Tag Archives: zombie pirate publishing

Book Review: “Swirling Darkness” by Sam M. Phillips

swirling

Promotional art for Sam M. Phillips’ “Swirling Darkness”

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Sam Phillips is an author, poet, and a co-founder of Zombie Pirate Publishing with Adam Bennett. They published some of my very first short stories and have been a lot of fun to work with.

Sam is branching out as an individual author and I recently read two of his books, Infinity and I, published by the aforementioned Zombie Pirate, and Swirling Darkness published as part of the Underground series by Black Hare Press

The description for his anthology is:

INFINITY AND I is a collection of seventy brand new science fiction stories from Sam M. Phillips, the co-founder of Zombie Pirate Publishing. Inside you’ll find surreal space journeys, bizarre aliens, futuristic technology, rogue AIs, and a girl who just wants to be loved. Follow a huge array of exotic characters across the galaxy as they use inter-dimensional drugs and fight battles on faraway worlds. Action, drama, and science combine with the complexity of the human soul in the year’s most exciting new sci fi release. Open up a portal and step into the depths of a unique mind with INFINITY AND I: Seventy Science Fiction Stories!

As an aside, I should note that my novella Time’s Abyss is also part of the Underground series.

Sam publishes his poetry on his blog Big Confusing Words. That’s important to know for my review as you’ll soon see.

The blurb for “Darkness” states:

Continue reading →

Featured Promotion for “Buried in the Sands of Time”

buried

Featured announcement from Zombie Pirate Publishing

Since Dastaan World once again has seemed to have crashed and burned, my previously accepted stories The Unreal Man and Surtr and the Phoenix have been “unaccepted,” which kind of stings.

This is why I was excited when I saw the notice at Zombie Pirate Publishing featuring my story Buried in the Sands of Time.

It’s my retro-SciFi tale featured in their anthology RAYGUN RETRO: A Science Fiction Anthology.

Continue reading →

Saturn Writing Challenge?

saturn

Promotional image from Zombie Pirate Publishing

With so much going on in my life just now, I said I wouldn’t try to do this, but the theme is so compelling. I mean, I can probably write between 12,500-15,000 words in a week (starting tomorrow), but would it be any good?

Saturn. My favorite planet (outside of Earth) in the solar system just behind Mars (and I’ve written enough about Mars lately). I’ve even got a concept in mind. Am I crazy?

Continue reading →

Announcement: Zombie Pirate Writing Week 2020

2020

Image captured from Sam Phillips’ blog

I’m passing this along from Sam Phillips’ blog Big Confusing Words. He’s the co-founder of Zombie Pirate Publishing and they first held this event last year. I sent in an entry last year (it wasn’t selected). Thinking about it again this year, but my schedule is about to undergo a radical change, so I may not have the bandwidth.

If you’re a writer at whatever stage of development, this might be the challenge for you. Here’s part of the text from Sam’s blog:

Continue reading →

Featured on the Zombie Pirate Publishing “Meet the Author” Series

retro

Promotional announcement for the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology, “Raygun Retro”

As my regular readers know, my short story “Buried in the Sands of Time” is being featured in the Zombie Pirate Publishing SciFi anthology RAYGUN RETRO: A Science Fiction Anthology.

I was recently interviewed as one of the contributors to “Raygun,” and that interview has since been published on ZPP’s Facebook page. Here’s an excerpt:

– Hi, what is your name and where are you from?

James Pyles. If you mean where was I born, that would be Omaha, Nebraska, USA. If you mean, where do I live, after quite a bit of wandering, my family and I settled near Boise, Idaho.

– Tell us about your story. What inspired the idea?

Continue reading →

Download “Clockwork Dragons” Anthology FREE for the Next Five Days!

dragon

Announcement graphic from Zombie Pirate Press

You don’t want to miss this promotion. Zombie Pirate Publishing is offering the kindle edition of their anthology CLOCKWORK DRAGONS: A Fantasypunk Anthology as an absolutely free download from Amazon for the next five days.

You can’t beat the price.

Features my steam/fantasypunk short story The Mechanical Dragon:

Continue reading →

Official “Raygun Retro” Table of Contents

 

retro

Table of Contents for the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology “Raygun Retro”

RAYGUN RETRO: A Science Fiction Anthology, edited by Adam Bennett and Sam M. Phillips over at Zombie Pirate Publishing, is only about two-and-a-half weeks from publication. It’s available for pre-order now for delivery to your kindle device May 1, 2020.

Above is the official table of contents for the book, and includes my short story “Buried in the Sands of Time.”

Here’s a preview. Remember, the idea behind the anthology is to create an “old school” SciFi tale, something reminiscent of the early tales of E.E. “Doc” Smith, Asimov, or Heinlein.

Continue reading →

Review of the Zombie Pirate Publishing Fantasy Anthology “Witches vs. Wizards”

w vs w

Cover art for the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology “Witches vs. Wizards”

I just finished Zombie Pirate Publishing‘s 2018 anthology WITCHES VS WIZARDS: A Fantasy Anthology, and I must say I was exceptionally impressed. Typically, indie anthologies are a mix of terrific, good, and okay stories, with one or two stinkers, but this one surprised me.

I can’t say I found a story I didn’t like. A few of them were on themes I don’t naturally resonate with, but in each and every case, the writing was solid, and they all had an interesting, if not always unique take on the world of magic.

Derek Paterson’s “The House of Magus” was a compelling tale that could have come out of the pages of a Robert E. Howard “Conan” short story, although with more thought and a bit less bashing.

Adam Bennett’s “The Apprentice” was somewhat predictable, at least at the end, but getting there was half the fun. I had hoped for a happier ending for the hapless protagonist, but sometimes that’s not how magic and quest to slay witches works out.

Continue reading →

My Science Fiction Short Story “Buried in the Sands of Time” Accepted for Publication!

retro

Promotional announcement for the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology, “Raygun Retro”

I can finally announce this and I’m thrilled to do it. My retro science fiction short story “Buried in the Sands of Time” has been accepted for publication in the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology Raygun Retro: A Science Fiction Anthology.

Here’s the formal announcement from ZPP’s Facebook page:

Congratulations to all of the successful authors for RAYGUN RETRO: A Science Fiction Anthology. Thank you to everyone who submitted, you made it a difficult choice.

Preorder your Raygun Retro Ebook now for half price at the link above.

Available in paperback May 1, 2020.

I’m especially thrilled, because I’ve tried to submit various earlier versions of this tale under the title “Arabia Terra” for nearly two years, and it’s been repeatedly rejected. The final version is a major retooling of the concept which, in this case, is (in my humble opinion) the perfect missive for retro science fiction that pays homage to SciFi movies, TV shows, and novels from the 1950s and 60s, plus illustrates what might happen if the past collided with the future.

Here’s a brief sample. Keep in mind, the final and edited version may read slightly differently:

Continue reading →