Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: OZMA Book Awards

The 2023 Ozma Book Awards Long List for Fantasy Fiction
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. These books have advanced to the Long List in the 2023 CIBAs OZMA division.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2023 Ozma Fantasy Fiction entries to the 2023 Ozma Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Ozma Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the FINALIST positions. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners winners will be selected from the CIBA Finalists. Grand Prize Winners will be chosen from the First Place Winners.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2023 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.

The 2023 OZMA Long Listers!
- Derek Wachter – Crete
- Ben G. Price – Ogden
- Leisl Kaberry – Titanian Awakenings: Shadow of Darkness
- Jenn Lees – The Quest: Arlan’s Pledge Book Two
- Philip Carlisle – Surviving Eros Book II
- Kathleen Stone – Heatherstone
- Nicholas Varner – Seasons of the Blue Pearl
- Tim Facciola – A Vengeful Realm: Book One: The Scales of Balance
- L.R. Braden – Of Mettle and Magic
- A.S. Norris – The Wayward Mage: The Adventures of Jack Wartnose
- A.S. Norris – The Forbearing Mage: The Adventures of Jack Wartnose
- Lilla Glass – The Unseen
- Ross Hightower – Argren Blue
- John Diaz – Rogues of the Crosslands: Azoria’s Blade
- Amber Kirkpatrick – Unleashed
- Amber Kirkpatrick – Until the Rising
- Charles Allen – The Order of the Red God
- Jaime Castle & Andy Peloquin – Black Talon
- Crystal D. Grant – Shadowcast
- Ekta R. Garg – In the Heart of the Linden Wood
- L.L. Gray – Shadows and Relics
- Richard C. Brusca – The Time Travelers
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Sahon
- D. K. Willis – The Unexpected
- Celaine Charles – Seam Keepers
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- D.A Mucci – Ignatius and the Battle at Dinas Affaraon
- David V. Mammina – The Angels of Resistance
- Dale Griffin – The Last Lion of Karkov
- Jonathan Uffelman – Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers
- PM Black – The Solar Realm – Silver Slayer
- K.M.Messina – Gemja – The Message
- Omayra Vélez – Ultima Skylar
- PJ Devlin – The Chamber
- Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The Kingdom of Trolls
- L. Ryan Storms – Temper the Dark
- Alex B. Harper – Of Light and Nightmares: The Ashes of Magic Trilogy, Volume I
- S.G. Blaise – Proud Pada
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB 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 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 to the next rounds of judging.

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

Soar a Burning Sky

By Steven Michael Beck

The 2023 OZMA Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 20, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2024 OZMA Book Awards are open until the end of July. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

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!
August 8, 2023
Grab your sword and join the adventure! The Ozma Fantasy Awards are Sizzling this Summer!

Fall into a New Realm with us!

Run, walk, or crawl to submit to the Ozma Fantasy Book Awards

Coroline entering the Other Mother’s domain in the movie based on Neil Gaiman’s book.

**Adventure is calling! Don’t miss out!**

Unleash the magic and send us your manuscript by July 31 to enter the 2023 CIBAs!

Fantasy Fiction July 31

Fantasy Fiction presents a reflection of the world as we see it, showing us the undercurrents of power that surround us all. At Chanticleer, we seek to take up the quest and discover the magic in your classic fantasy, steampunk stories, urban tales, and your fairy tales and legends.

Let’s take a look at the Hall of Fame for Grand Prize Winners of the Ozma Awards

SOAR A BURNING SKY
By Steven Michael Beck
A Manuscript

Earth is linked in a symbiotic relationship with its spirit twin, a hidden utopia called Eonthera. But as the paradise begins to inherit the harsh realities of Earth’s drastic climate change, Eonthera urges action – before both realms collapse, in Steven Michael Beck’s Soar a Burning Sky.

What if there was an “earthly paradise”, a mirror of Earth – a terratopia that is an awe-inspiring existential representation of how amazing planet Earth could be? This fantasy fiction presents a synergic relationship between Earth and this soul, as together they sustain the Ticking – a heartbeat that nurtures both. But as Clayton Cramer puts it, “Abandon all thoughts of Utopia – humans are involved.”

As a result of the two realms’ mutual existence, one’s failing health accounts for the fall of the other. The soul of Earth, Eonthera, is collapsing. It is plain that the enemy is ignorance, primarily Earth’s, and with this knowledge comes the recruitment of the four unlikely Earthly warriors to aid the two realms before they fall from a burning sky.

