Introducing Issue #25 ~ Autumn 2026

Dear Lit Mag Lovers and Pumpkin Spice Aficionados, 

The weather has finally taken a turn, and we’ve officially skittered into Autumn. The nights are becoming longer and cooler, farmer’s markets are closing up shop, and visits to pumpkin patches and haunted houses are on the rise. A dramatic volta, indeed! So far this year, the turn has not been as dramatic as in years past, save for a few biblical-caliber rainfalls.

Regardless, autumn is always special for TGLR because we launched our very first issue in the fall. In 2020, to be exact. It’s a little surreal to think about the fact that we’ve been at this for six years, and headed into our 7th. And based on the bountiful issue we’re letting loose on the world today… Things are only getting better.

We usually don’t do this, but I’m a numbers nerd at heart and enjoy reflecting on the growth of the lit mag, so before I get to the meat of what this announcement is about, I’m gonna lay down some facts and figures.

In that first year, the submission call for the autumn issue was open for two months and yielded 180 submissions. For this issue, we had 940 in the same amount of time. That’s a 422% increase! Shazam!! But that jump did not happen in big leaps; it’s been steadily climbing with each passing season. 

The only way we could handle the growth, keep our sanity, AND stay true to our word about having multiple people, including editors, review each precious piece of writing, was to invite more people to join the team. In 2020, there were 15 people who participated in that first issue. We now have 48 active members involved – 18 editors and 30 readers. And let me tell you, we could not have come this far without each and every person who has been, or is now, a part of the team. 

It’s for this reason I’d personally like to express my gratitude to the entire team. Whether you were in it to win it that first year (looking at you, Annie Barker, Cat Dixon, MA Boswell, Stepha Vesper, & Ashley Espinoza), or jumped on board along the way, thank you! Your time and effort in considering each piece and your collaboration are extremely valuable and appreciated!!

Now… on to the big reveal! Yes, friends, today is the day. It’s always a thrill to introduce the authors and artists in each issue, but this one is especially sweet because at the top of the ticket, we’ve got new short fiction, Day Drinking, from Patrick Strickland. Patrick earned his MFA from the same program as many of our editors, at the University of Nebraska. But that’s not even the half. His story delivers gut punch after gut punch, and those final lines will linger, take root in your mind, and make you think about human connection in a world that becomes more absurd every day.

Possibly the only way to recover will be to dive into Pinky Tickseed by Rick Byrne. “Pinky” is a tender, poignant, and viscerally moving piece about a couple who have lost their daughter and are fighting (and failing) through their grief.

Next, we have a timely and expertly written piece by Jennifer Lee about a human with a robot that is more aware than it should be. Our new short fiction curator, Jessie Lovett, had this to say about the story: “I am really sick of reading about AI, but The Housekeeper was so effing good it transcended my personal boredom on this topic.”

Rounding out our short fiction quad, we are pleased to present A Million Girls by Eliza Sullivan. A story that is in a similar vein to Strickland’s Day Drinking, but from an entirely different perspective.

For something a little shorter, there are five pieces of flash fiction. We typically only publish 3 per issue, 4 at the most, but these are so good, we couldn’t resist… Ofrenda by Katie M. Zeigler, The End Will Be Televised by Tatum Schad, The Last Meal by Sarp Sozdinler, End of the Road by Sandy Krausnick, and Oh the Bishop Stood and Sat by Elliot Lakefield.

Short creative nonfiction includes two absolute standout pieces. Giants & Gryphons by NR Robinson caught quick yeses across the board from the team, with one editor commenting, “a compelling story, troubling but told with such clear-eyed self-compassion and understanding that we are taken into the narrator’s experience completely.” It’s also a little edgier than most of the short CNF we’ve published, which we love.

For stark contrast, and to lighten the mood, we give you  I Am the Hotel Breakfast Buffet by Don Iannone. If you’ve ever stayed at a hotel that offered a free breakfast (and even if you haven’t) you might just recognize someone you know, or possibly yourself, in this essay.

To complement these longer pieces, there are three flash essays: Danger, Will Robinson Wannabe… by Jarrod Campbell, To The Boy Who Looks Like My Ex by Rachel Noelani Bovee, and Antique Fluted Crystal Doorknobs by returning contributor Noah Lane Browne. Each is well worth the read!

In poetry, we’re eager to share six poems: All Standard Perils by James King, Racoon in Driftwood by Sarah Suhr, Triptych with Love Story and Fire Season by Jordan Ranft, From His Rib by Kaycee Painter, Whine & Die by Lasha D. Goodwin, and So This Guy Is Selling Rolexes by John Jeffire.

This issue also features cover art by David Quady and select pieces by six other artists – Coriander Focus, Patrick Lysaght, Gabrielle Miller, Robb Kunz, Ann Calandro, & Jack Bord – cherry-picked from the hundreds of pieces sent to us via Submittable. Additional images were provided by contributor N.R. Robinson for his essay, and a number of other photographs were sourced from Unsplash. More about these artists can be found on the issue artwork page.

With that, we are delighted to release Issue #25 ~ Autumn 2026!

As always, thank you for visiting, reading, supporting independent journals, and believing in the arts!

Cheers to Leaf Peeping and Apple Picking,

~Shyla, MA, Annie, Toni, and The Good Life Review Team

Issue #25 Editors: Lea Pounds, Amy Crawford, Toni Allen, Annie Barker, Jill Veltkamp, Erin Challenor, M.A. Boswell, Ashley Espinoza, Tana Buoy, Patrick O’Dell, Stepha Vesper, Terry Belew, Cid Galicia, Cat Dixon, Michelle Pierce, and Shyla Shehan

Issue #25 Readers: Lavinia De Vito, Mitra Vajjala, John Cook, Tabitha Soper, Renee Gauthier, Lori Vermeulen, Miranda Moran, Judi Biniamow, Mike Lundy, Madeline Torbenson, May Bencosme, Elizabeth Jone, Cheyenne Williams, Michelle Ray, Claire Furjanic, Susan Loveland, Molly Zimmer, Bornil Murchhona, Maia Campbell, Madi Palmer, Sarah Chavera Edwards, Allison Weiler, Aida Eure-Chooran, Brooke Wiese, Ashley DeVrieze, Zach Vesper, Anna Stork, Evelyn Zhao, Diem Okoye, Olivia Burdash, and Brittany Jaekel. 

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