Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Y/A

The 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBAs) Overall Grand Prize and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners | Part One of Three
We are deeply honored and excited to announce the 2021 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs). The Finalists were recognized at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Ceremonies, and the First Place Category and Grand Prize Winners were announced June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

The 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2021 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Banquet and Ceremony took place over June 23-26, 2022, with the CIBA Banquet happening on June 25th. Each year, Chanticleerians from around the globe come together to celebrate and cheer each other on at the annual CIBA banquet and awards evening at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether that is situated on beautiful Bellingham Bay, Washington State.

Meeting in-person for the first time since lockdown began brought such joy into our lives. The ability to celebrate, hug, and learn together with the extra space provided by the Hotel Bellwether made this a truly unforgettable experience. Champagne was poured and shared as the 2021 CIBA Grand Prize Division Award Winners were announced. Thank you to all who joined us in-person and virtually to make the CIBA Ceremonies a success!

The 2021 Grand Prize Winners in attendance!

After two virtual conferences, it was a joy and pleasure to feel the energy of an in-person crowd! It was amazing to have such a marvelous event with presenters like Cathy Ace, Judy Gaman, Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, Jessica Morrell, Nicole Evelina, Jodé Millman, Oriana Leckhert, Diane Garland, and more!

We are already excited and gearing up for our next conference in nine short months! Save the date for CAC23 April 27-30, 2023.

At the June 25th, 2021 Ceremonies, we were overjoyed to recognize the 18 Fiction and 7 Non-Fiction CIBA Divisions for the First Place Category and Grand Prize Winners!

First of all, we want to thank all of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 25 CIBA Divisions. Without your labors of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist. THANK YOU!

We want to thank all of the authors and publishers who participated in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs). Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increases 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. Promotional Stickers are available to those who have advanced in the CIBA Tiers of Achievement here.

A Recap of the CIBA Selection Process
- The 2021 CIBAs have 18 Fiction Divisions and 7 Non-fiction Divisions.
- First Place Category award winners were selected for each one of the 25 divisions from an overall field of titles that progressed to the Premier FINALIST Division Level from the Division Semi-Finalists positions from the Shortlists, the Long List, and the infamous beginning slush pile rounds.
- One Grand Prize award winner was selected from the First Place Category Award Winners for the 25 CIBA divisions.
- One Overall Grand Prize award winner was selected from the 25 divisions of Grand Prize Award Winners
This post will recognize the First Place and Grand Prize Winners for Cygnus, Ozma, Paranormal, Global Thrillers, M&M, Clue, Little Peeps, Gertrude Warner, and Dante Rossetti Book Awards.

For the Laramie, Chaucer, Goethe, Hemingway, Chatelaine, Mark Twain, and Somerset Awards, click here for Part 2.

For the Journey, Hearten, Nellie Bly, I&I, Mind & Spirit, Harvey Chute, Military & Frontline, Series, and Shorts Awards, click here for Part 3

THANK YOU to CAC22 SPONSORS and FRIENDS

CIBA Grand Prize Ribbons!

We are honored to present the

2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards

Grand Prize Winners

The 2021 CIBA Winners!

The CYGNUS Book Awards

for Science Fiction Novels

Grand Prize Winner is

A WAR IN TOO MANY WORLDS by Elizabeth Crowens
- J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
- Sarah Lahey – Nostalgia Is Heartless, Book Two
- Akosua Sankofa – Monmouth Deep
- Rhett C. Bruno – Vicarious
- Steven Seril – The Destroyer of Worlds: ‘An Answer to Every Question’
- Charlene Newcomb – Echoes of the Storm
The OZMA Book Awards

for Fantasy Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

PLAGUE OF FLIES: Revolt of the Spirits by Laurel Anne Hill
- David Fitz-Gerald – Waking Up Lost
- 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 Paranormal Book Awards

