Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: LGBTQ+ Books

The Colorful History of the Rainbow Flag; Celebrating Pride Month and LGBTQ+ Writers with Chanticleer

Pride Month is back, and it’s time to celebrate the beautiful diversity of the people of the LGBTQ+ community!

Over the last few decades, the LGBTQ+ community has made significant progress in legitimizing their cultural significance in the literary world. A 2022 report from NPD BookScan shows that print book sales of U.S. LGBTQ+ fiction are continuing to surge in the adult, children’s, and YA categories, and in 2021, sales reached 5 million units, more than double than in 2020!

There is no question that representation of the LGBTQ+ community is a vital asset to the writing community, and we want to celebrate their contributions by examining one of their most notable symbols; the rainbow flag!

The original 1978 Pride Flag as designed by Gilbert Baker.

The LGBTQ+ Rainbow Flag

In 1978, gay rights activist Harvey Milk asked Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and a drag queen, to design a symbol of pride for the gay community to promote their cause and have a unifying symbol for the many diverse cultures that are part of the LGBTQ+ community.

When asked later in an interview, Baker said, “Our job as gay people was to come out, to be visible, to live in the truth, as I say, to get out of the lie. A flag really fit that mission, because that’s a way of proclaiming your visibility or saying, ‘This is who I am!’” Viewing rainbows as natural flags found in the sky, he adopted eight colors for the stripes, with each color representing a specific aspect of gay life; pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit.

The most recent version of the Intersex Equality Rights pride flag, as designed by Valentine Vecchietti.

Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag

After a number of redesigns, a new flag was commissioned in 2021 to fully represent the growing diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. Called the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag, it was created by Valentino Vecchietti of the UK’s Intersex Equality Rights organization and is now universally recognized as the flag that represents the larger LGBTQ+ community.

The new flag was designed to represent the many groups of people fighting for inclusivity within their community, incorporating the original colors of the pride flag and adding six more colors. Along with the original six colors, it now sports a chevron with colors to represent the marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of color, HIV/AIDS patients, and trans and non-binary persons. A purple circle on a yellow background is representative of the belief that all people, regardless of sexual orientation, are unbroken, whole, and have the right to make decisions about their own bodies.

The evolution of the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag is a visual record of the gay pride movement as well as the community’s growing diversity and its goal of inclusivity. We salute all those who fight for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and wish them a great Pride Week as they celebrate the advances they’ve made in being seen!

The LGBTQ+ writing community is thriving in 2024, and Chanticleer is proud of the many great authors we get to work with throughout the year!

We invite you to take a look at the work of just a few of the amazing authors we’ve worked with and their writing that touches on the LGBTQ+ community!

ABOMINATION CHILD
By Erika Shepard

Abomination Child is a coming-of-age novel, a piece of historical fiction, and a lesson to us all. Erika Shepard tells the story of Brianna, a young girl growing up in Missouri during the 1960s, struggling to be accepted.

Within her community, Brianna is seen on the outside as a boy, and everyone knows her as Brian. She confides in her older sister Liz, who supports her and helps her face a world that doesn’t understand. Spanning many years, Abomination Child follows Brianna’s journey of survival, hoping that one day she’ll be able to live freely as herself.

Brianna’s – known then as Brian – troubles start after his father learns that he dressed in girl’s clothes at a school Halloween dance. Deeply conservative and religious, Brian’s father hits him for what he believes is an abominable perversion caused by the Devil. For Brian, it’s as simple as knowing he is really a girl, a girl named Brianna.

Continue Reading here…

SHE HAD BEEN A TOMBOY
By Sandra Bowman

She Had Been a Tomboy: Raising a Transgender Child, a Mother’s Journey by Sandra Bowman is a deeply revealing memoir about a protective mother who watches her sensitive child grow into someone who is familiar, yet new.

This moving narrative tells the story of her two children: how they were born and how they grew. She Had Been a Tomboy hops from one period of the children’s lives to another, showing how the elder child matures and how the female within slowly blooms into being, little by little revealing herself.

But the long journey to realization and understanding of self was not easy, nor was it gentle.

Continue Reading here…

THE MOONSTONE GIRLS
By Brooke Skipstone

In The Moonstone Girls, award-winning author Brooke Skipstone unravels a story about seventeen-year-old Tracy Franks. Tracy has a secret that in 1968 could have deadly consequences. You see, Tracy is gay.

In her hometown of San Antonio, Tracy is forced to hide behind the “girl next door” facade, never allowing her true identity to emerge. Her only confidante is her brother, Spencer. He understands her turmoil exactly because Spencer is also gay.

