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!