From Author Timpf

We're excited to feature "Just Fooling" by Lisa Timpf in our awesome November 2024 issue of Electric Spec. Lisa was kind enough to send us some comments.

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Over the past year, I’ve been writing a number of flash-length fiction pieces, which is a new endeavor for me. Sometimes when I write short fiction in the 5,000-ish word range, I end up getting too convoluted. Flash fiction helps me keep it simple, and challenges me to use words economically. This is a skill that hasn’t always come easy. In one of my high school English classes, we had to condense written articles of several paragraphs into something much shorter, which challenges you to figure out what the main points are. I really struggled with this sometimes, and would grumble to my friends (in a rather animated fashion) about how much I disliked these exercises. Now, though, I’m grateful!

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Interesting! Thanks, Lisa! Be sure to check out "Just Fooling" and the rest of the stories on November 30, 2024!

November Story Submission Deadline Tomorrow!

Wow! Time flies! If you want your story to be considered for our notable November 2024 issue of Electric Spec, you have to get it in by midnight tomorrow! Good luck!

Basking in the August Glow!

At Electric Spec we are still basking in the glow of our awesome August 2024 issue! Which story was your favorite? Yeah, I know, they were all very good! It's so hard to choose!
If you haven't read them all yet, get to reading!

In the meantime, the slush pile is already building up for the notable November issue. (Thank you for submitting!) We better get to work...

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!