Happy New Year from Electric Spec

Merry Christmas from Electric Spec!

Please Whitelist Us

We're still enjoying the latest issue of Electric Spec, but we have started working on the awesome February 2023 issue! We are knee-deep in the slushpile, reading stories. Thank you for sending in your stories!

In recent weeks, we've been having some trouble with authors not receiving our 'yay' or 'nay' emails. There's an easy-ish fix for this. When you send in your submission, please consider whitelisting (or approving) the electricspec email address.

Unfortunately, each type email software does this a little differently.
For example, for gmail:

1. Click the gear icon in Gmail and select "See all settings" from the Quick settings menu.
2. Navigate to "Filters and Blocked Addresses" in the top menu.
3. Select "Create a new filter."
4. Add a specific email or a whole domain in the "From" field.
5. Click "Create filter."
6. Check "Never send it to Spam" in the checkbox.
7. Click "Create filter."

For Outlook:

1. Click the gear icon in Outlook and select "View all Outlook settings."
2. Select "Mail" from the settings menu.
3. Choose "Junk email" from the submenu.
4. Click "Add" under "Safe senders and domains."
5. Enter the email address that you want whitelisted.
6. Choose "Save."

Good luck!
And keep sending those stories in!

Basking in the Glow

Huzzah! We're still basking in the glow of the awesome November 2022 Electric Spec issue!
So many great stories...

• "Bliss" by Chet Gottfried -- Bad enough to be boarded by ruthless space pirates... but now the ship is drunk, too?
• "Maysi's First Assignment" by Lyndon Perry -- Making the grade as a warden against evil takes more than witchcraft.
• "Princess Moon Lily's Last Riddle" by Leonora Lewis -- Defeating a cruel tecno-goddess at her own rigged game will take a special kind of hero.
• "Her Teeth are Long and Full of Venom" by Donna J. W. Munro -- A sin eater's job is as thankless as it gets, yet a good monster can lighten the load.
• "Grave Goods" by Michael Allen Austin -- An invitation to a distant relative's funeral turns into a ceremony of terror.

Which story is your favorite?

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!

Thanks and Good Luck Nikki!

We are working hard behind-the-scenes at Electric Spec! We're almost done with slush for the wonderful November 2022 issue! We have the Production Meeting coming up this weekend. Stay tuned for more info about the new issue next week!

In other news, one of our editors of many years, Nikki Baird, is moving on. Nikki started out as a slush reader and associate editor many years ago and was promoted to Editor years ago. We are sorry to see her go.
Thanks so much for all your years of hard work, Nikki! You rock! Good luck with all your exciting new challenges! We look forward to seeing all you accomplish! Woo hoo, Nikki!

Tips from an Editor

The submission deadline has passed so we are working fast and furious now on the fabulous November 2022 issue of Electric Spec. We get a lot of slush--which is great. But it also means we have a lot of work to get through it all. Here are some tips for publication that other editors might not admit. Sadly, when push comes to shove, we may be looking for reasons to reject you.

• Follow instructions.
  • Do submit your file in the format we request.
  • Do include some kind of cover letter.
  • Do obey word-length rules.
  • Don't include weird formatting.
• speaking of Word-length...
  • Submitting the maximum number of words will make success more difficult, because editors don't really want to edit such long stories.
  • Conversely, submitting less than 1000 words will also make success more difficult, because it's difficult to tell a full story in so few words.
• Genre.
  • We get a lot of dark, depressing stories. I guess it's because we accept 'macabre.' Personally, I'm tired of murder stories. If you submit a more positive story you might be more successful.
  • other genres we don't get as much include: steampunk (basically, any kind of punk), alternative history, cli-fi, magical realism, and any kind of genre mashup. Less common genres will be more successful because they seem more fresh and fun.

I guess that's enough for now. I better get back to work!
If you submitted: Good Luck!

Deadline Looming!

Phew! Where does the time go? The Fall season is well underway which means the submission deadline for the notorious November 2022 issue of Electric Spec is looming! It is October 15, 2022.
In particular, we're looking for genre mashups, alternative history, steampunk, cli-fi. magical realism and other fun stuff! Get those stories in!

Thank you!

Writing Race

Another potential conundrum for authors is writing race. In Craft in the Real World Matthew Salesses also addresses this issue. Check it out if you can.

I've pondered writing race quite a bit. Some writers specify the races of all characters. Some writers specify the races of no characters. Some writers give descriptive details and let the reader decipher races for themselves. I must admit I've tried all methods with varying success. What do you prefer?
I think the takeaway should be to treat all the characters consistently re. race descriptions (unless there's a conscious choice not to).

The deadline for the awesome November 2022 issue of Electric Spec is fast approaching: midnight U.S. mountain time October 15, 2022!

Writing Culture

Continuing the discussion of Matthew Salesses' Craft in the Real World, he makes a great point about writing about one's culture. When workshopping you can get confusing advice about writing the sensory details of a culture:

1. Choose "striking" or "lasting" or "unusual" (or so forth) details.
2. Leave out unnecessary of "common" details.
3. Defamiliarize the familiar.

