Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Hearten Awards

The 2024 Hearten Book Awards Long List for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Inspiring and Uplifting Non-Fiction and Memoirs. The Hearten Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2024 Hearten Non-Fiction entries to the 2024 Hearten Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 Hearten Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (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 sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Elizabeth Fulgaro – Learning to Love (Not Loathe) Me
- Dr. Maheshika Halbeisen – The Job Well Done – The Queen’s Way To Successful Leadership
- Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
- Genét Simone – Teaching in the Dark
- Wendy B. Correa – My Pretty Baby: A Memoir of Seeking Truth and Finding Healing
- Jenell M. Jones M.Ed. – Shattered
- David Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
- Alicia M. Rodriguez – The Shaman’s Wife: A Mystical Journey of Surrender and Self-Discovery
- Hilary Giovale – Becoming a Good Relative: Calling White Settlers Toward Truth, Healing, and Repair
- Douglas Green – The Teachings of Shirelle: Life Lessons from a Divine Knucklehead
- Dr George Ackerman – A Son’s Journey from Parkinson’s Disease Caregiver to Advocate
- Kimberly Harms – Are You Ready?: How to Build a Legacy to Die For
- Ingrid McCarthy – I Stood Among the Ruins and Cried
- Kasey Claytor – Finding the Light
- Jia Apple – The Tell
- Anna Brooke and Vindy Teja – WRITE! Your Guide to Revealing the Writer Within
- Olivia Goodreau – But She Looks Fine
- Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – DIAMOND: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
- Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
- Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
- L.A. Witt – I Changed My Mind: My Journey from Infertile to Childfree
- Mimi Zieman – Tap Dancing on Everest
- Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Christina Ford – In Search of Mr Darcy: Lessons Learnt In The Pursuit of Happily Ever After
- Glenda Goodrich – Solo Passage: 13 Quests, 13 Questions
- Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
- Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
- Susan Bloch – Travels with my Grief
- Mark Steven Porro – A Cup of Tea on the Commode: My Multi-Tasking Adventures of Caring for Mom. And How I Survived to Tell the Tale
- Laura Hall – Affliction: Growing Up With A Closeted Gay Dad
- Susan Cole – Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
- Louise Privette and Tristan Peigné – Dancing Through Life: A Memoir
- Ben LeBoutillier – Practical Advice for a Better World
- Kathleen Watt – REARRANGED: An Opera Singer’s Facial Cancer and Life Transposed
- Josh McConkey – Be the Weight Behind the Spear
- Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

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

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

Running Away From The Circus

By Nove Meyers

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

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Hearten Book Awards for Inspiring and Uplifting Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

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

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

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

Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
October 14, 2024
The 2023 Hearten First Place Winners for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction

The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Nove Meyers’ book, Running Away From The Circus will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Clue 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 2023 Hearten Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Hearten Winners!

Lisa Niver – Brave-ish

Newlywed Niver was on the adventure of a lifetime. She had quit her job, rented out her condo, and was traveling around Asia. To the outside world, Niver was a woman living out her dreams of exploring ancient ruins in Cambodia and seeing orangutans in Borneo. In private, she was keeping a dark secret. But, when she found herself lying on a sidewalk in Thailand, looking up at the sky in severe pain, she knew things had to change. At age forty-seven, Niver found the courage to set course on a new life.

Feeling like a failure, pushing fifty, and moving home to her parents’ house to start again from scratch, Niver started taking one tiny “brave-ish” step at a time to take her life far away from the old one and into the adventurous world of travel writing. These small hurdles led to the challenge of trying fifty new things before turning fifty. From diving into shipwrecks, swimming with sharks, bobsledding at 3 Gs, to indulging in wild escapades, Niver found herself traversing the world on a journey of reinvention, personal growth, and discovering what it actually means to be “brave.”

