November Issue Live!

The awesome November 30, 2022 issue of Electric Spec is live!
Thank you so much to our artist and authors!
Thank you to the Electric Spec staff! You rock!
In particular, thanks againt to departing Editor Nikki Baird. Thank you for all your years of dedicated service!

And, last but not least: thank you readers!

November Cover Reveal!

It's almost time for our awesome November 30, 2022 issue of Electric Spec! Check out the excellent cover by artist Brian Malachy Quinn:

Happy Thanksgiving!

From Author Lewis

We are excited to feature "Princess Moon Lily's Last Riddle" by Author Leonora Lewis in the awesome November 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Leonora was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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I've read too many fairy tales with princesses sending princes to die on impossible quests or having them executed for not answering riddles. What did I find most disgusting? The hero who succeeds at the quest or answers the riddle and willingly marries a mass murderess and lives happily ever after. I found myself asking, what about all the others who died? What about their families who loved them? That's why I wrote this story.

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Thanks, Leonora! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "Princess Moon Lily's Last Riddle" and all the rest of the stories on November 30, 2022!

from Author Gottfried

We are excited to feature "Bliss" by Author Chet Gottfried in the awesome November 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Chet was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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Thoughts on Bliss, or Blissful Thoughts:
Any story that I write begins with a central idea (and I expect that to be a common habit among many, if not most, writers).

Thus "Bliss" began as a one-line entry in what I call my 'idea file,' something I generally keep open since it is impossible to predict when an idea will arrive. For "Bliss," the one line had to do with a drunk spaceship, which sounded like fun, but the idea remained idle for months until the second idea came along. And that was a planet that has a natural alcoholic content. Yes! Lakes, seas, and oceans of different types of alcoholic beverages. Both ideas linked very well together, and along with the planet (named "Bliss"), created the tension I needed in the story.

I like to have two or more opposing sides in any given story. On the surface (if you don't mind a pun), an alcoholic planet is fantastic: for the tourist trade, the hotel industry, and so forth. They're the positive forces. But what about the other side? There are wineries and distilleries and so forth. What happens to their business endeavors? A third possible issue would be teetotalers. What would be more abhorrent to a teetotaler than a planet of alcohol?

These groups had the main issues of "Bliss" firmly in hand. Then came the characters. Who would they be? Who is most likely to fly in what amounts to a tramp cargo spaceship? Who would want to hire it? There are different goals and different motivations. All of which contributed to the fun of writing the story, in which the various characters show their strong and weak points.

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Thanks, Chet! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "Bliss" and all the rest of the stories on November 30, 2022!

Spook-tacular Production Meeting

Among blowing autumn leaves, diminutive ghouls and goblins, and hordes of homecoming celebrators, we had our production meeting for the notable November 2022 issue of Electric Spec. (Note to future self: don't meet in Boulder on Homecoming weekend the day before Halloween.) Luckily, we only had one item knocked over on our table. Was it a ghost?

As usual, we had a lot of very nice stories to choose from. As usual, it was difficult to make said decisions. But, also as usual, we persevered to put together the issue.
Successful authors should hear from an editor, including their contract, by the end of this week. Unsuccessful authors should have heard from us already. If you haven't heard from us by now, your story may have been lost in cyberspace. :(
As soon as editors received the signed contracts back, they'll start working with authors to make the stories even better. Once the editor and author are happy with the story we'll send it to the proofreader and post a preview version. Authors should double-check this version and approve it or give further feedback.
And then we publish the new issue! Woo hoo!

Next week we'll start bragging about the new issue...

If you submitted: Thank you!