Tag Archives: magic

One Pale Blue Dot on Ice, Please

freezing

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

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Another Valentine’s Day alone. Cassandra considered turning the heat up in her small apartment but her rental agreement said she paid for heating and cooling. She pulled the blanket higher around her while watching TV. The big news was that Voyager 1 had sent back what would be the “Pale Blue Dot” photo of Earth.

“Whoopie.” She tucked her freezing feet under her butt. It was no use. The streets were paved with ice so she wasn’t going out. “Screw it.” Cass got up and opened the chest. “Now where did I put those global warming potions?” thought the witch.

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2023: Reviewing My Year in My Stories

2023

2023 – the year as it was.

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The new year is rapidly approaching and it’s time for me to take you back through my accomplishments of 2023. They are better than last year but not as good as the year before. Oh well.

Let’s start off with my SciFi short story “Fall of the Tower” my first tale of 2023 published in One-Way Ticket: A Science Fiction Anthology by Starry Eyed Press. I’d been trying to get some version of this story published for years and finally hit upon the right presentation.

I took the story’s title from the Biblical tale of the “Tower of Babel” found in Genesis 11:1-9. The story began with that Biblical quote, but the publisher replaced it because they do not want to represent any particular religious viewpoint. So it goes.

This was followed by my short story “The Price” featured in Fantastic Schools, Volume Six and is my second magical schools tale published for Wisecraft Publishing. I’m not a big fantasy or magic school writer, but I’m proud of the magical system and story I crafted here. There’s always a price for using magic and it’s typically blood. Sometimes it is life and even many lives.

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My Fantasy Adventure Novelette “Ice” has been Reviewed on twitter/X

ice

Cover art for my fantasy novelette “Ice”

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I have exactly one book that is self-published on Amazon; Ice. My short description blurb says:

At the end of time, the world is hot and men travel the vast oceans in merchant sailing ships. Captain Ki-Moon Yong of the Star of Jindo has discovered a new horror at the bottom of the Earth. Can he and the Star escape disaster long enough to warn a disbelieving world?

Ice is set at the end of time when supposedly runaway climate change has melted all or the vast majority of Earth’s ice. Most of the land masses continue to exist (contrary to popular myth) but coastlines are very different and the actual continent of Antarctica is exposed, including it’s terrifying secrets.

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Unbreaking Chains

table

PHOTO PROMPT © Rowena Curtin

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“There’s no going back.” Leonard sat on the metal chair opposite her, casually running his index finger across the symbols etched on the tabletop. It was a public garden, quite lovely. The summer morning was humid but still cool.

“I didn’t say anything about going back, just reliving the experience with a different outcome.”

“It’s a fantasy. I wouldn’t be able to save them.”

“But you’d be able to see that their deaths were not your fault.”

“And this disc will do that for me?” He waved his hands over the table’s surface.

“Let’s begin the ceremony and find out.”

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The Fallen

beit shan

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Mastema watched Tancred’s ascension as Prince of Galilee over Beit She’an with hidden glee. This ancient city of the Hebrews had passed through many hands before falling into those of the Crusaders in the year of their Lord 1099 C.E.

It was well that Tancred did not know the true name or origins of his faithful adviser, because Mastema had his own reasons for coveting the city in the Jezreel Valley. He divined that men in ages to come would find sacred and mystic Egyptian artifacts. There was one he must take that would render him master of the dead.

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Strings

amanda

PHOTO PROMPT © Amanda Forestwood

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14-year-old Stace McPherson was drawn to the musician’s unusual stringed instrument. The backyard wedding reception was over. He was supposed to be helping clean but he wanted to touch it. The musician, no one called him anything else, had played the most amazing tunes, like from another world. He looked around. Just the last few guests. The musician was saying good-bye to the bride and groom. He had to do it. Stace let his fingers glide across the strings. As he did, something creative entered him. Ten years later with his own guitar, he accepted the best new artist Grammy.

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Book Review of “The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass”

aeronaut

© James Pyles for photo

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I was at the public library weeks ago looking for another book when I came across Jim Butcher’s novel The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass. It was published in 2016 as the first of a series, but according to Butcher’s website, the second in this collection will probably be published this year.

I’d never heard of Butcher before, but he’s been Hugo nominated more than once and has written the well-known (to everyone but me) Dresden Files novel series. I’ve been criticized by “real science fiction fans” that I’m not a “true fan” because I don’t have an encyclopedia-like  knowledge of all things SciFi. Oh well.

At 630 pages, it took me a while to read, especially since I can’t always find large blocks of time for reading. So after renewing it once, I finally finished it off this morning. I’m really glad I came across it. I was attracted to the cover mainly and checked it out on a whim.

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Frank and the Plot of the Hypnotizing Slime, Chapter 3

magic

© James Pyles

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I suppose you are wondering where the baby chick came from and what it won. To answer that question, we have to visit an alternate dimension, an alternate Frank, and the secret character of Danaerys.

You see, the evil Frank who is planning to take over the world with his hypnotizing slime, is modeled after the real Frank in the real world where you, the reader, lives.

Frank has been friends with the little girl and her Grandpa who are writing this story for many years.

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Fantastic Schools, Volume Six Available on Amazon

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After a successful run as part of a story bundle and as I previously mentioned, L. Jagi Lamplighter’s “Fantastic Schools. Volume Six” is now available on Amazon in kindle format.

The anthology features my “magic middle school” story “The Price”. For this one, I developed a very specific system of magic, that performing any occult act requires blood or the life force of a person or people. The bigger the feat, the more life force. Evil sorcerers, being evil, will simply sacrifice the lives of the innocent because, after all, they’re evil.

But what of the good? What of the wizards and mages running magic schools, training the next generation of magicians. How does it work for them? My story explores the startling answer and how one thirteen-year-old boy holds the keys to saving his entire school. But as I said, all great acts require a great sacrifice.

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Fantastic Schools: Volume Two Reviewed by Upstream Reviews

2

Cover image for the anthology “Fantastic Schools, vol 2”

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Back in 2020, my fantasy short story Sorcery’s Preschool was published (kindle version) in Fantastic Schools Volume Two edited by L. Jagi Lamplighter. A few months later, the paperback edition came out.

In brief, my short story involved probably the only magical pre-school in fiction (I can’t confirm that, but it does seem unlikely anyone else came up with the idea).

Two years is a lot of metaphorical water under the bridge and I’ve moved on to newer tales.

This evening (as I write this), Jagi emailed the Vol 2 authors letting us know that the book had been reviewed by Upstream Reviews. On their main substack page, they advertise themselves as “Reviewing only the best in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, & Thrillers.”

It’s quite a complement that we were reviewed. The page also says they were launched 8 months ago, meaning they’re quite new.

You can click this link to read the full review (I recommend it) but here’s what they said about my contribution:

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