This book is still in development and the review is subject to change, but you can learn more about Steven Michael Beck here.

Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846
by Laurel Anne Hill

Sixteen-year-old Catalina Delgado’s hopes of marrying her love are troubled by strange, unnatural dangers, in Laurel Anne Hill’s novel, Plague of Flies.

Like every dutiful daughter in 1846, Catalina worries about her reputation. However, she must also gain the approval of Ángelo Ortega’s family. Unfortunately, when three strangers ride onto her family’s small ranch in Alta California, she knows that more than her dreams are at risk. Alta California has just been invaded by the men of the Bear Flag, and Catalina fears what will become of her homeland now that it has been claimed by the Yankees. The nearby ranch owned by the valiant General Vallejo has been raided, owners and their servants terrorized and held captive. Plus Bear Flaggers have murdered additional friends of Catalina’s family on a beach.

In connection with the recent killings, the three strangers are harbingers of a dire prophecy repeated to Catalina by a dying vaquero. Catalina is destined to be carried off by a spirit man riding a black Andalusian stallion. She will be tasked to do the bidding of Coyote, a trickster spirit who is trying to stop the advancement of the Bear Flaggers. Catalina grapples with her uncertainty and disbelief, but she desperately wants to save her family. When Spirit Man appears to her, she must ask herself how far she is willing to go to keep her loved ones alive.

Read more here!

DIVINITY’S TWILIGHT: Rebirth
By Christopher Russell

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell is the opening of a High Fantasy epic about the rise and fall of vast empires.

The story grows from unfinished business between three brothers gifted with magic and power but chose different paths to achieve safety and security for themselves and the people who followed them.

These different paths culminated in a battle where the fate of their world is balanced precariously on a knife’s edge. Darmatus and Rabban are engaged in a war to the death with their oldest brother Sarcon. Sarcon believes the road to that safety lies in power alone, that the only way to be secure is to crush all his enemies, no matter how heinous the deeds required.

Read more here.

Manufactured Witches
By Michelle Rene

Sixteen-year-old Nat is a boxcar kid. It’s the Dust Bowl era, and Nat has lost everything: his grandmother, his family home, and a sense of belonging. He hops trains across Texas in search of a place for himself amid so much loss. Outside of Amarillo, Nat feels a peculiar sensation, a tug from destiny, that pulls him toward the small town of Tanglewood. However, instead of finding a job and some much-needed food, he discovers Polly Jones, a teenager like himself, chained to a post with a sign above her reading, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch.”

Nat can’t bring himself to abandon her to the small-minded, fearful townsfolk and immediately becomes her protector until the arrival of Camille Renoir Lavendou, a local woman who operates Miss Camille’s Home for Wayward Children. No one dares stop Camille from releasing Polly and taking both teens with her because Camille is reputed to be in the “witchin’ business” herself. Nat’s excitement at the prospect of food and a place to stay quickly turns to disbelief and wariness when he steps inside Camille’s sanctuary. What he thought was a ploy on Camille’s part to keep the nosey townsfolk at bay doesn’t seem to be a trick at all when he meets those who are under Camille’s care.

When Polly, too, begins to exhibit extraordinary abilities, Nat begins to feel like an outsider. Despite his limitations, Nat’s intense loyalty quickly leads him into a much more dangerous situation, where his very life may lay in the balance.

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 Ozma Winners is to submit today!

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

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

July 6, 2023
The OZMA 2022 CIBA WINNERS for Fantasy Fiction
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction.

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Laurel Anne Hill on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2022 LIST of the OZMA BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the OZMA Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- C. D. Allen – Seagrass Maggie
- Linnea Tanner – Skull’s Vengeance
- Steven Michael Beck – Soar a Burning Sky
- K.L. Kolarich – House of Bastiion
- J. L. Sullivan – From Brick & Darkness
- K.C. Cowan – Raeka’s Story
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 OZMA Awards is:

Soar a Burning Sky

By Steven Michael Beck

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.