Neither teenager feels free to talk about their true feelings with their family, especially their father, Art. Art constantly scolds his son for his feminine behavior, his desire to become a pianist instead of joining the military. Though he also shows his displeasure with Tracy, she, unlike her brother, fights back, but only in the privacy of their home.

Continue Reading here…

WALTZING A TWO-STEP
By Dan Juday

Dan Juday’s memoir Waltzing A Two-Step is a humble and compassionate look at his formative years.

Born a few years after the second world war, Dan experiences a peaceful and happy childhood in rural Indiana, moving frequently before the family settles on a rural area of land named Springwood in Clinton County, Indiana. The Juday family were devout Catholics and enrolled Dan and his siblings in Catholic schools until the family moved to Springwood. Public school became the only option for the siblings. There Dan does his best to fit in but his status as a minority Catholic in a mostly Protestant community in the 1950s brings its own challenges.

For Dan, his struggles don’t stop there.

Continue Reading here…

UNANIMITY: Spiral Worlds Book 1
By Alexandra Almeida

Alexandra Almeida probes the philosophical and ethical depths of wealth, technology, pop culture, and religion in a world ravaged by global warming through her sci-fi adventure,Unanimity: Spiral Worlds #1.

Readers will delight in the gradual reveal of both the technology within the story and the dramatic history between many of those involved with the creation and evolution of that technology.

Tom, a screenwriter, works with Harry, the genius inventor of the world’s most popular AI (artificial intelligence) app, to create a simulation that will nudge people toward acting morally.

Continue Reading here…

UNSIGHTLY BULGES (A Trailer Park Princess Cozy Mystery, Book 2)
By Kim Hunt Harris

Salem Grimes has a lot of goals – lose more weight than her friend Trisha, find a dress for the upcoming date she doesn’t really want to go on, and keep her dog, Stump, from throwing up on the kitchen floor. Unfortunately, solving a murder (again) isn’t on her to-do list, but Salem is thrown into another mystery completely against her will when she sees a body in a Sonic dumpster.

When her BFF Viv, an 80-ish firecracker of a woman with a penchant for expensive shoes, hears about it, she can’t wait to get started cracking the case. After all, she and Viv have already solved one mystery, and Viv is convinced their unofficial PI firm, Discreet Investigations, can find the murderer. But the ladies quickly realize they have their work cut out for them when the victim is identified as CJ Hardin, golden boy physician and local Hope for Homes organizer who recently “came out” in a very public way and stirred up a huge controversy in Lubbock, Texas.

Controversy and theories swirl since CJ was thought to have run off days earlier with the $200K in funds from a recent Hope for Homes fundraising effort. When the murder is labeled a hate crime, Salem, Viv, and their newest partner Dale find themselves in some scary situations, including an altercation with Rambo the fighting rooster. Between being laughed at by one hot police detective she’s had crushed on since fourth grade, fighting her urge to drink herself “cool” in order to keep from throat-punching Dale, Salem has to find a killer before the community implodes.

Continue Reading here…

We would like to wish all the people of the LGBTQ+ community, and those who love and care for them, a very Happy Pride Week!

Thank you for joining us in celebrating the people of the LGBTQ+ community!

Do you have a LGBTQ+ themed 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.

Have 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 the LGTBQ+ people around the world! You are so loved and appreciated!

June 30, 2024
SHE HAD BEEN A TOMBOY: Raising a Transgender Child, a Mother’s Journey by Sandra Bowman – Family Memoirs, Parenting, LGBTQ+

She Had Been a Tomboy: Raising a Transgender Child, a Mother’s Journey by Sandra Bowman is a deeply revealing memoir about a protective mother who watches her sensitive child grow into someone who is familiar, yet new.

This moving narrative tells the story of her two children: how they were born and how they grew. She Had Been a Tomboy hops from one period of the children’s lives to another, showing how the elder child matures and how the female within slowly blooms into being, little by little revealing herself.

But the long journey to realization and understanding of self was not easy, nor was it gentle.

There were numerous hurdles to be crossed, not only for the transgender girl, then young woman, but the rest of her family.

Author Bowman writes about the challenges for the younger child as well, who feels overlooked so often as his older sibling takes precedence. He overachieves in order to make up for the pains suffered by his parents, such as his father’s frequent work-driven absences that leave his mother, the narrator, isolated and struggling.

“Robert flies here, he travels there. He works hard. I am alone.”

Once they learn to work together, the family struggles to understand how they can help both children.

They wrestle with emotional highs and lows, including those of the mother-narrator herself.

“I hurt profoundly. Again I cry. I sit and I stare. At absolutely nothing.”

