Tag Archives: anthology

The Anthology “Fantastic Schools, Volume 13” is Out Now!

The latest Wisecraft Publishing anthology Fantastic Schools, Volume 13 just popped into availability yesterday, August 19th and features my fantasy short story The Battle of New Satins Castle (having nothing to do with stains).

The story has an interesting history. It was originally written for another Fantastic Schools anthology but didn’t quite make the cut (it has a “soft acceptance”). The publisher liked it but needed to find a place for it to live.

Time passed and I figured it had dropped through the cracks. Then indeed, this “general” anthology in the series (which is growing by leaps and bounds) came along and “New Stains” found a home.

The story is set in what I loosely call my Dragon Wars World. I’ve set other fantasy stories in the same universe but it won’t really take off until I find a publisher who will accept my first novel in that series. Then everything will begin to come together.

By the way, New Stains Castle is (almost) a real place (I changed the name slightly), the ruins of a castle in Scotland. Of course, I’ve highly fictionalized it and added plenty of ghosts and other supernatural beings. Scotland seems the right place for them.

Here’s an excerpt, the very beginning of the story to whet your appetite:

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My “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” Short Story “A Monolith in the Regolith” is Now Available!

tom corbett on mars

Promotional image for my short story “A Monolith in the Regolith”

As you all (hopefully) know, about a year-and-a-half ago, my novel Our Legacy The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure became a reality thanks to the fine folks at Starry Eyed Press. It had started out life as a serialized story (something I’d always wanted to do) on Amazon’s now defunct Vella platform. From there, it went into book form, a full-length tale based on the 1950s television show with the science and locations updated for our current understanding of our solar system and space.

More recently, I had the opportunity to continue Tom’s adventures in the short story A Monolith in the Regolith (the original title was The Monolith of Mars but another story in the anthology had Mars in the title so mine was changed).

The anthology, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet: An Original Short Story Anthology is now available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats and my story is pretty much a sequel to Legacy including characters I introduced in my novel.

Here’s a sample of what you can expect (Note: I’m also promoting this on my substack but with a different excerpt featured):

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Pre-order “Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology” Today

ruins

Promotional image for the anthology “Ruins.”

Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology is on pre-order now through the end of May. The anthology was created by Matt Herron and along with twelve other tales, includes my 12,000 word story “Sunrise.”

A large sleeper ship on a mission to colonize a far-distant planet is pulled off course awakening the command crew. The vessel is in the gravitational field of a highly unusual solar system, one where the star has been modified to be a thruster pulling the entire system with it toward the edge of the galaxy. What’s worse, for months, the ship’s AI has been in contact with an alien intelligence from that system which is surrounded by thousands of asteroids, shepherd objects guiding the system’s course.

Captain Art Cuevas and his crew use a shuttle to travel to one of the shepherd objects trying to get some answers, especially now that they’re too far away from their original destination to get to it before the ship’s fuel supply is exhausted.

What they find is startling and will either spell their doom or perhaps a new and unanticipated life.

Here’s a sample:

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Interviewed by Blackbird Publishing

haunted waters interviewMy interview by Blackbird Publishing about my tension-filled story in the “Haunted Waters” anthology. My story is based the actual loss of a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine destroyed in an “unexplained catastrophic event” in 1968 and sank in the Sargasso Sea.

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The Anthology “Haunted Waters” Is Now For Sale!

haunted waters

Cover art for the anthology “Haunted Waters.”

Almost sixty years ago, the American nuclear submarine USS Hollander sank in the Sargasso Sea to a depth of 3,000 meters under mysterious circumstances. Today, pirates operating the deep-sea submersible Thetis led by notorious weapons merchant Simon Harris are attempting to recover her nuclear arsenal. However when they find the Hollander, someone or something is still on board.

That’s just a taste of my short story “The Wreck of the USS Hollander” featured in the brand new ghost story anthology Haunted Waters edited by Jamie Ferguson.

