Editor’s Page for Yellow Mama Issue #113 – Dec. 15, 2025

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, all!

Did this year go by fast, or what? Mine had one surprise after another, and my head is still spinning. Between my fractured ankle, “breaking” my family curse, and my current burst of creative rejuvenation, I’m ready for some holiday cheer. Pop that cork, cos I’m coming over!

Like an overstuffed Christmas stocking, Issue #113 of Yellow Mama has something for everyone.

Like seasonal stories. In John Tures’s “Holiday Hack,” spyware helps parents learn way more than what games their kids want! “Christmas Eve in Kansas, Or Business as Usual,” by Kenneth James Crist, is a how-to manual on how Santa & Co. really work. In Roy Dorman’s tale, a detective’s aging mother will stop at nothing to be crowned “Christmas Queen,” and in "Gingerbread Boy," by yours truly, a psychic girl's "gift" eludes her when she needs it most. Hillary Lyon’s “Silent Night” features the season’s worst next-door neighbor. And, in Zvi A. Sesling’s story, a bickering couple take “A Short Walk on Christmas Day.”

Other fun stories include Bill Kitcher’s “Fight Night at Patty’s,” where nobody wins, and Jon Fain’s “White Goods,” where a thief gets caught with his pants down. Hollis Miller’s “Barrow” is Arctic noir at its best. And, in Athos Kyriakides’s “The Swerve,” a writer’s life hangs on coming up with “a really good story.”

Our poetry lineup features four powerful poems by Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal. Also check out awesome works by Richard LeDue, Tom Fillion, Damon Hubbs, Di Schmitt, and other poets.

Full-length fiction, flash fiction, and micro stories (and some poems) are individually illustrated by our gifted artists: Bernice Holtzman, Joseph Richkus, Kevin Duncan, Hillary Lyon, J. Elliott, Sophia Wiseman-Rose, Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal, Steve Cartwright, Michael D. Davis, Kelly Moyer, Luke Lester, Chris Bunton, Sean O’Keefe, Zachary Wilhide (with Darkmatterzone), Cynthia Fawcett, and our newest artist, Giggs Kyriakides.

And check out Mike Kerins’s “Creepy Christmas” cover!

If you want to submit full-length fiction, flash fiction, micro fiction, or poetry, check out our guidelines page.

Also, please sign our guestbook! If you have comments about Yellow Mama or any stories or poems we publish, you may leave comments there.

And check out our Archives I–III, to catch recent stories or poems by your favorite writers you might’ve missed.

 And thanks for reading!