James Pyles's Blog, page 10

2024: A Year in Review

It’s close enough to the New Year for me to post my annual “year in review” comments. 2024 has been pretty good as far as he number of stories I’ve had published. It started out with my short story “I Don’t Want To Be Human” appearing in the Cloaked Press anthology Spring Into SciFi 2024. […]

For I Was Hungry And You Fed Me

Bundled up, Jake sat outside and watched a thin, pink sunrise of Christmas morning. “Another Merry Christmas to the world,” he said raising a cup of coffee to his lips. “Wonder how many more I’ll get to see?” At seventy-eight, his bones ached more than he wished, especially after having been up all night. “Guess […]

Retro Review of “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022)

Strolling around the DVD section of my local public library yesterday, I decided to finally check out the 2022 movie Thor: Love and Thunder. It had the benefit of me not having to pay to see the film. I have now joined the vast legion of people (online anyway) who’ve gone on record as hating, […]

Make It Burn

“See? What did I tell you.” Brad waved his arm dramatically in the direction of the chandelier. “You’re right.” Katie’s mouth hung open aghast. “It must rate a nine-point-five on the Richter scale of bad taste. And whoever thought that god-awful purple light added anything to the room?” “Yeah,” added Brad. “That lampshade is strictly […]

My Space Opera “The Fallen Shall Rise” FREE This Week!

My space opera novelette The Fallen Shall Rise, a 224-Verse tale published by Starry Eyed Press is available to download onto your Kindle device FREE! From today (as I write this), December 17th through Saturday the 21st, just go to the book’s Amazon page and download it absolutely free. The Amazon blurb for my book […]

My Novelette “Ice” Has a Five-Star Review on goodreads (and now on Amazon)!

My 2021 adventure/fantasy novelette Ice just got a five-star review on goodreads (and now on Amazon five days later). Read the image below for the specifics. Indie authors and science fiction and fantasy books often suffer for lack of a large, well-oiled marketing machine, so even good stories may languish if they’re unable to be […]

My Novelette “Ice” Has a Five-Star Review on goodreads!

My 2021 adventure/fantasy novelette Ice just got a five-star review on goodreads (I’m told the same review will appear on Amazon once they clear it). Read the image below for the specifics. Indie authors and science fiction and fantasy books often suffer for lack of a large, well-oiled marketing machine, so even good stories may […]

Book Review of “Ascension, The Ymir Trinity” (2023)

Last night I finished A.M. Leishman’s short novel Ascension, The Ymir Trinity (2023). It’s supposed to be book one in a series, but so far, no other books have been published. I first encountered Leishman on twitter/X but he’s also on bluesky. We indie authors have to stick together. I won’t lie. For me, it […]

Not Just Another Job

Elizabeth left the dorm room letting her eyes adjust to the daylight past the bicycle and gate. At thirty, it was a stretch for her to play the role of a co-ed at the university, but that’s what it took this time. She’d been a professional for ten years. This was the first job where […]

Bubbe’s Tchatchkes

“What’s a tchotchke?” Jessica was the youngest of the cousins exploring Bubbe’s house. The grownups were either in the kitchen or watching the game on TV. “Just a bunch of junk I think,” answered Michael. He was the oldest and annoyed because his Mom told him to watch the rest of the kids. “You mean […]