Jason J. Marchi
Photo by T. Marshall Photography
Children's Books
Young Adult Books
Really Cool Short Stories
Non-Fiction Articles
Anthology Editor
Available in Hardcover
and Amazon Kindle
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
and the inspired sequel
"When the Rain Stops" by Jason Marchi
"There's life on Venus! See for yourself... in two haunting, spectral stories of cold rain, poisoned jungle, and sickened hearts, penned by Ray Bradbury and Jason Marchi. As refreshing as an out-of-nowhere shower on a sun dazzling day."
– Joe Hill
New York Times Bestselling author of
Heart-Shaped Box and Horns, among others.
Winner of the Time-Honored Category in the 2nd Annual Northern Lights Book Awards. SEE HERE
Foreword Review Top 10 Finalist, March 2021, in the Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy category
ReallyCoolStory
Written by
As Editor
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Available in 2024
Available in 2024
Available May 2025
A ReallyCoolStory--no matter what reading level it's written for--is that type of story that grabs you by the collar and shakes you. A story you never forget. A story that after you've read it you can't wait to tell others to read it too, and you start your recommendation by saying, "I just read this really cool story."
The stories I read when I was teen--and also during my college years--that I thought were really cool, are what inspired me to become a writer. I'd say to myself, "I want to write stories like that!" I then began writing short stories and poems during my junior year in high school.
But it was not until my mother discovered a particular paperback book in a used bookstore that I fell in love with the idea of writing really cool stories to try and make a living. That book was The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury. I was 19 at the time and I'd never heard of Ray Bradbury.
I took the book to college with me (to the start of my freshman year at Northeastern University in Boston) and one quiet Sunday when I was homesick I started reading the short stories inside.
The first story had a surprise ending that blew me away; I never knew, before this, that a story could have such a cool, surprise ending. So many of the stories teachers had forced me to read in high school were BORING: their endings weak, their characters and their plights easily forgotten, and completely lacking in emotional resonance, so I was left with no attachment to the stories, no "emotional memory," as I call it.
The second Bradbury story also had a really cool ending that left me breathless. And when I'd finished reading the third story in the book I suddenly had a fever and I fell instantly in love. Bradbury was like a great magician, conjuring the most amazing surprises in his stories.
Soon after, as I read more in college while earning my English degree, I discovered the cool stories of many other great writers: Hemingway, O'Connor, Jackson, Poe, du Maurier, Dickinson.
I fell in love with what a really cool story does to the reader, how it changes your life, even if just a little, and makes you forever able to see the world in a different, perhaps better way; stories that help you grow up to be a better person because your imagination is suddenly open to all the wonder and possibilities in life.
As a result, I've spent my life in search of other really cool stories by many different writers, and I also try to write them for readers to enjoy and say, "Wow, that was a really cool story!"
I hope you savor and enjoy some of my stories. Happy reading!
- JJM
The writing process