for Supernatural Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

THE DEVIL PULLS THE STRINGS by J.W. Zarek
- K.T. Anglehart – The Wise One
- Miki Mitayn – The Conscious Virus
- Rebecca Kightlinger – Megge of Bury Down: The Bury Down Chronicles, Book One
- Kaylin McFarren – Annihilation
- J.G. Schwartz – The Curious Spell of Madam Genova
- Daniela Valenti – Sentinel 10: The Crystal Skull
The GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards

for High Stakes Thrillers, Lab Lit, and Suspense Novels

Grand Prize Winner is

THE CHAMELEON by Ron McManus
- Timothy S. Johnston – Fatal Depth
- J Lawrence Matthews – One Must Tell The Bees
- Norman M. Jacobs, MD – A Divine Wind
- Randall Krzak – Mission: Angola (Xavier Sear Thriller Book 1)
- Andrew Kaplan – Blue Madagascar
The CLUE Book Awards

for Thrillers, Suspense, Legal, Detective, and Procedural Crime Novels

Grand Prize Winner is

THE VINES by Shelley Nolden
- Emily A. Myers – The Truth About Unspeakable Things
- James A. Ross – Coldwater Revenge
- T.L. Bequette – Good Lookin’: A Joe Turner Mystery
- Kevin Chapman – Fatal Infraction Mike Stoneman Thriller#4
- Rip Converse – Callie Awakens
- Amy S. Peele – Match: A Medical Murder Mystery
The M & M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem

for Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries

Grand Prize Winner is

OPHELIA’S ROOM by Michael Scott Garvin
- Lori Roberts Herbst – Double Exposure
- Cam Lang – The Concrete Vineyard
- Eileen Charbonneau – Death at Little Mound
- Codi Schneider – Cold Snap: A Viking Cat Mystery
- Darryl Wimberley – A Star in her CrownChasing Cleopatra
LITTLE PEEPS Book Awards for

Early Readers and Picture Books

Grand Prize Winner is

VICTORIA AND THE BIG BRAVE BREATH by Andrea Vaughan
- David Horn – Eudora Space Kid: The Great Engine Room Takeover
- Brooks Olbrys – Blue Ocean Bob Discovers His Purpose
- Peggy Sullivan – Shadow Walkers, The Secret Lives of the Shy Sisters
- Denise Ditto Satterfield – Tooth Fairy Day Celebration
- Rebecca Dwight Bruff – Stars of Wonder
GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards

for Middle Grade Fiction

Grand Prize is

FISHING FOR LUCK by Murray Richter
- Sean March – Little Wade and Watchtower: Abigail and the Great Gang Trap
- J. B. Spector – The Sunlit Curse, The Mer-Prince Adventures
- Ben Gartner – Sol Invictus
- Jay Spenser – The Barn Owl Mystery
- Gloria Two-Feathers – Buck: Keeper of the Meadow
- Didem Saracel – Story of Carbon
The DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards

for Young Adult Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

TARO: Legendary Boy Hero of Japan by Blue Spruell
- P.H.C. Marchesi – Florissant
- Blue Spruell – TARO: Legendary Boy Hero of Japan
- Rektok Ross – Ski Weekend
- Nancy Thorne – The Somewhere I See You Again
- Mark Wakely – A Friend Like Filby
- Glen Dahlgren – The Game of War: The Trials of Dantess, Warrior Priest
Congratulations to ALL!

We will email each winner with more information about their prize packages and more information.

Be sure to FOLLOW and LIKE us Facebook and on Twitter @ChantiReviews

Not seeing your Awards Division? Check out the links below!

For the Laramie, Chaucer, Goethe, Hemingway, Chatelaine, Mark Twain, and Somerset Awards, click here for Part 2.

For the Journey, Hearten, Nellie Bly, I&I, Mind & Spirit, Harvey Chute, Military & Frontline, Series, and Shorts Awards, click here for Part 3

And the OVERALL GRAND PRIZE for the 2021 CIBAs!

We are now accepting entries into the 2022 Chanticleer International Book Awards.

Click here for more information and submission deadlines: https://test.chantireviews.com/contests/

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com — We will try to respond within 3 business days.

Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 2021 CIBA Winners! – The Chanticleer Team
July 11, 2022
DAWN Of GENESIS: Titan Code Book 1 by Rey Clark – Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalypse, Young Adult

Dawn of Genesis: Titan Code Book 1 by Rey Clark portrays a near future Earth that is dying by inches, feet, and yards.

Specifically, yards and acres of crops are choked to death by a constant dust-bowl. Only a small human population has so far managed to survive the collapse of both the environment and the economy of the entire world.

The desperate circumstances of most of humanity are exacerbated by the rise of mutated super-humans with powers to rival those of typical superheroes. But the “Evos,” evolved humans, are missing the moral compass that directs those comic book superheroes, and the government that has arisen to “protect” the remaining non-Evo population isn’t much better.

The reader’s perspective on that boiling stew is teen Tessa Jones, still in school and trying to pretend that her combat and engineering skills aren’t nearly as excellent as she knows they are.

If she shows what she’s really capable of, she’ll be whisked away from her family’s farm by a government that uses – and uses up – every available person in order to defeat the Evos.

But Tessa’s dreams of remaining with her family explode when she manifests her own Evo powers to save her little sister’s life. Unable to hide what she really is, Tessa becomes a pawn, caught between forces that plan to use her for their own ends, either as a warrior for the Evos or a lab rat for a government planning to make more super-soldiers just like Tessa.

Because Tessa is still learning about the world and her place in it, she provides an eye-opening perspective on this post-apocalyptic world, as well as giving the story crossover appeal to readers of young adult and new adult fiction.

Tessa is on the cusp of adulthood, facing decisions that will set the course of her life. She is still facing all the issues of being in school: boredom, bullying, trying to fit in and desperate not to stand out too much. Even in the post-apocalypse, these issues are easy for readers to identify with.

She also tries to find her truth, to find a way of coping with the dying world she has been born into. She’s aware that what she hears about the larger world is all propaganda, and she doesn’t know which way to turn or what to believe because she has no idea where to find the truth.

She’s naive, she’s uncertain, and she’s desperate because she’s trapped in terrible circumstances facing equally terrible choices, none of them of her making. But she is the one person who might be able to fix at least some of her world, if she is willing to take the reins of the future into her own hands.

Dawn of Genesis is a post-apocalyptic survival story. And it’s a story about one young woman making a place for herself on a dying Earth. But it’s also a story about training and learning to be the most that one can be, and it’s a kick-ass adventure story about grabbing a better future.

Dawn of Genesis by Rey Clark won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction.

July 11, 2022
The CYGNUS 2021 CIBA WINNERS for Science Fiction
The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring space, time travel, life on other planets, parallel universes, alternate reality, and all the science, technology, major social or environmental changes of the future that author imaginations can dream up for the CYGNUS Book Awards division. Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Genetic Modification, Aliens, Super Humans, Interplanetary Travel, Climate-Fiction, and Settlers on the Galactic Frontier, Dystopian, our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

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

This is the OFFICIAL 2021 LIST of the CYGNUS BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the CYGNUS Grand Prize Winner.
- J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
- Sarah Lahey – Nostalgia Is Heartless, Book Two
- Akosua Sankofa – Monmouth Deep
- Rhett C. Bruno – Vicarious
- Elizabeth Crowens – A War in Too Many Worlds
- Steven Seril – The Destroyer of Worlds: ‘An Answer to Every Question’
- Charlene Newcomb – Echoes of the Storm
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 CYGNUS Awards is:

A War in Too Many Worlds

By Elizabeth Crowens

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 FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

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

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

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

The 2022 CYGNUS 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 CYGNUS Book Awards are open until the end of June. 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 your patience and understanding.
June 29, 2022
FROM BRICK and DARKNESS By J. L. Sullivan – YA Urban Fantasy, Mythology, Coming of Age

Dreams become a reality for a high schooler who gets more than he bargains for when he unwittingly releases a demon in J. L. Sullivan’s urban fantasy novel, From Brick and Darkness.