To ALL the WINNERS: You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

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 2022 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

The Chanticleer Team
May 8, 2023
The 2022 Ozma CIBAs FINALISTS for Fantasy Fiction
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. These books have advanced to the Long List in the 2022 CIBAs OZMA division.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Ozma Fantasy Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2022 Ozma Book Awards FINALISTS. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

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 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the First Place and Grand Prize Winners of the 2022 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Linnea Tanner – Skull’s Vengeance
- Eva Doherty Gremmert – The Fairy Fort
- Philip Carlisle – Surviving Eros
- Glen Dahlgren – The House of Prophecy (the Chronicles of Chaos book 2)
- KC Cowan – Raeka’s Story
- J. L. Sullivan – From Brick & Darkness
- M. K. Wiseman – Magical Intelligence
- K.L. Kolarich – House of Bastiion
- Stavros Saristavros – Tome of Styx
- Steven Michael Beck – Soar a Burning Sky
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight
- Helen Garraway – Sentinals Across Time
- J.L. Delavega – Smoke and Other Storms
- S.G. Blaise – The Last Lumenian
- Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle – Cold as Hell
- C.D. Allen – Seagrass Maggie
- Grayson W. Hooper – Shadebringer
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.

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 to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 OZMA Awards is:

Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846

by Laurel Anne Hill

The 2022 OZMA Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 11-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 OZMA Book Awards are open until the end of October. Enter here!

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
February 24, 2023
The 2022 CIBAs Semi-Finalists for Ozma Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. These books have advanced to the Long List in the 2022 CIBAs OZMA division.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Ozma Fantasy Fiction Short List to the 2022 Ozma Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

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 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2022 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Linnea Tanner – Skull’s Vengeance
- Eva Doherty Gremmert – The Fairy Fort
- David Bush – General Jack and the Battle of the Five Kingdoms
- Philip Carlisle – Surviving Eros
- Glen Dahlgren – The House of Prophecy (the Chronicles of Chaos book 2)
- KC Cowan – Raeka’s Story
- J. L. Sullivan – From Brick & Darkness
- M. K. Wiseman – Magical Intelligence
- D. K. Marley – Kingfisher
- K.L. Kolarich – House of Bastiion
- Stavros Saristavros – Tome of Syyx
- Steven Michael Beck – Soar a Burning Sky
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight
- Helen Garraway – Sentinals Across Time
- J.L. Delavega – Smoke and Other Storms
- S.G. Blaise – The Last Lumenian
- Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle – Cold as Hell
- C.D. Allen – Seagrass Maggie
- Grayson W. Hooper – Shadebringer
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.

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 to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 OZMA Awards is:

Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846

by Laurel Anne Hill

The 2022 OZMA Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 11-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 OZMA Book Awards are open until the end of October. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
January 25, 2023
The 2022 CIBAs Short List for Ozma Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. These books have advanced to the Long List in the 2022 CIBAs OZMA division.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Ozma Fantasy Fiction Long List to the 2022 Ozma Book Awards 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 (CAC23).

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 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2022 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Linnea Taner – Skull’s Vengeance
- Eva Doherty Gremmert – The Fairy Fort
- David Bush – General Jack and the Battle of the Five Kingdoms
- Philip Carlisle – Surviving Eros
- Sarah Morrell – Beauty Within
- Glen Dahlgren – The House of Prophecy (the Chronicles of Chaos book 2)
- KC Cowan – Raeka’s Story
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- J. L. Sullivan – From Brick & Darkness
- M. K. Wiseman – Magical Intelligence
- D. K. Marley – Kingfisher
- Edward Pontacoloni – The Rookery
- K.L. Kolarich – House of Bastiion
- Stavros Saristavros – Tome of Syyx
- Steven Michael Beck – Soar a Burning Sky
- K.N. Salustro – The Roar of the Lost Horizon
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight
- Helen Garraway – Sentinals Across Time
- J.L. Delavega – Smoke and Other Storms
- S.G. Blaise – The Last Lumenian
- Amy Wolf – Dragons of Light and Chaos
- Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle – Cold as Hell
- C.D. Allen – Seagrass Maggie
- Grayson W. Hooper – Shadebringer
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.

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 to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 OZMA Awards is:

Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846

by Laurel Anne Hill

The 2022 OZMA Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 11-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 OZMA Book Awards are open until the end of October. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
January 12, 2023
PLAGUE Of FLIES: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846 by Laurel Anne Hill – Historical Fantasy, Old West, YA Magical Realism

Sixteen-year-old Catalina Delgado’s hopes of marrying her love are troubled by strange, unnatural dangers, in Laurel Anne Hill’s novel, Plague of Flies.

