing.
Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Shorts First Place Winners!
Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Shorts Awards!
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 Chatelaine Awards for Romantic Fiction, The Shorts Awards, and the Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle Grade Fiction are still open!
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Chatelaine Award for Romance!
Liese Sherwood-Fabre – Wilhelmina Quigley: Magic School Dropout
Kevin Dunn – Vicious is My Middle Name
Alisse Lee Goldenberg & Joseph Goldenberg – Lucky At Bat
Ben Gartner – One Giant Leap
Sue C Dugan – SOS
And a huge round of applause for the 2023 Gertrude Warner Grand Prize Winner:
Exostar: The Lost Space Treasure Series Book 1 by Rae Knightly
The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.
We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.
Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 3-6, 2025) where Winners from all 25 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.
In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.
Submissions for the 2024 Shorts Awards are open through August 31st!
The Shorts Awards is one of the newest divisions at Chanticleer, but it didn’t have the normal ramp up time to become one of the biggest powerhouses in our Book Awards! If you want to put your work to the test, submit it to the Shorts Awards today!
Shelter in A Hostile World By Mack Little
Our review of the 2023 Shorts Grand Prize Winner for Collections will post any day now! In the meantime, this is the second Grand Prize Winner Mack Little has sent us, and you can see our review for Daughter of Hades here!
The Heart of Kublai Khans Menagerie Keeper By Catherine Brown
A Manuscript
God, The Mafia, My Dad and Me By Lori Lee Peters
God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me by Lori Lee Peters begins in the voice of a child, compelling not just for its narrative honestly, but for the fact that it might not be reliable. As the book opens, we learn that this narrator firmly believes she will be killed.
Readers can easily see through the childlike hyperbole, but that doesn’t detract from the intrigue. How did a kid come to such an extreme conclusion? Is there any seed of truth to it? These questions will hook readers from the start.
Author Peters set out to write a book about her dad. God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me tells the true story of her father, and his fascinating work helping the FBI tackle Mafia activity in Lodi, California. Yet in the end, this is a memoir in which the compelling lead character – young Lori – overshadows her father in many ways.
New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst By Elizabeth Crowens
Prepare to be carried away to bustling, vivacious streets as you read Elizabeth Crowens’ New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst.
This captivating literary anthology is a love letter to the great city from a group of brilliant artists and authors, which delves into the multifaceted lives of New Yorkers.
Short fiction and a few poems describe the ins and outs of New York living. Murder mysteries, revenge, family struggles, family sagas, and, of course, the most important questions regarding real estate. Finding the perfect place to live in the city may be difficult, but this story brings into vivid relief the heart of what makes New York special: the people.
Homegoing by Toni Ann Johnson is an intimate portrait of a middle-aged African-American woman dragging herself hand over hand out of grief and despair.
This story begins with her aching, echoing pain after the one-two punch of a miscarriage and the dissolution of her marriage. Her journey takes her back to the upper-middle-class white suburb where she grew up, through childhood memories that refuse to be denied and to, of all times and places, a funeral.
Something and someone is supposed to be buried. Certainly the deceased. But quite possibly the woman who has held on to her losses and her grudges long enough to poison her own future.
Robin Lee Lovelace evokes a world in which the mystical intertwines with the everyday in Savonne, Not Vonny, a coming-of-age story set in rural Louisiana.
Nine-year-old Savonne lives in a small room at the back of Mama Gwen’s whorehouse, in Indianapolis in the ’60s. Her mama is one of the working girls, and her father is Mama Gwen’s own son. Savonne’s daddy dotes on her, and Mama Gwen loves Savonne like the daughter she never had; the two of them together make a loving home for Savonne, in the midst of their raucous brothel.
By contrast, Savonne’s birth mother rarely pays her any mind. A “crazy-ass woman” with a temper “as hot as a Mississippi afternoon,” Coco is not at all opposed to beating the bejesus out of someone. In a fury one night, she does something that cannot be undone, and in her headlong flight out of town, she takes Savonne with her.
Vacationers from all walks of life converge on Portofino II-317C, South Carolina, a quaint blue beach house, in Pierce Koslosky Jr.’s short story collection, A Week at Surfside Beach.
From May 30th-December 26th each group of people comes to stay one week at a time, to forget their cares of the big city, to work, to celebrate, or to simply get away. Surfside Beach has much to show them, including temperamental weather.
The small town itself offers a charming supermarket where fishing supplies, whoopie pies, and local southern favorites can be found. The Christmas vacationers, the final of the thirteen beach house renters, struggle to find a tree in time; a real tree simply wouldn’t allow enough space for the family to sleep, and the fake tree would cost too much. But they find arts and crafts supplies in town, to fashion a paper Christmas tree during a day of rainy weather.
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 Chatelaine Winners is to submit today!
Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!
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! Here are some recent achievements from our authors:
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2024 Journey Non-Fiction LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 Journey Semifinals List. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SEMIFINALISTS of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!
Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
Michael Salsbury – Running From Tragedy
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
Shannon Bohrer – Judicial Soup
Judie Dziezak – Petals from Mars: A Memoir of Resilience and Triumph over Adversity
M. Lorrie Miller – Invitation to Co-Creation: A Spiritual Path from Child Abuse and Religious Trauma to Love, Healing, and Oneness
Tamra McAnally Bolton – His 100th Year
Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays
Aja Mia – The Heartbreak of Time Travel
Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
Jill Vanneman – The Betterment Campaign
C.J. Hudson – Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street
Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond – The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, you say?
Natalie Kohlhaas – Hello Anxiety My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower
Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
Léonie Rosenstiel – Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp
Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
Kathi N. Miner – The Committed Professor – My Fall from the Lectern to the Ward
Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
Bridey Thelen-Heidel – Bright Eyes
Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
Deborah L. Staunton – Untethered
E. Adrienne Wilson – I’d Rather Be Dead Than Deaf: A Young Woman’s Journey with Liver Cancer
Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
Heidi Beierle – Heidi Across America – One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
Mary Jumbelic, M.D. – Here, Where Death Delights
Lisa Rhyne – Coming Out of the Metaphysical Closet
Tracy Mayo – Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self
Marsha Jacobson – The Wrong Calamity
Ana Manwaring – Saints and Skeletons A Memoir
David Vass – Liar, Alleged
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction!
To the Mother of Science Fiction and all things Paranormal
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Magic, Steampunk and Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Short Story Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Short Stories, Collections and Novellas. The Grand Prize Winners, Mack Little’s book, Shelter in A Hostile World and Catherine Brown’s story 
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