Fifteen-year-old Baxter (Bax) Allen encounters a creepy homeless-looking man at his apartment complex with purple eyes. The stranger, who asks for Greg, Bax’s estranged father, hands him a ring affixed with a purple stone. The man says that the costume jewelry is valuable, although Bax has difficulty believing his claim.

At school the next day, as he shares his weird experience with his best friend, Jason, Bax accidentally rubs the ring, the stone emits a hypnotic glow, and a small monkey-like creature appears, saying, “How can it serve?” Once Bax and Jason realize that the ring summoned a genie (or Janni, as the creature says), the two plan to investigate this strange phenomenon further at Bax’s house. One thing leads to the next, and before the boys know what’s going on, Ashley, Bax’s neighbor catches a glimpse of Janni. She joins the boys and is sworn to secrecy about this enchanted creature.

Although Janni’s job is relegated to fetching objects instead of granting wishes, Bax wonders if it has untapped power, especially when Bax has a vivid dream involving his estranged father.

The dream activates the ring, causing it to emanate a purple light. Janni, who admits to knowing where to find a more powerful djinn – an ifrit, more akin to a demon – leads the trio to an ordinary box fitted with yet another purple jewel. Bax rubs it, producing a gastly-looking creature that Bax immediately orders back in the box.

That evening, Bax has another vivid dream that, to his horror, exactly matches the death of Nick Ruiz, a popular student at Truman High. The mysterious conditions behind Nick’s demise can only point to one culprit: the ifrit. Bax and his friends feverishly scramble to find a way to stop the demon from unleashing more harm. What the trio doesn’t know is that the ifrit has more sinister plans in the works.

Rising young adult author, J. L. Sullivan, combines mythology, theology, and astronomy to create an invitingly fresh, nail-biting coming-of-age teen tale.

At the center of all the “ologies” is an ordinary teen with ordinary desires, except that he often wonders about the father he barely knew who seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. Sullivan excels at making not only Bax Allen a real person, but making the entire St. Louis-based environment come to life. In Bax’s world, teens are just teens with hormones, angst, bullies, and rumors galore.

But what happens when, amid a commonplace high school atmosphere, one teen accidentally walks into a realm beyond the three-wish genies’ basic concept? Sullivan’s imagination takes “curiosity killed the cat” to a new level when not just Bax but his clever best friend and Bax’s annoying teen neighbor are grouped as an unlikely trio on a research-driven quest that turns deadly. Because Janni and the ifrit only answer to Bax, he constantly finds himself in sticky situations. Tension builds between him and his mother as his excuses pile on top of one another.

Sullivan’s sure and engaging writing style offers a well-balanced mix of narration and dialogue with a small but mighty supportive cast that provides readers with an inside scoop on the main character’s thought processes and internal struggles. Scenes slowly build, especially while highlighting victims and surly characters, creating non-stop tension and a gripping page-turner.

From Brick and Darkness is guaranteed to become a new teen favorite.

May 16, 2022
RUNEBINDER By Alex R. Kahler – YA Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

Runebinder is a dark post-apocalyptic young adult thriller that follows eighteen-year-old water and earth user Tenn, as he is torn between two opposition sides of a deadly fight for survival.

The discovery of magic caused the old world to disappear forever, leaving a reality where to live is a daily struggle of simply surviving another day. Monsters named Howls roam the world searching for survivors to feast on, but they are nothing compared to the powerful Kin that are waging a violent war against what remains of humanity.

During a food scouting mission, Tenn and his companions become surrounded by Howls. Under orders to not use magic to keep the location of their army secret from the approaching army of necromancers, Tenn’s Water sphere unexpectedly unleashes an unprecedented amount of power, destroying every Howl in the surrounded area instantly. Tenn is confused by how his magic could act on his own, and Tenn is soon sought by the opposing sides in the endless war for survival who both believe Tenn is the key to their success.

The opening installment to The Runebinder Chronicles, Runebinder is a fast-paced action-packed novel that will keep readers wanting to know what happens next.

