CAC21 Archived Faculty
The 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference will take place VIRTUALLY and LIVE
Wednesday – Saturday, April 21 – 24, 2021
The 2020 CIBA Ceremony and Announcements for 1st Place and Grand Prize Winners will take place June 5, 2021 at a Hybrid Ceremony. More info to come.
See our announcement on our main Conference page. The 2020 CIBA FINALISTS will be announced starting at 6 p.m. PST April 22-24, 2021
The Publishing Workshop and Jessica Morrell’s Master Writing Class will be held on Wednesday, April 21st. Here is a link to the schedule of all sessions https://www.chantireviews.com/chanticleer-conference/chanticleer-authors-conference-schedule/
Please check back often! All information subject to change.
Multichannel Marketing
and the Business of Being a Writer
The New Era of Content Creation in All Its Forms
Honing Your Writing Craft
We have a spectacular line-up of experts in marketing, book publicity, publishing, and advanced writing craft lined up for the 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference!
Hashtags: #VCAC21
Headliners and Special Guests
We are excited and honored to have Cathy Ace to present and participate at her first Chanticleer Authors Conference!
Cathy Ace, International Bestselling Crime and Mystery Writer!
Having run her own post-graduate marketing communications training company in the UK for a decade, and having traveled the world as a management trainer, she’s now able to take all that experience and be an “edu-taining” speaker who is funny, insightful, knows her stuff and can speak about topics ranging from the broad base of The History of Mystery, to more intimate and personal topics such as how she plans, plots and writes her bestselling mysteries.
BIG NEWS FOR CATHY…Her Cait Morgan Mysteries have been optioned for TV by the UK production company Free@Last TV, which is responsible for the hit TV series based on MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin books (Hamish MacBeth series). The same company has optioned The Wrong Boy, with plans for it to be broadcast as a three-part miniseries, in Welsh and English.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/22, 12:45 p.m. Meet Cathy Ace — International Crime and Mystery Author — Key Note
- 4/23, 12:45 p.m. SOUP to NUTS! What I do to plot, plan, write, edit, design, and launch a book — with Q & A
- 4/23, 3:15 p.m. Book to Film
- 4/24, 12:45 p.m. Plotting and Planning!
J. D. Barker, Master of Suspense
J.D. Barker successfully published his debut as an indie and sold enough copies to land on the radar of the traditional publishers in a BIG way including seven-figure advances, two feature films, and a television program.
His debut, self-published novel Forsaken, drew the attention of agents and traditional publishers to his debut thriller series, The Fourth Monkey, which lead to pre-empts and auctions worldwide with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt picking up for the U.S. and HarperCollins in the U.K.
J.D. is an internationally bestselling American author whose work has been broadly described as suspense thrillers, often incorporating elements of horror, crime, mystery, science fiction, and the supernatural.
Conference Session:
- 4/22, 10:15 a.m. Writing Craft for Mystery, Suspense, & Thriller Novels – with Jessica Stone
Bradley Metrock is routinely engaged by conferences and events, large and small, to speak on how voice tech (more properly, voice-first technology) and AI are impacting our world. Some of these talks are global and high-concept in nature, while others have focused on specific industry verticals or sectors, as the emergence of voice is impacting each and every business and organization in existence.
Conference Sessions
- 4/23, 10:15 a.m. How Voice Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Technology Impacts the Publishing and Content Industries
Chris (C.C.) Humphreys – Author/Actor on Audiobooks on a Budget with Hindenburg
Chris has played Hamlet in Calgary, a gladiator in Tunisia, and a dead immortal in Highlander; he’s waltzed in London’s West End, conned the landlord of the Rovers Return in Coronation Street, commanded a Starfleet in Andromeda, and voiced Salem the cat in the original Sabrina. He has published 18 novels including The French Executioner, The Jack Absolute Trilogy; Vlad – The Last Confession; A Place Called Armageddon; and Shakespeare’s Rebel. His novel Plague won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel in Canada in 2015. He is now writing epic fantasy with the Immortals’ Blood Trilogy, for Gollancz; the first book, Smoke in the Glass, was published in 2019.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/22, 3:15 p.m. Audio Book Creation – YES you can!
- 4/23, 3:15 p.m. Book to Film
- 4/24, 3:15 p.m. Writing Craft with the Master Story Weaver
World-Class Leaders in Podcast Generation & Audiobook Creation present VCAC21 Workshops
Learn from the Best!
