Awesome August 2024 Issue Live!

The awesome August 2024 issue of Electric Spec is live!
Thank you, authors! Thank you to our artist!
Thank you to the whole Electric Spec team!

Thank you, readers!
We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we did.

From Author Crawford

We are pleased the author of "Zombie Processes", Richard S. Crawford, in the awesome August 2024 issue of Electric Spec,sent us some comments about the story:

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This story emerged pretty much entirely as is, from the beginning to the end, during a day-long work meeting. I was taking notes in a notebook, and suddenly thought... What if a zombie was a computer programmer? Add in my interest in obscure brain dysfunctions, and there it was!

The worst part, though, was coming up with a title, until I remembered that zombie processes are a thing in Unix-based operating systems. Once I had that, the story was complete. I am so happy that this story has found a good home!

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Interesting! Thanks, Richard!
Readers, be sure to check out all the August 2024 stories!

Getting close!

We are working hard behind the scenes on the awesome August 2024 issue of Electric Spec. We are getting very close to publication! For your reading pleasure we are excited to present:

• "I, Cro-Mag" by Michael A. Clark
• "Labyrinths for Wayward Teens" by LM Zaerr
• "Dragon Shepherd" by George S. Walker
• "Zombie Processes" by Richard S. Crawford
• "There Are No Clowns" by Graham Robert Scott

Check them all out on August 31!

From Author Walker

We are pleased the author of "The Dragon Sheperd," George Walker, in the awesome August 2024 issue of Electric Spec sent us some comments about the story:

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Some writers are plotters (they work out the story details in advance). Others are pantsers (they write by the seat of their pants and develop the story as they go along). I'm a pantser.

"The Dragon Shepherd" started when I visualized a dragon roasting over a fire, with men sitting around it.
I needed conflict so I added a girl walking up to them and saying, "That's mine."
The characters grew out of the dialogue between them. As the characters grew, I discovered why they were there and where they came from.

Then I needed an ending. This is where plotters have an advantage because they know the ending before they begin.
Endings are important!
Since I didn't, I went through a process of trial and error to think of an ending that made sense and yet was (hopefully) a surprise.
And I wanted the ending to be satisfying to the reader. Unless it's a horror story, the sympathetic character(s) should come out ahead.
Then I filled in the gaps in between, and voila, I had a story.
On to the next one!

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Interesting! Thanks, George!
Readers, be sure to check out all the August 2024 stories!

August 2024 cover sneak peek

In our upcoming awesome August 2024 issue of Electric Spec we will feature "Protective Cloak" by artist Ellie Dunn.

Without further ado, let's take a sneak peek at the piece:

Production Meeting Report

Phew! We through all the slush for the awesome August 2024 issue of Electric Spec! The editors ranked the finalists. We had a successful production meeting! Woo hoo!

What this means for authors: you should be hearing from us very soon if you haven't already. Please check your spam/junk folders! Authors that get good news will also get a contract. Please send this back ASAP so we can start editing your story.

It's odd. We often get similar stories in an issues's hold-for-voting. This time, for example, we had two very nice zombie stories. But we can't publish more than one zombie story in an issue, so one had to go. :(
Authors are often unaware of such concerns.

I better get back to work on the new issue! Soon, I'll start bragging about the new issue in this very spot!