James Van Pelt
An interviewer asked the author if he wanted to be the next Stephen King: he said, "No, I want to be the first James Van Pelt."
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James Van Pelt fell in love with Zenna Henderson, Ray Bradbury, Ursula le Guin, Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey and a host of others when he started reading. In elementary school, he told his mom he wanted to grow up to be a Ray Bradbury, like Bradbury was a job instead of a person. His work has appeared in Asimov's, Analog, Clarkesworld and many other venues. Stories have been reprinted in Year's Best anthologies and gathered in five of his collections. He has been a finalist for the Nebula, the Sturgeon Award, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He recently retired from teaching high school English (37 years), to write full time.
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Ghost Ship
Published Oct 21, 2020 · 4,223 words (16 minutes) · 1 like · 64 views
Fantasy pirates haunting pirate ship
Perfect for Halloween! A haunted ghost ship, pirates, and a little girl who just wants to go home.
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Fiction
Rock House
Published Oct 16, 2020 · 7,429 words (28 minutes) · 68 views
Classic Fantasy Horror Edgar Allan Poe House of Usher old loves libraries Books reading literature
An old college buddy contacts Allan to visit the “strange edifice of my rock house home,” as he put it, and to “salve my maladies and afflictions.” Intrigued and troubled, Allan takes up the invitation. What happens after is a deep dive into literature, obsession, and a desire for permanence.
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Fiction
Writing Advice
Published Oct 7, 2020 · 1,202 words (5 minutes) · 1 like · 119 views
Science Fiction metafiction apocalypse Writing advice
Writers hear much advice at conventions. Everyone has an opinion on how to walk the writing tightrope, but sometimes the advice just sounds wrong. I was listening to a panel of editors when one weighed in with what she pronounced as an inviolable rule, "Never start with the weather," which gave me, of course, the first sentence of this story.
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Fiction
Mambo No. M51
Published Sep 23, 2020 · 3,535 words (13 minutes) · 1 like · 71 views
Science Fiction Romance music stars astrophyics pop star
Someone once described "obsession" as a form of mental disease, like OCD. Everyone needs to have interests, but when those interests overwhelm balance in a person's life, they become a problem. But doesn't that mean that if you have any interests at all that you are on the road to being overwhelmed by them? Doesn't that mean we all are, just a little, mentally diseased? What we desire and how we behave towards those desires are a part of "Mambo No. M51."
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Rollercoaster
Published Sep 18, 2020 · 2,510 words (10 minutes) · 114 views
Fantasy Science Fiction Strange carnival other worlds
You never know when those tiny traveling carnivals are going to drift into town and who works them, but sometimes a chance at cotton candy and a sketchy rollercoaster ride are exactly what you're looking for.
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Three Paintings
Published Sep 8, 2020 · 4,508 words (17 minutes) · 112 views
Science Fiction Art creativity painting uploaded personality
A painter obsessed with the genesis of creativity embarks on the ultimate performance art.
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The Family Rocket
Published Aug 30, 2020 · 2,319 words (9 minutes) · 277 views
Science Fiction Romance father marriage childhood Mars junkyard space flight
As a child, Lorenzo’s father took him and his siblings on a fantastic trip to Mars—or so the story goes. But what if none of it happened at all? In this creative sequel to Ray Bradbury’s “The Rocket,” James Van Pelt imagines what happens when credulous children grow into skeptical adults.
Van Pelt has been nominated for the Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, Pushcart Prize, and more. His limited-edition hardcover short story collection, THE BEST OF JAMES VAN PELT, is now available for preorder from Fairwood Press.
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Floaters
Published Aug 20, 2020 · 7,979 words (30 minutes) · 130 views
Mystery Science Fiction time travel apocalypse paradox AIDS
What if you traveled into the future, and the world was completely destroyed? Wouldn't you do anything to change our fate? Would there be anything you'd be unwilling to sacrifice?
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Tiny Voices
Published Aug 2, 2020 · 6,557 words (24 minutes) · 171 views
Science Fiction artificial intelligence aging pregnancy death and dying
In the not so far future, where every item you own is intelligent and self-aware, how valuable is sentience? How important is an individual where self consciousness is cheap? Cory the caregiver, Stella the dying woman, Harlow the suave lover, an unplanned pregnancy, and a pencil afraid of being sharpened collide in this story of hard choices.
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Working the Moon Circuit
Published Jul 22, 2020 · 5,311 words (20 minutes) · 202 views
Science Fiction space program far-future SF Alien Culture moon humanity post-human moon landing
What is being human truly like? Maybe only an alien who has never experienced humanity is the best point of view to explore the question.
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