Sara Stamey’s Pause features a hero who defies gravity, a scintillating setting, and a lovely backdrop for this riveting story.
This story is about women: strong, weak, abused, cherished, divorced, cancer survivors, mothers, sisters, friends, frenemies. It is a book about survival and hope, about getting back to self to reemerge into a life worth living.
Meet Lindsey, a fifty-two-year-old divorced woman going through menopause, living alone with her two cats, and worrying about her 1 and ¾ breasts. Readers will be hooked from the very beginning with the first of many poignant and funny journal entries. Here is Lindsey’s reality: a middle-aged woman suffering hot flashes that sear her skin and cause spells of nausea, who suffers PTSD from an abusive spouse.
Lindsey never thought of herself as a victim, though.
The fact that she walked on eggshells around Nick becomes a reflection of Lindsey’s parents’ relationship. Her father’s abuse of the mother and the mother’s frailty combined with her refusal to accept help and get out of the situation leave Lindsey feeling helpless and trigger her PTSD.
A certifiable mess, Lindsey seeks out an old flame, Newman. And at least for her, the flame ignites, and Lindsey finds herself falling in love. Newman, however, never opens up to her or becomes more available than a part-time lover. When she meets Damon, she is torn between being treated like a queen by a man ten years younger than her or as a booty-call by Newman.
Stamey weaves these issues and more into her novel, giving her protagonist a chance to try on life again after surviving cancer and divorce.
Lindsey’s spiritual awakening occurs as she works as a medical transcriber at a local hospital. While typing up a rush job on an emergency case, she discovers that a friend’s son was admitted with head trauma. The doctor who did the neurosurgery regularly botches the surgery, either killing his patients or leaving them vegetables. She informs the parents of her fears about this doctor while launching a full-scale lawsuit against the hospital that knowingly kept this doctor on staff and destroyed their son’s chances for recovery.
She gets fired for breach of confidentiality and finds herself unemployed, but her original plan to pursue environmental writing, essays, articles, and books after graduating from college beckons. She finds her first topic while riding through a park slated to become a hospital parking lot. She submits her essay about endangered owls living in the trees there; the piece is published and becomes instrumental in saving the space. The paper’s editor recognizes her talent and approaches her with another project with an environmental theme, and Lindsey agrees. A new career blossoms for her, which builds her up instead of tearing her apart.
Stamey develops Lindsey as a woman who won’t succeed until she takes charge and stands up for herself and her dreams.
Lindsey must learn to heal and move beyond cancer, the divorce, and the PTSD of the abuse. Readers will adore Lindsey for all of it. Powerfully written with melodic imagery, Stamey draws her readers in. Be prepared to cry, laugh, and cheer for Linsey as she finally takes the leap of faith necessary to begin believing in herself.
Stamey’s Pacific Northwest backdrop is captured in her skillfully crafted narrative. Readers are with Lindsey on the rapids, riding bikes through a maple forest, or walking beside a salmon-filled stream. We sit with her looking out over the Pacific Ocean at sunset and watching eagles as they hunt along the shore. Stamey’s brush strokes are deft, and her palette is rich as she creates this story’s world.
Stamey’s Pause is a riveting tale of one woman’s exploration to discover herself in a world where she has been dominated and controlled. She learns to take back control and finds herself whole and healed.
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction Long List to the 2021 Somerset Book Awards SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist Positions. The Finalists will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists.All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Ben Sharpton –The Awakening of Jim Bishop: This Changes Things
Adrian Spratt –Caroline
Linda Stewart Henley –Waterbury Winter
Daniel Pare –No Matter The Price
Antonia Gavrihel –Back to One
M. J. Simms-Maddox –The Mysterious Affair at the Met
Anne Pfeffer –Binge
Valerie Taylor –What’s Not Said
E. A. Coe –The Other Side Of Good
Margaret Ann Spence –Joyous Lies
Suzanne Kamata –The Baseball Widow
Vicki Volden –All the After
Kent Politsch –Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
Gary Lee Miller –Finding Grace
Ruthie Stevens –You Can’t Blame the Flower
V.N. Writer –Who Stole My Hula Hoop?
