James Pyles's Blog, page 78
October 9, 2019
Author Update October 9, 2019
Last night I received an email saying that my twelfth short story has been accepted for publication in an anthology. Since I didn’t receive explicit permission to disclose details, I can’t tell you anything about it…yet. Well, it was an adapted version of a story I wrote for a writing challenge. As I recall, it […]
October 7, 2019
Film Review of “The Abyss: Special Edition” (1989)
I hadn’t intended to watch a film on Sunday evening, but saw a DVD of the 1989 film The Abyss and said, “why not?” Actually, this is the special edition, so it’s expanded quite a bit from what folks saw in the original theatrical production. The movie opens aboard the USS Montana, an Ohio-class U.S. […]
October 6, 2019
Film Review: “Escape from L.A.” (1996)
I saw John Carpenter’s 1981 film Escape From New York starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, and Adrienne Barbeau when it was first in the theaters and then a few times on disc later. It’s what I consider a “high functioning B movie.” That means it’s a lot of fun, but in spite of the […]
October 5, 2019
The Clockwork Dragon
“Bored, bored, bored.” Atlan manipulated the energy projecting into the boiler, cooling the steam. His partner Narangerel stood behind him in the locomotive’s cabin dilating time and slowing matter as they approached Sükhbaatar’s Trans-Mongolian station. The eighteen-year-old girl looked at the back of her lover’s head. “You always say that, Atlan, but we are still […]
October 4, 2019
PAW Patrol or Why I Wouldn’t Let My Granddaughter Read Medium.com Even if She were Old Enough to Read
You’ve got to be kidding me. Someone, who on twitter is called @JanissaryJones but who is known on Medium.com as Walt D, AKA Walt T. Downing, decided to go full retard (no, I’m not making fun of people with developmental disabilities, it’s a movie thing, click the link) on my four-year-old granddaughter’s favorite cartoon and […]
October 2, 2019
Why Ed Kramer is Evil but Marion Zimmer Bradley Isn’t. Go figure
The world is a funny place. On Mike Glyer’s “fanzine” File 770 this morning, I read an article called New Child Porn Charge Against Ed Kramer. I’d never heard of Ed Kramer before, so I looked him up. According to Wikipedia, he is: an American editor and convicted child molester. Kramer lives in Duluth, Georgia […]
September 28, 2019
Fiction’s and Real Life’s “Bad Guys” and Stereotyping
I’ve been thinking a lot about villains lately. Actually, this particular File 770 “Pixel Scroll” first brought the topic up in my mind. If you scroll down to item #4 “AUTUMN LEAVES” and to “Watchmen” just below that, you can read: Oct. 20, 9 p.m., HBO Confession: I know nothing about Watchmen. Never read the […]
September 25, 2019
Well, That Was Fast – “Tales From the Southwest” Featuring My Short Story “The Strangers” is Published.
Right now, as the editor/publisher John Green says, all roads lead to Lulu.com. He says if a book gains enough interest, he’ll publish a digital version on Amazon, but the authors don’t make much from that. If you like western stories, classic and otherwise, please buy and read. Let me know what you think. You […]
My Short Story “The Strangers” is Being Published in “Tales of the Southwest”
Yes, “The Strangers” is the eleventh story accepted for publication in an anthology this year and it has a slightly unusual history. I originally wrote it for a different publisher and it was rejected. “Ouch,” yes it always stings. However, I read that John Green was looking for stories to be included in his “Tales […]
September 24, 2019
Review of Season One of “Star Trek Discovery” Part Two
Finished watching season one of Star Trek Discovery and the whole thing seems to be based on just about everyone having shocking secrets including Ash Tyler/Voq (Shazad Latif), the relationship between Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs), and even Sarek (James Frain). Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) has more […]