My story  was inspired by a couple of television shows I saw as a kid that I don’t remember much about now. I do remember something about a submarine that had sunk years before, where there was no possibility of life, still sending out an S.O.S.

I also remember that it totally creeped me out.

Here’s some more:

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Kickstarter for “Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology”

ruins

Promotional image for the anthology “Ruins.”

Across the vast expanse of space and time lie the remnants of civilizations that reached for the stars—and vanished. Silent cities carved into asteroids. Derelict megastructures drifting between galaxies. Temples buried beneath the red sands of dead worlds.

This book contains 13 bold tales of humanity’s encounters with these cosmic ruins.

That’s how the narrative for the Kickstarter for “Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology” begins.

Just to be clear:

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Book Review of “Memory’s Legion: The Complete Expanse Story Collection” (2022)

memory's legion

© James Pyles

A few years back, I read all of the Expanse novel series by James S.A. Corey (really Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) thanks to a suggestion from someone I used to work with and my local public library. I’ve never seen the television series, though I’ve heard it was quite good. I really enjoyed the books though.

You can search my blog and read all of my reviews of them.

A number of weeks ago, I was killing time in the library when I came upon a copy of Memory’s Legion: The Complete Expanse Story Collection (2022). They were the only Expanse stories I hadn’t read, so, of course, I checked it out.

It was different than what I expected. Still good and entertaining, but the tone felt, I don’t know, more depressing maybe?

The stories, almost all of them really, are prequels or “origin” stories to certain Expanse characters, other viewpoints of existing storylines, and even “how did this get invented?”

I won’t throw out too many spoilers so don’t expect to find out from me which Expanse characters you’re familiar with make appearances here.

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Fantastic Schools Familiars is Available NOW!

familiars

Cover art for the anthology “Fantastic Schools Familiars”

The fantasy anthology Fantastic Schools Familiars is now available from Amazon in Kindle format (the paperback version will come out in a week or so).

It features my short story “Dead Cat Fever:”

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The Second Wave is here!

second wave

Promotional image for the upcoming Starry Eyed Press anthology “Second Wave.”

Ten of my drabbles (the maximum number allowed) are featured in this anthology.

A SINGLE MOMENT –– A HUNDRED WORDS –– A UNIVERSE OF POSSIBILITIES
What happens after the unknown has arrived? When the echoes of first contact fade, humanity is left to navigate the tremors of change — new alliances, fragile peace, simmering conflicts, and the birth of strange, dazzling futures.

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“Dames, Derringers and Detectives: Moggie Noir” is Available Featuring my Short Story: “Last Wish of a Dead Man”

moggie noir 3

Cover art for “Dames, Derringers and Detectives: Moggie Noir”

My hardboiled detective story “Last Wish of a Dead Man” is now available in the Raconteur Press anthology Dames, Derringers and Detectives: Moggie Noir in paperback and Kindle formats.

The blurb at Amazon says:

In this iteration, Moggie Noir is more than a framework, it’s a mewed.

I feel it is safe to say that we are most inspired by the creative expressions of authors who view genre notes for story calls as a guideline, and who then proceed to stretch the idea like Coney Island saltwater taffy. In this way, we have not been disappointed. The trick is to tug at the theme but still have the recognizable touches that tell the reader this is a noir story rather than a slapstick comedy or big fish story.

So, in this taffy-pulling spirit, we bring you our third Moggie Noir salvo, “Dames, Derringers, and Detectives.” This gritty set of tails will have you rooting for the good guys, hissing at some bad cats, and maybe—just maybe—you’ll see how true love can win in the end.

The publisher said guest editor Rita Beeman adored my story, which is very nice to hear.

In late 1940s San Francisco, private detective Margie Potter has developed a unique reputation in the afterlife. She solves the murders of ghost, sometimes without realizing it. In her first story “The Haunted Detective” featured in The Trench Coat Chronicles, Margie goes up against hardened gangsters to solve the murder of her best friend which occurred years ago and almost ends up as a ghost herself.

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