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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Fiction
Deathlehem
Published Dec 20, 2018 · 888 words (4 minutes) · 199 views
Fantasy Horror Literary Fiction Strange
I worried that this story would bother my more Christian friends. No one said anything, but I get the occasional suspicious look. Someone told me once that the way to write a science fiction or fantasy story is to look at who the science fictional or fantastical change impacts the most. What bigger change has occurred in the world that could rival the Christmas story? JVP
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Fiction
O Tannenbaum
Published Dec 16, 2018 · 1,981 words (8 minutes) · 194 views
As a part of my writing group's Christmas celebration, we each wrote a seasonal story for the last meeting of the year. We'd read them aloud while sipping punch and eating cookies. Weird Tales published it in 1998. The math on people's ages in the story isn't accurate for 2018, but in 1998, this story was just possible. It is my favorite of the Christmas stories I wrote. JVP
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Fiction
Ark Ascension
Published Dec 8, 2018 · 2,504 words (10 minutes) · 178 views
An orbiting habitat fights to keep alive all that made Earth a wonderful place to live before a devastating mutagen darkened its hopes. But life is more than just surviving as this Christmas story shows. JVP
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Fiction
The Stars Underfoot
Published Dec 2, 2018 · 2,994 words (11 minutes) · 5 likes · 419 views
Twelve-year-old Dustin plans to be the first to cross the lake’s thin ice this winter... but he doesn’t expect to find someone walking on the underside of it. A finalist for the Nebula, Sturgeon, and Campbell awards, author James Van Pelt taught English for 37 years before becoming a full-time writer.
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Nine Fingers on the Flute
Published Nov 24, 2018 · 4,413 words (17 minutes) · 1 like · 185 views
People have told numerous stories about love spells, but I don't think they have considered the implications of them. If you could make someone love you, would you want to? JVP
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Shark Attack: a Love Story
Published Nov 16, 2018 · 2,434 words (9 minutes) · 182 views
When I wrote this piece, many of my friends were academic/literary. They were interested in the metaphorical meanings in the story. They didn't believe me when I told them it was just a childhood fantasy of mine transplanted into the adult world. Sometimes a shark is just a shark. JVP
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Weaponized Ghosts of the 96th Infantry
Published Oct 31, 2018 · 1,212 words (5 minutes) · 169 views
Happy Halloween, everyone! This story completes my spooky-themed pieces for the Halloween season. I've written a few ghost stories. Here the justice is most poetic. JVP
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Fiction
Origin of the Species
Published Oct 26, 2018 · 5,183 words (19 minutes) · 235 views
This is the 4th of the Halloween-themed stories for October. David Hartwell reprinted it in The Year's Best Fantasy 3, and the story was honorably mentioned in Datlow/Windling Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Anyone who attended an American high school should understand why werewolves and bad moons are a part of "Origin of the Species." JVP
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Fiction
Miss Hathaway's Spider
Published Oct 11, 2018 · 4,568 words (17 minutes) · 287 views
Fantasy Horror Humor Literary Fiction Satire Strange
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