Teng Rong –Brilliant White Peaks
Natalie Symons –Lies in Bone
Ruth Hull Chatlien –Katie, Bar the Door
Patrick Garry –Through the Waves a Steady Path
Dan Schorr– Final Table: A Novel
Dawn Newton –The Remnants of Summer
Douglas Green –A Dog of Many Names
Robert Gwaltney –The Cicada Tree
Sarah E Zilkowski –Beasts of War
Vanessa Carlisle –Take Me With You
Richard C. Brusca –In the Land of the Feathered Serpent
Bob Siqveland –Lines Through a Prism
Judy Keeslar Santamaria –Jetty Cat Palace Cafe
Joanne Kukanza Easley –Just One Look
Charlie Suisman –Hot Air
Tom Glenn –Secretocracy
Sandra Vasoli –The Masterpiece Pursuit
Suzanne Simonetti –The Sound of Wings
John Hansen –Old Water
Robert Steven Goldstein –Cat’s Whisker
Alex Sirotkin –The Long Desert Road
John Hansen– Badger Creek
Eric Lotke –Union Made
Pamela Hamilton –Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale
Sue Phillips –You Oughta Know
Chera Thompson & NF Johnson –A Time to Wander
Cara Sue Achterberg –Blind Turn
K. –Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories
Susan Lynn Solomon –Dancing Backwards
Debra Whiting Alexander –A River for Gemma
Anne Moose –House of Fragile Dreams
Jane Ward –In the Aftermath
Linda Rosen –Sisters of the Vine
Drema Drudge –Victorine
Kathy Sechrist– Success Is The Best Revenge
Rick Lenz –Hello, Rest of My Life
Cinda K. Swalley –The Golden Hearts Club
Shan Leah –Thieves, Beasts & Men
Gene Helfman –Beyond the Human Realm
Emily A. Myers –The Truth About Unspeakable Things
Sarahlyn Bruck –Daytime Drama
Roberta Seret –Love Odyssey
Barbara Linn Probst –The Sound Between the Notes
Lynn McLaughlin –Jackson
Jenn Bouchard –First Course
Florence Reiss Kraut –How to Make a Life: a novel
Susannah Marren –A Palm Beach Scandal
C. Victorya Grace –Julip Lullabies and Silent Cries
Mekiya Walters –Ashes, Ashes
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.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction entries to the 2021 Somerset Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Somerset Shortlist. 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 (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Ben Sharpton – The Awakening of Jim Bishop: This Changes Things
Adrian Spratt – Caroline
Linda Stewart Henley – Waterbury Winter
Daniel Pare – No Matter The Price
Antonia Gavrihel – Back to One
M. J. Simms-Maddox – The Mysterious Affair at the Met
Anne Pfeffer – Binge
Valerie Taylor – What’s Not Said
C. A. Price – Allison’s Gambit
E. A. Coe – The Other Side Of Good
Margaret Ann Spence – Joyous Lies
Suzanne Kamata – The Baseball Widow
Vicki Volden – All the After
Kent Politsch – Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
Susan Speranza – Ice Out
Gary Lee Miller – Finding Grace
Ruthie Stevens – You Can’t Blame the Flower
V.N. Writer – Who Stole My Hula Hoop?
Mekiya Walters – Ashes, Ashes
Teng Rong – Brilliant White Peaks
Natalie Symons – Lies in Bone
Ruth Hull Chatlien – Katie, Bar the Door
Patrick Garry – Through the Waves a Steady Path
Ariane Torres – We are the Kings
Dan Schorr – Final Table: A Novel
Karen S. Bennett – Beautiful Horseflesh
Dawn Newton – The Remnants of Summer
Douglas Green – A Dog of Many Names
Jeff Richards – Everyone Worth Knowing
Robert Gwaltney – The Cicada Tree
Sarah E Zilkowski – Beasts of War
Vanessa Carlisle – Take Me With You
J.B. Liquorish – The Prophecy
Bob Siqveland – Lines Through a Prism
Richard C. Brusca – In the Land of the Feathered Serpent
Natalie Symons – Lies in Bone
Judy Keeslar Santamaria – Jetty Cat Palace Cafe
Joanne Kukanza Easley – Just One Look
Charlie Suisman – Hot Air
Tom Glenn – Secretocracy
Sandra Vasoli – The Masterpiece Pursuit
Suzanne Simonetti – The Sound of Wings
John Hansen – Old Water
Richard Jespers – Wakedale: A Novel
Robert Steven Goldstein – Cat’s Whisker
Alex Sirotkin – The Long Desert Road
John Hansen – Badger Creek
Eric Lotke – Union Made
Pamela Hamilton – Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale
Sue Phillips – You Oughta Know
Chera Thompson & NF Johnson – A Time to Wander
Cara Sue Achterberg – Blind Turn
K. – Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories
Susan Lynn Solomon – Dancing Backwards
Debra Whiting Alexander – A River for Gemma
Anne Moose – House of Fragile Dreams
Jane Ward – In the Aftermath
Linda Rosen – Sisters of the Vine
Drema Drudge – Victorine
Kathy Sechrist – Success Is The Best Revenge
Rick Lenz – Hello, Rest of My Life
Malcolm Spicer – Freedom From Privilege
Cinda K. Swalley – The Golden Hearts Club
Shan Leah – Thieves, Beasts & Men
Gene Helfman – Beyond the Human Realm
Emily A. Myers – The Truth About Unspeakable Things
Sarahlyn Bruck – Daytime Drama
Roberta Seret – Love Odyssey
Barbara Linn Probst – The Sound Between the Notes
Lynn McLaughlin – Jackson
Michael R. Frontani – Dante’s Forge
Jenn Bouchard – First Course
Florence Reiss Kraut – How to Make a Life: a novel
Michelle Lynn – Silver Heels
Susannah Marren – A Palm Beach Scandal
C. Victorya Grace – Julip Lullabies and Silent Cries
Jordan Stanford – My Dream
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.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
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.
Visit an idyllic island off the coast of Maine, long before the days of the internet and social media, in Linda Watkins’ romance novel, Summer Girl.
Jake, a local teenage boy on Cutter Island meets Andi, who visits for the summer with her mom and stepdad. In this summer of 1965 the two hit it off almost immediately, spending every moment they can together.
But not long after they profess their love for one another, tragedy strikes, forcing them apart with little hope of ever seeing each other again.
