James Pyles's Blog, page 83
July 27, 2019
Film Review: Captain Marvel (2019)
I finally got around to watching Captain Marvel (2019) last night. I said previously, I probably wouldn’t view this film until it came out on DVD, which is exactly what happened. I reserved it at my local public library but had to wait until over 100 other people, who also had it held, watched it […]
July 24, 2019
Book Review of “Reviver”
I probably wouldn’t even have read Seth Patrick’s novel Reviver (2013), but I noticed on the back cover a small review by SF author Neal Asher. I’m familiar with Asher’s work and even share the Table of Contents with him in a recent SciFi anthology, so naturally I was intrigued. A few weeks back, I […]
July 23, 2019
The Superversive Press Anthology “Impossible Hope” is Available Now!
The Superversive Press anthology “Impossible Hope” is now available, but not at Amazon or any other well-known retailer. 28-year-old Bonnie Oliver was diagnosed with Complex Chiari Malformation, Craniocervical and Atlanto-axial Instability and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome type three in 2018. It has been a long and wearisome road to these answers, and her family has watched […]
July 17, 2019
Another Milestone for “Impossible Hope”
I mentioned Bonnie Oliver’s Impossible Hope last February and again in May. Here’s A.M. Freeman’s description of Bonnie and the purpose of the “Impossible Hope” project: For over a decade, Bonnie Oliver has gone from doctor to doctor seeking answers to her worsening physical and neurological symptoms. It has been a long and wearisome road, […]
July 14, 2019
Can I Write a Novelette in Seven Days?
That’s the challenge from Zombie Pirate Publishing. Actually Adam and Sam have given us less time than that since according to the JavaScript counter on their main page, I’ve got (as of this writing) just a hair over 5 days and 21 hours. So far I’ve hammered out 2,180 words, but the target word count […]
July 5, 2019
Disney’s Wonderful Opportunity in Casting an African-American “Little Mermaid”
I’ve been reading a lot lately about how 19-year-old R & B singer Halle Bailey has been cast in the role of Ariel in Disney’s live action remake of the 1989 animated feature The Little Mermaid. Certainly, a generation has grown up watching and delighting to this film. More recently, Disney has taken to reimaging […]
Amélie Wen Zhao’s Fantasy Novel “Blood Heir” Available November 2019!
If you read my February blog post “Blood Heir” and Social Justice (or is it vengeance) which echoed many other voices on the web, you’ll recall how author Amélie Wen Zhao was bullied on social media to pull her book Blood Heir from publication over what Slate.com author Aja Hoggatt called accusations of racism and […]
July 4, 2019
Freedom Day
No one thought the Fields of Shantara would be the decisive battle against the tyranny of the Verbeni. For a dozen generations, the invaders of the colony world of Grazoria had ruled the human race with cruel efficiency, and although the resistance fighters were outgunned and out manned, they were courageous. Their harassment of the […]
July 2, 2019
My Short Story “Retired” is to be Published by HellBound Books
I just got word from the folks at HellBound Books that my short story “Retired” will be appearing in their forthcoming horror anthology Toilet Zone. No, wait! It’s not what you think. Here’s the blurb from the submissions page: …no, don’t panic, we are not looking for lavatory-themed tales of terror – although should your […]
June 30, 2019
Review of Joanna Maciejewska’s Short Story “Black Eyes, Luminous Monsters”
Since I’ve received my copy of The Cloaked Press science fiction anthology Spring Into SciFi 2019, which features my short story “The Recall,” I started reading some of the other stories. The first one was “Black Eyes, Luminous Monsters” by Joanna Maciejewska. Okay, I hated the title but loved the story. We are taken into […]