While Brave-ish chronicles Niver’s inspiring expeditions to distant corners of the world including Myanmar, Cuba, Morocco, Kenya and Mongolia this is more than a travelogue. Niver’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of perseverance. Brave-ish inspires readers to dream big, take risks, and embrace the unknown to create a life filled with wonder and excitement, even when courage seems elusive.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Lally Pia – The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy

When a military coup in Ghana leads to the abrupt closure of Lally Pia’s medical school, she is left stranded there, thousands of miles away from her family in California, with no educational prospects or money. Adding to her turmoil is her discovery that her American Green Card has been botched, which means she has no country to call home. But a Sri Lankan priest told Lally that she would one day become a “Doctor of Doctors” —and she is intent on proving him right.

This sizzling multicultural roller coaster illustrates the power of self-determination as Lally, a young immigrant with a drive to succeed, takes on obstacle after obstacle—an abusive relationship, the welfare state, and a gruesome job where she has to dismember human bodies—in order to fulfill her dreams. A story that will resonate with anyone who has faced cultural and immigration hardships, The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy is a nail-biting journey across continents, through hardships, and into ultimate triumph.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Tony Jeton Selimi – A Path to Excellence

Become the master of your destiny with this proven blueprint for achieving your true potential.

Are you tired of settling for mediocrity? Do you want to become the high-achieving person you know you can be? Are you ready to let go of your limiting beliefs and step into the prosperous, successful, and fulfilled life you know you are meant to have?

If so, A Path to Excellence™ is for you.

Thoroughly researched with authentic advice and ground breaking strategies, this illuminating blueprint for self-mastery invites you on a journey to realize your full potential, clarify your vision, and dare to achieve your dreams.

Inside, you’ll join #1 bestselling, award-winning author, Tony Jeton Selimi as he reveals a proven path to achieving the highest levels of personal and professional excellence. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Tony went from living homeless and penniless as a victim of civil war, to becoming a self-made millionaire and internationally recognised authority on emotional intelligence and maximising human potential.

Built on his critically acclaimed The Octagon of Excellence Method, this book breaks down Tony’s 30 years of experience into an easy-to-digest blueprint, challenging you to step beyond your limits and become the master of your destiny.

From Chanticleer:

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

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

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

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Trudy Wells-Meyer – Some Things Are Simply Meant To Be

A teenager’s dream, the immigrant — Coming to America. . .

A belief something extraordinary is possible. Starry-eyed she arrives in New York on a massive ocean liner from England, the first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the distance, her extended arm — like a welcome — what a goose-bump-moment. Alone, with 2 small suitcases, she steps onto American soil, speaking little English. A life unknown, fear a constant companion. She is 23.

Her trust in faith and fate guides her life, believing in the power of possibilities as far back as growing up in a tiny Swiss village, where even dreaming had its limits. Living above her parents’ hair salon, a stranger’s phone call, an American, with a German accent . . . visits her humble home, a one-hour taxi ride from Zürich, to offer her a job in Atlanta or Houston. As the handsome out of the ordinary mystery man leaves, Mom, and her Swiss stare embarrassing Trudy, holding her hands he says, “See you in America”. In the dark cold hallway, rooted to the floor with a broken leg, a cast to her knee, she utters words: “This . . . has something to do with later.”

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain

Society has become a place where combat veterans would rather commit suicide than live. Many who “have it all” are discovering that they still feel miserable but can’t figure out why. They feel powerless under the boredom of what society deems necessary.

Aurita Maldonado is a Puerto Rican woman warrior and Afro Latin dance instructor who chose a different path before and after her two combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

She received a Purple Heart for wounds received in Afghanistan before leaving the Army to align her thoughts, words, and actions. She adopted a new mission: cultivate peace, happiness, and learn to become her own best friend. All while learning to live as one with Mother Earth.

Aurita rejected lucrative government jobs, sold her possessions, and moved to Haines, Alaska, in 2010 to begin her journey with PTSD and self-acceptance. An extreme athlete, she used movement to help her navigate the storms with a grin until she was suddenly paralyzed from the waist down in a fight against a deadly rat lungworm infection.