Twenty years pass until the summer of 1985. Jake, now a successful writer, returns to Cutter Island with his wife and kids for the first time in many years. Andi also arrives with her husband and young son. Once they learn of each other’s presence on the island, all the memories of that summer long ago come flooding back. And so do the unanswered questions of what happened on that fateful night. But a different question burns in their hearts and demands to be answered. Does first love, true love, ever really die?
Watkins’ writing flows elegantly.
Andi and Jake look back on their past with nostalgia, heartbreak, and regret. Cutter Island and the characters on it feel immediately familiar, like old friends in a place we’d like to visit. This summer vacation on a quiet island community off the coast of Maine, with all the fresh seafood at an arm’s reach, comes to life. Past and present in Summer Girl take place in a time before the internet became ingrained into everyday life. Readers can take a momentary break to disconnect and truly get lost in the story.
Jake and Andi show their impressive amount of depth, and accurately portray the simple naivete of youth during the fateful summer in which they meet. Their romance stays grounded and realistic. Watkins’ beautiful writing paints a picture of inexperienced teenagers with honesty and vulnerability that makes their parting even more emotional.
Summer Girl tells a story of love against all odds.
True love leaves an infinite effect on someone’s life, for better or for worse. This story stands on love, hope, and perseverance. Accept the invitation to the remote Cutter Island and smell the mouthwatering preparations of the summer night’s lobster bake. Keep an eye out for Jake and Andi among the hungry locals and vacationers.
The Somerset Awards: Understanding Literary Fiction
Ah yes, literary fiction, often thought of as the highest form of writing. If only people could define exactly what it means.
Here are a few of Somerset Maugham’s work that typify literary fiction:
Of Human Bondage
The Razor’s Edge
The Moon and Sixpence
And far too many to list here.
Let’s start with some writing tips from Somerset Maugham himself.
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.
I always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things I don’t.
The fact that a great many people believe something is no guarantee of its truth.
To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.
Impropriety is the soul of wit.
When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me, and it becomes part of me.
We do not write because we want to; we write because we have to.
I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.
If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.
What a start! We still need to figure out this Literary Fiction business though. Before we dive into that, if you want to read more about Somerset Maugham, consider looking out our previous spotlight here where we discuss him at length!
To read more about the time he wrote in, click here.
So What is Literary Fiction?
The easiest way to attempt to answer this question is to start with what Literary Fiction is being defined in opposition to. Literary Fiction is not Genre Fiction.
So what’s Genre Fiction?
Genre Fiction is written for people to enjoy it generally. It often follows a formula that uses conventional storytelling. The stories are meant to entertain, are plot driven, and they usually have a happy ending. As a result, there’s almost never a question of how to market genre fiction, making it easier to sell.
So, if we take the opposite of all those and apply them to literary fiction, what do we get?
It doesn’t follow a formula
Uses unconventional storytelling
Examines what it means to be human
It can be difficult to read
Character focused (not plot)
Endings vary or can even be uncertain
LIterary Fiction isn’t an exact science
That’s a tough sell! Of course, not all of these elements need to apply
Many literary fiction books are the kinds that stay with us for years after we read them. Chances are the longtime favorite that changed your life is a literary fiction book, or at least possesses some elements of it.
Here’s some contemporary Literary Fiction you may have heard of:
The term “literary fiction” is controversial and for good reason. As more “literary” writers venture into genre fiction, the lines of distinction have blurred. Sometimes, it’s not always clear. Perhaps, it is genre fiction that’s just pushing its own boundaries.
It’s clear that Literary Fiction is a complex genre, worthy of being written and read. We’re happy to say that we’ve done our fair share here at Chanticleer! Check it out below!
HARD CIDER By Barbara Stark-Nemon Grand Prize Winner in Somerset Awards
Abbie Rose Stone is a woman determined to follow her newly discovered dream of producing her own craft hard apple cider while navigating the ups and downs of family life with her grown sons and husband.
Abbie Rose knows how to deal with adversity, and dives headfirst into this new chapter of her life with energy and passion. She describes her early adulthood years of infertility struggles and the hardscrabble way she built her young family through invasive medical procedures, a surrogate attempt, and adoption barriers.
MARTHA By Maggie St. Claire First Place Winner in Somerset Awards
In the unique and compelling voice of an aging woman teetering on the edge of financial ruin, Maggie St. Claire’sdebut novel,Martha,takes the reader from affluent residential areas of Los Angeles to its urban streets of despair, shadowing a 71-year-old, retired bank teller as she comes to grips with the challenges and adversities that threaten her existence.
This is the story of Martha Moore, many years divorced, estranged from her only child, and living a lie, as she enters her golden years. The most important things in her life, outside her pride in her desirable Hancock Park bungalow, are her book club friends. She attends their meetings dressed in her finest, projecting what she hopes is the image of a well-educated, well-to-do, Los Angeles dowager. The three wealthy women who comprise the remainder of the group are her best, perhaps only friends, and sometimes that’s a stretch.
