Thanks for reading the December 2025 issue of This Awful Awesome Life. I hope you use the link for the recipe for Cranberry Apple Crisp in our “Twelve Months of Fruit.” Previous issues of This Awful Awesome Life are available to read on our website. Go to www.thisawfulawesomelife.com and start scrolling or you can enter specific search criteria.
Our January 2026 issue will usher in a new year and celebrate nine years of This Awful Awesome Life. Jay and I started planning the magazine in January 2017, and our first issue came out in March 2017. Special thanks to Orlando Bartro for being the first author we reviewed, and for agreeing to contribute monthly articles these past nine years. He has been an unwavering supporter of This Awful Awesome Life and a source for creative inspiration.
Special thanks also to Maria Simbra for inviting me to one of her writer’s conferences in 2023. The following year, I signed up for Iron Writing Circle, a writing workshop through her company Ironed Words Productions, https://www.ironedwordsproductions.com
In 2025, I found the perfect supportive Iron Writing Circle of writers and started writing a mystery that will probably be my next book. We’re lively and loud, but the feedback and camaraderie are priceless. Maria has groups that meet in the Pittsburgh area. If you aren’t in the area, contact Ironed Words Productions to check the availability of a virtual group. Find out more in our January issue.
Author and history blogger, Tony Valerino will be joining us in January or February to discuss his new book, Pivotal Moments That Shaped American History, History of the U.S. from the Boston Tea Party to the War of Terrorism.
Orlando Bartro and I will be back with more interesting articles for you.
Our featured author with a January birthday will be Haruki Murakami
We’re moving some of our regular features around to shake things up a bit and keep you on your toes. I’m also hoping to expand our Artist Page to feature more talented creatives. Some people manage to elevate their work to the level of an artform, and we want to support their efforts.
I’ll have more streaming and reading recommendations. “What’s in a Word?” will be back but we’ll be alternating some of our content. We’ll continue the monthly quizzes to exercise our brains, and we’ll continue reviewing books.
For the time being, I’m holding off on a new subscription-based Patreon account featuring short stories and chapter installments of my books as I write them. I also hoped to provide opportunities for book discussions and narrations of short stories. It’s something I want to do, but pesky life keeps getting in the way. When and if this happens, it will remain separated from our online magazine which will always be free and available to everyone. I’m considering the Patreon option because traditional and Indy publishing have changed so drastically in recent years. Now that AI has entered the equation, more changes are coming.
Stay safe. Stay well. You are important, and you are loved.
All my best,
Fran
Answers to the December 2025 Rebus Puzzles Quiz:
1. Winter Solstice
2. Ice Skating
3. Yule Logs
4. Menorah
5. Christmas
6. Boxing Day
7. Hanukkah
8. Kwanzaa
9. New Year’s Eve
10. National Cookie Day
11. Candy Canes
12. Festivus