Author Archives: James Pyles

They Came For Gina Carano

gina

Publicity shot of actress Gina Carano

Addendum: 2-12-2021, 5:30 p.m. mountain time: I was reminded that what happened to Gina Carano makes Disney+ and the social media cancel culture/hate mob guilty of the decades old practice of Hollywood Blacklisting. Click the link and have your eyes opened.

Addendum: 2-12-2021, 11:59 a.m. mountain time: Looks like Gina has a new project set up as well as new representation. I hope it all works out for her.

Addendum: 2-11-2021, 3:20 p.m. mountain time: Terrific 13+ minute video (some language) giving a detailed description of the cancel culture and yes, though they don’t think of themselves this way, the “hate mob.” Give a watch.

“Nobody has the right to live their life being protected from offense, or from insult, or from hurt feelings. It is an occupational hazard of living in Society! And if you really can’t take it, become a hermit”

-Ann Widdecombe

Yes, we all say and do things that sometimes upset others and sometimes other people say and do things that upset us. It’s the nature of being human to disagree with one another.

However, in the case of actress Gina Carano, it’s gone well beyond that. For the “crime” of expressing her opinions, she’s now out of a job. In other words, she was fired.

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Book Review: “Prador Moon” by Neal Asher

Prador Moon cover art

I’ve previously read and reviewed Neal Asher’s “Polity series” novels Dark Intelligence (2015) and War Factory (2016), both part of the “Transformation” trilogy.

Frankly, Asher has written so many novels, just within this one series, that I was stumbling blind when I read those two, and although I enjoyed them, I couldn’t figure out how everything fit together.

I needed some sort of context to make sense of the universe I was experiencing. Although it’s not the first “Polity” book Asher (metaphorically) penned, Prador Moon records the first encounter between humans and AIs in the Polity and the Prador.

It’s not a complex novel, but it does introduce some of the key elements presented in all of these stories, including “Augs,” “AIs,” “Golems,” “runcibles” (basically stargates), and of course, the utterly ruthless, crab-like Prador.

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Some Book Reviews Will Not Go Unpunished

What a pain in the pinfeathers. I recently reviewed a book, mistakenly believing the author, who I know on Facebook, wanted me to. Okay, I’ll own up to the misunderstanding, but when the book review (which I gave 4 our of 5 stars on Amazon and now have deleted along with my review on this blog) was published, he gave me a ration of heck about how I had gotten things all wrong and that my review was a “sales killer.”

I decided to let it go and just not respond hoping it would all blow over. It didn’t.

He went on and on and on all over Facebook and to some degree MeWe about this, that, and the other thing. He tried to contact me on Facebook Messenger, but at that point, I didn’t feel like responding. Then he got on a post and complained that I was ignoring him.

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Book Review of Galactic Patrol

Image captured from Amazon

In some ways, E.E. “Doc” Smith’s third Lensman novel Galactic Patrol feels like the first “real” Lensman novel. I suppose that’s largely due to the character Kimball Kinnison having a central role in the book. He is the Lensman hero I think all of my friends looked up to when these books were popular when I was in Junior High in the late ’60s. Of course I also think these novels were better consumed over 50 years in the past by boys between the ages of 12 and 14 than they are by a fellow in his late 60s today.

It also hung together a bit better than the previous two (“Triplanetary” and “First Lensman”). That said, most of the book felt incredibly episodic. It was like a television show where the season hadn’t been plotted out cohesively from start to finish. A great deal of the action bounced all over the place, introducing seemingly random characters, planets, and events throughout the first two-thirds of the story.

Eventually, Smith was able to tie (most) things together showing relationships in the last third, but even that seemed rushed.

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Donate using Ko-Fi and Buy Me a Coffee

Ko-Fi logo

I came across Ko-Fi by accident. I happened to click a link on the twitter account of someone I follow and discovered it.

