Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Holiday Stories

  • And the Winners are…Chanticleerians take home the Tellables Holiday Box of Chocolates Stories Contest

    And the Winners are…Chanticleerians take home the Tellables Holiday Box of Chocolates Stories Contest

    You can say that I am as proud as a Mother Hen of these Chanticleerians* who won the Tellables Holiday Box of Chocolate Stories  Writing Contest!

    And these stories are available to listen to at your convenience and just in time for the Holidays. And they are FREE to enjoy! 

    Perfect to listen to while wrapping presents, baking cookies, and preparing for the Holidays!

    This Tellable Box of Chocolates writing contest challenged authors to write a “double chocolate” story for the Holidays using the Tellables voice app on Amazon Alexa.

    A double chocolate story is a bite-sized 2-part tale, with each part represented by a piece of delicious (virtual) chocolate.

    The authors were also asked to write in the voice of a virtual chocolatier and add “conversational elements” to their story. After all, the whole point of these chocolate stories is to engage listeners as they interact with an Amazon Alexa smart speaker (or other Alexa-enabled device). 

    They are pleased to announce the winning authors and their Holiday Box of Chocolate stories.

    Holiday Double Chocolate Stories

    It’s finally here! A delicious box of a dozen virtual candies with matching double chocolate stories! In case you missed the big news, here are the winners of our Holiday Writing Contest. All of their delicious 2-part stories are featured in this holiday assortment.

    Michelle Rene – First Prize for White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

    A young boy keeps returning to the chocolate shop in search of a treat for a very picky Santa. But what’s really going on?

    He said he didn’t think Santa liked the last candy either. Maybe he’s allergic.

    Michelle Rene is a multi-award-winning author of historical and speculative fiction. Her novel, Hour Glass, was named Chanticleer Review’s Overall Grand Prize for Best Book of the Year.

    Ellen Lyons – Second Prize  for Timely Mint Twist

    A last-minute holiday order, missing ingredients, and a roaming cat all combine to spell disaster for a frazzled chocolatier.

    “Haste makes waste is not just a rhyme, it’s a reality.”

    Ellen Lyons is a writer, poet, illustrator, and reader. She has previously published stories in the supernatural horror   False Key fantasy series She also writes in many different genres for both children and adults. [Editor’s Note: We don’t believe that Ellen Lyons is a Chanticleerian, but we welcome her.]*

    Kelly Abell – Third Prize  (Tied for 3rd Place) for  Peppermint Bonbon Miracle

    A candy maker faces a devastating loss of business one holiday season, all because two sisters are having a spat.

    “On Saturday, a week before Christmas, I stared out at the barren street.”

    Kelly Abell is the author of internationally best-selling romances and romantic suspense. Her characters are filled with passion, power, and purpose in predicaments that keep a reader turning the pages. Currently, her work The Gamble: Lost Treasures has been Shortlisted for the 2019 Laramie Book Awards for N.A. Western Fiction, a division of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards.

    PJ Devlin – Third Prize  (Tied for 3rd Place) for Snow Chocolate

    A chocolatier receives a strange visit to her shop shortly before Christmas, but the visit turns out to be especially auspicious.

    “Once outside I was greeted by an entire row of unsightly smudges, three-feet high, lining my shop window.”

    P.J. Devlin is an award-winning novelist and short-story writer. She lives in Northern Virginia, but her heart and stories are rooted in Philadelphia. Follow her on Facebook at PJ Devlin Author. She has won several Chanticleer Blue Ribbons!

    Chris Rasmussen – Judge’s “Originality Award” for Jingle Bell Bonbon

    A young ambitious chocolatier runs afoul with a local judge, but she perseveres in her attempt to win a holiday sweet stakes challenge.

    “I circled the date, rolled up my sleeves, and did my Thanksgiving homework.”

    Chris says he is doomed to scribble and that his loose vowels are heard daily, in Sweden, where he keeps his pencils. His work has been Shortlisted for the CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction, a division of the CIBAs.