Hindenburg Systems Team Members:
JONATHAN HURLEY
Audiobook Creation Session
- 4/22, 3:15 p.m. Audio Book Creation – YES you can! with Chris Humphreys, Peter Greene, and Janet Oakley. Lead by Jonathan Hurley of Hindenburg Systems.
Jonathan Hurley graduated from Berklee College of Music is 2004. In the following years, he has recorded, edited, and produced various records, film scores, and other audio projects. Jonathan also worked for several years as a teacher in the Massachusetts public school system, developing his pedagogical and training skills.
Jonathan’s training included all aspects of technical production and narration techniques, ranging from preparing for recording, breath-control, posture, and alignment to correct microphone use. The training regime he created improved the ability of narrators to create an audio experience that people want to listen to.
Jonathan Hurley, Hindenburg Systems Team
Jessica Page Morrell: Writing Craft Sessions that Will Take Your Work to the Next Level
Jessica Page Morrell
Learn from the Best!
Each year we offer writing craft sessions from the best editors and authors in the publishing industry. This year we are excited to announce that we have Jessica Page Morrell as the teacher of the Master Writing Class Sessions.
Jessica understands both sides of the editorial desk–as a highly-sought after developmental editor and author. Her work also appears in multiple anthologies and The Writer and Writer’s Digest magazines. She is known for explaining the hows and whys of what makes for excellent writing and for sharing very clear examples that examine the technical aspects of writing that emphases layering and subtext. Her books on writing craft are considered “a must-have” for any serious writer’s toolkit.
Master Class taught by Jessica Morrell — additional fee required.
Master Class: Story People: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly Jessica P. Morrell ©
It sometimes does take a village to bring a story to life. With that in mind, we’ll discuss the many roles for your story people from protagonist to minor characters, and delineate their impact on the plots and protagonist. However, we’ll also cover the outliers in fiction and the chaos, conflict, zest, and realism they add to your story world. So we’ll be covering anti-heroes, oddballs, wretches, naughty, pain-in-the-butt types, innocents, along with villains and bad and bad ass women.
We’ll touch on other topics—how to differentiate characters via voice, creating characters based on backstories and main traits, and the importance of secondary characters to make things happen. Because living, breathing characters come from readers experiencing them through a specific emotional lens supplied by viewpoint, voice, and a character’s observations. To further expand our discussion we’ll also cover immersive, intimate viewpoint and narrative distance. Please bring your favorite imaginary folks to the workshop.
Workshop: Power Writing
Word by word, sentence by sentence using language to create tension, emotion, action and resonance.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/21, 1 p.m. Master Class Writing Workshop with Jessica Morrell with breaks and Q & A — STORY PEOPLE: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- 4/24, 10:15 a.m. Power Writing – Word by Word
We are eager to welcome Chelsea Bennett from LuLu press to VCAC21!
Chelsea Bennet is The Brand Engagement Manager for Lulu.com and is constantly researching and developing new resources for self-published authors. Her areas of expertise include self-publishing, Print-on-Demand technology, building an author brand, direct sales and marketing for self-published authors and entrepreneurs. When not thinking about self-publishing, Chelsea can be found playing disc golf with her husband or having in-depth conversations about the universe with her cat, Batman. Stop by and say hello!
VCAC 21 Participation
Session Presentation: 4/23, 9:10 a.m. How Direct Sales Should be Part of Your Marketing Plan: Sell Direct and Make More Money
Panel Presentation: 4/23, 11:30 a.m. Multi-Channel Marketing Platforms for E-pubs with Simone-Pierre Marion, Bookchain.
Simon-Pierre Marion, CEO of Scenarex – the developer of BOOKCHAIN – the online secure selling platform that allows you to retain more of your royalties.
Simon-Pierre Marion, CEO of Bookchain by Scenarex
The main reason he founded Scenarex, is to provide publishers and content creators with innovative and effective tools based on blockchain that allows them to manage their digital files and protect their content against piracy and theft, and all without compromising their accessibility or impeding their impact on the public.
Scenarex’s flag product, Bookchain®, is the first worldwide online platform to publish, sell, and read ebooks using blockchain technology and allowing for local currency for purchases and rights holders’ royalty distribution. With over 20 years of experience in supervising IT application development, budgeting, and project management, he also holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (B.Sc.) and an Executive Master of Business Administration (eMBA), with a specialization in technology management. Simon-Pierre manages the overall operations and resources of the company while ensuring its continued development and growth.
