We hope you enjoyed the August 2024 issue of This Awful Awesome Life.

Many thanks to Orlando Bartro for his contributions to the magazine.

Special thanks to Wendy Tyson, Robin Barefield, Ann Howley, and Priscilla Goodwin Serra for sharing their travel stories with us.

Our September theme is “The Power of Words,” with a special salute to Banned Books Week (September 22 – September 28).

To illustrate the power of words, we have a powerful Q&A with singer, composer, musician, and professor of voice, Lisa Reagan. She discusses her love of music, her career with the Washington National Opera, and her new album, What We Need is Here, a collection of her favorite poems set to music.

In honor of the power of words, I read and reviewed three books for this issue, Murder on Devil’s Pond by  Ayla Rose, The Ultimate Hunt by Robin Barefield, and Saving the Guilty by Liz Milliron.

This year, I’m writing a short story for each issue related to the theme in some way. This month, my short story, “The Open Spaces” is about censorship.

For our new column, “Happy Birthday,” our author this month is F. Scott Fitzgerald. Several of Fitzgerald’s novels have been challenged or banned. The Great Gatsby was often challenged by religious groups for language, violence, and sexual references.

We’re streaming movies and TV shows with strong word content, so no action movies this month.

For September 2024 in “The Twelve Months of Salsa,” I made Watermelon Salsa. It’s the perfect salsa for enjoying the end of summer. It’s refreshing and surprisingly good with tacos, burritos, tortilla chips, and crackers.

Do you know what “With Might and Main,” means? Don’t worry, Orlando Bartro will explain in this issue.

We found some great choices in challenged or banned reading recommendations for kids and adults. Also, this month instead of September in Pictures, I will be sharing My Kitchen Remodel in Pictures as well as a peek at some other rooms I’ve been redoing. Don’t miss our preview of our October issue, “Salute to Women’s Health.”

We’re constantly updating our Author Page to include the latest published works of your new favorite authors, and we’re adding authors. Being able to give authors a free place to display their work is a dream come true for me, so please check every month to see who’s new and what’s new.

Don’t miss our new Artist Page where we will be celebrating creatives and providing their contact information. We will be updating and adding to the list during this month and the following months, so keep checking our new page.

Everything in Between is now available in audiobook. The narrator, Louise Porter, does a wonderful job bringing Sabrina and her story to life, and I can’t wait for you to have a listen. You can purchase the audiobook for Everything in Between on Amazon, iTunes, or Audible. https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Everything-in-Between/dp/B0DDR8GRWS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TV0J0HCWYT7T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tdRKc5MxwdOobXZOLckDvQ.0BXe9QYH3JnZOn9j0LC6Yy6gCG9UI3lIcRu4KlRnIPs&dib_tag=se&keywords=everything+in+between+by+frances+joyce+audiobook&qid=1725234363&sprefix=everything+in+between+by+frances+joyce+audiobook%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-

USA Today best-selling novelist, Annette Dashofy has a new book in the Zoe Chambers Mystery series. You can order What Comes Around on Amazon or find it at your local bookstore. It’s also now available in audiobook. Congratulations Annette!

I hope you are carefully vetting the candidates who have formally announced their intent to run for office in the 2024 elections. Senatorial and presidential hopefuls are campaigning for the 2024 elections, but you still have time to start the vetting process.

Presidential candidates have announced their choices for VP, and the differences in their choices are striking. Don’t forget to vet them carefully as well. These people could be next in line to the presidency. Make sure they are qualified and listen to what they have said and will say. They will show you and tell you who they really are – listen carefully, and don’t be fooled by the spin doctors out there. Please keep showing up and voting. We will never tell you who to vote for, but we will keep telling you to vote and do your homework!

Vet all candidates and insist that all political parties do the same. Which incumbent legislators have actually authored and submitted legislation to benefit Americans? Who’s all talk and soundbites? Who refuses to bring legislation to the floor of the House of Representatives or Senate, so our Representatives/Senators can vote on it? We pay them to conduct the government’s business, not to sit and do nothing. We don’t pay them to do the bidding of political parties, billionaires, or presidential candidates.

Follow the money. Who is the new darling of the billionaires? What will they do, and who will they sell out to keep those dollars rolling in? Vote for the candidates who are the most qualified and who will safeguard our democracy.

Samantha Sayers has been missing for six years since she disappeared on August 1, 2018, after a day of solo hiking at Vesper Peak near Seattle, Washington. Sam grew up in the Erie, Pennsylvania area where her parents Ron and Lisa still live. Her family is exploring all avenues of inquiry to find and bring her home. In the face of such an enormous challenge, they have chosen hope.

Please keep sending positive thoughts to Sam and her family. As promised, we will be displaying a yellow ribbon for Sam on the opening page of each issue of This Awful Awesome Life until she is home.

If you are a person of faith, please pray for her safe return to her family. Because we are an online publication, we can update this article with any news. We will also post information on our Facebook page, but only after it is verified. Thank you!

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Happy Reading,

Fran