James Pyles's Blog, page 30

Letter from the Dark

“1857 Maisonneuve Blvd.” Marie held addressed envelope she’d received from her priest. The outside of the building was painted so colorfully, belying her desperateness. Timidly, the small-town girl walked in the door marked “Catholic Community Services.” “May I help you?” The receptionist was as young as Marie. Mutely, she handed over the unsealed envelope. After […]

My Book “The Aliens” Has Been Accepted Into the Starry Eyed Press Series “Galactic Treks”

I’ve had a number of my works published by Starry Eyed Press before, but this one is different. A little while ago, they announced an open submission of a series called “Galactic Treks” The title is on purpose. The general theme is “space opera,” but the word count can be anything from 5,000 up through […]

Book Review of “Redux II: The Search for Floyd”

Last night (as I write this) I finished Gregg Cunningham’s SciFi time travel novel Redux II: The Search for Floyd published by Starry Eyed Press. It’s the sequel to the original novel Redux: The Lost Patrol which I reviewed on my blog last year. The original novel is set in the future, primarily on the […]

Another Day, Another Zeta Beam

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. The boat ride was boring. Just tourists from who knows where sipping overly sweet alcoholic drinks and mindlessly chattering. The only one halfway sober besides me was the guy running the engine and steering, and presumably the other guy in the […]

The Temple of Heaven

Haoyu Yue Zhan, entering the courtyard of the Temple of Heaven, took a deep breath. Western tourists visited a pale replica of it in Beijing. He had traveled thousands of miles to visit the actual temple hidden in the Kunlun mountains in Xinjiang. The descendent of famed Yue Fei was not here to study Tai […]

My Short Story “The Apprentice” Accepted into the 2023 Anthology “Summer of Speculation”

I just found out that my cyberpunk short story “The Apprentice” has been accepted into the 2023 edition of the Cloaked Press anthology Summer of Speculation. The theme for this year’s anthology is “Sidekicks”. I already had my cyberpunk universe built for another story and decided to create the teacher Chandler and his reluctant apprentice […]

Fugue State

He didn’t remember how he got here. It was some sort of posh restaurant. He was alone, although there were two menus on the table. An unknown appetizer was sitting in front of him looking particularly vile. The taste of his soft drink made him want to vomit. He tried to act calm, then realized […]

Review of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

  Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) obviously would have been a completely different film if Chadwick Boseman hadn’t died. However, it also would have been a very different film if the role of the Black Panther/T’Challa had been recast. As it was, the movie started with T’Challa’s funeral. Later in the film T’Challa’s and Shuri’s […]

The Armies of Ishtar vs. The Jesus Freaks

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. It was early morning on Easter Sunday in the field behind a local Lutheran church nestled at the edge of the suburbs. Young children, both those who regularly attended, and their friends who just thought it would be so much fun, […]

Season One Wrap Up Review of Quantum Leap

I won’t lie. What kept me coming back to Quantum Leap each week for the first season was “the mystery.” Who is Janice (or Janis) Calavicci? Why did Ben leap? Eventually that mystery included Who is Leaper X? Why did Ian of the future leap back? What danger is Ben supposed to save Addison from? […]