The perspective shifts she adopted to continue to enjoy life while learning to use her body again will make you reassess your choices to settle for the status quo.

This is an inspirational memoir of a remarkable woman’s journey to stumble in style as she navigates seemingly insurmountable tragedies early in life. It is a story of triumph and discipline. Joy and sorrow. A portrait of a Lady Hurricane dancing, both literally and figuratively as one with the storms of life.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Hearten First Place Winners!

You can see our Hall of Fame on the Hearten Grand Prize Winners, including Nove Meyers’s incredible book Running Away From The Circus here.

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

Got a great Fiction Book? The 2024 Hearten Book Awards are open through the end of September!

Submit to the Hearten Awards Today!

October 7, 2024
RUNNING AWAY From The CIRCUS: Confessions of a Carnie Kid (Who Tried to Become a Priest) by Nove Meyers – Memoirs, Coming of Age, Religion & Spirituality

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

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

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

While tending to an elephant in the backyard and working alongside tightrope walkers and a “human cannonball,” Meyers was signing on as an altar boy and making his first confession.

At age eight he became determined to become a priest, but there were obstacles. When he took a summer job as a carnie, he discovered he would have to work on the Sabbath. He struggled to convince himself that God would understand. Even these early experiences foreshadowed the life that would slowly chip away at the spiritual armor he tried to don. And there were girls. To become a priest he would have to take a vow of celibacy, perhaps the largest barrier he faced.

In college, after enjoying the companionship of a young woman, he confronted a priest about the celibacy issue, suggesting that celibacy was merely a church-based control mechanism. Advised by the priest to pray, the young Nove lay in bed and talked at length to God, promising to try his best to become a worthy priest, but also asserting that if he met the right girl, he would love and marry her. He wraps up saying, “I hope You’ll understand. Thanks for listening.”

Meyers demonstrates a clear gift for wordsmithing and a flair for storytelling that expertly handles the quick changes and maneuvers he experienced in the parallel worlds of the church and life under the “Big Top.”

Based on the paradox he faced from an early age between religious requirements and human behaviors, he creates an enthralling tale, kept buoyant with wry humor and fascinating behind-the-scenes depictions of circus and carnival life that may startle those unfamiliar with it as it charms those who have shared his experiences.

The choices Meyers made in his progression between the often-enjoyable chaos of the Big Top to the quiet comfort of the religious sanctuary of the church are remarkable, not only for his lively examination of them but for his rational yet spiritually grounded conclusions. Meyers’ dynamic, frank, and amusing saga will have his readers hoping for a second encore to this captivating life.

Running Away from the Circus by Nove Meyers won Grand Prize in the 2023 CIBA Hearten Awards for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction.

September 27, 2024
The 2024 Hearten Book Awards Hall of Fame for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction

Take a deep breathe and smile

The Hearten Awards are here to bring you joy, and maybe a few tears with some of these excellent books

**Your Story is Worth Sharing**

You have until September 30th to share your uplifting memoir with us and enter the 2024 CIBAs!

Enter by September 30, 2024

Uplifting and heartwarming work is a vanishingly rare thing these days, and we love having an Awards Division that can inspire readers and writers alike. The Hearten Awards seeks true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more.

Join us in celebrating the Hall of Fame for Grand Prize Winners of the Hearten Awards

Running Away From the Circus
By Nove Meyers

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

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

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

Read more here!

INNER TREK – a reluctant pilgrim to the Himalayas
By Mohan Ranga Rao

A disinclined traveler journeys into the heartland of the revered Mount Kalash Parikarma in Tibet. Inner Trek by Mohan Ranga Rao follows a voyage that culminates in self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment.

Mohan Ranga Rao, a retired Indian businessman, finds himself between a rock and a hard place when a ruthless Bangalore mob boss threatens him to sell his land at a throwaway price. The situation escalates when he discovers that his trusted lawyer has joined forces with the enemy. He can only turn to his wife for solace.