Conference Sessions
- 4/23, 11:30 a.m. Expand Your Readership by Expanding Your Distribution and Selling Platforms with Chelsea Bennett, Paul Hanson, & Susan Faw
- 4/24, 11:30 a.m. The Future of E-Pub and Digital Publishing
DID YOU KNOW? Bookchain is hosting the e-pub VCAC Virtual Book Fair!
Do you want to upload your works to Bookchain? Set up a time after the session to have the CEO himself help you navigate this secure platform for selling digital books.
Amy and Wayne of CHATABLES – to present a 3-tiered workshop on Conversational Storytelling at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference (VCAC 20).
These sessions will build on each other. Those who complete the 3 sessions will be invited to join an exclusive group of authors that is by invitation only. There is no cost to join.
Amy Stapleton is Co-Founder of Chatables, a publisher of voice-first conversational stories and tools to support authors. Prior to Chatables, Stapleton founded Tellables and served as a voice app designer, writer, and editor of content for the Tellables Amazon Alexa story experiences “Tricky Genie” and “My Box of Chocolates. Stapleton retired from a career at NASA to pursue her vision of transforming talking devices into a platform for engaging new story experiences.
Conference Session:
- 4/24, 9:10 a.m. A New Marketing Platform for Authors on Alexa/Amazon – Chatables
Janice Ellis, Ph.D.
Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D., Award-winning author, newspaper columnist and online commentator, and Political Scientist
For 30 years, Dr. Ellis analyzes educational, political, social, and economic issues across race, ethnicity, age, and socio-economic status. Janice Ellis holds a Ph.D. in Communication Arts, and two Master of Arts degrees, one in Communications Arts and a second in Political Science, all from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Her memoir, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream won the CIBA 2018 Grand Prize in the Journey Awards. Dr. Ellis’ new book, Shaping Public Opinion: How Real Advocacy Journalism™ Should be Practiced, won the CIBA 2019 Grand Prize for the inaugural Nellie Bly Nonfiction Journalism Award. Restoring honesty and civility must be the priority among journalists and commentators if we are to serve a dependent and vulnerable public, and safeguard a fundamental tenet of our Democracy—that is the focus of the book. The book has received great national editorial reviews and endorsements. It is scheduled to be released in May 2021. Dr. Ellis continues to be an important voice in race and gender relations.
Conference Session:
- 4/24, 4:30 p.m. The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
As a CIBA JOURNEY Grand Prize Award Winner for her From Magnolia to Liberty memoir, Janice will pass the torch as she announces the award winners at the 2019 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards ceremonies (The CIBAs). Dr. Ellis is the author of two award-winning books, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream (2018); Shaping Public Opinion: How Real Advocacy Journalism™ Should Be Practiced (2021).
Tana Hope
Tana Hope is a certified Perfect Posture Instructor and a certified 3MAP practitioner (Acupuncture Meridian, Muscle, Massage, Anatomy & Physiology).
Tana’s knowledge base is due in part from her unique multi-culture background. Tana was born & raised in Korea, has lived in Japan and now in the U.S. Tana’s work history includes the Korean National Congress, U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Octel Communications, and U.S. Customs District office.
Tana designed and delivers The HOPE (Healthy Optimal Posture Education) Workshop to help people understand the basic fundamental principles of how body functions and to learn how to operate body in harmony and operate wisely based on the body design principals to produce the maximum performance and longevity.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/22, 2 p.m. Writers: Improve Your Productivity and Your Health by Correcting Posture – Part 1
- 4/23, 2 p.m. Writers: Improve Your Productivity and Your Health by Correcting Posture – Part 2
- 4/24, 2 p.m. Writers: Improve Your Productivity and Your Health by Correcting Posture – Part 3
Pamela Beason – P.I., Ghost Writer, and Author of the Four Mysteries Series
Pamela Beason – author of 14 mysteries and experiences BookBub user. She will share her knowledge of Bookbub and how to write a sustained series with us.
Seán Dwyer: Award-winning Novelist & Renaissance Man
Seán has been a writer since he discovered that people strung words together to tell stories. He is also a polyglot and has written creatively in Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Latin, and Irish. Sean has finished three novel projects and published stories in several journals, anthologies, and Chanticleer Magazine. A native of Gary, Indiana, and Dwyer teaches Spanish, German, and Portuguese at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. The author of over 100 songs, Dwyer is also an active member of Red Wheelbarrow Writers, Whatcom Writers and Publishers, and Upstart Crows.