Despite going through so many trials, the daughter slowly grows to understand herself and her role in the world.

“Because again, she must raise herself up. … She will raise herself, by herself … she will get herself to a state of autonomy.”

As her daughter matures and eventually flourishes, the mother-narrator slowly adjusts to her new reality, as do the father and the younger child, learning about themselves, the world, and their family.

Author Bowman’s highly stylized writing flows, serving the story she tells of her daughter’s coming-of-age. The reader empathizes with the family’s effort to grow.

Overall, Bowman’s memoir about her transgender daughter is an emotional, forceful tale about discovery, illumination, and eventual understanding.

November 28, 2022
Get Lit for Spooky Season! The Latest Halloween Reads from Chanticleer

Don’t be Scared of the Dark

Some say Yorick’s skull still rests on his TBR

Unless you need to be…

Fear often tells us where to use caution, to play it safe, and how to know what’s best. Our favorite way to get a scare is from the books we love to read.

What are the Spookiest Genres?

Knock knock…it’s the villain from the last book you read

Well, there can be plenty of honest debate on the subject. For us, we often find the Paranormal, Suspense, and High Stakes Thrillers are the creepiest stories.

And we can’t forget Southern Gothic—shudders and chills even in a hothouse environment! More on that tomorrow on All Hallows Eve!

Leading the pack is the modern masterpiece Dracul by J.D. Barker and Dacre Stoker featuring vampires including Dracul himself. Dracul is everything horror can and should be. It doesn’t rely on gore, but rather captivating storytelling; and yet, the terror and intrigue are unrelenting.

Of course, we’ve said before that the reasons we like to be scared range anywhere from wanting that rush of dopamine that fright can offer, to better understanding the terrors of modern-day society. What better way to do that than reading some hair-raising literature?

Recommended Reads to Scare you and Make you Think from Chanticleer!

Starting off strong, we have In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni.

First Place Winner of the Shorts Awards, the art in this is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, but the focus is much more on depression and anxiety, two of the most difficult things for us to confront in the world.

In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni is a memoir in graphic novel form, a thoughtful and gentle story about a young girl struggling with mental health issues, and learning how to keep them at bay as she grows up.

What if Alice’s adventures in the strange and fabulous Wonderland were the result of a mental health crisis instead of a story? In the Underwood draws metaphors inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and evokes the mood of Robert Frost’s classic poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Author Spadoni relates with a simple narrative and delicate art style how as a child she was prone to severe bouts of anxiety, leading to her crying uncontrollably in her classes and avoiding other children in social situations. Now that can be scary!

Next, we have The Insane God by Jay Hartlove.

A current Short Lister for the 2022 Cygnus Awards, Hartlove’s tale follows a trans woman’s experience fighting the eldritch beings of H.P. Lovecraft. The cover makes it clear! This book will give you the tingles! A great book for social commentary.

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.

The Insane God touches on topics such as mental illness, mental health, gender identity, and racism.

A little closer to home, we have Past This Point by Nicole Mabry

This Global Thriller First Place Winner was actually written before the COVID-19 pandemic, with eerie echoes into the future of a pandemic apocalypse that focuses on one woman’s mission to reunite with her family.

Nicole Mabry draws from her own life, the impact of a deadly snowstorm, and the subsequent shutting down of the subways to create Past This Point, an action-packed dystopian novel featuring a strong woman who seeks a way out of a world gone mad.

Karis Hylen is working in New York City a massive snowstorm shuts down the city. A total quarantine of the city becomes quarantine for half of the nation.

Last, but not least, we have a classic psychological thriller in The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens

This suspenseful novel took home a Clue First Place Win for its intricate story where the killer and detective are already acquainted.

The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens centers on a game of cat and mouse, made sinister and horrifying by the intricate plots of a murderer.

When L.A. Police Detective Gabriel McRay arrests serial killer Victor Archwood, known as the Malibu Canyon Murderer, he has no idea that the killer has some serious vengeful plans directly involving him. Archwood is a most clever, resourceful “mouse” who confounds McRay, the Los Angeles Police department, the L.A. district attorney, and an entire jury through skillful lawyering and a commanding interpretation of the evidence. Despite what appears to be an airtight case against a mass murderer, a jury finds him not guilty.

Got a Spooky Read? Submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Today!

2022 CIBA DEADLINES FOR OCT 31
OZMA – Fantasy Fiction
Global Thrillers – High Stakes & Lab Lit
Paranormal – Supernatural Fiction

The only thing scarier is not entering!

Chanticleer Editorial Services – when you are ready

Did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services? We do and have been doing so since 2011.

