James Pyles's Blog, page 76

Happy Thanksgiving 2019

I haven’t had much to say lately. Too busy, for one thing. Had a rare day off and, as a Thanksgiving tradition, the family, including my elderly mother this year, went to the local convention center for an event called The Festival of Trees. I took the photo above as I was approaching the Grove […]

Included in “TREASURE CHEST: Selected Short Stories”

This was a nice (almost) surprise. Zombie Pirate Publishing, which has been in existence since 2017, has featured some of my stories in their anthologies, and is producing a “round up” anthology of their favorite tales in Treasure Chest: Selected Short Stories. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon now, to be downloaded to your Kindle […]

Telling Someone Else’s Story

Once again wandering around File 770’s Pixel Scroll, I came across item 5 “Writing About a Different Race.” I was ready to read and cringe, imagining how white, male authors were going to be targeted as racist, misogynistic, insensitive, and so on. Fortunately the Vulture article Who Gave You the Right to Tell That Story […]

Book Review of “Hyperion”

I have to admit that I’d never heard of Dan Simmons or his award winning 1989 novel Hyperion until both were mentioned on Mike Glyer’s File 770. Actually, it was specifically the mention that he dared to insult the much vaunted teenage climate change icon Greta Thungerg. I agree that Simmons went kind of overboard […]

My Short Story “The Mechanical Dragon” to be Published in “Clockwork Dragons: A Fantasypunk Anthology”

I’ve been waiting a few days to be able to brag about this one. About a month ago, I had hit a dry spell, and decided to “loosen up” by participating in a writing challenge, not something I do a lot of these days. I was considering writing a story for an open submission, but […]

Eleanor Merry Presents: “Dark X-Mas” Anthology Now Available for Pre-Order

Not the news I had hoped to deliver by now, but I just found out that “Eleanor Merry Presents: Dark X-Mas is now available to pre-order both at Amazon US and Canada for delivery on your Kindle device December 1, 2019. Here’s the “blurbs” again for the two drabbles I have featured within its virtual […]

Another Mysterious Announcement

This morning, I received another bit of good news, but I’m sworn to secrecy, at least for the next 24 hours or so, until it becomes official. All I can say is that the email made my day, especially since I was up at a quarter til four in the morning because I couldn’t sleep. […]

Brief Update on the Still Unnamed Erotic Horror Story to be Published

I still don’t have word from the publisher about when I can start talking about this short story and the anthology in which it will appear. I did get an email update yesterday to which I have already responded: Good evening! First of all, a million thanks on behalf of XXXX Books for working with […]

Two of My Tales to be Published in “Dark X-Mas Drabbles Anthology”

Not one but two of my drabbles have been accepted in the Eleanor Merry Presents Christmas Horror anthology “Dark X-Mas”. According to the blurb for Dark X-Mas Drabbles Anthology: I’m dreaming of a Dark Christmas With every little tale that I read When the knife blades glisten And scared children listen To hear slayers in […]

No NaNoWriMo

Once again, in November, I will not be participating in National Novel Writing Month, more popularly known as NaNoWriMo. First of all, I can barely stay awake, even though it’s not even six in the evening (as I write this). That means, I can’t think clearly. I’ve been trying for several days to finish a […]