The world-building descriptions are reminiscent of the quick and drastically changed world of a zombie apocalypse. It has only been a few years since magic reached the point of no return after the creation of the Howls. The decay seems too advanced for the few short years since everything changed, but is believable when considering the power magic has.

Runebinder makes use of the “Chosen One” literary trope, which is arguably an overused plot structure, especially in young adult literature. Perhaps, as the series progresses, Kahler will create a unique take on the “Chosen One” storyline, but in Runebinder alone, it is not. The characters are developed well and quite complex once far enough into the story. The style and tone flow easily, which makes for a quick page-turning experience.

It’s hard not to view Runebinder, which was first published in 2018, differently after living through a global pandemic, but reading it now makes it more accessible and engrossing.

Tenn’s world changed forever in an instant. Magic emerged and grew slowly, but the world Tenn knew died suddenly once it reached a critical point. There’s a theme in Runebinder of the feeling of never feeling safe after losing normalcy. How does one keep going when everything seems hopeless and there is nothing left to fight for? Yet, Tenn keeps fighting to survive and life another day in the smallest hope that a better world will one day be possible.

Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler is a post-apocalyptic young adult story about the power of hope in a world where no hope should exist, yet does despite all odds.

May 2, 2022
The 2021 Finalists for the CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction – a Division of the 2021 CIBAs
The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring space, time travel, life on other planets, parallel universes, alternate reality, and all the science, technology, major social or environmental changes of the future that author imaginations can dream up for the CYGNUS Book Awards division. Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Genetic Modification, Aliens, Super Humans, Interplanetary Travel, Climate -Fiction, and Settlers on the Galactic Frontier, Dystopian, our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 CYGNUS Science Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference. First Place and Grand Prize Winners will be chosen from the 24 Division Categories.

Congratulations to the 2021 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction Semi-Finalists!
- J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
- Sarah Lahey – Nostalgia Is Heartless, Book Two
- Spaulding Taylor – Last Star Standing
- Akosua Sankofa – Monmouth Deep
- Rhett C. Bruno – Vicarious
- Peter Greene – Light of Ganymede
- Kristie Clark – Dragon Gold
- Charlene Newcomb – Echoes of the Storm
- D.H. Ford – Cosmic Swap
- William M. Hayes – Save Him
- William X. Adams – Alien Dream Machine
- PA Vasey – Trinity Evolution
- Daniel C. McWhorter – Revival: The Gaia Origin, Book Two
- Jenn Lees – Restoring Time: Community Chronicles Book 4
- William X. Adams – Alien Panic
- Elizabeth Crowens – A War in Too Many Worlds
- Sandra J. Jackson – Catching Butterflies
- Dana Claire – The Connection
- Gina Detwiler – Forgiven
- Sam Stea – The Edge of Elsewhere
- Steven Seril – The Destroyer of Worlds: ‘An Answer to Every Question’
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 FIRST PLACE WINNERS positions of the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!

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

The next round of judging will decide which books move on to the Finalist positions for the 2021 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction novels.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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

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

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

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The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2020 CYGNUS Awards is Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle for The Luna Missile Crisis

Click here to see the 2020 CYGNUS Book Award Winners for Science Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 CYGNUS Awards writing competition.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

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.

Join us for our 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
April 19, 2022
The BEST WEEK THAT NEVER HAPPENED by Dallas Woodburn – Teen and YA Coming of Age Fantasy, Teen and Y/A Magical Realism Fiction, Y/A Contemporary Fantasy Fiction

Dallas Woodburn’s debut novel The Best Week that Never Happened is a roller-coaster ride through Hawaii and the mysterious depths of its briny deep, sparkling with unreal magic, a poignant romance, and incessant hope.

Tegan Rossi, a freshly graduated eighteen-year-old, awakens in the secretive hideout she discovered with Kai Kapule as two eight-year-old children on her first trip to Hawaii Island. She needs to make amends with Kai as they had a major squabble over something very important that she now oddly forgets. When Tegan catches up with Kai in Hawaii, she enters her best week yet – the Best Week That Never Happened.

