Promotional image for “Clockwork Dragons”
Featuring my short story “The Mechanical Dragon.” Find it here. Available January 15, 2020.
Pre-Order “Clockwork Dragons” Now!
Tag Archives: zombie pirate publishing
Included in “TREASURE CHEST: Selected Short Stories”
Promotional image for the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology “Treasure Chest.”
This was a nice (almost) surprise. Zombie Pirate Publishing, which has been in existence since 2017, has featured some of my stories in their anthologies, and is producing a “round up” anthology of their favorite tales in Treasure Chest: Selected Short Stories. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon now, to be downloaded to your Kindle device December 1, 2019 (a terrific Christmas gift, by the way).
My classic SciFi tale Joey is featured in its pages.
Joey was first published in the ZPP anthology World War Four back in March of this year, along with many other fascinating tales, including best selling science fiction author Neal Asher‘s novelette “Monitor Logan.”
Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of “Joey”:
My Short Story “The Mechanical Dragon” to be Published in “Clockwork Dragons: A Fantasypunk Anthology”
Announcement graphic from Zombie Pirate Press
I’ve been waiting a few days to be able to brag about this one.
About a month ago, I had hit a dry spell, and decided to “loosen up” by participating in a writing challenge, not something I do a lot of these days. I was considering writing a story for an open submission, but I didn’t know how to approach it.
So I crafted the 150 word tale The Clockwork Dragon.
That got things moving and I was able to forge ahead with the actual story. A few days ago, it was accepted for publication by Adam and Sam at Zombie Pirate Publishing for their upcoming anthology Clockwork Dragons: A Fantasypunk Anthology.
Book Review: “The Collapsar Directive”
Cover art for the anthology “The Collapsar Directive
Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this anthology on the condition that I would write and publish a review. I have also had a short story and a piece of flash fiction published by Zombie Pirate Publishing, but none of my stories appear in the anthology I am reviewing, The Collapsar Directive.
Actually, the anthology’s title is taken from a story written by Adam Bennett, co-founder of Zombie Pirates, called “The Sword and The Damocles,” a tale about two interconnected intergalactic spacecraft. Like many of the short stories in the anthology, I found it to be “okay,” but not particularly remarkable. Of course “Collapsar” was published a few years back, and I know that many of the authors have since honed their writing skills.
Mel Newmin’s “Looking at the Face of God” had a nice twist to it, but I objected to the idea of releasing zoo animals back to the wild, since animals kept in captivity often lose their ability to fend for themselves in an untamed environment. Once the big reveal occurs, the results become interesting, but then science fiction does sometimes have the created confront their creator.
Can I Write a Novelette in Seven Days?
Screen capture of the Zombie Pirate Publishing Facebook page.
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 is between 12,500 and 15,000, so I’ve got a bit of work to do, including plotting the story as I go along.
WORLD WAR FOUR is available for 40% off the ebook for the next four days
Promotional image for my short story “Joey” featured in the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology “World War Four.”
World War Four, a science fiction anthology published by Zombie Pirate Publishing, features my short story “Joey” as well as a novelette by best-selling author Neal Asher. For the next four days, the ebook is 40% off its regular price at Amazon. This is a great time to download it to your kindle device and enjoy twenty outstanding SciFi tales of the war after World War Three.
Review of Rich Rurshell’s Short Story “Subject: Galilee”
© James Pyles
I’m continuing my slow review of the stories in the Zombie Pirate Publishing SciFi anthology World War Four (which also features my short story “Joey,” but right now, that’s beside the point). Today, I highlight Rich Rurshell’s tale “Subject: Galilee.”
Much of the symbolism echoes Christian themes, but Rurshell’s story takes place in the far future. A war is raging between two corporate factions, Liberty West which uses robotic warriors called “Romans,” and Zhang Industries’ human combatants. In between them and a village of peaceful people as well as defected soldiers, is the mysterious armored and cloaked being known as Galilee. He came out of no where, possesses enormous, almost god-like abilities, reprogramming the Roman machines to serve him, his armor all but invulnerable, and seems to be the savior that the world needs, that is until both corporations decide to make him a target.
Review of Mel Lee Newmin’s Short Story “Yuddh Ke Khel”
© James Pyles
I’m continuing my slow review of the stories in the Zombie Pirate Publishing SciFi anthology World War Four (which also features my short story “Joey,” but right now, that’s beside the point). This evening, as I write this, I showcase the tale of Chinese fighter pilot Chen Fan’s mission to blow up a Russian fuel depot while being pursued by his arch-nemesis, Iraninov.
It reads pretty much like a standard aerial dogfight between to fighter pilots except the aircraft are really spacecraft capable of operating in atmosphere all the way down to the deck. Fan toggles between worrying about his plane’s damage, evading Iraninov’s attacks, and his moral consciousness at the imminent death of thousands of civilians, collateral damage of his mission, the latter a strange consideration for a hardened combat veteran.
Signal Boost for “World War Four”
Created at the imgflip meme generator
The fine folks at Superversive SF have honored me with a Signal Boost of the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology World War Four which features my short story “Joey.” According to Urban Dictionary, a Signal Boost is:
Posting to a community forum (mailing list, social networking site, discussion board) in hopes of getting more attention for an event or cause. This is not the primary or first announcement, but rather one of many auxiliary posts or cross-posts to communities with individuals who are likely to take interest.
Click the LINK and please pass it along. Don’t forget the previous signal boost for Magical Reality which contains my short story “The Dragon’s Family.”
Oh and yes, L. Jagi Lamplight Wright, who wrote the signal boost, was the teacher of the online writing class I took last November.
“Growing Flowers” by James Pyles in Flash Fiction Addiction
Promotional image for the short story “Growing Flowers” by James Pyles featured in “Flash Fiction Addiction”
The folks at Zombie Pirate Publishing produced 101 promotional images, one for each story/author in the Flash Fiction Addiction. This one’s mine.