Tools of the Editing Trade

Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).

If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.

We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis. Contact us today!

Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.

A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service. Here are some handy links about this tried and true service: https://test.chantireviews.com/manuscript-reviews/

And we do editorial consultations. for $75. https://test.chantireviews.com/services/Editorial-Services-p85337185

October 30, 2022
THE MOONSTONE GIRLS by Brooke Skipstone – Young Adult, LGBTQ+ Literature, Coming of Age

In The Moonstone Girls, award-winning author Brooke Skipstone unravels a story about seventeen-year-old Tracy Franks. Tracy has a secret that in 1968 could have deadly consequences. You see, Tracy is gay.

In her hometown of San Antonio, Tracy is forced to hide behind the “girl next door” facade, never allowing her true identity to emerge. Her only confidante is her brother, Spencer. He understands her turmoil exactly because Spencer is also gay.

Neither teenager feels free to talk about their true feelings with their family, especially their father, Art. Art constantly scolds his son for his feminine behavior, his desire to become a pianist instead of joining the military. Though he also shows his displeasure with Tracy, she, unlike her brother, fights back, but only in the privacy of their home.

Tracy keeps her secret from everyone–until the night she is kissed by her friend Ava at a party.

Ava and Tracy decide their relationship is worth exploring, but the two must do so in secrecy, and Tracy decides to pass as a boy whenever she and Ava go out in public. However, their charade is soon discovered, and Tracy’s life becomes a great deal more complicated.

Before long, Tracy will make decisions that will be life-changing and impact her entire family.

The uplifting theme of perseverance in this coming-of-age novel is a treasure. Tracy’s astounding bravery comes from wisdom beyond her seventeen years. She wields immense courage against every challenge, even though she sometimes doubts her abilities.

When Tracy can no longer play on the girls’ basketball team, she immediately plans to join the boys. Despite her frequent and painful injuries, she overcomes and, more importantly, never complains. She refuses to allow the stereotypical beliefs about the mental and physical limitations of her gender stop her dreams and ambitions.

Later, when Tracy plans a solo trip to Alaska, she buckles down and does what she must to reach her destination, a destination that also shapes who she truly is.

This emotional flexibility strengthens her character. Tracy “goes with the flow,” never allowing obstacles to remain obstacles. She chooses instead to make these stumbling blocks into life lessons that pair nicely with her already indestructible self-will.

Tracy and Spencer’s relationship juxtaposes them, in heartwarming and heartbreaking ways.

The two have much in common, but their differences become even more defining. Tracy stays strong under their father’s cruelty. At eighteen, the older of the two, has aspirations of Juilliard. Playing is the only time he feels secure and accomplished.

Their father’s harsh criticism weighs heavily on Spencer in a way only a parent’s disappointment can. To please his father, he must deny his self. Unlike his formidable sister, Spencer cares about his father’s approval. He will go to extreme lengths to chase Art’s blessing. He might even disregard his dreams and give up his chance at real love to please a man who refuses to acknowledge reality.

Though Tracy admits feeling awkward in her own skin, she never allows that to impede her desires. Especially when her father pushes her toward a lifestyle she can never maintain.

The Moonstone Girls reveals the innumerable difficulties faced by young gay people, male and female, in our society today – and in the past. By witnessing these two young people – so diverse in their coping mechanisms – allows readers to understand more deeply the struggles towards authenticity that many in the LGBTQ+ community share.

December 27, 2021
The CONSCIOUS VIRUS: An Aedgar Wisdom novel by Miki Mitayn – Native American Literature, Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction, Magic Realism Fiction

Dr. Nerida Green travels across Australia, tending to struggling communities and connecting with her wife Mari – as well as the three spirits who Mari channels through her body, in Miki Mitayn’s climate-fiction novel The Conscious Virus: An Aedgar Wisdom Novel.

Nerida works sporadic jobs as a doctor, from the mining community of Newman to the small town of Fitzroy Crossing, and back east to a disappointing stint at a naturopathy clinic in Byron Bay. Between her working hours, Nerida speaks with M’Hoq Toq, the Native American medicine man, Bartgrinn the Celtic druid, and Aedgar, an ancient being of the Earth. Nerida asks the spirits for their opinions on topics as broad as climate change and as narrow as her personal matters, engaging them in deep conversation.

While Nerida and Mari travel, the Coronavirus makes its appearance on the world stage, and shortly after that, Australia. Nerida manages to find them a safe place to live through quarantine, but her role as a doctor weighs heavily on her as the pandemic picks up steam. She turns to the advice of her ephemeral friends, who at once soothe her heart and spark her worries.