I say write what you want, and don't explain anything. At Electric Spec we have had many writers from numerous different countries and if a reader is occasionally a little confused, so be it. :)
What do you think?

What is a story?

What is a story? I recently read a very interesting book Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses. Salesses says "Craft is part of the history of Western empire...What we call craft is in fact nothing more or less than a set of expectations. ...These expectations are never neutral. They represent the values of the culturally dominant population..."

Wow! While this is very obvious in hindsight, I'd never thought about it this way before.
A writer (in the culturally-dominant Western population) might say a story is: a protagonist with a problem acts to solve that problem and either succeeds or fails. Said problem could be: man against man, man against nature, or man against self.
The idea that the protagonist has power over his/her life is definitely part of this culturally-dominant paradigm.

In fact, a story could be something, anything else.
What do you, think a story is?

Basking in the Glow

We're still basking in the glow of the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec. There's so much fun fiction to enjoy!

• "Widow's Pass" by Si Wang
• "Speak Me in Passing" by Tyree Campbell
• "The Tailor of Gloomwick" by Lisa Voorhees
• "For the Love of Earth" by Dawn Bonanno
• "A Brief Accounting of All the Times I Thought I Was Pregnant" by Rachel Rodman
• "VEND3000" by Hannah O'Doom

Which is your favorite? I can't decide! :)

From Author Rodman

We are excited to feature "A Brief Accounting of All of the Times I Thought I was Pregnant" by Author Rachel Rodman in the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Rachel was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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“A Brief Accounting of All of the Times I Thought I was Pregnant” began as a twin to a second story, “Men I Have Given a Fish”: https://brilliantflashfiction.com/2022/01/31/january-2022/. I wrote both in the spring of 2021.

I continue to think of both as featuring the same character, shaped by different story conceits. In “A Brief Accounting…” the creative challenge in each section was to succinctly present a pregnancy scare/hope, while also moving the larger story forward. In “Men…”, the challenge in each section was to succinctly intertwine a description of a dysfunctional relationship with a different fish, while also moving the story forward.

In the end, though, these became very different stories. What absolutely defines the main character in “Men” is still important in “Brief.” As composition proceeded, though, this trait evolved to become almost a misdirection. In the end, what really defines this second character, through space, time, and a series of increasingly weird hobbies, cults, jobs, and social groups, is her absolute dedication to something—someone—else.

The stakes in each story are also very different. In “Men” they are personal; in “Brief,” they are cosmic, spiritual, AND personal. At the same time, each story ends on a similar note. Whether everything--or anything--will work out is unclear. In each case, too, the character and the reader perceive this ambiguity differently. Where the character is hardwired to hope, the reader is more skeptical.

For the writer, of course, both of these stories have the same sort of happy ending: publication. Both twins found excellent homes. I was delighted to have “Men I Have Given a Fish” accepted by Brilliant Flash Fiction and I am delighted that “A Brief Accounting of All of the Times I Thought I was Pregnant” will appear in Electric Spec.

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Thanks, Rachel! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "A Brief Accounting of All of the Times I Thought I was Pregnant" and all the rest of the August 2022 stories!

New Issue Available!

Huzzah! The awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec is live!

We need to thank our excellent cover artist and authors. Hurray for our creatives!
We need to thank our excellent editors and tech staff. Thank you for all your hard work!
And most of all, we need to thank our readers! Woo hoo! We wouldn't exist without you!
Thank you, everyone!

From Author Campbell

We are excited to feature "Speak Me in Passing" by Author Tyree Campbell in the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Tyree was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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After being heavily and emotionally influenced by Longfellow's poem and the specific quote that goes "Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence," I was struck by the utter solitude of it. I wanted to capture that in a character, and to do so I chose the last dragon, still eking out life after life and now in the modern world. He always has to hide his true self, he seldom can risk showing his true form. But he is old now, even for a dragon, and must die again in order to become someone else...or not.

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Thanks, Tyree! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "Speak Me in Passing" and all the rest of the stories on August 31, 2022!

From Author Bonanno

We are excited to feature "For The Love of Earth: It's not over til it's over" by Author Dawn Bonanno in the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Dawn was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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A lot of my stories are born of the 'what if' question, plus something warm and fuzzy. In this one, an elephant is our warm and fuzzy, and proof of what humanity can do when it chooses: taking care of each other. Some people call me naïve. I call it having faith in my people.

However this world formed (take your pick: science, religion, or a combination of both), like everything that has a beginning, it will eventually endure its end. No one wants to think about that, but considering everything that's happened in the past 50 years, I did just that in writing For the Love of Earth.

When considering our end, the questions of utmost important are how, why, and when. I won't address those possibilities today, but instead, I call upon humankind. We have accomplished too much, overcome so many challenges, that if we just all turn our focus to saving our world, we can do it. There are enough people who love our world, our home, that we can slow down the damage done to our planet. We have time to heal the wounds. Not much, I understand, but it isn't too late. Not yet.

As in my story, the 'hourglasses' of water and trees hold the world up, but what holds it together is love. Love for human kind, love for the gentle and fierce creatures that we share this world with, and love for the very Earth itself. Many of us the share passions of the guardians in this story. I look forward to the day when we can celebrate Earth's revival together.

