There are moments in an author’s life that feel a little unreal, even after the email arrives and you read it three times to make sure your caffeine-driven brain didn’t hallucinate the whole thing.
This week was one of those moments for me.
Monsters Under the Magnolias has officially won First Place at the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs).
I honestly do not have words big enough for what that means to me.
When I started writing stories about cryptids wandering around Madison, Georgia, grumpy monsters hiding beneath magnolia trees, and ordinary people experiencing impossible things, I never imagined those strange little tales would travel this far. These stories were written with my whole heart. They were strange and Southern, humorous and gloomy in all the ways I love most.
To have them recognized by the CIBA judges is an incredible honor.
I want to sincerely thank the judges at the CIBAs for taking the time to read and champion independent authors and small press books. The amount of work that goes into judging these competitions is enormous, and I’m deeply grateful.
Most of all, I want to thank you.
The readers who took a chance on a book filled with cryptids, old Southern homes, melancholy ghosts, wendigos in pet strollers, and one lonely werewolf learning to knit.
Every review, every message, every photo of the book sitting beside somebody’s coffee cup or cat has meant more to me than you probably realize.
You helped bring Madison to life and asked for more.
Right now, I’m still deep beneath alien oceans working on Book Eight of the Abrauxian Brides series, which will be releasing soon. Prince Theovesh and Kateryna have dragged me into one of the strangest and most brutal and heart wrenching adventures I’ve written yet, complete with an underwater city, ancient harmonics, terrifying creatures in the deep, and one judgmental giant grouper with googley eyes.
After I wrap up Books Eight and Nine, though, I think it may be time to spend a little more time back in Madison with my favorite cryptids.
I suspect they’ve been getting into trouble while I’ve been among the stars.
I’ve missed them.
Thank you again for reading my stories and supporting my strange universe of haunted Southern towns and enormous horned aliens. I’m unbelievably grateful you’re here.
More adventures are coming soon.
— Lisa Clute