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Talk to a Real, Live Girl
2021 !WINNER! in Science Fiction -- Los Angeles Book Festival!
Readers’ Favorite 5 Stars:
TALK TO A REAL, LIVE GIRL explores the convergence of a MeToo movement run amok and the rise of the Robotic Companion. Paul Clayton’s observations about contemporary American society and what could come are chilling, but also humorous and very human. Readers will immediately be swept along in these tales.
Readers’ Favorite 5 Stars:
TALK TO A REAL, LIVE GIRL explores the convergence of a MeToo movement run amok and the rise of the Robotic Companion. Paul Clayton’s observations about contemporary American society and what could come are chilling, but also humorous and very human. Readers will immediately be swept along in these tales.
- GenresScience Fiction
150 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 4, 2019
14 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
Paul Clayton
13 books76 followersPaul Clayton is the author of a three-book historical series on the Spanish Conquest of the Floridas ― Calling Crow, Flight of the Crow, and Calling Crow Nation (Putnam/Berkley), and a novel, Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam (St. Martin’s Press), based on his own experiences. Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam was a finalist at the Frankfurt eBook Awards, along with works by Joyce Carol Oates (Faithless) and David McCullough (John Adams). Paul's historical novel, White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, was a semifinalist in the Amazon ABNA awards, a Readers Choice Bronze Medalist, an Honorable Mention at the San Francisco Book Festival, and a Finalist at the International Book Awards.
Paul writes sci-fi/fantasy as well, his latest works include: Strange Worlds, In the Shape of a Man, Van Ripplewink, Crossing Over, and Talk to a Real, Live Girl.
Paul currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his son and daughter.
Paul writes sci-fi/fantasy as well, his latest works include: Strange Worlds, In the Shape of a Man, Van Ripplewink, Crossing Over, and Talk to a Real, Live Girl.
Paul currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his son and daughter.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 20, 2019
I won this in the goodreads giveaway! This was a very strange book but definitely worth the read.
January 24, 2026
Talk to a Real, Live Girl: And Other Stories is a thoughtful and entertaining collection of light science fiction that blends emotional introspection, social commentary, and classic genre storytelling reminiscent of vintage television sci-fi anthologies.
The centerpiece novella, “Talk to a Real, Live Girl,” follows Alex, a man fleeing both a failed marriage and an Earth society he no longer recognizes. Seeking anonymity and escape, he accepts work on Kratos, a distant mining planet known among its male workforce as “Boyz Wurld.” The planet offers labor, alcohol, and the illusion of companionship through lifelike female robots designed to meet every expectation without resistance.
Yet Clayton avoids turning the story into simple satire or dystopian shock fiction. Alex is not drawn to the robots, despite his loneliness. His isolation instead deepens his longing for authentic human connection, something increasingly rare in a world reshaped by political and social extremes.
That longing becomes the emotional heart of the story when Alex meets Traci, a “real, live girl” in a place where such women scarcely exist. Their developing relationship is tender, cautious, and quietly hopeful, raising the central question of the book: can genuine human connection survive in a future built on artificial substitutes and rigid ideological systems?
Rather than preaching, Clayton allows the ideas to unfold naturally through character choices. The social commentary, including reflections on gender politics, corporate control, and unintended consequences of cultural movements, remains understated and woven organically into the narrative.
The supporting stories expand the thematic range of the collection:
“The Lawn” explores aging, relevance, and identity through the lens of a man struggling with forced retirement and an inexplicable presence in his backyard.
“Happy Acres” examines the seductive false promises of off-world colonization, revealing how utopian marketing often conceals uncomfortable truths.
The closing chapters from a novel-in-progress about the Lost Colony of Roanoke introduce a darker, more mysterious historical-science-fiction tone that hints at broader ambitions.
Across all entries, Clayton demonstrates a talent for immediate immersion. His prose is accessible, cinematic, and paced to pull readers quickly into each scenario. Importantly, any thematic messaging never overwhelms the storytelling; the narratives remain engaging first and reflective second, a balance many speculative works struggle to achieve.
Overall, Talk to a Real, Live Girl: And Other Stories is a nostalgic yet timely science-fiction collection. It echoes the spirit of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits while grounding its futures in deeply human concerns: loneliness, love, dignity, and the cost of progress.
For readers who appreciate classic-style sci-fi with emotional depth, subtle humor, and social relevance, Paul Clayton’s collection offers an intelligent and rewarding experience.