The Conscious Virus tackles current global issues, both through Nerida’s personal experience and the wisdom of the spirits.

Climate Change hurts the vulnerable people whom Nerida cares for, and as the spirits tell her, disrupts the natural systems and energies of the planet. Covid-19 spreads amongst people who are profoundly unprepared for a pandemic, while the entities try to communicate the metaphysical nature of the pandemic.

All three spirits have distinct voices, filling their conversations with personality and the unique word-choice of people who haven’t walked the Earth in centuries. Their beliefs mesh with Nerida’s as often as they clash. She connects with them through their philosophy and deep thoughts on the world, but she struggles to understand their often very unscientific perspectives. How much of what they say is metaphorical, and how much is literal? Will Nerida side with the wisdom of the spirits or with the research and knowledge of her peers?

Between Nerida’s lengthy conversations with the spirits, she and Mari experience the beauty and difficulties of the material world. Mitayn paints Australia with beautiful descriptions, full of color and heat and smells. The world becomes tangible as Nerida walks and drives through it. Her life with Mari is a grounded and realistic one, concerned with whether the air conditioning will keep working, how they’re going to find a place to stay along their travels, and how they should treat each other to maintain a relationship of love and respect. They meet and reconnect with many interesting people, creating a collection of vignettes across their journey.

This story explores many facets of the modern world and its struggles.

The lives and work of Aboriginal people often take center stage, as Nerida – an Aboriginal woman herself – understands the unique challenges they face. Nerida, Mari, and the spirits tell an engaging and deeply thoughtful story about LGBT+ identity, racist systems, and how entire groups of people are pushed down by the interests of the rich and powerful. Mitayn takes none of these issues lightly but instead gives them the time and consideration that they deserve.

Jumping between past, present, and future, The Conscious Virus creates not just a compelling image of the modern world – but also of how the future might play out depending on whether people face their trials with wisdom and compassion – or something so pointless as greed.

September 27, 2021
OPHELIA’S ROOM by Michael Scott Garvin – Literature & Thriller, LGBTQ+ Books, Suspense Thrillers

Ophelia’s Room by Michael Scott Garvin begins with a bang – and a child’s whimper.

A frantic, distraught father pounds on a bolted chapel door in a small country hospital…. A tiny, two-day-old infant cries in peril…. A deranged grandfather sees demons in every shadowy corner.

The opening scene read like something out of a young parent’s nightmare. Will their child be healthy? Will they grow up to be successful? Will the child be safe in their grandparents’ arms? Questions that any new mother and father ask themselves. In Garvin’s Ophelia’s Room, the answers are terrifying.

An ominous heaviness looms over this atmospheric psychological thriller, pulling readers along until the novel’s storm-wracked climax.

Welcome to 1969, Parsons, Kansas – a conservative backwater middle-American town skeptically views the changes in the outside world – an ongoing Vietnam conflict, a battle for civil rights, and women’s liberation – as the deviant workings of the devil infecting America.

The Mulls’ family tragedy expands well beyond the child’s monstrous murder when the townsfolk come to blame the baby’s death on her young mother, Delia. Rumors spread that the devil is living among them – and the suffering mother invited the evil entity into their town.

Ophelia’s Room burns throughout with suspense and trepidation. Michael Scott Garvin’s psychological thriller depicts the foreboding sense that a similar fate could happen to anyone – in any town, on any day. This in-depth character study slowly peels back the brittle surfaces of the novel’s cast of Parsons locals.

From one perspective, Ophelia’s Room reads like a recital of small-town life with its sense of camaraderie and community and, occasionally, petty, gossiping meanness as people move through the mundane motions of everyday living. Only in Garvin’s Parsons, Kansas, dread creeps through every turn of the page like some suspenseful Hitchcock film.

Two characters dwell in the heart of the story: the infant’s mother, Delia – and her troubled father, Lloyd Hudson – a convicted murderer imprisoned down the highway at the Kansas State Penitentiary.

As the story begins, Delia emerges from a deep trough of grief to discover that her friends and neighbors align with fear and religiosity instead of compassion. She struggles with the knowledge that her life will never be the same.

All the while, her father remains imprisoned. A compliant, God-fearing man, Lloyd preaches the gospel to his fellow inmates. But underneath his calm exterior, demons haunt him. To survive, Lloyd must take murderous steps to exorcise them. The struggle between the man’s better angels and his haunting demons lays the battle lines of this horrific tale. Pity the poor souls caught in his path.

Beware – Read with care and keep the lights on. You’ll need them!

Ophelia’s Room by Michael Scott Garvin is in the running for the Short List in the CIBA 2021 Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards.

September 15, 2021