12 March 2024

Announcing 2024 RMFW Anthology

Many of the Electric Spec editors have been, or are, members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW).
We are excited about the 2024 anthology "Without Brakes, Fingers Crossed" which will be published September 7, 2024 and will include a story by the fabulous Paolo Bacigalupi!

Read all about it on the March 8 RMFW blog,

05 March 2024

From February Author Hinson

We are pleased the author of "Family Roots, Family Thorns," Brian D. Hinson, in the fabulous February 2024 issue of Electric Spec sent us some comments about the story:

A woman walks into a bar in New Taichung, Callisto…

Mirjana settled in at the Jammed Neck Ring, where a human bartender served. His braided red-blonde beard reached his belt. As she sat, he asked, “Perhaps you would like to try Quevedo Reposado Tequila?”

A group of New Mexico professional SFF authors, under the banner of Turquoise Apocalypse, meet once a month to critique. The quote above is from my novel that’s currently in search of a literary agent, but when it was under critique, Rebecca Roanhorse (Between Earth and Sky Trilogy) took issue with the scene above. “Would they really have tequila on the moons of Jupiter?”

Fair point. Tequila is made from blue agave, which takes an average of ten years to mature before it can be harvested for tequila production. It needs mineral-rich soil and a semi-arid climate that’s not excessively hot. The highest quality blue agave is grown in the state of Jallisco, Mexico where the altitude is around 5,000 feet, a major contributor to the necessary mild clime.

So, Rebecca had inspired me to write about the fictional Quevedo dynasty: centuries-long growers of agave and distillers of tequila. And Liquor Royalty. In the background of “Family Roots, Family Thorns,” the Quevedo family packed up the business when Earth’s climate made growing agave naturally beneath the skies impossible. Instead of going underground with climate-controlled greenhouses to scratch profit from a dwindling earth market, the Quevedos struck out for the Outer, where the market was untapped. Some genetic tweaking with the agave gave it maturity in two years.

And so the story begins with trouble in the dynasty, when the father chooses an heir to the fortune. And genetic engineering isn’t confined to the crop. It's employed in bizarre and contemptible ways during this brother-against-brother family war. And the effects stretch beyond what either brother predicted.

So, enjoy a shot of Quevedo Tequila, “…a little sunshine makes all the difference.”


Interesting! Thanks, Brian!
Readers, be sure to check out all the February 2024 stories!

28 February 2024

Fabulous February 2024 Issue Live!

The fabulous February 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.

27 February 2024

From February Author Yelinek

We are pleased to announce one of our featured stories in the fabulous February 2024 issue of Electric Spec is "Neither Snow nor Rain nor Gloom" by Kathryn Yelinek. Kathryn was kind enough to send us some comments about the story:

Back when I was in college, I studied French. Now that I've been out of college for a number of years, I wanted to pick up the language again. There's a magazine that specializes in easy articles in French for native English speakers. Each issue focuses on a specific region of France or overseas French territory. One issue focused on RĂ©union, an island in the Indian Ocean. It featured an article about the postal carriers. Because RĂ©union is so remote, the mail carriers there walk their entire routes, almost a hundred miles a week.

I found this fascinating. The article focused both on the rigors and dedication of the postal carriers as well as the natural beauty of the land and the connection the carriers have to the people they serve. Me being me, I immediately thought of Fairy and what a postal carrier in some of the wilder regions of Fairy might encounter. I also remembered the dedication of my local postal workers during the pandemic. I wanted to honor them with something a little lighter, because many of my stories focus on heavier topics such as loss or loneliness. I'm pleased with how "Neither Snow nor Rain nor Gloom" turned out.


Interesting! Thanks, Kathryn! Be sure to check out all the new stories on February 28, 2024!

22 February 2024

Feb 2024 cover sneak peek

In our upcoming fabulous February 2024 issue of Electric Spec we will feature "Jupiter Project" by UK artist and science fiction fan Andrew C. Stewart.
About his work, Andrew says: I am a airbrush artist based in Nottingham UK. I like to experiment with different Airbrushes. I like to use a Paasche 1934 vintage Airbrush. My work has evolved over the years and I enjoy experimenting different techniques with the Airbrush.

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

13 February 2024

Ambiguous Endings

At the recent production meeting we had a discussion on ambiguous endings. Some editors like everything tied up in a neat little bow. Some editors like readers deciding for themselves how the story ends based on the author's clues. It's actually not the first time the topic has come up. One of our retired editors often lobbied for stories that let the reader decide; she said it was more literary and sophisticated.

So, anyway one of our editors is currently working with one of our authors on a story ending. We'll see what they come up with...

What's your preference for a story ending?

06 February 2024

Production Meeting report

Woo hoo! We had a successful Electric Spec production meeting for the fabulous February 28, 2024 issue! If you submitted art or fiction for this issue: Thank you! We appreciate your efforts!

Authors should hear back from editors with a yay or nay this week. (Many of these emails have already gone out.) Please check your spam or junk folders. If you got an acceptance, please email us back ASAP because the February issue has a short turn-around. Once we hear back, we will start editing stories. This may involve multiple back-and-forths with authors.

After we get a final story version with the author, the story still has to go for proofreading. And, then, we pass the story off to the tech team.
We also add the authors' and artist's bios to the website and write the Letter from the Editors. And hopefully, we'll get some fun blog entries to post right here later in the month.
If everything goes smoothly, the authors and artist will get paid on February 27, 2024. We will publish on Feb 28--we haven't missed a deadline yet!

Check back here next week for more info about the fun new issue!