The centerpiece novella, “Talk to a Real, Live Girl,” follows Alex, a man fleeing both a failed marriage and an Earth society he no longer recognizes. Seeking anonymity and escape, he accepts work on Kratos, a distant mining planet known among its male workforce as “Boyz Wurld.” The planet offers labor, alcohol, and the illusion of companionship through lifelike female robots designed to meet every expectation without resistance.
Yet Clayton avoids turning the story into simple satire or dystopian shock fiction. Alex is not drawn to the robots, despite his loneliness. His isolation instead deepens his longing for authentic human connection, something increasingly rare in a world reshaped by political and social extremes.
That longing becomes the emotional heart of the story when Alex meets Traci, a “real, live girl” in a place where such women scarcely exist. Their developing relationship is tender, cautious, and quietly hopeful, raising the central question of the book: can genuine human connection survive in a future built on artificial substitutes and rigid ideological systems?
Rather than preaching, Clayton allows the ideas to unfold naturally through character choices. The social commentary, including reflections on gender politics, corporate control, and unintended consequences of cultural movements, remains understated and woven organically into the narrative.
The supporting stories expand the thematic range of the collection:
“The Lawn” explores aging, relevance, and identity through the lens of a man struggling with forced retirement and an inexplicable presence in his backyard.
“Happy Acres” examines the seductive false promises of off-world colonization, revealing how utopian marketing often conceals uncomfortable truths.
The closing chapters from a novel-in-progress about the Lost Colony of Roanoke introduce a darker, more mysterious historical-science-fiction tone that hints at broader ambitions.
Across all entries, Clayton demonstrates a talent for immediate immersion. His prose is accessible, cinematic, and paced to pull readers quickly into each scenario. Importantly, any thematic messaging never overwhelms the storytelling; the narratives remain engaging first and reflective second, a balance many speculative works struggle to achieve.
Overall, Talk to a Real, Live Girl: And Other Stories is a nostalgic yet timely science-fiction collection. It echoes the spirit of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits while grounding its futures in deeply human concerns: loneliness, love, dignity, and the cost of progress.
For readers who appreciate classic-style sci-fi with emotional depth, subtle humor, and social relevance, Paul Clayton’s collection offers an intelligent and rewarding experience.
September 8, 2021
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway, for which I am very grateful. The following is my unbiased, uninfluenced review.
This is a short collection of short stories. The first, and longest, story, Talk to a Real, Live Girl, is a sad description of a recently divorced man, who is also exhausted by the political and cultural mess that just keeps going on. So, he takes what seems to be the most reasonable escape route; taking a six month contract on a distant mining planet. Unlike Earth, this place is full of robots (androids?), who provide many of the services a male only crew would need, including some of the managerial positions. And most certainly the physical needs. There's also a more expensive and somewhat limited option, spending lots of your credits to talk to a Real Live Girl, one of the very few females on the planet. One thing leads to another, and our hero and the Real Live Girl end up really liking each other. Suddenly, there are murder attempts on our hero's life; his new best friend in the mining operation is killed, and so is his new-found love from the Live Girl operation. He knows who did it, and exacts an appropriate revenge. He's fired, of course, and shipped back to Earth. Hopefully.
The other two stories, The Lawn and Happy Acres are sort of similar. Nice, tight little short stories, where both protagonists fall victim to what's stalking them. Probably. (Kind of a theme here!) In the lawn, a recently retired man has problems fulfilling his promises to himself; in this case, taking over the duties of the lawn service, and failing miserably to the point where the back lawn has turned into a jungle. Then, something moves in. Similarly, in Happy Acres, an elderly couple moves to a new subdivision on Mars (!), only to find that everything is more rundown and ill-managed than anyone would have expected. Not to mention that there are "vermin", perhaps from Mars, or perhaps not, who are more than just pests.
My copy also had a bonus: the prologue and first two chapters of the author's newest book, "White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke". I've been reading about the lost colony since I was a kid; no one knows what happened, but there are a lot of interesting possibilities which make for interesting stories. The two chapters captured my interest; I need to see when this new book is going to be published, and grab a copy. The writing in this collection is excellent, and I think I would enjoy the new book as much as I did this one.