The first-person narrative is a fusion of Tegan’s past three years ago and ten years ago, as well as a mystified chronicling of her present with Kai on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Tegan and Kai run into each other for the second time in Hawaii ten years later. At Kai’s earnest request, they both meet at their childhood hideout The Lava Tubes. Reliving the nostalgia, they re-emerge as inseparable friends, sharing their lives over the phone 4,880 miles apart. Tegan’s reluctance to meet up with Kai’s graduation wish (a visit from Tegan) turns up in the two-months past narrative. With the present time leapfrog, Tegan arrives in Hawaii, fretting over her inability to remember how she turned up there.

In the medical center of Kai’s aunt, Tegan discovers an hourglass tattoo on her body she never had.

A series of incredible happenings follow. Tegan’s suitcase shows up out of nowhere with all she could ever wish for, her mom doesn’t seem to exist, at least she’s not answering her calls. Oh, yes, and the hourglass tattoo is losing sand. Most curious, Tegan discovers her Instagram photo in front of a train with a caption about her departure from Philadelphia to Washington DC. But the train crashed, killing 67 passengers.

In her quest for an explanation, Tegan receives a message, “to trust enough to take the leap.” It is Tegan’s conforming to the message which will eventuate her best week, the week of confessing love, dealing with insecurities, and reliving the déjà-vu moments from the past with Kai into a reality.

The Best Week That Never Happened ushers readers through alternating states of reflection and pessimism, until finally riding the waves of optimism and hope.

Dallas Woodburn explores the complexity of a teenage psyche. Through Kai and Tegan, she reflects on our innate insecurities and the tendency to not embrace new ideas and opportunities out of fear. With the development of the two characters, the narrative tone gradually shifts from a tragic to an optimistic perspective, referencing their development as adults. This subtle shift brings about a symbiotic relationship between pessimism and optimism in which we all live.

The aversion to change and embracing a better future is a predominant theme throughout the book.

This underlying struggle is reflected in Tegan and Ross. Tegan struggles with the decision to confess her feelings for Kai, adamant to keep the relationship unchanged. By not confessing to her feelings, she risks making the best week of her life with Kai only an illusion of reality. Kai dreams of becoming an artist and gets shortlisted to the prestigious CalArts College in Los Angeles. He adores his usual marine life with his family in Hawaii, his paradise, away from the suffocating fear of being stuck “at the bottom of the barrel” outside of Hawaii. Overcoming their fears and insecurities is what makes the debut novel, The Best Week That Never Happened, so very relatable.

With a twist of magical realism and captivating storytelling, The Best Week That Never Happened revolves around the contemporary concerns of teenagers and adults alike. It’s an exciting read with a powerful message borrowed from Martin Luther King, Jr., “Take the first step in faith. You don’t need to see everything on the staircase, just the first step.”

The Best Week That Never Happened by Dallas Woodburn won the CIBA 2020 Grand Prize in the Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult novels and is one book we highly recommend.

April 4, 2022
The 2021 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction – The Short List – CIBAs 2021
The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (the CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring space, time travel, life on other planets, parallel universes, alternate reality, and all the science, technology, major social or environmental changes of the future that author imaginations can dream up for the CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction.

Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Genetic Modification, Aliens, Super Humans, Interplanetary Travel, Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi), and Settlers on the Galactic Frontier, Dystopian, our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 CYGNUS Science Fiction Long List to the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for 2021 Cygnus Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The 2021 CYGNUS FINALISTS will be selected from the CYGNUS Semi-Finalists.