Janet Oakley: Award-Winning Author and Historian, and Community Leader
J. L. Oakley writes historical fiction that spans the mid-19th century to WW II with characters standing up for something in their own time and place. She is an award-winning author and a recipient of the 2013 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award; the 2013 Chanticleer Grand Prize; the 2014 First Place Chaucer Award; an Everybody Reads and Bellingham. When not writing, she demonstrates 19th-century folkways in the schools and at San Juan Island National Park. She also has a cat who thinks she’s editing. Read pick and the 2015 WILLA Silver Award, Pulpwood Queen Book Club 2016 backlist pick for February 2016.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/22, 3:15 p.m. Audio Book Creation – YES you can!
As a First in Category winner in the Goethe, Laramie, and Chatelaine Awards for Mist-chi-mas: A Novel of Captivity, the Chaucer Award for Timber Rose and The Jøssing Affair, and the OVERALL Grand Prize for her book, Tree Soldier, Janet will present at the 2019 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards ceremonies (The CIBAs) on Saturday evening and recognize the finalists and announce the Grand Prize winner, and perhaps the Overall Grand Prize winner on Sunday evening.
Christopher Leibig is a criminal defense attorney and an award-winning novelist. His last novel, Almost Mortal, a legal thriller about a serial killer with a biblical/metaphysical twist, was a best seller in the legal thriller category on Amazon in the Spring of 2017. Almost Mortal won many national awards, including the Grand Prize in Paranormal Fiction at the 2017 Chanticleer International Book Awards (And First Place Category Winner for Mystery and Fantasy), Best Religious Fiction of 2016 at the Next Generation Independent Books Awards, and the Pencraft Award for Best Legal Thriller of 2017. Chris is a full-time criminal defense attorney and former public defender in Alexandria, Virginia, and regularly handles serious criminal cases throughout Virginia.
Conference Session:
- 4/23, 3:15 p.m. Book to Film
Alexa Bigwarfe is a mother to 3 wildlings who keep her on her toes. An advocate, activist, speaker, author & author coach, publisher, and podcaster. Her writing career began after her infant daughter passed away at 2 days old, and she turned to writing for healing. Since then, she has used her writing platform for advocacy and activism to support mothers, children, and marginalized voices.
Conference Session:
- 4/22, 4:30 p.m. INSTAGRAM for Authors and Publishers: Tips & How-To
Tina Sloan is best known for her twenty-six-year role on CBS’s soap The Guiding Light and as the author of Changing Shoes: Getting Older – Not Old – with Style, Humor, and Grace based on her autobiographical one-woman show. The Changing Shoes book release coincided with the launch of the show in New York, which went on to grace stages across the U.S. and in London. Her debut novel Chasing Cleopatra, a suspenseful romantic thriller features an irresistible heroine.
Tina has appeared on Law & Order: SVU, Third Watch and in numerous films including Woody Allen’s Celebrity and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, The Brave One with Jodi Foster, Changing Lanes with Ben Affleck, The Guru with Marisa Tomei, People I Know with Al Pacino and Black Swan with Natalie Portman. Her latest projects include being part of an all-star cast on the soap web series Beacon Hill and Venice, and she continues to be a sought after speaker.
Conference Session:
- 4/23, 3:15 p.m. Book to Film
Peter Greene is the author of The Adventures of Jonathan Moore books, a three-volume series includingWarship Poseidon, Castle of Fire, and Paladino’s War. Warship Poseidonwas awarded the 2012 Adventure Writer’s Competition Grandmaster Award, the “Clive” trophy, sponsored by the Clive Cussler Collector’s Society. Greene won Grand Prize in the GOETHE Awards for Paladino’s War.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/22, 3:15 p.m. Audio Book Creation – YES you can!
Talking To Crows Film Production Company is a full-service video production company specializing in story brand videos, live events, and human-interest profiles.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/22, 11:30 a.m. Behind the Scenes in Indie Film Making
Michelle Cox is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there.
Her work has received the Mystery & Mayhem Award from Chanticleer and several positive reviews, plus many other accolades, so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also marmalade.