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Thanks, Dawn! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "For The Love of Earth" and all the rest of the stories on August 31, 2022!

From Artist Candiotti

We are excited to feature "Gem City" by Artist Barbara Candiotti in the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Barbara was kind enough to send along some comments about the piece.

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The overall color of this artwork is pink. From a metaphysical perspective, pink is considered a healing, peaceful, harmonious color. Thus the tone of this artwork, "Gem City," represents an otherworldly destination for repose, meditation, and healing.

In the lower-left corner, a lone horseman on a cliff overlooks a valley covered in dense pink fog and mist. The horseman is partially blurred as if in a dreamscape. Is he real, or is this a dream of his making? Rising out of the shrouded valley are immense purple and pink mountains. The mountain peak in the center-right of the picture emanates a pink beacon of light/frequency from its top extremity. This gem-like beacon represents an intangible siren song beckoning those on a quest for spiritual knowledge, whether in the dream state or waking state.

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Thanks, Barbara! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out the whole issue on August 31, 2022!

From Author Voorhees

We are excited to feature "The Tailor of Gloomwick" by Author Lisa Voorhees in the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Lisa was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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At their heart, stories are images translated into words. My inspiration for "The Tailor of Gloomwick" began with a Norman Rockwell type drawing of a tailor seated in his workshop, mending hearts with a needle and thread. I sat with the image for several weeks, allowing the story to unfold in my mind.

Gradually, the characters began to come into view, followed by pieces of the plot. Once I was ready to write, the first version of the story did not transpire from the point of view of the Tailor, but rather Louis, his future apprentice.

Early critiques on the story came in. I was disappointed to discover the story did not have the resonance I was hoping for and that I thought I had worked hard to achieve. I went back to the drawing board. Determined to portray the story as I experienced it so deeply in my heart, I brainstormed slavishly over how to convey the spark of inspiration I had gleaned from the drawing.

And then it came to me.

Although Louis was a prominent character, he wasn't the central figure in the story. The Tailor of Gloomwick was. The story belonged to him.

The story underwent a major rewrite, and the current "Tailor of Gloomwick" was born.

I will leave you with this little piece of writing advice: if you are having trouble achieving the kind of impact you want your story to have, try telling it from another character's perspective. It may be all the change your story needs to shine.

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Thanks, Lisa! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "The Tailor of Gloomwick" and all the rest of the stories on August 31, 2022!

Aug Production Meeting

Over the weekend we had a great Production Meeting for the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec! We had an unusual number of excellent stories to choose from--leading to a spirited discussion. Yes, Editors have different opinions about stories! Authors perhaps don't know editors have to consider things like genre balance, as well. This time we had a lot of wonderful fantasy stories--so, they couldn't all make it into the issue. The editors also discussed pandemic stories and decided ...we're not ready for them yet. Some markets may be; but wait a little while yet to send us your pandemic story.

So, all authors should have received an email from us with either a 'Yay,' or 'Nay,' by now, along with a contract and other info. We haven't heard back yet from all the authors, so check your spam folder(s)!
If you think you sent us a story by the issue deadline of July 15, 2022 and you haven't heard from us--you're story may be lost in cyberspace. I don't know why, but sometimes we don't get stories. :(

In other news, at least one of the editors will be at the annual rambunctious Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in Denver in early September 2022. Writers conferences are awesome opportunities to learn more about the craft of writing and to have loads of fun! There's lots of info online about many, many conferences. You can also check with your public library for resources in your local area.

Next time we'll start bragging about the new issue! Be sure to check it out!

Slush finished!

Oh my gosh! We had so many good stories submitted for our awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec! If you submitted: thank you very much!
We recently finished reading stories in the slush pile. Phew! Thank you to all our editors, including associate editors!
Consequently, all authors should have received their first email from us by now, either 'Sorry, no.' or 'You made it to the final round; stay tuned.'

Right now, the editors are reading the finalist stories and ranking them. We have the Production Meeting coming up this weekend. So...next week I will have even more info to pass along. And soon after that, we can start bragging on the stories upcoming in the next issue! Woo hoo!

Working on awesome August issue!

The submission deadline for the awesome August 2022 issue has passed. (But, don't worry. You can submit for the awesome November 2022 issue!) As usual, we got hundreds of submissions. We've already discovered many excellent stories. Thank you for submitting!.
Authors are starting to hear back from us regarding 'Hold for voting,' or 'Thanks, but no thanks.'

Next steps are: finish reading the slush pile, and send out the rest of the initial emails.
Did I mention the pile was huge? :)
More behind-the-scenes updates next week!

Our Type of Horror

We are working on our sensational Electric Spec slush pile! One awesome thing about Electric Spec is all our stories are free and online. Authors can peruse any of them at any time. Of course, this is an awesome idea. :)
Sometimes there's a bit of author confusion about what kind of horror we like. We like spooky horror, rather than bloody horror. We like stories that give us goosebumps, chills, shivers. We like stories that make us question realities, dreams, imaginations.
If your story involves a lot of blood and/or body parts--we might not like it. If your story has a huge body count--we might not like it.

Good luck with your horrific story!

Happy Fourth of July!

