James Pyles's Blog, page 8

Baboons and the Aliens

The zoo was closed which was what Chen was counting on. Right before he was “let go” from the IT department, he installed a backdoor into their security system letting him bypass the gate locks and alarms. Even knowing he was alone, he looked left and right as the snow fell on him and the […]

A Boy and His Racoon

“Oops.” Twenty-year-old Calvin Weiss wiped a clump of dark hair out of his eyes with one hand while balancing his grandfather’s mystic tome in the other. “That isn’t what I wanted.” “I keep telling you Cal, it’s long-A on the umlaut and short-A on the tilde. Geez, will you ever get it right? The pudgy […]

With Two Cats and a Flood

“Our house, is a very, very, very fine house With two cats and a flood…” He stopped singing the old song and listened to the water coursing down the street. “Sure, I’ve been stuck on the floor days, your food has run out, and no one can get here to help, but we have each […]

2024: A Year in Review

It’s close enough to the New Year for me to post my annual “year in review” comments. 2024 has been pretty good as far as he number of stories I’ve had published. It started out with my short story “I Don’t Want To Be Human” appearing in the Cloaked Press anthology Spring Into SciFi 2024. […]

For I Was Hungry And You Fed Me

Bundled up, Jake sat outside and watched a thin, pink sunrise of Christmas morning. “Another Merry Christmas to the world,” he said raising a cup of coffee to his lips. “Wonder how many more I’ll get to see?” At seventy-eight, his bones ached more than he wished, especially after having been up all night. “Guess […]

Retro Review of “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022)

Strolling around the DVD section of my local public library yesterday, I decided to finally check out the 2022 movie Thor: Love and Thunder. It had the benefit of me not having to pay to see the film. I have now joined the vast legion of people (online anyway) who’ve gone on record as hating, […]

Make It Burn

“See? What did I tell you.” Brad waved his arm dramatically in the direction of the chandelier. “You’re right.” Katie’s mouth hung open aghast. “It must rate a nine-point-five on the Richter scale of bad taste. And whoever thought that god-awful purple light added anything to the room?” “Yeah,” added Brad. “That lampshade is strictly […]

My Space Opera “The Fallen Shall Rise” FREE This Week!

My space opera novelette The Fallen Shall Rise, a 224-Verse tale published by Starry Eyed Press is available to download onto your Kindle device FREE! From today (as I write this), December 17th through Saturday the 21st, just go to the book’s Amazon page and download it absolutely free. The Amazon blurb for my book […]

My Novelette “Ice” Has a Five-Star Review on goodreads (and now on Amazon)!

My 2021 adventure/fantasy novelette Ice just got a five-star review on goodreads (and now on Amazon five days later). Read the image below for the specifics. Indie authors and science fiction and fantasy books often suffer for lack of a large, well-oiled marketing machine, so even good stories may languish if they’re unable to be […]

My Novelette “Ice” Has a Five-Star Review on goodreads!

My 2021 adventure/fantasy novelette Ice just got a five-star review on goodreads (I’m told the same review will appear on Amazon once they clear it). Read the image below for the specifics. Indie authors and science fiction and fantasy books often suffer for lack of a large, well-oiled marketing machine, so even good stories may […]