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-FINALS of the 2021 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
- Sarah Lahey – Nostalgia Is Heartless, Book Two
- Joe Butler – Of All Possibilities
- Michael Hicks Thompson – Clouds Above
- Spaulding Taylor – Last Star Standing
- Dale Renton – DART
- S. W. Lawrence, MD – Earth Dragon
- Max Mason – Novastrom: Adventures from the Zrax Wars
- Mark D. Owen – Impact
- Steven Seril – The Destroyer of Worlds: ‘An Answer to Every Question’
- Akosua Sankofa – Monmouth Deep
- John Teton – The Book of Geezer
- Gary Clark – The Given
- Rhett C. Bruno – Vicarious
- Timothy S. Johnston – Fatal Depth
- Peter Greene – Light of Ganymede
- Kristie Clark – Dragon Gold
- Dimple Patel Desai – The Lambda Factor
- John J Spearman – Pike’s Potential
- Charlene Newcomb – Echoes of the Storm
- D.H. Ford – Cosmic Swap
- William M. Hayes – Save Him
- William X. Adams – Alien Dream Machine
- Michael J Metroke – The Masada Affair
- PA Vasey – Trinity Evolution
- Daniel C. McWhorter – Revival: The Gaia Origin, Book Two
- Robert C Littlewood – Deviance
- Jenn Lees – Restoring Time: Community Chronicles Book 4
- Bernie Koenig – B.R.A.I.N.
- Daniele Kasper – Cut Her Out In Little Stars
- William X. Adams – Alien Panic
- Elizabeth Crowens – A War in Too Many Worlds
- Sandra J. Jackson – Catching Butterflies
- Dana Claire – The Connection
- Gina Detwiler – Forgiven
- Sam Stea – The Edge of Elsewhere
Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

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The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2020 CYGNUS Awards is Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle for The Luna Missile Crisis

Click here to see the 2020 CYGNUS Book Award Winners for Science Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 CYGNUS Awards writing competition.

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Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

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Featuring: International Best Selling Author Cathy Ace along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
January 10, 2022
THE MOONSTONE GIRLS by Brooke Skipstone – Young Adult, LGBTQ+ Literature, Coming of Age

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

December 27, 2021
HALE: The Rise of the Griffins by J.K. Noble – YA Fiction Self-Esteem, YA Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy, YA Sword and Sorcery Fantasy

J.K. Noble’s first installment in her new YA series, Hale: The Rise of the Griffins, is a fast-paced adventure through a magical realm full of danger, deception, and mythical beasts.

Sixteen-year-old Hale was orphaned at a young age; his parents both mysteriously killed while on a family camping trip. His older sister, Carly, took him under her wing and raised him, making sure he was safe and that he always wore the amulet given to him by his father. But two years later, when Hale and Carly are both abducted and held captive by a violent man, Hale’s life takes another drastic turn he isn’t expecting. He’s swiftly ushered into a magical realm known as The Extraordinary Division of Malphora – a sister realm to The Human Division of Malphora – where Griffin’s reign supreme and monsters lurk across the lands.

Accompanied by a group of other kids also pulled into The Extraordinary Division of Malphora, Hale learns that he isn’t a simple human boy – he’s a Griffin with the power of Endurance, the strongest of powers among his kind.

Aided by his new friend River, Hale navigates the brutal world of young Griffin training set up by the leader of the Griffins – the powerful and respected Bayo. Except, Bayo isn’t entirely what he seems. He’s hiding a dark secret from Hale that could flip their entire world upside down, and if he’s not careful, Hale could end up bringing about his demise.

Noble crafts an intricate and vast world full of lore that will keep even the most avid fantasy reader engrossed.

The magic system uniquely draws upon many familiar mythological creatures – harpies, nymphs, witches – but offers its own spin, combining these old legends with the modern era’s ingenuity. It is clear that an immense amount of planning and work went into the creation of Malphora, and while some details may feel rushed at times, Noble gives the reader an adventure of a lifetime that they won’t be able to put down.

Not only does Noble’s magic system draw the reader in, but so do her characters.

The emotional ties between the cast are one of the book’s most vital attributes, exploring the trials of friendship, the heartbreak of love, and the dangerous things we’ll do to protect our family. The bond between Hale and Carly provides a solid start to the book. The friendship that forms between Hale and fellow Griffin River keeps the reader invested, not to mention the plethora of other characters and their interesting and often complicated personal ties to one another. Emotions run high in Hale: The Rise of the Griffins, and they will make any reader laugh, cry, and sing Nobel’s praises.

November 22, 2021