MOURNING DOVE By Claire Fullerton First Place Winner in Somerset Awards
Camille Crossan appears to be living an idyllic life in Claire Fullerton’s poignant, evocative novel,Mourning Dove. Living in a superbly appointed mansion in “magnolia-lined and manicured” Memphis during the 1960s and 1970s, Camille’s family life shimmers with Southern charm. Her mother, Posey, usually outfitted in a Lily Pulitzer shift, Pappagallo shoes, and a signature shade of pink lipstick, is a beauty with the wryest sense of humor and steel determination.
As a young girl, Camille, known as Millie, sees how those in her mother’s social orbit are captivated by her aura, how men are easily seduced by her flirtatious charm. Society is a game played by those who know its rules, and Posey means to win. Every time. She, however, isn’t even the charismatic one in the family – that’s Finley, Millie’s older brother, who brims with intelligence, startling good looks, and messianic magnetism. A peek beneath the shiny surface of gracious Southern living, however, reveals enormous cracks in the foundation of the Crossan family. One of the first things the adult Millie tells us about her brother is that he is dead. She takes the reader back, though, to their childhood and coming of age, a tumultuous journey that both binds and separates the siblings.
Judy Keeslar Santamaria’s skillfully crafted debut novel, Jetty Cat Palace Café, takes the reader from the sophisticated urban areas of Washington state to its remote cranberry coast, accompanying professor Morgen Marín on a life-altering quest.
Like a present-day recipient of a DNA test gone wrong, when 34-year old Morgen, celebrated pianist and music professor, leaves after visiting her elderly grandmother Eleanor, her mind is spinning. Eleanor, preparing for the inevitable, shared family history, documents, and longstanding questions, which blindsided her granddaughter.
JOEL EMMANUEL By J.P. Kenna First Place Winner in Somerset and Clue Awards
Set in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, Joel Emmanuel by JP Kenna rewards its readers with the story of a boy coming of age and how he understands the changes around him. Kenna’s style echoes the English novels of the 19th century.
Young Joel Emmanuel Webber, named for a Wobbly executed long ago in 1915, lives with his mother, Nance Raindance, in a cabin on the Skagit River near Seattle before it was a technopolis. Their world is antiquated even for the 1970s and defined by farming, fishing, and basics like a woodburning cookstove, kerosene lamps, and candles. Joel calls his mother by her given name, doesn’t know his father, and lives an open life free of school and, even occasionally, clothing. He is sensitive and easily succumbs to tears.
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
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, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
And remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Writer’s Toolbox
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Writer’s Toolbox article.
Three friends in Mercer, Wisconsin find ways to deal with their problems amid a racist town in Jamie Zerndt’s Jerkwater.
Shawna Reynolds’ life changed when her white stepdad murdered her Ojibwa mother. Now living with her Naan (grandmother), Shawna surrounds herself with those who make her feel most comfortable. Besides Naan, she clings to her horse Seven, her behind-the-scenes Ojibwa boyfriend Elmer, and two white friends: Kay O’Brien and her son Douglas. But racial tension cuts through the town of Mercer itself, galvanized by a fight over fishing rights.
Soon after the death of her husband Norm, sixty-four-year-old Kay O’Brien learns that she nears the late stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Norm’s sudden demise shocks her and Douglas to the point that she withholds her recent diagnosis from him. Kay has a few church-lady friends, but feels closest to Shawna, spending time together drinking foul-tasting Manhattans. Shawna divulges that she’s been accepted into veterinary school, and in turn, Kay discloses her Alzheimer’s.
Douglas, who blames himself for his father’s death, takes over his dad’s unstable car repair business more out of guilt than aptitude. However, amongst the apparent doom and gloom of their lives, Shawna connects with animals, Douglas develops his art, and Kay still has enough wits about her to create positive change.
The three friends share something vital: they understand pain.
Each one struggles with their own unresolved issues: Shawna, anger over her mother’s death; Kay, health problems and the loss of her husband; and Douglas, caught between guilt and his desire to be an artist.
Jenna, a newbie who runs a hippish coffee house in town, takes an immediate interest in Douglas and his artwork. In the meantime, Kay discovers Norm’s poems written to a secret French love. But this upsetting news gets lost in the “Alzheimer” translation. She believes herself to be the secret love and takes off on Seven, babbling in nonsensical French. Although the situation is nothing less than strange, the friends have no idea that this bizarre moment will initiate a flurry of unforgettable and life-changing events.
Raconteur extraordinaire Jamie Zerndt produces a witty yet moving story of friendship.
Alternating his latest novel between three third-person narratives, Zerndt weaves in the local information about the Ojibwa and their constant fight with racist fishing rights in the highly-populated white town of Mercer, Wisconsin. Zerndt paints a convincing and visceral picture of emotion through his principal cast on many levels: low self-esteem, depression (leading to alcoholism), anger, and fear. His characters stay grounded, unremarkable, and relatable, especially Kay who struggles with the fact that she has no control of her mental state – something the older generation dreads.
Undoubtedly, sadness abounds from one page onward. But so does humor, love, and tenderness.
The humor arrives in darkness and sarcasm, as the characters face death and hate coming from a town dripping in racism. Sometimes, you have to laugh at pain in its face, and that’s precisely what Shawna, Kay, and Douglas do. Love unfolds awkwardly as an escape for Shawna and as a revelation for Douglas. Religion also comes into play as Kay bounces her thoughts of God between her relationship to the Catholic church, the church ladies she chums with, and a hippish priest who offers his services in an unorthodox way.