    Veronica Fisher – Honorable Mention for Snowball Delight

    Brandon steps out of his chocolate shop on a wintry night before Christmas and gets a surprise.

    “As I walked to the door to lock up for the holiday, I noticed a rustle in the small snowdrift outside my shop.”

    Veronica Fischer has a passion for telling stories. Living and working in Las Vegas in the world of fundraising, her storytelling skills are used to help spread the message about the importance of giving back to her community. In her spare time, she enjoys writing for younger audiences and published her debut children’s book, Oscar’s Christmas Wish, that took home a Chanticleer Blue Ribbon.

    How to Listen to these Stories on your Alex-enabled device?

    It’s easy peasy!

    To experience this box of conversational stories, make sure to enable the skill by saying “Alexa, enable My Box of Chocolates.”

    After you enable the skill on your device, you can simply ask Alexa to “Open My Box of Chocolates” whenever you have time to relax and enjoy a bite-sized story.

    Any Alexa-enabled device will work, including Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, free Alexa App, Fire Tablet, and Fire TV. The stories are also great to share with friends and to listen to with the kids!

    What’s New at Tellables?

    In this assortment, Tellables is excited to present Alexa’s brand new storytelling voice. The team at Amazon has very recently released several new speaking “styles” for Alexa, and we’ve found the new “music / DJ” style to work very well for storytelling. Give the stories a listen and let us know what you think!  

    What’s New at Chanticleer? 

    Paul Cutsinger, Head of Amazon Alexa Code Labs, will present sessions and keynote at the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference. 

    • Why Voice Enabled Technology is Here to Stay 
    • The Publishing Industry and Voice Technology
    • StoryTelling and Voice Technology
    • Audiobooks and Voice

    Amazon Alexa and Voice Assistants – Why You May Want to Give It a Chance

    We often hear authors say they don’t have a smart speaker and they don’t trust them. We understand. But smart speakers and voice assistants are growing tremendously popular. Now’s the time to begin experimenting with the possibilities.
    You might have access to an Alexa-enabled device and not even know it. Alexa isn’t only available on an Echo, Echo Dot, or Echo Show. You can access the Alexa voice assistant from most newer model Kindle Fire tablets, from your Fire TV, and from the Amazon Alexa or Amazon Shopping mobile app. The common requirement is that you need to be logged in with an Amazon account.

    There are more than 100 million Alexa devices in use and that number is growing daily.

    The future of publishing is in Voice-Enabled Technology! Voice-driven content is the New Media Publishing World.

    And Tellables will be joining us at CAC20 and teach sessions on voice-driven content! 

    And, yes, I am a proud Mother Hen! – Kiffer, Head Hen at Chanticleer Reviews & Media.

    The next Tellables’ Writing Contest will be announced after New Year’s Day on Chanticleer’s website as soon as we know the deadline and topic. So, stay tuned!

    This is a great and fun way to experiment and learn about this leading-edge technology – and win some cash-ola too! 

    As always, please contact us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com with any questions or concerns or, more importantly, suggestions. We would love to hear from you!

     

  • CASH PRIZES $$$ for HOLIDAY 560 words MAX – WRITING CONTEST with TELLABLES on Amazon’s Alexa

    CASH PRIZES $$$ for HOLIDAY 560 words MAX – WRITING CONTEST with TELLABLES on Amazon’s Alexa

    Tellables is accepting stories with a HOLIDAY theme for any holiday occurring between November and January 1st in any country!

     

    The WINNING HOLIDAY DOUBLE CHOCOLATE STORIES will be published on Amazon’s ALEXA and will receive CASH prizes! There is NO entry fee.

    Tellables is seeking individual chocolate stories on their My Box of Chocolates voice app.

    My Box of Chocolates voice app pairs delicious virtual chocolates with bite-sized stories.