With nothing for him to do about his land, Rao vows to trek around Mount Kailash, a holy Tibetan Mountain. This travel memoir traces his and his wife’s journey to the deified Himalayas, the land of Lord Shiva. Rao shares intimate details of his experience, including the spiritual transformation that he went through during his challenging high-altitude trek.

Read more here!

DAWGS: A True Story of Lost Animals and the Kids Who Rescued Them
by Diane Trull & Meredith Wargo

We love our dogs. We love our cats. But what do we do when people no longer want them, use them for cruel purposes, or release them into the streets with no thought for what will happen to them? Diane Trull’s memoir with Meredith Wargo, DAWGS, shines a light on these questions.

Trull begins the story as a fourth-grade teacher in Dalhart, Texas. One of her young students asks about an article in a local paper showing photos of adorable dogs at a shelter who were up for adoption, wondering what happened to those who weren’t adopted.

Instead of dodging the question, and with great trepidation, she answered it with the truth: those who weren’t adopted would be put to sleep. Her tiny students were understandably shocked. Then one of them said, “I don’t want any of those dogs to die. Isn’t there something we can do to save them?”

Read more here!

Love, Life, and Lucille
By Judy Gaman

Award-winning author, motivational speaker, and podcast host Judy Gaman befriends a fun-loving and feisty centenarian in her CIBA Grand Prize-winning novel, Love, Life, and Lucille.

The list of titles and accolades Judy Gaman has accrued begin to pale when she encounters Lucille Fleming for the very first time. The whole reason for the meet-up with the centenarian was specifically to get her opinions on “aging gracefully,” the featured topic of a new book Judy planned to write. What was scheduled as an hour-long interview turned into an absolutely delightful, near three-hour visit. Lucille turned the tables and began asking questions about Judy’s life with compelling earnestness—something Judy rarely experienced. She was unprepared yet exhilarated.

Judy couldn’t stop thinking about this “dressed to the nines” woman with an ear-to-ear smile and a sturdy, affectionate hug. Her contact with this larger-than-life woman was so infectious, Judy made up an excuse—so that she could see her again. During that second meeting, the two became fast friends as they set Fridays aside as their day to get together. Before their next planned meeting, Judy learned that Lucille had gone into cardiac arrest. She was dead for three minutes before she came back full of vim and vigor as if nothing had happened. Five months later, Lucille was more than ready for TV interviews. With that, Judy made plans to write a second book about Lucille and their relationship.

Read more here!

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

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

You know you want it…

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

September 26, 2024
The 2024 Hearten Award Spotlight for Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction
Tell Us Your Story!

The Hearten Awards are here for your Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction!

The Hearten Awards is one of our 6 Non-Fiction Divisions. Specifically, it covers Uplifting and Inspiring Memoirs. If you have written a book about yours, or someone else’s life story that can inspire others, Submit it to us!

The Categories for the Hearten Awards are:
- Humorous
- Motivational
- Advice/Inspiration
- Family and Chosen Family
- Self Discovery/Coming of Age
We are happy to Celebrate the 2023 Hearten Award Winners!
- Lisa Niver – Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
- Lally Pia – The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor
- Tony Jeton Selimi – A Path to Excellence
- Trudy Wells-Meyer – Some Things Are Simply Meant to Be
- Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain: Becoming One with the Storm
The Grand Prize Winner of The 2023 Hearten Award is:

Running Away From the Circus

by Nove Meyers

Submit today to join this list of winners!

The Hearten Awards are open until the end of September! We’ll leave you with some of our favorite uplifting reads that have come through lately!

DIAMOND: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
By Etsuko Diamond Miyagi

In a world ravaged by conflict and loss, Etsuko Diamond Miyagi’s memoir, Diamond: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan is a shining testament to the beauty of love and the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity.

Etsuko enjoys a peaceful childhood on the Philippine island of Mindanao, where her father owns an abacá plantation. But they are not safe when guerilla forces destroy her village murdering everyone and leaving her as the sole survivor. This deeply personal narrative of grief chronicles Etsuko’s harrowing journey to find solace and joy after the death of her parents.