While chapters close on cliffhangers and tension builds with each character, Zerndt offers very little in the way of clues to the story’s apex. Instead, he uses the element of surprise, which allows readers to experience the depths of Shawna, Douglas, and Kay in ways they may not think possible.
Kudos to Zerndt for a brilliant literary work! Jerkwater is an absorbing read from beginning to end.
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. The best will advance. Which titles will be declared as winners of the prestigious Somerset Book Awards?
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2020 Somerset Book Awards LONG LIST and now have progressed to the 2020 SHORTLIST.
Congratulations to the following titles who have advanced to the 2020 SOMERSET Book Awards SHORTLIST!
Susan Dobson – Boomerang
Sara Stamey –Pause
R Barber Anderson –Jumeau
Gregory Erich Phillips –A Season in Lights
Candi Sary –Magdalena
Kathleen Reid –Sunrise in Florence
Ivy Cayden –Everything All At Once (Book 1, Chorduroys and Too Many Boys™)
Lauren J. Sharkey – Inconvenient Daughter
Amy L Cleven –Look Up
Kasie Whitener –After December
T P Graf –As the Daisies Bloom
Patrick M. Garry –The Donor
Katherine Johnson –Grit & Granite
Jennifer Gold –Keep Me Afloat
Catherine Hamilton –Victoria’s War
Jessica O’Dwyer –Mother Mother
Lauren J. Sharkey –Inconvenient Daughter
Pierce Koslosky Jr. –A Week at Surfside Beach
John Danenbarger –Entanglement: Quantum and Otherwise
Julie Weary –Knowing Marjorie Thane
B. K. Stubblefield –Scars of the Past
Dan V. Jackson –Rainbow Bridge
Kathleen M. Rodgers –The Flying Cutterbucks
Abbe Rolnick –Founding Stones
Liana Gardner –Speak No Evil
Susan Wingate –How the Deer Moon Hungers
Lainey Cameron –The Exit Strategy
Barbara Linn Probst –Queen of the Owls
Alice Early –The Moon Always Rising
Judy Keeslar Santamaria– Jetty Cat Palace Cafe
Joanne Kukanza Easley –Sweet Jane
NOTE: Some titles have been transferred to the Mark Twain Book Awards for Satire, Allegory, Humor, and Alternative Histories (non-SciFi).
These titles are in the running for the Semi-Finalists of the 2020 Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary and Literary Fiction.
Which of these works will move forward in the judging rounds for the 2020 Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary and Literary Fiction?
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
The ShortListers’ works will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists, and then all Finalists will be recognized at the VCAC21 ceremonies. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 22 CIBA divisions Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Ceremonies April 21-25th, 2021 live at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2021 Somerset Awards Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is November 30th, 2021. The winners will be announced in April 2022.
Donna LeClair for The PROPRIETOR of the THEATRE of LIFE
A MANUSCRIPT
This is no ordinary book and the word “extraordinary” can’t begin to do it justice. It’s a gift for anyone fortunate enough to read it and libraries around the globe should add it to their collections. It should be available to everyone. Emma is a highly sympathetic character, an everywoman, in need of answers. The reader learns as much as she does about individual and universal struggles on earth, the lessons to be gleaned from suffering, and the value of sharing our stories. ~ Carrie M., Chanticleer Editorial Team
The 2019 Somerset First in Category Winners are:
Carl RobertsforThe Trial of ConnorPadget
Judith Kirscht forEnd of the Race
Patrick Finegan forCooperative Lives
Santiago Xaman forAfter Olympus
Claire Fullerton forLittle Tea
Maggie St. Claire forMartha
Jamie Zerndt forJerkwater
R. Barber Anderson forThe Sunken Forest, Where the Forest Came out of the Earth
Here is a listing of the Somerset Book Awards Hall of Fame Grand Prize winners!
Stay at home mom turns entrepreneur, but without her husband’s support, and continunually needing to manage her three adult sons, Abbie Rose Stone’s dream of producing her own craft hard apple cider faces a world of adversity in Barbara A. Stark-Nemon’s Hard Cider.
Babylonian astrology and Jewish mysticism combine with Roman history to create a timeless story of passion and fate in Chuck Gould’s The Rabbi’s Gift. Babylonian astrology and Jewish mysticism combine with Roman history to create a timeless story of passion and fate in Chuck Gould’s The Rabbi’s Gift.
Words thrown as hard as boulders are easy to catch – if you’ve had practice. Just ask our hero, Muzhduk the Ugli the Fourth…In the great tradition of existentialism, Boldizar brings us a book that is hard to classify. It has aspects of the existential with a fair amount of satirical wordplay and a bit of theater of the absurd thrown in.
With a fast-paced storyline and a rich cast of characters, this award-winning winning novel offers a uniquely hilarious, but scary, perspective on the how the businesses of public relations and marketing can take technology to its precipice to take advantage of a media addicted public.
Individually Wrapped tells us the bizarre tale of Sam Gregory’s descent over the condensed course of a couple of days. Set in a 21st-century futuristic city, technology has permeated every aspect of the city dwellers’ lives… Self-delusion is an interesting state of mind because everyone can see it except yourself, as it propels you ever deeper into oblivion, where not even technology can save you.