This is a short collection of short stories. The first, and longest, story, Talk to a Real, Live Girl, is a sad description of a recently divorced man, who is also exhausted by the political and cultural mess that just keeps going on. So, he takes what seems to be the most reasonable escape route; taking a six month contract on a distant mining planet. Unlike Earth, this place is full of robots (androids?), who provide many of the services a male only crew would need, including some of the managerial positions. And most certainly the physical needs. There's also a more expensive and somewhat limited option, spending lots of your credits to talk to a Real Live Girl, one of the very few females on the planet. One thing leads to another, and our hero and the Real Live Girl end up really liking each other. Suddenly, there are murder attempts on our hero's life; his new best friend in the mining operation is killed, and so is his new-found love from the Live Girl operation. He knows who did it, and exacts an appropriate revenge. He's fired, of course, and shipped back to Earth. Hopefully.
The other two stories, The Lawn and Happy Acres are sort of similar. Nice, tight little short stories, where both protagonists fall victim to what's stalking them. Probably. (Kind of a theme here!) In the lawn, a recently retired man has problems fulfilling his promises to himself; in this case, taking over the duties of the lawn service, and failing miserably to the point where the back lawn has turned into a jungle. Then, something moves in. Similarly, in Happy Acres, an elderly couple moves to a new subdivision on Mars (!), only to find that everything is more rundown and ill-managed than anyone would have expected. Not to mention that there are "vermin", perhaps from Mars, or perhaps not, who are more than just pests.
My copy also had a bonus: the prologue and first two chapters of the author's newest book, "White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke". I've been reading about the lost colony since I was a kid; no one knows what happened, but there are a lot of interesting possibilities which make for interesting stories. The two chapters captured my interest; I need to see when this new book is going to be published, and grab a copy. The writing in this collection is excellent, and I think I would enjoy the new book as much as I did this one.
May 28, 2021
All three of the stories in this collection are entertaining and thought-provoking reads. The two shorter stories that conclude the book, The Lawn (a story of a man whose backyard has turned into a jungle, and maybe more), and Happy Acres, the story of a man who moved with his wife to a new housing development on Mars, but things aren’t working out as hoped. These both had me trying to figure out what was going on and where the story was going to go. The endings of all three leave enough wiggle room that whatever you think the answer should be, might be right. (Or maybe not.)
But the title story is the longest and the one that drew me in the most. Alex, the protagonist, has just gone through a divorce. He’s tired of a lot of the cultural and political upheaval happening in America and decides the answer is to flee earth for a while. He accepts a six-month contract with a mining company on a planet called Kratos. Things here are definitely different, for example the place is full of bots. Some of them are the bosses. Some, for those humans from earth with physical desires to be satisfied, are bots that can get physically intimate. With all the men from Earth visiting these bots keep busy. But for those who want something more, or at least something different, the men can also use some of their hard-earned money to be allowed in a room where they can talk to a girl. No, not bots, an actual real live flesh and blood girl. Alex does this once, he likes the girl, which I’m sure happens all the time. But it appears the girl really likes him too. Except that’s against all the rules. How this all shakes out makes for a fun and intense read. The world where this story took place with its differences and similarities to our current world made for some interesting things to ponder as well.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
But the title story is the longest and the one that drew me in the most. Alex, the protagonist, has just gone through a divorce. He’s tired of a lot of the cultural and political upheaval happening in America and decides the answer is to flee earth for a while. He accepts a six-month contract with a mining company on a planet called Kratos. Things here are definitely different, for example the place is full of bots. Some of them are the bosses. Some, for those humans from earth with physical desires to be satisfied, are bots that can get physically intimate. With all the men from Earth visiting these bots keep busy. But for those who want something more, or at least something different, the men can also use some of their hard-earned money to be allowed in a room where they can talk to a girl. No, not bots, an actual real live flesh and blood girl. Alex does this once, he likes the girl, which I’m sure happens all the time. But it appears the girl really likes him too. Except that’s against all the rules. How this all shakes out makes for a fun and intense read. The world where this story took place with its differences and similarities to our current world made for some interesting things to ponder as well.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
May 29, 2020
I loved it. Of course, I wrote it. But I'll read it again in a year or so. Maybe then I'll review it again.
November 30, 2021
My first Sci-Fi kind of book, but short, but took some time but did enjoy it.
September 1, 2023
***Goodreads Giveaway
Well written, endings that, somewhat, leave it open to the reader to fill in
Will read more by this author
Well written, endings that, somewhat, leave it open to the reader to fill in
Will read more by this author
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews