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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One Day, in the Middle of the Night
Published Jul 1, 2020 · 4,867 words (18 minutes) · 59 views
Horror Mystery Science Fiction sibling rivalry space travel poetry longsleep brothers
Little did you know that tucked inside a well-known children's nonsense poem lurked a tale of brotherly rivalry and travel to the stars.
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Fiction
We Have Always Lived in the Hamlet
Published Jun 19, 2020 · 2,309 words (9 minutes) · 75 views
Science Fiction Family space travel Sisters
Toni Morrison said, “A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves—a special kind of double.” In this story, a sister filled with wanderlust and another anchored at home find themselves in a life-long struggle to come to terms with each other.
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Fiction
Light of a Thousand Suns
Published Jun 3, 2020 · 5,468 words (20 minutes) · 81 views
Fantasy Horror magic sacrifice nuclear war shopping mall
Don't you think that if magic truly existed that there would be more important uses for it than love spells or turning princes into frogs? In our world where the threats are so huge most people can't even recognize them wouldn't the real wizards and magicians, the good ones, be working to save us all? Those are the questions a unremarkable mall cop faces when he visits a trailer at the edge of the parking lot.
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Roller Derby Dan
Published May 27, 2020 · 2,923 words (11 minutes) · 2 likes · 115 views
Fantasy friendship cemetery physically challenged wheelchair
Sometimes we are confronted with the inexplicable that will forever remain a mystery: an event that can't be shared, nor forgotten. Sometimes we have to live with memories of the unknown.
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Fiction
The Long Way Home
Published May 21, 2020 · 5,895 words (22 minutes) · 102 views
Science Fiction space travel nuclear war epic
Mankind's record of achievements is contradictory. On one hand the species reaches for the stars, but on the other it rushes to destroy itself. Which of the two urges will prevail? If we could look at our complete history, which story remains? "The Long Way Home" gives one answer. Gardner Dozois chose it to include in The Year's Best Science Fiction.
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The Pair-a-Deuce Comet Casino All-Sol Poker Championship
Published May 13, 2020 · 5,605 words (21 minutes) · 143 views
Science Fiction space Immortality Space Ships poker comet
If you could save yourself over and over, like a video gamer before he steps into a new situation, how would you behave? How would other immortals like yourself treat you? Find out in the high stakes games that take place in the galaxy's most dangerous casino.
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The Turkey Raptor
Published Apr 23, 2020 · 5,144 words (19 minutes) · 137 views
Fantasy Horror monster high school dinosaur bullies mountain town
Leon kept his dangerous pet in a shed behind the house. HIs mom didn't know about it, neither did his friends. But it was a small mountain town, and secrets were hard to preserve.
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Notes From the Field
Published Apr 15, 2020 · 5,245 words (20 minutes) · 168 views
Science Fiction Alien sex first contact one night stands
What could be lonelier than being an alien investigator tasked with researching human interaction when you can't communicate with anyone who knows who you really are?
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Sacrifice
Published Apr 2, 2020 · 4,075 words (15 minutes) · 122 views
Science Fiction Love generation ship fertility ceremony mutagen
Anthropology is filled with stories of cultures that practiced ritual and sacrifice to anchor their place in the world. There's little to reason to doubt that the far-removed generations of the survivors of a spaceship that crash landed on an empty but livable planet might not develop their own rituals,unrecognizable to their technological ancestors.
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Finding Orson
Published Mar 25, 2020 · 6,301 words (23 minutes) · 1 like · 273 views
Fantasy teaching high school Romeo and juliet english class
Patty is a gifted teacher, literally. She sees the emotional aura around her students. All would be well until Orson, a quiet, sullen boy's aura turns startlingly, distressingly black.
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