    The stories in the My Box of Chocolates voice experience run less than two minutes. Each one is narrated by an imaginary chocolatier, using a synthetic text-to-speech voice (not human recordings). The storylines generally revolve around interesting or humorous occurrences involving the customers in the chocolate shop.

    Conversational Stories – a new voice-driven platform in story telling.

    The stories Tellables publishes in their voice app are not “audio stories.” They are “conversational.” What’s special about these stories?

    Conversational Storytelling is made possible by platforms such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. The underlying technology allows a storyteller to pose questions to the listener and understand the listener’s spoken response. For us, conversational stories are spoken narratives where the narrator interacts directly with the listener. This interaction can take many forms, but it generally involves drawing the listener into a conversation by asking a question related to the story.

    See Tellables’ blog post on What’s a Conversational Story? for more details.

    Now, finally, on to the Holiday writing contest!

    We are excited to announce the Tellables Holiday writing contest. As with their Halloween Writing Contest, they are looking for stories they can publish on their “My Box of Chocolates” voice/audio experience on Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant’s Okay Google app.

    Here is a link to the Chanticleer authors who won the Halloween contest for micro-stories https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/10/30/tellables-voice-driven-stories-selects-4-chanticleerian-authors-for-spooky-halloween-micro-stories/

    And Tellables is offering CASH prizes. 

    The individual chocolate stories Tellables publishes in their voice app are “bite-sized,” with a maximum of 280 words. Sometimes, however, they publish stories in two parts. Part 1 and Part 2 are each represented in our virtual chocolate assortment by two pieces of the same type of candy. The listener needs to hear both candies in order to get the full story.

    For the Holiday Writing Contest, Tellables is looking for two-part stories. Each part (piece!) should have a maximum of 280 words. Visit the Tellables’ website for more information and to enter! http://tellables.com/blog/

    Voice technology offers new and exciting opportunities for storytellers and readers. Passive listening is no longer the only option. Now two-way communication between the storyteller and listener is possible. 

    This is a great opportunity to dip your toes into the emerging world of voice technology!

    A little bit more information about the Emerging Voice-Driven Devices and the Opportunities They Offer for Writers

    Voice assistants like Amazon Alexa are equipped with powerful speech recognition and language understanding. We leverage these technologies to help authors and storytellers engage audiences in new and exciting ways.

    While it’s still early days for voice technology, sales continue to grow for both the Amazon Echo and the Google Assistant line of smart speakers and smart displays. Consumers seem unfazed by media reports of privacy infringements, so it appears these devices are here to stay.

    Here is an article with 22 Takeaways for Authors from the Silicon Valley Annual Internet Trends Report – Kiffer Brown

    Voice technology offers new and exciting opportunities for storytellers and readers. Passive listening is no longer the only option. Now two-way communication between the storyteller and listener is possible. 

    Tellables has created a platform for “conversational storytelling,” where brief stories are followed by interactive questions. This two-way communication draws the listener more deeply into the story.

    I met Amy Stapleton, the CEO of Tellables, at the 2019 Digital Book World that took place in Nashville, Tenn. The Tellables’ exhibitor booth was adjacent to ours so we met and chatted. When she informed me about their contest for content, I knew that it would be a perfect opportunity for some Chanticleerians to experiment with Voice technology. So without further ado…

    VOICE-DRIVEN CONVERSATIONAL STORIES FOR TALKING DEVICES

    For those of you who are not familiar with the Digital Book World conference, it is mainly a business-to-business conference that specializes in content distribution and platforms that include books, ebooks, digital books, audiobooks, podcasts, audiovisual delivery, blockchain, voice, and other media delivery systems.

    And since Chanticleer prides itself on expanding the digital footprint of the authors who use our services, we’ve found DBW to be indispensable for keeping us updated on the latest in publishing technologies so we may inform you, dear writer and reader.

    “Publishing is at the epicenter of digital disruption.” Paul Michelman, MIT & MIT Sloan

    As always, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions. Or leave a comment below.