We would be amiss by not featuring and recognizing Judith Kirscht, our very own Pacific Northwest Somerset inspired author. Judith specializes in family sagas and societal issues.
Judith Kirscht – Somerset Hall of Fame Author
Judith was born and educated in Chicago during the Great Depression and then WWII. She taught school during the upheavals of the Vietnam protests and the Civil Rights movement. Later in life, she found herself in California, divorced and with two daughters. Judith taught creative writing at universities of very different cultures: University of Michigan and U of California, Santa Monica. Her novels continuously are awarded CIBA First Place Category ribbons for the Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.
In a world where too many rocks are thrown at those who represent anything other than the norm in middle-class white America, two friends decide to take matters into their own hands and stand up to the hatred with which they are targeted in order to save their home and ultimately their lives.
Hawkins Lane is excellent and, ultimately, a redemptive story about the heart-wrenching tragedies a family can survive, and about the healing powers of nature and friendship. The characters and the story will linger long after the last page is read and you will be captivated from the first page.
“The Inheritors” by Judith Kirscht is a novel of one woman grappling to find her cultural and personal identity. Tolerance of others and the need for communication is required from each of us is an overriding theme in this latest work of Kirscht that explores the complexities of human nature and family bonds.
“Home Fires” is an intelligently written, fast-paced family drama that unfolds into a suspenseful page-turner. Although this novel masterfully renders the emotional hardships and tragedies that are sometimes part of dysfunctional relationships, it is not a depressing read.
The last day to submit your work is November 30, 2020. We invite you to join us, to tell us your stories, and to find out who will take home the prize at CAC21 in April.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your literary novel deserves! Enter today!
The winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony on April 19, 2021, that will take place during the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and Finalists will be recognized. The first place winners will be recognized and receive their custom ribbon, and then we will see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of networking and celebration!
CIBA Ribbons!
First Place category winners and Grand Prize winners will each receive an awards package. Whose works will be chosen? The excitement builds for the 2020 SOMERSET Book Awards competitions and now for the Mark Twain Book Awards.
Our Chanticleer Review Writing Contests feature more than $30,000.00 worth of cash and prizes each year!
~$1000 Overall Grand Prize Winner ~$30,000views, prizes, and promotional opportunities awarded to Category Winners
In our last Somerset Hall of Fame, we discussed the origin of the contest’s name, and mentioned the success of William Somerset Maugham’s first book Liza of Lambeth, (published 1897) which propelled him to become one of the highest paid authors of his time, but not without first finding himself struggling with poverty after leaving the medical profession as a fully qualified doctor. Somerset wrote the story while working as a medical student and obstetric clerk in working class London.
W. Somerset Maugham (1897 – age 23 years)
In the publication of this book, Somerset joined an extensivebody of work in line with manyfin de siècle authors such as Wilkie Collins, Richard Marsh, Matthew “Monk” Lewis, Bram Stoker, and Charles Dickens.
In Somerset Maugham’s story, Liza, like many women in novels of this era, has her life dictated by the men who surround her, unable to break free of the desires and expectations that surround her, ultimately leading to her death. This examination of consent and the harmfulness of denying women agency can be seen reflected in the urgency of the suffrage movement, which passed its 100 year anniversary in August 18, 2020.
Women’s Suffragette Movement in the USA – more than 100 years in the making. The 19th Amendment was finally ratified on August 18, 1920 (at the end of WWI – 1914 – 1918)
It bears mentioning that women’s suffrage started out as only being accessible for white women, with Chinese-American women not being able to vote until 1943, native-American women until 1948, Japanese-American women until 1952, and African Americans until 1964—though the 19th Amendment wasn’t even ratified by all states until 1984! To this day, voting and voter suppression remains a contentious issue in the United States.Stories like Somerset’s showed the tension and the injustice taking place at the turn of the century in a way that made it real, accessible, and relevant to the literature published at the time and today.
Wells & Squire marching in 1913 For more information, please click here
Anyone who studies the right of women to vote and writing has to come across Virginia Woolf (born January 25, 1882, London England) with her book A Room of One’s Own. (Published September 1929) In this, she talks about where do we, as authors, have space to write. What do our room’s look like, and is there even a writing room in our house? I always think of Stephen King writing in his laundry room when I first think of trying to find a space to write. Naturally, like voting, this becomes more complicated when you overlay things like ender identity, race, and orientation, causing further variation in the kinds of rooms that are allowed to be called one’s own.
In A Room of One’s Own (1929), Woolf blamed women’s absence from history not on their lack of brains and talent but on their poverty. For her 1931 talk “Professions for Women,” Woolf studied the history of women’s education and employment and argued that unequal opportunities for women negatively affect all of society. Click here to read Britannica’s biography of this extraordinary author.
Virginia Woolf, photographed by Gisele Freund, 1933
In the building of literary fiction, we reflect the world as we see it. Woolf, in her book,follows the fictional Judith Shakespeare, sister of the famous William, and his equal in terms of writing and genius. Like Somerset’s Liza, Judith finds herself beset in a world where her agency is constantly overruled by the masculine presences in her life. In the end, Shakespeare’s sister dies by suicide. In both these narratives, the death of the women provides an implicit critique of the way society tries to control them.