Like every dutiful daughter in 1846, Catalina worries about her reputation. However, she must also gain the approval of Ángelo Ortega’s family. Unfortunately, when three strangers ride onto her family’s small ranch in Alta California, she knows that more than her dreams are at risk. Alta California has just been invaded by the men of the Bear Flag, and Catalina fears what will become of her homeland now that it has been claimed by the Yankees. The nearby ranch owned by the valiant General Vallejo has been raided, owners and their servants terrorized and held captive. Plus Bear Flaggers have murdered additional friends of Catalina’s family on a beach.

In connection with the recent killings, the three strangers are harbingers of a dire prophecy repeated to Catalina by a dying vaquero. Catalina is destined to be carried off by a spirit man riding a black Andalusian stallion. She will be tasked to do the bidding of Coyote, a trickster spirit who is trying to stop the advancement of the Bear Flaggers. Catalina grapples with her uncertainty and disbelief, but she desperately wants to save her family. When Spirit Man appears to her, she must ask herself how far she is willing to go to keep her loved ones alive.

As a teenage girl in a repressed age and society, Catalina should be fearful of everything. And though in many ways she has been sheltered, she has also learned the ways of the vaquero, roping and riding alongside her brothers.

Her strict upbringing is meant to protect her virtue and to keep her reputation spotless until she is given in marriage. Catalina’s mother takes this obligation so seriously that she locks her daughter in her room at night to protect her. Catalina is meant to obey and isn’t even allowed to speak openly with her father or grandfather. As the head of the family, these men wield complete control over Catalina’s life and destiny. But now, this strange prophecy claims her future. She is chilled by the whispers of the dying vaquero who had taught her many of her skills.

His voice seems to remain with her past his death, speaking warnings and wisdom inside of her head.

When the strangers reveal themselves as Oljon natives and close relatives of Catalina, her entire self-image is upended. Thinking of herself as a Costanoan rather than a proud Mexican of Spanish descent makes her doubt her worth and lose hope of claiming the love of Ángelo Ortega, whose father will likely not agree to the match when he hears of her heritage.

She prays for courage in her meeting with Spirit Man, not yet realizing she already possesses more courage than any of the men in her life. Again and again, she rides with the magical being who forces her to find Coyote’s gold. Though she constantly fears Spirit Man’s abilities, she faces him, even questioning his directives and, at times, refusing to do as he commands. She believes her role in the prophecy will save her land from Bear Flaggers, and even though she has difficulty reconciling her religious beliefs with the Spirit Man’s appearances, she continues with her mission.

Catalina even risks her life and Spirit Man’s anger to rescue Ángelo when he joins the army and is taken by the Bear Flaggers. Regardless of the danger and the fear, Catalina accepts the rapid changes in her fate and future.

Plague of Flies surrounds Catalina with questions of destiny, and her place in it.

Catalina’s well-laid plans are wiped out by a series of events that seems relatively unconnected to her life. Just like falling dominoes, these events collapse Catalina’s dreams and fulfill a prophecy older than Catalina herself. The question, however, is whether the future of her homeland is likewise connected. Catalina must decide whether to follow the prophecy as an inevitability, or to chase her own dream of a simple ranch life with a husband and children. If Catalina refuses the call of Spirit Man, will all of Alta California suffer? Is she willing to save the land while losing herself?

Plague of Flies by Laurel Anne Hill won Grand Prize in the 2021 CIBA OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction.

January 12, 2023
The 2022 CIBAs Long List for Ozma Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. These books have advanced to the Long List in the 2022 CIBAs OZMA division.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Ozma Fantasy Fiction entries to the 2022 Ozma Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Ozma Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the FINALIST positions. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

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 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2022 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.

The 2022 OZMA Long Listers!
- Linnea Taner – Skull’s Vengeance
- Eva Doherty Gremmert – The Fairy Fort
- David Bush – General Jack and the Battle of the Five Kingdoms
- Philip Carlisle – Surviving Eros
- Sarah Morrell – Beauty Within
- Glen Dahlgren – The House of Prophecy (the Chronicles of Chaos book 2)
- Victory Witherkeigh – The Girl
- KC Cowan – Raeka’s Story
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- J. L. Sullivan – From Brick & Darkness
- M. K. Wiseman – Magical Intelligence
- D. K. Marley – Kingfisher
- Edward Pontacoloni – The Rookery
- Jamie Edmundson – An Inheritance of Ash and Blood
- Catherine Raphael – Journey to the Heart Stone
- K.L. Kolarich – House of Bastiion
- Stavros Saristavros – Tome of Syyx
- Steven Michael Beck – Soar a Burning Sky
- Kevin Moore – Book of Demons
- D.R. Martin – Grim Knights (The Grim Chronicles Book 1)
- K.N. Salustro – The Roar of the Lost Horizon
- D. Lieber – The Treason of Robyn Hood
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight
- Helen Garraway – Sentinals Across Time
- J.L. Delavega – Smoke and Other Storms
- S.G. Blaise – The Last Lumenian
- Amy Wolf – Dragons of Light and Chaos
- Robert Cole – The Falcons of Gebtu
- Sarah K. Balstrup – The Way of Unity
- Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle – Cold as Hell
- C.D. Allen – Seagrass Maggie
- Grayson W. Hooper – Shadebringer
- T. L. Augury – Who’s Stirring the Brew now?
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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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 2021 OZMA Awards is:

Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846

by Laurel Anne Hill

The 2022 OZMA Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 11-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 OZMA Book Awards are open until the end of October. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
December 2, 2022
DIVINITY’S TWILIGHT: Rebirth by Christopher Russell – Epic Fantasy, Military Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell is the opening of a High Fantasy epic about the rise and fall of vast empires.

The story grows from unfinished business between three brothers gifted with magic and power but chose different paths to achieve safety and security for themselves and the people who followed them.

These different paths culminated in a battle where the fate of their world is balanced precariously on a knife’s edge. Darmatus and Rabban are engaged in a war to the death with their oldest brother Sarcon. Sarcon believes the road to that safety lies in power alone, that the only way to be secure is to crush all his enemies, no matter how heinous the deeds required.

Darmatus believes that knowledge and education are the way, while Rabban advocates for engineering and artistry. But all are powerful in war as well as in peace. In the end, Darmatus and Rabban prevail, or so it seems.

But that is only the prologue to this grand saga.

This ancient battle was a projection of memory crystals. Nearly 700 years have passed since then. Sarcon, Darmatus, and Rabban are long dead, but their empires founded by their followers continue on, each espousing the brothers’ philosophies.

Sarcon is at the pinnacle of military might, while Rabban’s engineering prowess has kept their empire dogging at Sarcon’s heels. Darmatia holds the balance of power in their mercantile empire and serves as the breadbasket for all three.

But this tenuous balance will not last long; history is about to repeat itself. Sarcon is threatening war yet again, and Darmatia seems to be on the verge of throwing in their military lot with Rabban to keep Sarcon from swallowing them both whole. The action – and there is plenty of it! – follows the adventures of one very mixed group of Darmatian military cadets who may just hold the key to peace in their ill-prepared hands.

The world of Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth is an epic, complex, and well-crafted story.

Key characters represent each of the empires, enough to give the reader an understanding of the critical differences between the three kingdoms. The story has a vast cast overall, and keeping track of all the individuals can be challenging for some.

This story moves through multiple casts; the opening prologue has one set of characters long gone by the time the story shifts to its current time frame. Yet another set pushes the story forward until we reach that group of cadets who carry the meat of the narrative. Once the tale gets to Matteo, Vallen, and their cohort, readers won’t be able to set the book down.

The scope and setting of this series opener may invoke fond memories of the Star Wars saga for many readers.

Divinity’ Twilight weaves its tale in operatic (space operatic) fashion, where mighty empires and plucky underdogs clash. In a universe of both space ships and high magic, a place where a chosen hero – or heroine – must rise from obscurity to save their world from an evil that reaches beyond death itself.

Any reader of epic fantasy, fantastic tales of politics run amuck, or epic space battles will find a lot to love in Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth.

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction.

July 18, 2022
The OZMA 2021 CIBA WINNERS for Fantasy Fiction
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. These books have advanced to the Long List in the 2021 CIBAs OZMA division.

The 2021 OZMA Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the OZMA Grand Prize Winner were announced by Isaac Fozard on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether and broadcast via ZOOM webinar.

This is the OFFICIAL 2021 LIST of the OZMA BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the OZMA Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
- David Fitz-Gerald – Waking Up Lost
- Laurel Anne Hill – Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846
- Allegra Pescatore – Where Shadows Lie
- L. A. Thompson – Isle of Dragons
- J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
- KC Cowan – Asa’s Redemption
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 OZMA Awards is:

Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846

by Laurel Anne Hill

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!

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The 2022 OZMA Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 10 year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2022 OZMA Book Awards are open until the end of October. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in August. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for participating in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards!
July 1, 2022