deep in slush

I hope you're still enjoying the marvelous March 15, 2014 issue of Electric Spec. I know I am. What's your favorite story or article? So many choices…

Unfortunately, our late publication of this issue means we are a bit behind with the upcoming marvelous May 31, 2014 issue. Thus, we are neck-, no, eye-deep, in the slush pile. What does this mean to you, our potential authors? It means we are a bit behind in letting you know if you advance to hold-for-voting or if you need to try again with another story. Sorry. :(
However, please do not email us and ask what the status of your story is. Despite having five(!) editors, we simply do not have the human resources to deal with queries about your queries.
Please also follow our submission rules outlined here.
Thanks! Following these rules makes things move along more efficiently.

Here's a little reminder of upcoming deadlines:

• We close to submissions for the May 31 edition on April 15, 2014. Note: this is coming up!
• We'll email all potential authors with a no-thanks or a hold-for-voting by approximately May 1, 2014.
• We'll have our production meeting around May 1, 2014.
• We'll email hold-for-voting authors by very approximately May 7, 2014.
• We'll edit stories for the May 31 issue from approx May 7 through May 31, 2014.
• We go live with the next issue May 31, 2014! :)

Of course, after April 15, 2014, we are accepting submissions for the August 2014 issue.

Happy Spring!

Huzzah!

No doubt discerning readers have already gleaned the marvelous March 15 2014 Electric Spec issue is live! A resounding Thank you! goes out to our authors, our artist, the technical staff and our associate editors, Chris Devlin and Nikki Baird! We really appreciate everyone's contributions. Did you notice we're starting our ninth year of publication? So, can I also say: Nine years! We rock!

One highlight of the issue I didn't brag about earlier is the Inteview with Mark Lawrence by Editor Dave. Of course, Lawrence is famous for his novels The Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns, and Emperor of Thorns. Check out the interview to find out who inspired the evil Jorg, what's the scoop on the post-apocalyptic setting, the value of short story writing, and Lawrence's new series.

Huzzah!

More enticements

It's almost here! The marvelous March 15, 2014 issue of Electric Spec. We just have to wait until Saturday…

As promised, here's some more enticements about what's to come. We have a very intriguing SF story, "Digital Rapture" by Charles Ebert. This raises the question: what is a person? What's a soul? A consciousness? Are we merely software? Could we run on another platform?

We also have "Butcher's Hook" by Van Aaron Hughes which is nice combo of horror and SF as you may have guessed from the title. And I have to say, it's pretty horrifying. What's the worst thing that a person could do? What's the worst thing that could be done to them?
Here, at Electric Spec we really enjoy multi-genre combos. Send us some!

We also have an urban fantasy "The Nightmare of Red O'Leary" by Vanessa MacLellan. I do love urban fantasy. Somehow the combination of our modern world with fantastic elements is very fun. The fun is evident in this story about a Red Cap fairy. Can you imagine how a Red Cap would manage in our world?
As of Saturday, you won't have to imagine!

Be sure to check out the new issue this weekend!

Enticing details about the forthcoming issue

Wow. Our March 15, 2014 issue of Electric Spec threatens to be our best ever! Here are some enticing details...

We have a steampunk story, "The Family Tree" by Daniel Kason, in the next issue. Steampunk is a fascinating sub-genre of speculative fiction.

Wikipedia says, "Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialised Western civilisation during the 19th century." I believe the term was coined as a reaction to cyberpunk.
Kason's story is steampunk set in the present-day, which is an excellent twist on the genre.
We'd love to see more steampunk in subsmissions...

We have cover art by Ron Sanders. Readers may not know this about Sanders, but this will be the fourth time we've used his work. About the piece for the March 15 cover, Exodus, he says it is "Ethereal and philosophic." It sounds intriguing, right? Check it out!

Earlier, I blogged about Fiction Inspired by Fiction. More specifically, we'll be featuring "This is Just to Say" by Timothy Mudie. Be sure to read how Mudie turns this classic poem into a speculative fiction short story. Very nice! Also in the Fiction-Inspired-by-Fiction category we have my own "A Sea of Stars" inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest in Editor's Corner. Does it work or not? You decide. :)

We have more stories and an exciting author interview also in the issue. I'll blog about them next week!