James Pyles's Blog, page 15

Waiting for the Geese Again

“We wouldn’t have this infestation if we didn’t make so many parks,” groused Mickey impatiently. “What, Grandpa?” Fifteen-year-old Lydia stared out the passenger window. “I said these damn geese are just like people. They’re always in the way, shit all over everything, and if one walks into traffic, all the rest follow.” “Is it the […]

The Happy Birthday Circle

“Spanish dancer in green cap. What the heck?” Al set the pen down on the greeting card and envelope trying to work out why Emmie liked this kind of art. “Looks like some sort of mermaid stuck in the muddy Mississippi to me.” Then after a moment, “Oh, well.” He picked up the pen and […]

Book Review of “Fool Moon” (2001) by Jim Butcher

If you read my review of Jim Butcher’s novel Storm Front, you know I love not only his writing, but the beginning of his “Dresden Files” series. Last night, I finished off book two in the series Fool Moon. As you might imagine, the primary “baddies” are werewolves, but it’s not that simple. Nothing is […]

My Short Story “Confluence” to be published in the anthology “Far Futures Three – An Anthology of Deep Space”

My science fiction short story “Confluence” has been accepted for publication in the Blue Planet Press anthology “Far Futures Three – An Anthology of Deep Space” The story requirements are: Space exploration. From the outer planets of our solar system to the edge of the Orion Spur and the even more distant Andromeda Galaxy. How […]

Dark World

Cameron Hall’s invention worked. The filter over his living room window let him see the world outside at a different time than the present. He had run the calculations repeatedly and they always came out the same. He was seeing the world as it would be one year from now. Cam slapped his forehead with […]

Book Review of “Replay” (1986)

I forget where I saw Ken Grimwood’s 1986 novel Replay promoted, but it sounded like an interesting story, so I picked up a copy at my local public library. It’s a highly unusual and compelling time travel story. Jeff Winston is a radio news producer in this late 40s. His job is lackluster as is […]

Book Review of “Storm Front” (2000)

When I was seven years old, I got a bad case of strep throat and was out of school for a whole week. During that time, my sisters bought me my first fantasy and sci-fi novels: the boxed set of Lord of the Rings and the boxed set of the Han Solo adventure novels by […]

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 […]