At first, passed from house to house, Etsuko is forced to work as a domestic servant until a kind family takes her in. However, her safety and survival is once again in danger when she’s forced to leave her adopted family and take a position at Chief Doming Apostol’s estate in Magpet. It is there Etsuko receives the name ‘Diamond.’

Read more here!

A PATH To EXCELLENCE
By Tony Jeton Selimi
Hearten First Place Winner

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

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

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

Read more here!

DAWGS
By Diane Trull & Meredith Wargo
Hearten Grand Prize Winner

We love our dogs. We love our cats. But what do we do when people no longer want them, use them for cruel purposes, or release them into the streets with no thought for what will happen to them? Diane Trull’s memoir with Meredith Wargo, DAWGS, shines a light on these questions.

Trull begins the story as a fourth-grade teacher in Dalhart, Texas. One of her young students asks about an article in a local paper showing photos of adorable dogs at a shelter who were up for adoption, wondering what happened to those who weren’t adopted.

Instead of dodging the question, and with great trepidation, she answered it with the truth: those who weren’t adopted would be put to sleep. Her tiny students were understandably shocked. Then one of them said, “I don’t want any of those dogs to die. Isn’t there something we can do to save them?”

Read more here!

LOVE, LIFE and LUCILLE
By Judy Gaman
Hearten First Place Winner

Award-winning author, motivational speaker, and podcast host Judy Gaman befriends a fun-loving and feisty centenarian in her CIBA Grand Prize-winning novel, Love, Life, and Lucille.

The list of titles and accolades Judy Gaman has accrued begin to pale when she encounters Lucille Fleming for the very first time. The whole reason for the meet-up with the centenarian was specifically to get her opinions on “aging gracefully,” the featured topic of a new book Judy planned to write. What was scheduled as an hour-long interview turned into an absolutely delightful, near three-hour visit. Lucille turned the tables and began asking questions about Judy’s life with compelling earnestness—something Judy rarely experienced. She was unprepared yet exhilarated.

Judy couldn’t stop thinking about this “dressed to the nines” woman with an ear-to-ear smile and a sturdy, affectionate hug. Her contact with this larger-than-life woman was so infectious, Judy made up an excuse—so that she could see her again. During that second meeting, the two became fast friends as they set Fridays aside as their day to get together. Before their next planned meeting, Judy learned that Lucille had gone into cardiac arrest. She was dead for three minutes before she came back full of vim and vigor as if nothing had happened. Five months later, Lucille was more than ready for TV interviews. With that, Judy made plans to write a second book about Lucille and their relationship.

Read more here!

Thank you for cheering on these Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction Books!

We hope to see your work in the 2024 Hearten Awards!

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs Levels of Achievement is so worthwhile! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each list is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter!

Your book deserves to be discovered.
September 8, 2024
A PATH To EXCELLENCE by Tony Jeton Selimi – Success Self Help, Personal Transformation, Overcoming Challenges

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

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

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

The intricate symmetry of the octagon, with roots in historical and cultural contexts, becomes a clear visual framework for this book’s instruction.

Just as the eight corners of the octagon meld to form a combined whole, eight core principles serve as a guiding route to holistic growth. Further sections present true-to-life examples of figures like Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey, framing them as examples of clear vision and self-belief.

A Path to Excellence ushers one out of the most comfortable route to one scattered with stones and glass, insisting that setbacks are truly catalysts for growth.

Selimi highlights the importance of embracing change, believing in one’s self, and savoring every small success with a mind that persists no matter what.

The theme of karma is a core to this book, exploring its role in one’s mindset and passage of life.

As it emphasizes the concept that every action engenders energy that returns to us sometime in life, the theme touches upon the idea of generating positive karma. This section doesn’t back down from proving the relevance and practicability of karma in modern life through a harmonized connection between karmic cycles and psychological insights.

