Jim
Jim cultivates interests in a variety of areas. He writes webcomics and the occasional short story, reads prolifically, designs web sites and graphics, and takes pictures. He and his wife are also first-generation farmers who run a 40-acre farm in central Indiana where they raise horses, chickens, bees, and fruit trees.
By Jim on March 10, 2010
The party upstairs was in full swing, the bump-bump-bump of the music audible even from outside.
In the darkness on the back stairs, a shadow moved. The form had almost no shape; it moved like liquid. It climbed each step with meticulous care, coalescing itself before pushing its turgid form upward to grab [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, monsters
By Jim on March 9, 2010
China ups the ante on rail at Tobias Buckell Online. Toby tosses out a little mini-rant about mass transit, specifically how little countries like Bulgaria are investing in it while large countries like the US can’t seem to be bothered. I couldn’t agree with him more on this topic. Maybe I should write a letter [...]
Posted in Asides | Tagged mass transit, Tobias Buckell
By Jim on March 9, 2010
His hood is pulled up, casting his face in shadow. The bus rolls to a stop in front of him, and he steps on board. He ignored the driver’s terse greeting. It’s not like he means it. Years of driving kids to school has turned this ritual into little more than a [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged mythology, tongue-in-cheek, urban fantasy
By Jim on March 5, 2010
Beth stood on the knoll and gazed at the broken city some seven miles distant. The voice on the city’s public broadcast system was audible, even from here, but distance diluted it such that it merely caused Beth a mild headache. Had she been within the city proper, that voice would have been enough to [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, urban fantasy
By Jim on March 3, 2010
She swirled her finger in the glass, then lifted it to his mouth.
“Just a taste, my lover,” she crooned.
He parted his lips, tongue sampling the drop as it fell from her fingertip.
“Oh, my god,” he breathed. “Amazing.”
He closed his eyes, fell back on the pillows, she on top of him. They writhed together, [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, monsters
By Jim on March 2, 2010
“They battled high upon the wall walk, pushing and pulling, slashing with their blades, and slinging spells, neither gaining a foothold over the other.”
Read the rest at Blessed on Ficly – A better, shorter story.
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, fantasy, gods, magic
By Jim on March 2, 2010
The gate preventing anyone but maintenance workers from reaching the bowels of the sewer system was frozen solid, having rusted in place long ago. Pudge pushed his way through, anyhow, the space being just wide enough to admit entry to his overweight frame. His unfortunate nickname was a testament to the [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, monsters
By Jim on March 2, 2010
The bag of chips was all but empty, just a few crumbs left in the bottom. He shook the bag, bouncing it in his hand, so that the niblets would fall together in the corner. There were so few left – and he wasn’t one to waste anything – so [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged science fiction
By Jim on March 2, 2010
Drive faster!
Rain lashed, wipers slashed, Cort plowed through the pouring rain, the demons of his past – both real and imagined – pursued him close behind.
Wind whistled, debris whirled into the road ahead of him, utility poles fell behind him. That’s how he knew they were still chasing him.
Stomach tied [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, demons, horror, monsters
By Jim on March 2, 2010
“What do you think’s in there, Rob?”
“No idea, Finn. Juice, most likely.”
“Juice?”
“Sure, you know, electricity. Stuff’ll juice you, sure as I’m standing here, if you touch it. Knock you flat, leave your hair all sparkly and curled and smelling like something that crawled out of a wall socket.”
“Oh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged magic, urban fantasy
By Jim on March 2, 2010
The black cauldron sat in the middle of the room and hissed menacingly as the green sludge within burbled and glurped. The stench emanating from the vile brew was overwhelming, nauseating in its potency, but the witch standing over it seemed not to notice.
“Leg of lizard. Tail of salamander. African bat guano.”
The [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, fantasy, humor, magic, witchcraft
By Jim on March 2, 2010
The Lonely Moon gazes down on me,
The pale, immortal Son of Night.
It wakens the Eternal Sleeper,
Who calls to me, and I answer.
She walked, barefoot, across a carpet of moss. Her song – soft, haunting – danced on a breath of air, spun through the wood.
Only the trees observed her progress, [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, fantasy, magic
By Jim on March 2, 2010
//BEGIN TRANSMISSION
SEARCH ‘DRAGONFLY’
AGGREGATION BEGINS IN 3… 2… 1…
ACCESSING NEWSNET
COLLATING FEEDS
NeuroSoft Corp Releases New Gaming Console
New Chicago, Robaxian (AIP) – Interplanetary neuroware giant NeuroSoft Corp announced earlier today the release of their newest gaming console, dubbed the Dragonfly Entertainment System. The Dragonfly features state-of-the-art hardware, allowing it to achieve unprecedented graphic display [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged humor, science fiction
By Jim on March 2, 2010
“Choose the lamp on the left, see visions of the future. Choose the one on the right, taste of true madness for a spell.” The crone’s words burned in the girl’s mind like festering sores. She held her hands over the lamps but felt no heat from them, despite the frigid temperature [...]
Posted in Stories | Tagged dark fiction, fantasy, magic
By Jim on March 1, 2010
When using open source makes you an enemy of the state | Technology | guardian.co.uk. Apparently the IIPA is looking to make open source software illegal — or at least extremely difficult to use. They seem to dislike the fact that OSS cuts into their bottom line, so rather than let the market make its [...]
Posted in Asides | Tagged IIPA, open source, politics, software
By Jim on February 28, 2010
Why Was the February 27, 2010 Tsunami Smaller than Expected? | Universe Today.
Posted in Asides | Tagged Chile, earthquakes, science
By Jim on February 28, 2010
Declassifying Animals as Property by Loretta Baughan. There is a bill being written in Wisconsin that proposes to declassify animals as property in order to give the HSUS more power to take animals away from owners with little cause or justification. The implications here are scary, both for the average pet-owner as well as for [...]
Posted in Asides | Tagged agriculture, HSUS, laws, politics
By Jim on February 28, 2010
Richard Dansky » Seven Questions You Should Never Ask a Writer (And My Answers). This article applies to webcomics authors, too.
Posted in Asides | Tagged questions, writing
By Jim on February 25, 2010
For those who may be interested, I’ve set up a presence on Ficly and modified a handful of my flash fiction pieces to work over there. I’m hoping that this will help encourage me get back into writing again, albeit in bite-size chunks. If you happen to also be a Ficly user, feel free to [...]
Posted in General | Tagged Ficly, fiction, writing
By Jim on February 23, 2010
I don’t much care for Shakira’s music. Nothing against her form, per se; it just doesn’t really match my tastes. In fact, anyone who knows me is pretty familiar with my general disdain for all things pop. I like to joke that if it plays on the radio, chances are better than fair that I [...]
Posted in General | Tagged dance, music, Shakira
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