Conference Session:
- 4/23, 3:15 p.m. Book to Film
Donna LeClair is a writer for Expanded Family Magazine. For 20 years, she lectured to numerous organizations, colleges, and churches on the contents of her book “Waking Reality’, leaving an audience full of tears and faith. Her book ‘One Little Black Book’ was a finalist in the 2012 Balboa Press book contest. In 2013, the International book ‘Stories of Courageous Vulnerability’ featured Ms. LeClair as a contributing author.
In 2015, she was awarded 1st place for True Action in Chanticleer Book Review’s Journey contest and was awarded Five Stars from Readers’ Favorite for her book ‘Waking Reality’. Her 4th book ‘Immunity – Entitlement of Wealthy Political Notables’ was awarded Five Stars from Readers’ Favorite and received 1st place Journey Award from Chanticleer Book Review. In March of 2019 her 5th book ‘Inch by Inch – Flaws. Hauntings. Triumphs.’ was awarded Five Stars from Readers’ Favorite and was a semi-finalist in Chanticleer Book Review’s Journey contest. Her manuscript, The Proprietor of the theatre of Life won the 2019 Somerset Grand Prize Award.
Catherine Brown writes flash fiction, short stories, young adult fantasy and women’s fiction that features magical adventure, whimsical humor, and unconventional possibilities. She is working on the first novel in a fantasy series for young adults. She is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association and The Flamingos Writing Group.
Conference Session
- 4/23, 4:30 p.m. What’s My Genre: What’s the Difference, and What Am I Writing with Q & A with Avis Adams
Avis Adams lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington State on a small farm, where she loves to garden and write. She teaches English courses at a local community college, and her poems have won awards and been published online and in various literary journals. She also writes for children and has a YA novel, The Incident, coming soon from The Wild Rose Press.
Conference Session
- 4/23, 4:30 p.m. What’s My Genre: What’s the Difference, and What Am I Writing with Q & A with Catherine Brown
Award-winning author Gregory Erich Phillips writes stories with strong characters whose lives, with their many challenges and joys, resonate with a wide audience. Raised in a literary family, Gregory began writing at the age of fourteen.
His debut novel, Love of Finished Years, won the the grand prize in the Chanticleer Reviews International Writing Competition and was an Amazon bestseller in historical fiction. It was praised by Publishers Weekly, which called it “beguiling.” His second novel, The Exile, won first place in mainstream fiction in the PNWA literary contest.
Also an accomplished tango dancer and musician, Gregory has impressed audiences from the West Coast to New York City with his drama and grace on the dance floor (visit Moonlight Tango to see him in action).
Susan Faw is the founder of Dragon’s Lair Artist Emporium. Dragon’s Lair was born to give the independently published author what they have long been denied space on a physical store shelf. Not only is this space for them, but their business model is built around showcasing the amazing, unrepresented talent that exists in the indie publishing sphere. Susan is a three time First-In-Category winner of the Dante Rossetti and also the Grand Prize winner, for Seer of Souls, book one of The Spirit Shield Saga. She is also a first place winner in the Ozma category, for her dragon fantasy novel entitled Heart of Shadra.
Conference Session:
- 4/23, 11:30 a.m. Expand Your Readership by Expanding Your Distribution and Selling Platforms with Chelsea Bennett, Simon-Pierre Marion, & Paul Hanson
Paul Hanson is one of three co-owners of Village Books in Fairhaven and Lynden. As a writer, a publisher, and former President of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, he’s been an advocate for independent bookstores and independent publishers and authors. He programs the Chuckanut Writers Workshops and Classes and has been one of the Chuckanut Writers Conference planners since 2012. Village Books’ Publishing Division has helped hundreds of local writers to publish their works.
Conference Sessions:
- 4/21, 9:10 a.m. How to get Your Books on Independent Booksellers Shelves across North America
- 4/23, 11:30 a.m. Expand Your Readership by Expanding Your Distribution and Selling Platforms with Chelsea Bennett, Simon-Pierre Marion, & Susan Faw
KIFFER BROWN
Kiffer is the founder of Chanticleer Book Reviews and International Writing Competitions, LLC. She also specializes in curating books with the potential to become fully actualized intellectual properties.
Her addiction is finding sparkling gems that will become tomorrow’s bestsellers. She is known for her instinct in picking winners. She also acts as an independent acquisitions editor for publishers and entertainment companies. Kiffer is known for her marketing talent and networking skills. She truly loves what she does and her passion shows!