A Path to Excellence is a rich fabric embroidered with personal anecdotes, philosophical references, scientific insights, and reflective exercises for readers. It caters to every soul that seeks self-improvement and a holistic take on achieving success. But most of all, it is for those believing in the idea of persistence and courage.

A Path to Excellence by Tony Jeton Selimi won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Hearten Awards for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction.

July 29, 2024
The 2023 HEARTEN Book Awards WINNERS for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Hearten 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.

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Mohan Ranga Rao on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2023 LIST of the HEARTEN BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the HEARTEN Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following authors and their award-winning works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Lisa Niver – Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
- Lally Pia – The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor
- Tony Jeton Selimi – A Path to Excellence
- Trudy Wells-Meyer – Some Things Are Simply Meant to Be
- Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain: Becoming One with the Storm
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 HEARTEN Awards is:

Running Away From the Circus

By Nove Meyers

You can see all of our amazing 2023 Hearten Finalists! Congratulations to all and thank you for submitting!

Well done climbing the CIBA Levels of Achievement!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in June. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

We will post at least two 2023 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 24, 2024. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2023 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.

Grand Prize Division Winners will receive a customized digital badge. When we receive it from our graphic artist, we will also post here and in the Grand Prize Division Winners Official Posting.

Thank you for participating in the 2023 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

Team Chanticleer!
May 6, 2024
The 2023 HEARTEN Book Awards Finalists for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Hearten Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2023 Hearten Non-Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2023 Hearten Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

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 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspirational Non-Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Semi-Finalist authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Anna Casamento Arrigo – Patience Insanity & Wisdom
- Lisa Niver – Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
- Lally Pia – The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor
- Julie Morrison – Barbed: A Memoir
- Trudy Wells-Meyer – Some Things Are Simply Meant to Be
- Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
- Tony Jeton Selimi – A Path to Excellence
- Art Berman – Art in the Middle Ages: A Memoir of Midlife Renaissance
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Patrick M. Garry – The Power of Gratitude: Charting a Path Toward a Joyous and Faith-Filled Life
- Kate Hudson-Hall – Anxiety Hacks: Proven Techniques, Tools and Tips to Calmness
- Cory Mortensen – The Buddha and the Bee
- Julie Scolnik – Paris Blue
- Dian Seidel – Kindergarten at 60: A Memoir of Teaching in Thailand
- Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain: Becoming One with the Storm
- Grant Harper Reid – The Apocalypto Kid Goes to College
- Nanette J. Davis Ph.D. – Raging Currents: Mental Illness and Family
- Dr. Kelly Rabenstein – Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success (It’s All About Love)
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 HEARTEN Awards is:

Inner Trek
– a reluctant pilgrim to the Himalayas

By Mohan Ranga Rao

Click here to see the 2022 Hearten Book Award Winners for Uplifting Non-Fiction

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction & Memoir. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC24.

Please click here for more information.

See our Full List of Non-Fiction Divisions here!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 7, 2024
The 2023 HEARTEN Book Awards Semi-Finalists for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Hearten Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2023 Hearten Non-Fiction Short List to the 2023 Hearten Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

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 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the Finalists of the 2023 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspirational Non-Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Semi-Finalist authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Lynne M. Kolze – Please Write: Finding Joy and Meaning in the Soulful Art of Handwritten Letters
- Anna Casamento Arrigo – Patience Insanity & Wisdom
- Lisa Niver – Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
- Lally Pia – The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor
- Duncan McLauren – Owning Your Destiny
- Julie Morrison – Barbed: A Memoir
- Shanita Liu – Dear Durga: A Mom’s Guide to Activate Courage and Emerge Victorious
- Trudy Wells-Meyer – Some Things Are Simply Meant to Be
- Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
- Tony Jeton Selimi – A Path to Excellence
- Art Berman – Art in the Middle Ages: A Memoir of Midlife Renaissance
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Patrick M. Garry – The Power of Gratitude: Charting a Path Toward a Joyous and Faith-Filled Life
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Kate Hudson-Hall – Anxiety Hacks: Proven Techniques, Tools and Tips to Calmness
- Hollie Stuart – I Can See For Miles
- Cory Mortensen – The Buddha and the Bee
- Julie Scolnik – Paris Blue
- Cort Casady – Not Your Father’s America
- Steven Greenebaum – An Afternoon’s Dictation: Inclusive Revelation for the 21st Century
- Dian Seidel – Kindergarten at 60: A Memoir of Teaching in Thailand
- Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain: Becoming One with the Storm
- Grant Harper Reid – The Apocalypto Kid Goes to College
- Nanette J. Davis Ph.D. – Raging Currents: Mental Illness and Family
- Catherine DeMonte – Beep! Beep! Get Out of My Way!: Seven Tools for Powerful Creation and Living Your Unstoppable Life
- Dr. Kelly Rabenstein – Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success (It’s All About Love)
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 HEARTEN Awards is:

