James Pyles's Blog, page 140
June 29, 2018
What’s Wrong with Putting Religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories?
I just finished reading a blog post called Of Permanent Things, Part II written by my friend and Holocaust educator Dan Hennessy. It reminded me of the importance of including religious and spiritual themes in fiction writing, including science (speculative) fiction and fantasy. I’m in the process of producing first drafts of two novels. The […]
June 28, 2018
Last Stand
“Archers! At the ready!” Petran gave the command to his meager squad of elven soldiers as they formed a perimeter around the five Davidson children and the magician Raibyr. Nine-year-old Taylor was at the center with his siblings when he remembered he also had his bow and arrows. The wind was frigid and fierce, which […]
June 27, 2018
Encouragement, Discouragement, and the Impostor Syndrome
Every day the Medium Daily Digest appears in my Gmail inbox, giving me the opportunity to read articles from various progressive voices. If you’ve read other of my social commentaries on this blog (not the hottest of topics among my readers based on the statistics, “likes,” and comments), you know I sample a wide range […]
Where the Ghosts Come From
“Let me out, do you hear? Let me out!” Olsen Hoyt pressed his intangible form against a non-existent boundary between the neither-world and the real one. “Why did you do this to me? I didn’t do anything wrong!” Pressing his non-face against the nothing holding him, he wept nullified tears. Their plan was to leave […]
Yesterday
Santiago set his guitar on its stand, and then closed the cover on “the Beatles complete easy guitar” book. This small upstairs room was his refuge, someplace where he could visit his youth. Aging fingers would never be as nimble again, nor his voice as clear. He whispered, “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far […]
June 26, 2018
The Last American Flag
Alex and Ginnie brought their heavily armed team up to the top of Crystal Peak. They didn’t have much time and had no hope at all. When they placed the flag here six months ago, they knew they were breaking the law, but America had been founded by a courageous group of law breakers. This […]
June 25, 2018
Can There Be Intersectionality Between Masculinity and Feminism?
I find myself writing more frequently about social issues on this blog for whatever reason. I probably shouldn’t, especially since I’m white, male, straight, cisgender, old, conservative (relative to liberal states – in relation to Idaho, I’m probably a moderate), and religious. In other words, based on that collection of labels, I’m a pretty terrible […]
Wanderjahr Interrupted
Chi Crain was temporarily marooned on Niophus halfway into his wanderjahr through the outer rim systems. Middle-aged and an apparent wastrel, he mused to himself that the Anonymous Saloon on the outskirts of Wastacarro City wasn’t such a bad place to hang out. He still hoped the repairs on his ship would be done soon. […]
June 24, 2018
When Hell Boils Over
Stop! If you haven’t done so already, read The Quest to Save Landon first. Landon’s soul shot straight up from the pits of Hell as fast as he could go, but Hell was a lot more confusing than he realized. There were all kinds of tunnels and passageways all over the place. Which one led […]
June 23, 2018
The Beelzebub
Lethargy had come upon five-year-old Zooey so suddenly that she was hardly able to stand, and the mouse Sapplehenning was unconscious and barely breathing. Mandy was holding her sister close to her, as the elves of Direhaven finished constructing the enormous flatbed cart with which they would transport the disabled dragon Shay. “I must say Jake, that your dreams are very creative, […]
