James Pyles's Blog, page 14

Movie Review of “Lifeforce” (1985)

The 1985 movie Lifeforce was on my “to watch” list more out of curiosity than anything else. I knew it wouldn’t be a great movie, but I wasn’t prepared for how bad it was. Whatever the producers spent their money on, it wasn’t special or visual effects. The spaceship “Churchill” was a 1980s NASA space […]

Book Review of “The Last Templar” (2005)

I just finished reading The Last Templar (2005) by Raymond Khoury. It’s not the usual sort of thing I consume, but every once in a while, I’m attracted to these conspiracy theories, Catholic church conspiracies, historical and archeological mysteries. It started out great. Strange goings on in Jerusalem in the late 13th century with the […]

It’s So Peaceful With All The People Gone

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. It was too hot to go for a picnic, so we escaped. I’d promised my granddaughters we’d go on a picnic, just the three of us. But the highs have been over a hundred degrees F for nearly a month now […]

Film Review of “Predestination” (2014)

Predestination (2014) starring Ethan Hawke as the Barkeep and Sarah Snook as the Unmarried Mother is a seriously messed up movie. Wait! Let me explain. I’m still trying to decide if I even like it. The film really did hold my attention, was highly suspenseful, horrific in parts (the burning face and subsequent disfigurement), and […]

Review of “The Olympian Affair: Book Two in the Cinder Spires Series” (2023)

Yesterday, I finished reading Jim Butcher’s 2023 novel The Olympian Affair. It’s the second in his Cinder Spires series and the sequel to The Aeronaut’s Windlass which I read and reviewed. Butcher doesn’t disappoint. This is another terrific adventure novel set (supposedly) in the far-future where our own civilization has long-since fallen. People live in […]

Changing Reality

“I’m not going to lose her again. I can’t. She’s not even four years old.” Every time Ron remembered losing her in the parking lot because she ran away, every time he found one solitary shoe behind his car, he died inside. “Not this time.” He hadn’t used his gift to manipulate reality since he […]

My Microfiction Story “Stewie’s Mom” Accepted Into the Anthology “Hex”

A few weeks back, I saw a prompt over on the Black Hare Press Facebook page inviting people to contribute a 200-word story based on the word “Hex.” I figured “what the heck” and carved out “Stewie’s Mom.” I guess I missed the part about there being a competition with five prizes. No, I didn’t […]

Whatever Happened to Hyacinth Hippo?

Hyacinth Hippo had her rise and fall in 1940. Everyone knew the lead dancer in Disney’s animated film “Fantasia.” She had a few cameos like in “Roger Rabbit,” but there wasn’t much of an audience for a big girl in a tutu. “So bleeping Ferguson Library in Stamford, Connecticut. This is what it’s come down […]

Read “Olivia Comes Home” Now at SciFanSat

Issue 11 of SciFanSat featuring my short story is now available. Read the current issue in viewer, as a PDF, or an ePub. Although my name isn’t mentioned o the cover or the main page, I did get a nice email this morning listing the seventeen published authors as: James Pyles; Alastair Millar; Kayleigh Kitt; […]

Only Two Days Left to Support Zehlreg A. Grindstone’s Spectacular Western Oddity Emporium

Actually slightly less than 48 hours as I write this. The western/fantasy/horror anthology will include my western, steampunk, vampire tale “Blood Trail” featuring Consulting Occult Detective E.E. Durbin and her partner former-Sheriff Bobby Bill Thornton. Go to the kickstarter page to add your support or just to see how we’re doing. As a plus, one […]