Thanks for reading the April 2024 issue of This Awful Awesome Life. I hope you enjoy the Black Bean Salsa recipe in “The Twelve Months of Salsa.” Previous issues are available to read on our website. Go to www.thisawfulawesomelife.com

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May is Mystery month in This Awful Awesome Life. We’ll take a look at the development of the mystery genre, and some of your favorite authors.

Orlando Bartro, and I will be back with interesting articles for you.

We’ll have another author birthday and our next salsa recipe because you need something tasty to snack on while you read the May issue and celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

We’re moving some of our regular features around to shake things up a bit and keep you on your toes.

I’ll have more streaming and reading recommendations. “What’s in a Word?” and “Dare to Believe,” 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.

I’ll have a short mystery story for you.

Next month we will have a Q&A with contemporary romance novelist and memoir author Maria Simbra. She is a neurologist and former medical journalist. Maria has also launched a new business supporting writers and storytellers.

Stay safe. Stay well. You are important, and you are loved.

All my best,

Fran  

Answers to the April 2024 Fantasy Creatures Quiz:

1.    Griffin - a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion. The front legs have talons, and it has the wings and head of an eagle.  

2.    Jackalope - a mythical animal of North American folklore which looks like a jackrabbit with antelope horns. Earlier depictions of this creature have been found in Persian literature and Bavarian folktales.

3.    Pegasus - a winged horse usually depicted as white in coloring.

4.    Chimera - a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature composed of the parts of multiple animals. Typically, a lion with the head of a goat protruding from its body – sometimes with dragon wings and a tail that ends with a snake’s head.

5.    Sylph - the personification of air. An air spirit or fairy that can assume different forms including cloud shapes and forms of light.

6.    Banshee - a female spirit who heralds the death of a family member usually by screaming, keening, wailing, or shrieking.

7.    Wolpertinger - a creature made of the wings, antlers, tail, and fangs of multiple creatures attached to the body of a small mammal. It may have the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer, and the wings and legs of a pheasant.

8.    Dragon - a fire-breathing reptile usually depicted with wings, a powerful spiked tail, and talons.

9.    Selkie - a shapeshifter that takes the form of a seal in water, and a human on land. They have a dual nature and can be friendly and helpful or dangerous and vengeful.

10. Fairy – a magical creature with a humanoid appearance. They are often playful and sometimes mischievous.

11. Mer Person/Mermaid/Merman - sea dwelling creature with a humanoid upper body and the lower body of a fish.

12. Golem - a creature formed from a lifeless substance like mud or dust which is brought to life by a ritual incantation. It helps the person who creates it or becomes its companion.

13. Hydra - a many headed serpent or monster. If one head is cut off it’s replaced by two new heads.

14. Basilisk - a reptile reputed to be a serpent king. It can cause death to anyone who looks it in the eyes.

15. Unicorn - an animal resembling a horse with a single horn protruding from the center of its head.

16. Ogre - a man-eating giant.

17. Redcap - a malevolent , murderous goblin believed to inhabit ruined castles.

18. Centaur - a creature that is half-horse and half-human.

19. Hippogriff - a creature with the front half of an eagle and the hind half of a horse.

20. Minotaur - a creature with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a human.

21. Elf - a creature similar to a human, but with keener senses and intelligence, longer live expectancy, magical powers, and pointed ears.

22. Nymph - a minor female deity, a beautiful creature that inhabits rivers, woods, and forests and is usually regarded as the personification of nature.

23. Cyclops - giant one-eyed creatures.

24. Goblin - an ugly, evil, or mischievous elf-like creature.

25. Phoenix - a colorful bird with a long life that spontaneously combusts and is capable of being reborn by rising from the ashes of its predecessor.