Put it on the page

We are working hard behind-the-scenes on the awesome August 2022 issue of Electric Spec.
I've been reading a lot of slush. A few times recently I've been quite confused about what happened in a story or what a story meant. I think in those cases, the author had a wonderful story in his/her mind but it didn't quite all make it to the page. In that case, unfortunately, we're going to pass on a story. You don't want to confuse your editors!
Luckily, this is an easy problem to solve. Have a friend, relative or writing partner read the story and then ask them: What happened? If your reader can't tell you, you probably need to put more on the page. (We've all been there.)
Good luck with putting it on the page!

Thank you, Submitters!

Wow! We continue to receive hundreds of submissions for each Electric Spec issue!
Thank you, Submitters!

We are working behind the scenes on slush and soon will really gear up for the awesome August 2022 issue. Stay tuned for more info.

SFWA Winners

The Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of American (SFWA) is the premiere organization for SF/F writers. One of the best things about it is they pick the best writing of the year. This is awesome for readers! So, without further ado, here's the most recent batch of winners of the Nebula Awards:

• NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVEL
  A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
• NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVELLA
  And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
• NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVELETTE
  “O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge 11/21)
• NEBULA AWARD FOR SHORT STORY
  “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3–4/21)
• THE ANDRE NORTON NEBULA AWARD FOR MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)

Reading excellent fiction helps writers create excellent fiction! Enjoy!

What's Your Fave?

We are proud of our marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec. What's your favorite story?

• "A River in the Desert" by LCW Allingham--A girl who grows up being trapped by others' expectations discovers a mysterious connection to her lost mother... and a forgotten truth.
• "U-Boat Grim" by Eric Wampler--In World War II, a German U-Boat is carrying something even more terrifying than Nazis.
• "Biofuels, Baby!" by C. M. Fields--When a space fuel researcher tries to do the right thing in an evil empire, her career takes her into uncharted territory.
• "Beyond All Known Parameters" by Mike Morgan--The legend of a fallen metal hero is the only weapon a captured warrior has left to wield.
• In our Editor's Corner, Associate Editor Bonnie Ramthun shares the horrifying tale "The Little Hitchhiker" --read it if you dare!

Check them out if you haven't already!

Marvelous May 2022 Issue Is Live!

Huzzah! The marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec is live!

We need to thank our excellent cover artist and authors. Hurray for our creatives!
We need to thank our excellent editors and tech staff. Thank you for all your hard work!
And most of all, we need to thank our readers! Woo hoo! We wouldn't exist without you!
Thank you, everyone!

From Author Ramthun

We are excited to feature "The Little Hitchhiker" by Associate Editor Bonnie Ramthun in the marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Bonnie was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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I grew up in Wyoming and drove many miles along the State's highways and two-lane roads, sometimes during terrible storms. If you've ever encountered a ground blizzard near Elk Mountain or driven across the Red Desert at night during a thunderstorm, you know what it's like to be driving white-knuckled at the edge of catastrophe.

One night I came across Steven Spielberg's short film, Duel. The screenplay was written by the great Richard Matheson and was the first film directed by Spielberg. In the story, a traveling salesman ends up being chased and terrorized by an unseen semi-truck driver. The 74-minute film was an ABC Movie of the Week in 1971.

Spielberg is known for hiding his villain, most famously in the movie Jaws. The near unbearable tension of this man-eating shark movie is that for most of the film, you don't see the shark at all. Rumor has it that Spielberg didn't intend to do this. He was going to feature his shark, but the mechanical creature kept malfunctioning, and he had to come up with clever ways to keep it out of the picture.

After watching Duel, I'm not so sure about this rumor. Jaws aired in 1975, four years after Duel. The way Spielberg uses the truck driver in Duel is startlingly similar to the way he uses the shark in Jaws. We never see the face of the truck driver in Duel. When the truck first menaces the traveling salesman, played with tense perfection by Dennis Weaver, he spots it reflecting from the trembling, shaking side mirror of his car.

Spielberg also used this side-mirror shot in Jurassic Park, this time for the tension-releasing humorous moment of seeing "Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear" as the T-Rex chases the Jeep holding our protagonists.

In Duel, the side mirror shot is terrifying. The semi-truck roars like a predator as it attempts to run the salesman's car off the road. The windshield reflects the glaring sun, never giving a glimpse of the driver inside. The tension ratchets up with every passing moment as the truck, and its unseen driver try to hunt down and kill David Mann.

Sure enough, the next morning, I had to get up and drive to Rock Springs, Wyoming. I admire and appreciate our American trucking fleet, but that day I regarded them all with suspicion. And during that drive, I wondered if one of those trucks was driven by something other than a human driver.

The next week I wrote The Little Hitchhiker, inspired by winter driving and a short film called Duel. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you haven't seen Duel, I highly recommend giving it a try.

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Thanks, Bonnie! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "The Little Hitchhiker" and all the rest of the stories on May 31, 2022!

From Author Allingham

We are excited to feature "A River In The Desert" by LCW Allingham in the marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec. LCW was kind enough to send along some comments about the story.

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One of the most rewarding parts of writing is finding the theme through the tangle of words. It's hardly ever what I intended, but usually so much better.