Ko-Fi is a different sort of model for supporting an artist’s or writer’s work. Unlike, Patreon, I don’t have to constantly create new content that only my Patreon subscribers can see.

With Ko-Fi, people can make a one time donation and it’s always $3 USD or about the price of a cup of coffee. You can donate once or as many times as you want. Pretty simple.

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A Candle For Our Freedom

“Your death amounts to the same as your life, a zero sum!” -Dr. Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) from the (2014) film Captain America: Winter Soldier

I’m kind of feeling that quote right now. No, I’m not dying or anything, but I do feel like everything I believe in is a “zero sum.”

If any of you follow me on twitter or Facebook (and amazingly, I still have active accounts on both, although twitter is restricting me somewhat), you know what I mean.

I’m almost too despondent to write this, but I feel compelled anyway.

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A Beautiful Friendship

lovers

Lovers by Harry Hollard, 1982

Eugene hadn’t felt the warmth of a woman’s touch in too long. The pandemic, lockdowns, and all the rest made most people reluctant to become intimate with a stranger. His life had always been dependent on a near endless string of brief, anonymous affairs. He had been starved for what he needed for what felt like an eternity.

“Come here, lover.” Brenda cooed and sighed as he took the nipple of her right breast between his lips and expertly fondled it with his tongue.

They were both nude and his penis began to stir, but the longing he felt went far beyond that. However, as he was about to strike, he was startled out of the moment.

“And now you’re mine, you poor sap.” Brenda clutched his head in both of her palms and began a ritual Eugene knew all too well.

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Vengeance for a Sorceress

Image is of concept art from King Arthur II, a NeocoreGames video game. This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose. -Wikimedia Foundation

Her lips and fingernails were chiseled rose quartz and her eyes were irresistible. Standing on the railway platform clouded with steam from the monolith locomotive, she waited in the darkness of an indeterminate night.

The full-length gown beneath her loosely draped overcoat was ashes of roses. To gaze into her jade eyes was to dive into the aortistic. To even briefly brush against her fingertips was to chance ecstasy.

People went to and fro on the concrete, passing like specters in the fog. Only she and the locomotive to her left remained motionless. She was not only waiting, but fixated on the other, as a spider might be captivated by a victim in her web.

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Read an Advanced Review Copy of Planetary Anthology Saturn

saturn

Cover image for the anthology Saturn.

As I’ve mentioned before, my science fiction/time travel short story “Saving the Apostle” is to be featured in the Tuscany Bay Press Planetary Anthology Saturn.

It’s available for pre-order from Amazon now (see the link above) for delivery to your kindle device on February 16, 2021.

However, if you can’t wait, you can read it right now. The publisher has placed an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) on Booksprout. Of course you have to be a Booksprout member AND you have to agree to leave a review in order to read the book.

From our point of view, this means that the reviews you leave will already be on Amazon when the book launches.

If you are not a Booksprout member but would like to review an advanced copy of the anthology, contact me by commenting on this blog post. I’ve got copies in PDF, epub, and MOBI. As long as you’re willing to leave a review, I’ll be glad to send you a finalized copy of the book in your desired format.

Let me know.

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2021 Helicon Award Winner for “The Three Billion Year Love”

“The Three Billion Year Love” wins a 2021 Helicon Award for best short story in an anthology

First of all, no one is more surprised than I am to have won an award. I have no idea what the nomination process was or how I got on the list, but “wow.”

I actually found out on Facebook first before I checked my email. Then once I did, I saw that Richard Paolinelli announced it on his blog:

Thanks to our new overlords and masters in Silicon Valley, the announcement of the 2021 Helicon Awards has been moved up 36 hours.

Check out the 16 winners and buy the books and discover some great authors!

Yes, it’s been a rough week for a lot of us, especially as many high tech platforms continue to censor anyone who leans even slightly right, but I’ll cover that another time.

Anyway, that leads to the 2021 Helicon Award Winners announcement.

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