James Pyles's Blog, page 76
January 1, 2020
“Bloody Valentine” Acceptances
Dear James Thank you for your submission to the Dark Valentines Flash Fiction Horror Collection. These are the perfect amount of dark and depraved and we loved your entries. We are pleased to let you know that your story(s) Reaper, Playtime and New Heart have been accepted. Congratulations on your acceptance! Remember Dark X-Mas? The […]
December 28, 2019
Movie Review of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
DISCLAIMER: This film review is loaded with spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet and want to be surprised, don’t read any further! Yes, I went to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker today with my son, my grandson, and my son’s girlfriend. What I’m about to say will probably annoy or […]
December 26, 2019
“Dark X-Mas” Anthology Has Nine 10-Star Reviews!
The 48 hour promotional offer of Dark X-Mas Holiday Drabbles: 100 Word Holiday Horror Stories is about to end, and I thought I’d do some checking. Seems the anthology, which features two of my Christmas horror drabbles, has garnered a whole 10 reviews, 9 of them five stars. The 10th is a one star by […]
December 24, 2019
The Colony Trees
Sonia watched the last of the trees lift up and fly away. It had been her fantasy ever since she was five and first heard that Mars hadn’t always been able to support life. She had joined the junior Arbor Society when she was eight, became a regional counselor at twenty, and now at thirty-five, […]
Short Story Review: “Suppose They Gave a Peace” (1992)
The latest tale I read in The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century edited by Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg is Susan Swartz‘s 1992 short story Suppose They Gave a Peace. It’s an anti-war Vietnam era tale as seen through the eyes of a family in Ohio in the early 1970s. Frankly, […]
December 22, 2019
“Dark X-Mas” Bargain!
I just found out that the ebook for Eleanor Merry Presents: Dark X-Mas Holiday Drabbles will be offered absolutely free on December 25th and 26th. I’ve contributed two “dark” Christmas tales among the vast multitude of 100-word tales of Yuletide horror. Give or get an instant and free Christmas gift on the 25th or a […]
December 21, 2019
Review: “The Lucky Strike” (1984) by Kim Stanley Robinson
I’ve been reading the anthology The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century edited by Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg. The edition I have was published in 2001. I checked it out of my local library, and besides a bit of water damage, it seems to be missing the table of contents. The […]
Conquistador
Juan’s flight from his native Briviesca to Asunción in Paraguay was grueling, especially after two layovers. He was grateful to find a cab to take him the sixteen miles into the city. “Senor wants to be taken to the river? No particular place?” What passed for Spanish in this country seemed almost barbaric to Juan. […]
Review of Brad Linaweaver’s Novella: “Moon of Ice”
Before it was a novel, Brad Linaweaver’s “Moon of Ice” was a novella that was a Nebula award finalist in 1983. Almost four months ago, I wrote A Revelation on the Recent Passing of Brad Linaweaver. I had newly “discovered” Linaweaver’s works, thanks to the sometimes controversial File 770, and particularly in their article Brad […]
December 17, 2019
Book Review: “Deep Sound Channel” (2000)
I just finished reading Joe Buff’s Deep Sound Channel: A Novel of Submarine Warfare (Jeffrey Fuller Book 1). I accidentally found out about Buff’s six-part series on the fictional USS Challenger when I was doing research on a short story I was writing. Intrigued, I found out that the first in the series was available […]