Inner Trek
– a reluctant pilgrim to the Himalayas

By Mohan Ranga Rao

Click here to see the 2022 Hearten Book Award Winners for Uplifting Non-Fiction

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction & Memoir. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC24.

Please click here for more information.

See our Full List of Non-Fiction Divisions here!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
January 18, 2024
The 2023 HEARTEN Book Awards Short List for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Hearten Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2023 Hearten Non-Fiction Long List to the 2023 Hearten Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2023 Hearten Semi-Finalists. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

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 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the Semi-Finalists of the 2023 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspirational Non-Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Short List authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Lynne M. Kolze – Please Write: Finding Joy and Meaning in the Soulful Art of Handwritten Letters
- Anna Casamento Arrigo – Patience Insanity & Wisdom
- Lisa Niver – Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
- Syril Levin Kline – Inspiring Legacy: David and Carmen Kreeger’s Journey to Philanthropy
- Lally Pia – The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor
- Alexander V. Girman & Cynthia J Girman – A Voice from Heaven: From Earthly Struggles to Thriving in the Afterlife
- Duncan McLauren – Owning Your Destiny
- Julie Morrison – Barbed: A Memoir
- Alex Bisset – The Destination Birth
- Shanita Liu – Dear Durga: A Mom’s Guide to Activate Courage and Emerge Victorious
- Trudy Wells-Meyer – Some Things Are Simply Meant to Be
- Maria C. Palmer and Ruthie Robbins – On the Rocks
- Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
- Tony Jeton Selimi – A Path to Excellence
- Art Berman – Art in the Middle Ages: A Memoir of Midlife Renaissance
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Patrick M. Garry – The Power of Gratitude: Charting a Path Toward a Joyous and Faith-Filled Life
- Nove Meyers – Running Away From the Circus
- Kate Hudson-Hall – Anxiety Hacks: Proven Techniques, Tools and Tips to Calmness
- Hollie Stuart – I Can See For Miles
- Cory Mortensen – The Buddha and the Bee
- Julie Scolnik – Paris Blue
- Cort Casady – Not Your Father’s America
- Joel Harris – Searching for Steve
- Steven Greenebaum – An Afternoon’s Dictation: Inclusive Revelation for the 21st Century
- Dian Seidel – Kindergarten at 60: A Memoir of Teaching in Thailand
- Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain: Becoming One with the Storm
- Grant Harper Reid – The Apocalypto Kid Goes to College
- Nanette J. Davis Ph.D. – Raging Currents: Mental Illness and Family
- Catherine DeMonte – Beep! Beep! Get Out of My Way!: Seven Tools for Powerful Creation and Living Your Unstoppable Life
- Dr. Kelly Rabenstein – Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success (It’s All About Love)
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 HEARTEN Awards is:

Inner Trek
– a reluctant pilgrim to the Himalayas

By Mohan Ranga Rao

Click here to see the 2022 Hearten Book Award Winners for Uplifting Non-Fiction

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction & Memoir. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC24.

Please click here for more information.

See our Full List of Non-Fiction Divisions here!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
December 12, 2023