Writing "A River in the Desert" was a bit like following a thread through a labyrinth. I knew the mood I was trying to convey, the awkwardness of being a girl in a body you don't quite understand. Growing up observed, objectified, completely unsure of who you are. I did not know this story would ultimately turn into a love story, a juxtaposition of what we're taught love means (protection, conformity) to what real unconditional love is. Freedom. Acceptance. Letting go. The characters seem to take over the story and decide what it needs to say.

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Thanks, LCW! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "A River In The Desert" and all the rest of the stories on May 31, 2022!

From Author Morgan

We are excited to feature "Beyond All Known Parameters" by Mike Morgan in the marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Mike was kind enough to send along some comments about his story.

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Where did Beyond All Known Parameters come from? It came to me in a dream. No, seriously.

Very few of my stories are based on my dreams. Most of my dreams are too fragmented or nonsensical to be worth mining for fiction ideas; this night-time product of too much cheese, though, it stuck with me for days. A man of metal in a world of high fantasy. A Cyberman from Doctor Who who suddenly finds himself in Lord of the Rings, if you will. What would he do? How would he process the reality of magic when he was, without exaggeration, a being constructed out of science? That image, of the metal giant pushing his way through a magical barrier, and winning, because he couldn't see nor accept that it was there... that is straight out of my dream. I needed to do something with that dream-tale.

Of course, sitting down to write I was faced with the reality of taking that dream-image and wrestling it into something a bit more coherent. Where was the metal giant from? What world did he find himself in? What character would make more sense as the narrator? Who were they struggling against?

Then Donald Trump became president of the USA and I saw ignorance and barbarism threatening the institutions of American democracy. Barbarism, I thought: that's what they're fighting. They're the last hope defending something precious, something irreplaceable.

There's a place in Greece called Ionnina. That's a beautiful name, Ionnina. A name to conjure with. Thinking of names is never easy for me, and I was in search for a name for the city of civilization, the city in my fantasy landscape that our heroes, including that metal man, would be defending from barbarians. Ionnia, I called it. How very Greek. Greece is, as you know, the birthplace of democracy.

So, heroes defending civilization from forces that wanted to tear it down, and a metal alien in a world of magic... those were decent ingredients. I felt I could do something with them. But why did the barbarians - I settled on trolls as the foes, echoing the modern enemy found on the internet - why did they want to destroy the results of science and thought and art? What was their motive? Well, Trump came to mind again; they felt slighted, they felt unappreciated, they felt they weren't praised enough... Yes, that seemed right. A narcissist leader who wasn't getting the praise he craved - that'd be the motive. Civilization and progress under imminent threat of annihilation because of one troll's ridiculous hurt feelings.

Now, I needed a hero. Fantasy stories often lack female characters, let alone protagonists. I don't like that in fantasy - give me a woman lead. So, a woman telling the story, I thought. Good. But not a woman in skimpy fantasy armor. No, real armor. A woman who knows how to fight. Someone competent. Someone who starts our story in a state of utter defeat and who can turn that around, who can find victory out of hopelessness, because she's smart, because she's an example of why intelligence wins over brutish hate.

Ah, but what role was the metal giant - let's call him Eldarion - playing in all this? He's an intelligence (literally a personification of intelligence) who has never seen magic before, but he needs to be more than that. He's the source of the victory. In a world of magic, he's the wellspring of the science that saves the day. No wonder the trolls don't see it coming.

The title, you ask? What's that about? A metal man in a land of magic would feel out of his depth. He would be operating well outside his programming. I think many of us know that feeling all too well. I feel it on a regular basis. I especially felt it the day I brought my first child home from the hospital. They're letting me be in charge of this unutterably precious cargo? They're trusting me to drive a car with my baby in it? It's the secret every parent, most particularly every first-time parent, shares - we have no clue what we're doing. (Apologies to everyone else on that Houston freeway that day - I was the guy driving at fifteen miles an hour, terrified of jostling mother and child.) Hopefully, some sense of that came through in the story - of a new parent not knowing how to be a parent. We figure it out, of course. Mostly.

That's the thread that ties it all together. The machine man doesn't understand magic. People in the fantasy land don't understand modern science. But they all understand that feeling of finding themselves off the edge of the map, in a place where they have no idea what to do.

I guess it's familiar territory for us all.

---

Thanks, Mike! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "Beyond All Known Parameters" and all the rest of the stories on May 31, 2022!

Boogie Pop Phantom

We had the Production Meeting for the marvelous May 31, 2022 issue of Electric Spec over the weekend--in person! It was amazing to see everyone in four dimensions. :) We had a wide-ranging discussion including family stuff, favorite books read, and of course, many topics related to Electric Spec. I'm happy to report, two of the editors have a new kitten named Boogie Pop Phantom! :)
One of the editors will be presenting in Denver in September at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2022 annual conference, including giving writing tips for short stories. (Registration is now open.)

We had an extensive discussion on story length. It is difficult to write a complete story in less than 1000 words. Please do make sure your story has an ending and doesn't just peter out. At the other extreme, we received at lot of stories this time over 5000 words. More words are not always better. Our submission policy does permit submissions of up to 7000 words, but that doesn't mean editors want to edit such a long tale. I'd say the sweet spot is between 2500 words and 4500 words...