Today, that critique and commentary still resonate. In the last ten years we have had the first Black president ever in the United States, and now we are set to inaugurate the first woman vice president who is also the first Black, south Asian, and Caribbean vice president. This doesn’t mean that discrimination and all the problems faced by Somerset’s Liza have vanished from the world, but it does run in cultural tandem with the mood of publishing seen at the end of the 19th century. It is a longstanding tradition that we continue culturally and politically in the stories we tell.
It is with great pride, in the tradition of uplifting and supporting women and the oppressed, that we award Donna LeClair’s manuscript,The Proprietor of the Theatre of Life, The Somerset Book Awards 2019 Grand Prize Award. LeClair is the first author in the Somerset Awards to have a manuscript win the Grand Prize in this highly competitive division. Huge congratulations!
Below is what our editor had to say about The Proprietor of the Theatre of Life by Donna LeClair (manuscript overview)
This is no ordinary book and the word “extraordinary” can’t begin to do it justice. It’s a gift for anyone fortunate enough to read it and libraries around the globe should add it to their collections. It should be available to everyone. Emma is a highly sympathetic character, an everywoman, in need of answers. The reader learns as much as she does about individual and universal struggles on earth, the lessons to be gleaned from suffering, and the value of sharing our stories.
Presenting these lessons in the format of a novel is ingenious; they’ll be accessible to readers who might not have had a clue how to compile, organize, and synthesize so much historical and spiritual scholarship. So many, too many, are suffering from grave, debilitating effects of PTSD; I wish this book could be gifted to them. It is literary balm. – Carrie M. Chanticleer Editorial Team
Journey as Emma does, through multiple eras, continents, and thresholds embracing the authenticity of diverse ethnicities, life conditions, and testimonies. Entrusted intuition guides storylines plaguing the world today. She encounters visionaries of faith who elevate sensibility while gifting their existence to the survival of this illusion that we call home.
Join her on an exploration of the wisdom bestowed by the existence of those who brought humankind closer to understanding one another and the sacredness of our broader story.
Donna LeClair, award-winning author, mother and grandmother, friend to the Dalai Lama, and amazing woman.
We look forward to joining LeClair on her on an exploration of the wisdom bestowed by the existence of those who brought humankind closer to understanding one another and the sacredness of our broader story. This phenomenal story is in the process of seeking representation.
Want more LeClair?
To discover more of Donna LeClair’s award-winning works, please click on the links below that will take you to our reviews:
Immunity,the latest offering by award-winning author Donna LeClair, recounts one woman’s struggles to maintain her sanity during a long nightmarish sojourn among the wealthy and powerful.
LeClair is a prodigious wordsmith who uses the writing craft to good effect. Whether it is a drug-induced temper flare-up, the destruction of a motel room, or a brief erotic interlude, the author weaves a rich tapestry. She has made fiction, it seems, of a painfully recalled set of reminiscences, changing the names to protect the innocent and avoid the wrath of the guilty. She examines the word “immunity” in its many guises: protection from penalty, entitlement of the very wealthy and well-connected, exemption from “an old love,” denial of responsibility, and “declaration protecting honorably truth.”
Very engrossing, well-written, engaging, suspenseful and honest. Waking Reality is recommended reading for anyone looking for an engrossing account of a woman’s courageous story growing up in the 1960s. You will want to see that she emerges through the dark tunnel of abuse.
Through engaging and well-written prose, LeClair relates the 1963 murder trial known as State of Ohio v. Bill Bush, a police sergeant who murdered three members of one family. Bush happened to be her uncle and the family he tore apart, hers. Due to the circumstances of the trial, LeClair and her sisters were in protective custody. Chanticleer Review
Three children, five lives, five stories, five human beings whose lives exploded with a pull of a trigger because of a little black book of secrets, lies, and destructions…
One thing I know for sure, for the safety of your own sanity, you must close the haunting of one chapter before you can open the infinite possibilities of another. –Donna LeClair
Want More Somerset Award Winning Novels?
Congratulations to all our 2019 first place category winners for Somerset. You can see some of the reviews for those books below.
…Rarely does a book about the law take you this close into the mindset of an attorney. Carney isn’t a criminal attorney but his ability to think “legal” demonstrates how a well-trained mind can work even in a foreign territory like criminal law. His familiarity becomes our familiarity. This is not a blockbuster case; no mob bosses will fall; no bombastic courtroom duels await. What is showcased here, however, is good lawyering, legal competence, and a writer’s commitment to sharing his love of the law with his readers. – Chanticleer Reviews
How well do people really know their neighbors? More importantly, or perhaps more sinisterly, how well do those neighbors know each other – and each other’s secrets?…this character-driven story is most definitely a work of exquisite literary fiction that uses the exploration of its characters to drive the narrative.
…Finegan does an excellent job of drawing us inside these seemingly tiny lives, and the deeper we go, the more significant these lives seem, and the greater the impact they have on each other as well as those who have been drawn into their well-written and extremely sticky web. – Chanticleer Reviews
Fantastic magic realism, uncaged and wild, and brilliant in every way! Highly recommended.
