We hope you enjoyed our July issue of This Awful Awesome Life. Many thanks to our talented writing team for their creativity and hard work.            

August is the last hurrah of summer. How will you be getting ready for fall? Are you anxious for school to start…football or hockey training camp?

Linda Cahill shares some delicious recipes from the Pampered chef for summer meals and Corey Flynn has a few tips for enjoying those fresh and delicious summer fruits and vegetables.

Patricia Petrusik has some ideas about what you really need for a successful school year.

Orlando Bartro is reading Proust… slowly. Find out why.

Tanya Bashor has a fun craft for kids and be sure to check out her August newsletter for Gypsy Artistry.

We have a wonderful Q&A with award winning author and sports writer, Jerald Hoover about two of his books for middle school kids. Be sure to read my review of these books in this issue.

After I wrote Dancing in the Rain, my friend Carole Munné who is originally from the Dominican Republic approached me about collaborating on a book about women and immigration. We interviewed some fascinating women, but work on the book stalled because of family health issues. Carole was forced to make several trips to The Dominican Republic and I spent several weeks sleeping on a fold out bed at Children’s hospital.

Carole and I agreed to begin publishing some of the stories in This Awful Awesome Life. This month we are featuring Regina’s story. Regina was a teenager when German and Russian soldiers invaded her home country of Poland. It was our honor to talk with Regina about her life in Poland and the long path to a new life in Montreal and eventually Detroit. It’s a touching story of an incredibly brave woman and we’re proud to share it with you.

Check out some authors you should be reading. Find out how to advertise in This Awful Awesome Life and how to become a guest contributor or join our team of talented writers.

Be sure to try this month’s School Daze Quiz. We’ve collected songs, books, movies and TV series that are related to school in some way. Do you know who sang the song, wrote the book, or starred in the movie or TV series? Some titles fit into multiple categories.

Samantha Sayers is still missing. She disappeared on August 1, 2018 after a day of solo hiking at Vesper Peak near Seattle, Washington. Sam was raised 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.

Please consider displaying a yellow ribbon for Sam and posting a photo of it on the Facebook page, Ribbons Across the World for Sam Sayers. Please include your city and country. If you are a person of faith, please pray for her safe return to her family. Because we are an online publication, we are able to update this article with any news. We will also post information on our Facebook page.

Thank you!

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Happy Reading,

Fran