Thank you authors for sending us your stories!
Folks who were rejected should have heard back from us by now. (Sorry!)
Most of the folks who were accepted have heard back from us, with a couple of exceptions. This notification will include a contract. (Yay!) Once we receive that back we'll starte editing your story.

Next time, here, I'll start bragging about the new issue!

Telling a story

We are working hard behind-the-scenes at Electric Spec on the marvelous May 2022 issue!
Thank you authors for sending your stories!
Thank you editors for reading slush!
I believe we have finished the initial slush reads. This means if we received your story before the submission deadline you have, or will very soon, hear from us. Folks should have gotten a rejection (sorry!) or a hold-for-voting (yay!) email.

I read a lot of stories in the slush pile in which the author told me a story. When we're kids our parents read us bedtime stories. Once upon a time.... We often tell our friends anecdotes of our day. We tell stories around the campfire when we go camping. Blogs often involves a lot of telling.
All of these experiences have led us astray. A good story needs to have some showing. Act out the events of your story! Show us the dialogue. Show us the actions. Show us the physical sensations and sensory details.
There are some markets which let you get away with all telling, but Electric Spec is not really one of them.

Next time, I'll tell you about the production meeting. :)

Behind-the-scenes

To those of you who sent us stories for the marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec, thank you very much!
(To those of you who didn't your stories in on time, don't worry. We're accepting stories for the awesome August 2022 issue!)

We are hard at work behind-the-scenes getting the new issue ready. What does this entail? Well, we have a veritable army of editors reading the submitted stories. Many stories have more than one editor consider them. Thus, the longer it takes to hear back from us, the better it usually is.
However, we never take more than four months to get back to authors. Sometimes, authors don't hear anything back. Unfortunately, that usually means the story got lost somewhere in cyberspace. (No idea why this happens occasionally.)
Anyway, keep any eye on your email for the editor's message. This will initially be a 'No. Thanks.' or a 'Maybe. Stay tuned.' message.

We are currently planning the Production Meeting for the beginning of May. At this meeting each editor presents their rankings of all the 'Maybe' stories from favorite to least favorite. And, then, the debates/games/kerfuffles begin! In recent years, each editor generally gets to successfully advocate for their favorite story and will end up working with that author.
So, at the meeting, we plan out the whole issue, from artwork to stories, to Editor's Corner. I'll tell you more about this later.

I better get back to work on slush!

A Writing Habit

The submission deadline for the marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec is almost upon us. Send us your story by April 15, 2022. We are currently working hard behind-the-scenes. :)

A helpful thing for writers (and editors) is to make a habit of your writing (or editing) tasks. This could mean writing at the same time every day. Or, it could mean writing to pre-set deadlines. Or, it could mean having a friend or relative that holds you accountable. Perhaps you submit stories every Monday or the first Monday of every month. Perhaps you write on your blog every week, or tweet every day at lunchtime. Whatever works for you make a habit of it and stick to it!

Good luck!

Don't wake up

We are working hard behind-the-scenes on the marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Notice the submission deadline is coming up soon: April 15, 2022. Get those stories in!

I have been reading a lot of slush. A surprising number of stories begin with the same thing, namely, the protagonist wakes up. I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: do not start your story with the protag waking up. This is because so many submitted stories begin this way. You may be thinking, 'But I haven't read that many published stories that begin that way.' This is because Editors rarely select them, or, if they do, they modify this in rewrites.

I better get back to the slush pile.
Thanks for submitting your story!

Writing is beneficial

My writing group has had numerous discussions during the last two years about the benefits of writing. There are tons of articles, etc. about this. For example, see "Writing Can Improve Mental Health" over at The Conversation.
Of relevance for this venue, creative writing can be very beneficial. Short stories can explore a myriad of scenarios and help authors deal with their thoughts and feelings. I've read stories related to the Black Lives Matter movement and to the global pandemic. Such stories can help authors decide what actions they want to take now and in the future.
I've written spec fic 'feel good' stories about how I wish things were right now. Some of them have revisited some of my favorite original characters. These aren't necessarily going to be published, but they make me feel better.

We're accepting stories for the marvelous May 2022 issue of Electric Spec through April 15, 2022.

Don't overedit

We have started working hard on the upcoming marvelous May 31, 2022 issue of Electric Spec! This means we are enmeshed in slush.
I recently read a story that had perfect grammar, spelling, clarity, punctuation, conciseness, and all the rest. You might think this would be a dream story for an editor. But, nope. It read like a robot had written it. The rules for some of these elements, such as spelling and punctuation, are more strict. But, some, such as clarity and conciseness, have a little more flexibility.

So, my tip for authors is: don't overedit. To overedit is to edit too much. The problem with this is it removes the author voice. As an example, I've been rereading one of my favorite spec-fic series and it's chock-full of things a strict proofreader might remove. To illustrate, a sentence from page one of book one:
But rural northern Louisiana wasn't too tempting to vampires, apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center fot them--the whole Anne Rice thing, right?
There's a reason this series is fun to reread. :) Wonderful writing! Wonderful voice!