In this groundbreaking novel, what is real – and what isn’t – is always the heart of the matter. There are elements of reality in the fantastical, and there are elements of magic realism in the rather ordinary. After Olympus is a novel about characters who don’t just think outside the box; they are outside the box.
Intrigued? You should be. We don’t see novels like this every day, but this one will find its way into the hands of the most discerning readers. – Chanticleer Reviews
A captivating tale of Industrial Greed and Forest Conservation set against a thrilling backdrop of primeval forest, violence, and sex, international intrigue where one misstep may very well cost you your life.
With these award-winning titles, you will understand why the Somerset Book Awards is one of the most competitive divisions in the Chanticleer International Book Awards.
Look for the Chanticleer Reviews of these 2019 Somerset Book Awards Blue Ribbon Winners.
Judith Kirscht forEnd of the Race
Claire Fullerton forLittle Tea
Maggie St. Claire forMartha
Jamie Zerndt forJerkwater
But Wait! Where’s Satire?
Introducing the Mark Twain Book Awards for Satirical and Allegorical Fiction, a new (2020) fiction division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
As a well-known humorist, Mark Twain employed satire to gently rib his audience and point out inconsistencies in the world as it appeared then, such as when Huck wonders why he would go to Hell for helping his friend Jim escape slavery.
Due to the huge popularity of the Somerset Awards, we’ve had to break Satirical and Allegorical fiction off into a separate division that titled The Mark Twain Book Awards.Keep an eye out on our website for our upcoming spotlight on this new Awards category and why we chose Twain!
Also, click on the Mark Twain Book Awards for classic works in Satire and Allegorical Fiction.
The last day to submit your work is November 30, 2018. We invite you to join us, to tell us your stories, and to find out who will take home the prize at CAC21 in April.
As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your literary novel deserves! Enter today!
The winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony on April 19, 2021, that will take place during the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and Finalists will be recognized. The first place winners will be recognized and receive their custom ribbon, and then we will see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of networking and celebration!
CIBA Ribbons!
First Place category winners and Grand Prize winners will each receive an awards package. Whose works will be chosen? The excitement builds for the 2020 SOMERSET Book Awards competitions and now for the Mark Twain Book Awards.
Our Chanticleer Review Writing Contests feature more than $30,000.00 worth of cash and prizes each year!
~$1000 Overall Grand Prize Winner ~$30,000views, prizes, and promotional opportunities awarded to Category Winners
We are deeply honored and excited to announce the 2019 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs). Part Three of Three – 2019 CIBA Winner Announcements
CIBA Grand Prize Ribbons! You know that you want one!
The winners were recognized at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Ceremonies that were held on during VCAC September 8 – 13, 2020 by ZOOM webinars based at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.
We want to thank each and everyone of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 17 CIBA Divisions. Without your passion and labor of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist and we could not fulfill our mandate: Discovering Today’s Best Books!
THANK YOU JUDGES!
Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increasing exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2019—the premier Level of FINALIST per each CIBA Division. The CIBA judges wanted to add the Finalist Level of Achievement as a way to recognize and validate the entries that had outstanding merit but were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division.
We are honored to present the
2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards
Grand Prize Winners
The 2019 CIBA Winners!
The CHATELAINE Book Awards for
Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction
Grand Prize Winner is
The SKEPTICAL PHYSCICK
by Gail Avery Halverson
T.K. Conklin – Threads of Passion
Jule Selbo – Find Me in Florence
Michelle Cox – A Veil Removed
Heather Novak – Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex’s Brother
James Conroyd Martin will also be awarded $1,000 USD in recognition of his 2019 BEST BOOK of the YEAR – Chanticleer International Book Awards – Sponsored by Chanticleer Reviews & Media.
A Chanticleer Review of Fortune’s Child will be featured in the in the SPRING 2021 quarterly edition of the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine (print and epub) along with other promotional and marketing opportunities.
Thank you James Conroyd Martin for participating in the 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards. We look forward to receiving the sequel to Fortune’s Child in the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards, a division of the CIBAs.
We look forward to toasting James in person at our next gathering–hopefully in 2021. We are so happy that he joined us virtually for the CIBA announcements at VCAC20.
CONGRATULATIONS JAMES CONROYD MARTIN!
From all of us at Chanticleer International Book Awards and Chanticleer Reviews.
Be sure to register early for the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference that will start on April 16th, 2021 with the 2020 CIBA banquet and ceremony scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. If we cannot move forward with CAC21 due to the coronavirus, we will host another LIVE and HYBRID Chanticleer Authors Conference and 2020 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards ceremony.
Pivot and Oscillate are the Words for Today’s Challenging Times.
An email will go out to all 2019 CIBA award winners prior to October 30, 2020, with instructions, links, and more information about the awards packages. We appreciate your patience. As stated many times before “One does not need to be present at the CIBA ceremony and banquet to win. But it sure is a lot more fun!” –even if it is virtual!
As always, please contact us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!
Visit an idyllic island off the coast of Maine, long before the days of the internet and social media, in Linda Watkins’ romance novel, Summer Girl.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2021 Somerset Awards Book Awards. The deadline for submissions is November 30th, 2021. The winners will be announced in April 2022.
The Rabbi’s Gift
The Ugly
The Alexandrite
The Manipulator
The Camera’s Eye by 
