We're live!

...and we're live! Check out the excellent new issue of Electric Spec.

Thank you to all the authors, editors, and artists that made the issue possible!

New Issue Soon!

As faithful readers know, we usually publish Electric Spec by midnight on publication day, i.e. the Sept 30, 2007 issue would go live by midnight Sept. 29. Sadly, this will not happen this time. :( We hope to have it finished some time tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

Elves that Won't Behave Themselves

I hate it when this happens (I didn't make this up):

Fired Judge Blames Elf for Court Mishaps
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The Philippines Supreme Court has asked a fired judge who claims he is assisted by three elves to stop making threats of “ungodly reprisal.”
The court kicked Florentino Floro Jr. off the bench largely because of his belief in the supernatural, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). A medical clinic determined that the judge was suffering from psychosis.
Since then Floro has battled to get his job back, appearing on TV and winning converts who seek his healing powers. At the same time, a series of unfortunate incidents have befallen the supreme court justices or their families, including serious illnesses and car accidents.
Floro says the person to blame for the mishaps is one of the elves, "Luis," a "king of kings" who is an avenger. He told the newspaper that the elves help him predict the future, but he has never consulted them when issuing judicial decisions.
The Supreme Court has not reversed any of Floro’s decisions since firing him.

The Wheel of Time Turns Again

Author Robert Jordan (his real name was James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) died on Monday at age 58. Fantasy fans will remember him for his best-selling fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. I admired Jordan for his complex world-building and plotting, and I'm sad that we'll never know how the multi-book series was supposed to end.

conference

We spoke at a conference this weekend about Electric Spec, as well as short stories and markets in general. The biggest question was: What are you looking for more of?

For me, it's dark-themed fiction (of course!) and even tragedies. These could be horror pieces, but you don't have to frighten me to make me shiver. I also would love to see more serious, well-written high fantasy pieces.

Two weeks until the next issue!

Earth Saved!

As many of you spec fic writers out there know, the Earth is believed to have a limited lifespan. Specifically, when the sun expands into a red-giant it will engulf the Earth. This sounds bad! Of course it won't happen for 5 billion years or so. Recently, however, an article in Nature "A giant planet orbiting the 'extreme horizontal branch' star V 391 Pegasi" would seem to indicate this will NOT be the end of the world. Hurray! Earth is saved! I, for one, am relieved.

I would love to read a story about Earthlings and their red-giant. :)

I see The New York Times has a nice article on this:"Scientists’ Good News: Earth May Survive Sun’s Demise in 5 Billion Years".

The Slasher

Lesley, in her last post, asked me to reveal why I’m called “the slasher.” It is not a name I made up for myself, but rather one that was bestowed upon me by my fellow editors. I like to pretend it is a term of endearment. After all, it does NOT have anything to do with a knife or other sharp object (well, maybe a red pen . . .).

At Electric Spec, we love to get submissions that are as polished as the authors can get them, but we don’t reject a story just because it needs more polishing before it is ready for publication. Every story we pick needs some editing, but some need more than others. One of the more common problems we see even with stories that we love is that the story is not as focused as it could be. In other words, the story loses some of its punch because it includes details, actions, or even entire scenes and characters that serve little or no purpose. Other times, five words are chosen when two can do the same job, which drags down the pace. When it comes to editing a story, I am not shy about cutting (or, as some would call it, slashing) words to make a good story great. As always, I give authors a chance to comment on the edited version before it is posted.

New Issue Coming Sept 30!

The new issue of Electric Spec, due out September 30th is starting to come together. It looks like it will be our best issue yet! Make sure to check it out. In the meantime, I'm really hoping my fellow editors might do a little blogging about behind-the-scenes. For example, Dave, why do they call you The Slasher? What is your editorial philosophy? And Betsy, what does Barth have to say about American's demise(!) and/or grand themes, if anything? Give us some hints.

If you read the excellent interview Dave did (see blog entry below), you'll know we have a story coming that DOES combine extra-dimensional physics and hot, fluffy pancakes. :)
You'll just have to wait until the 30th to see how!

Don't forget the Electric Spec Editors will be presenting a workshop this Saturday September 15th at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in Denver! I had blogged that I would post the presentation on the Electric Spec webpage and I will, but probably not until the new issue comes out. Look for it in October 2007.

Thank you VERY much authors, editors, and artists for all your hard and prompt work for this excellent upcoming issue!

Madeleine L’Engle, who in writing more than 60 books, including childhood fables, religious meditations and science fiction, weaved emotional tapestries transcending genre and generation, died Thursday in Connecticut. She was 88.


I, for one, will be putting down my current book to reread A Wrinkle In Time.

New Issue coming up!

We've got a great new issue taking shape behind the scenes here at E-spec, EIGHT new stories, and an interview with science fiction writer Barth Anderson.

After a year-and-half in business, we're enjoying higher readership and greater publicity . We feel our stories are among the best out there, and the quality of submissions proves it!

Sometimes people ask me what we look for, and this time around, the editorial staff had a discussion about what our magazine is about. If you read past issues, I think you'll notice we like our speculative fiction to address the trials, challenges, and dilemmas of our real world. This is not to say the entire magazine is futuristic sci fi or urban fantasy, or even that literary themes must revolve around global issues. But we do enjoy stories that give us something to relate to amid creative speculative elements, be it resolving endless religious wars or dealing with grief over the loss of a spouse. I think you'll see our preferences reflected in this upcoming issue.

Don't forget to join us September 30th for an exciting new issue!