Good luck with your imperfect stories!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Of course, Saint Patrick's Day has a long and distiguished history in Ireland and elsewhere as a cultural and religious celebration of Saint Patrick.
But, as a speculative fiction ezine, Electric Spec enjoys holidays with possible speculative elements...

basking in the glow

At Electric Spec we are still basking in the glow of the fabulous February 2022 issue!
Huge thanks again, to all our creatives!

You may have noticed we mentioned 'voice' twice in the issue: once in the Letter From the Editors, and once in Nikki's Editor's Corner essay.
This should not be a suprise. I've actually discussed voice multiple times here.
For example "Voice, voice, baby" in 2020, and "slush tips: character and voice" in 2016, to name just a couple.

While still basking, we have started working on the marvelous May 2022 slush pile. Consider sending us a story with strong voice!

Fabulous February Issue!

If you haven't checked out the fabulous February issue of Electric Spec check it out!
We present

• The Dream-Quest of Sphinx by Bruno Lombardi
• Furnace Dreams by Jasmine Arch
• Grave Miscalculation by Kayla Severson
• Pride & PTSD by W.M. Chan
• The One Girl by Gillian Daniels
• VOCSS by Cora Ruskin
• Editor's Corner: What is Voice and Why Should Readers Care? by Nikki Baird

Woo hoo!

New Issue Live!

Huzzah! The fabulous February 2022 issue of Electric Spec is live!

We need to thank our excellent cover artist and authors. Hurray for our creatives!
We need to thank our excellent editors and tech staff. Thank you for all your hard work!
And most of all, we need to thank our readers! Woo hoo! We wouldn't exist without you!
Thank you, everyone!

From Artist Candiotti

We are excited to feature cover art "Fire Walk" by Barbara Candiotti in the fabulous February 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Barbara was kind enough to send along some comments about her art.

---

This artwork shows a figure entering what appears to be an entrance to an outdoor luminous neon-blue maze. The setting is nighttime, and a star in the upper right is visible and a veiled planet overhead. Two human forms guard the entrance to the maze with outstretched arms and hands, guiding the golden initiate to their journey--a trial by fire of otherworldly origin.

---

Interesting, Barbara. Thanks!
Barbara Candiotti’s work can be found at https://www.artstation.com/barbaracandiotti1.
Check out the art and the rest of the issue on February 28, 2022!

From Author Arch

We are excited to feature "Furnace Dreams" by Jasmine Arch in the fabulous February 2022 issue of Electric Spec. Jasmine was kind enough to send along some comments about her story.

---

Furnace Dreams is not the only dragon story I've written, or the first of my dragon stories to get published. You could say dragons are a mild obsession of mine. I've written poems about them as well. Heck, my friends and I started an entire podcast just to have an excuse to squee about dragons and dragon mythology from all parts of the world.

But Furnace Dreams was the first piece in this series. Kona was the first dragon to appear inside my head and start talking to me. While she doesn't vocalise, I've found that eloquence and silence are not mutually exclusive.

I'd read a space opera in which unicorn horn is used to power the FTL drives of spaceships. Humans being humans, you can probably guess that it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

So I thought, "What if I placed that premise in a historical fantasy environment?" and there she was. A juvenile dragon chained up in the engine room of a steamship, sad, scared, and completely unaware of how strong she is or what she's truly capable of. Treated like a furnace--named for one, even.

Because, let's face it: if dragons had been real, if they'd truly existed at some point in history, Western culture wouldn't have eradicated them. Knights wouldn't have hunted them down. Instead, they'd have found a way to capture these magnificent creatures, break their spirits, and turn them into a commodity.

After all, it's how Europeans have historically treated indigenous cultures across the world, wherever their ships landed. Actually, you can forget historically. It's how we're still treating the entire planet.

And unless we start trying on someone else's shoes for a day, or a year--in Kona's case, her claws and wings--it's how we'll keep treating anything we don't know or understand. We tend to conveniently forget about our ability to empathise, both with our fellow humans and with other creatures, but the moment we stop thinking of them as living, breathing, feeling organisms, is the moment we allow ourselves and our peers treat them as objects, resources, commodities, toys even.

The minute you realise, not just cognitively but with every bone and sinew in your body, that you have more common ground than differences with the organism you don’t quite understand, is the moment you start seeing them as deserving kindness, compassion, empathy, and everything else you’d hope to receive for yourself, if the roles were reversed.

That, I believe, is where the power of stories lies. It can take us out of our own lives and worlds for a bit. While that in itself is an adventure every single time, it’s not just about the adventure and the escape.

Even though none of us know what it's like to be a dragon, let alone an enslaved dragon, a story like Furnace Dreams can help us imagine it. When I read a book like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, Michelle Obama's Becoming, or Rebecca Roanhorse's Trail of Lightning, the story doesn't just take me on an adventure. It shows me a struggle I wouldn't experience on my own, living in Belgium, working in a radiology department, or walking my dogs, and it shows me in a way that puts me in the middle of the struggle, rather than watching from the sidelines.

Storytelling enriches lives, and teaches empathy, rather than facts. No wonder it's the oldest tradition known to human cultures across the world. It's how we remember every other tradition.

---

Very interesting! Thanks, Jasmine!
Be sure to check out "Furnace Dreams" and the rest of the Electric Spec stories on February 28, 2022!

From Author Lombardi

And now the fun begins... I get to start bragging about our fabulous upcoming issue of Electric Spec. We are excited to feature "The Dream-Quest of Sphinx" by Bruno Lombardi. Bruno was kind enough to send along some comments about his story.

---

The genesis of this story came about as a twitter post, specifically this one: https://twitter.com/MicroSFF/status/1402385207068614659.

I absolutely adored the microfiction and decided it deserved a full story. As it may be obvious from the submitted Sphinx story, I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan.

"Sphinx" is based on a dearly departed cat of mine, also named Sphinx.

About 6 years ago, I had to make a rather painful decision and put my cat Sphinx to sleep. He had had a lot of health issues and, alas, it became too much for him. I had had him for about 10 years at that point. We were never able to ascertain exactly how old he was, as he was a starving stray cat I found outside my apartment one day. Best guess was that he was about 5 years old and had clearly been abandoned.

This story was essentially the result of a confluence of different factors: giving my cat Sphinx a nice send-off, so to speak; trying my hand at doing a pastiche of Gaiman and Lovecraft; and working on my urban fantasy writing skills.

I was worried that it wouldn't be terribly good but I was apparently proven incorrect.

I suppose that dovetails nicely into the one piece of advice I can give to other writers: don't be scared to experiment, as you are often your worst critic.

---

Thanks a lot, Bruno! Very interesting!
Be sure to check out "The Dream-Quest of Sphinx" and the other stories on February 28!

Production Meeting Report

We had a great Production Meeting over the weekend! Editors Grayson, Nikki, and Candi were especially awesome! Your hard work is appreciated. :) Huzzzah!
Thank you to all the editors for reading slush in a timely manner. :)

If you submitted a story for the fabulous February 2022 issue: Thank You!
All the authors we received stories from that we couldn't use have received rejections from us by now. (Aw!) Please try again.
A few acceptances haven't quite gone out yet, but will this week. These take a little longer because they require contracts and additional info and instructions.

We had a bunch of really excellent stories which means we will attempt to ...publish six stories for this issue, rather than the traditional five. Here's hoping that works out!
We have also selected some very nice art! Here's hoping that works out, as well! :)

You may be wondering why or if our acceptances don't always work out.
We accept simultaneous submissions, so sometimes authors sell their stories elsewhere before we can publish them.
A couple times in the long history of the 'zine, authors and story editors were unable to agree on edits. In those cases, we released the pieces.
Finally, our time for acceptance for art is a bit longer than for fiction, so sometimes art is no longer available.

Next week I'll start bragging about the fabulous February 2022 issue of Electric Spec!

Content

We are hard at work behind-the-scenes at Electric Spec. We are especially busy going through slush. The submission period for this issue was October 16, 2021 through January 15, 2022. We will contact all authors by ~February 7, 2022--at the latest. Notice this is a 4-month window maximum. Most authors hear from us sooner than 4 months.
Once in a while, we get an email asking what happened to a story submitted many months ago. I'm sorry to say if you haven't heard within 4 months, we did not get your story. Resubmit.

We are currently accepting submissions for the marvelous May 2022 issue, so perhaps you'd like some suggestions for story content.
We like fantasy, from classic swords & scorcery & dragons, to contemporary fantasy, to snarky urban fantasy.
We like science fiction, especially stuff involving time travel, mind-bending AI/computer stuff, quantum fiction, and cli-fi.
We don't get enough steam-punk and alternative history: send us some!
We enjoy spooky, creepy horror. Give us goosebumps, or make us rethink reality. We do not enjoy gory horror with murder, rape, or brutalizing other people.

Thank you for your submissions!

Next week, I'll give you a report from our Production Meeting.

Market

The submission deadline for the fabulous February 2022 issue of Electric Spec has passed. If you submitted: Thank you! You will hear back from us in early Feb at the latest.
We are planning the next production meeting. We are deep, deep into the slush pile.

As I read stories, I am strongly reminded of the importance of market. Electric Spec is a market for short speculative fiction. The editors of Electric Spec have some subjective opinions about short speculative fiction. If you read past issues of Electric Spec (all free!) you will learn what we like in our particular market. Other markets like other stuff.

Stories for our market must include some kind of speculative element. Stories must include at least one point-of-view character. We do not like many hundreds of consecutive words of descriptions. Personally, I do not like a lot about hair. We do not like many hundreds of consecutive words of telling. We do like showing. We do like unique situations/worlds/problems/creatures.
We also don't like it when you don't obey our submission and/or formatting guidelines.

Good luck with your submissions!

submission deadline Jan 15

Wow! Time flies. We are already approaching the submission deadline for the first Electric Spec issue of 2022. The deadline for the fabulous February 2022 issue is: January 15, 2022. Please get those stories in for consideration.

We have already been working hard behind the scenes on the slush pile. There are lots of nice stories. We should have another great issue in February 2022.

If you're submitting: good luck!