Letter from the Editors
Dear Reader,
In theory, a lockdown seems like an ideal environment for a writer--fewer distractions and more time to write, right? Maybe that's the case for some. But for many of us, the constant pressure of ambient stress makes it just as hard to write as ever... or even harder.
So that's why we want to give a very special thanks to all our contributors who are still writing and submitting in this messed-up time. Whether or not you ended up selected for this month's issue, we're grateful for your hard work in bringing your creative voice into the world.
Here's what we've got for you in our first 2021 issue:
- "Al and the Skeleton Tree" by Paul Wilson--Is the most notorious tree in a run-down neighborhood really haunted...or is the mystery even deeper?
- "Keeper John" by Bill Hughes--An elite courier of magical artifacts receives the deadliest package of his career.
- "The Flip Side" by Jay Tyler--Extreme measures to control overpopulation conceal an even darker secret.
- "Visiting Hours" by Selah Janel--The faerie hunter known as the Erlking pursues the one mortal who escaped him.
- "Paper Wings" by Brian Low--In the chaos of the Three Kingdoms era, a young scavenger befriends a magical paper bird.
In our Editor's Corner, we have a new story by our own Nikki Baird: "The Iron That Binds" -- When a poor sea urchin finally becomes a navigator on a merchant ship, he thinks he has everything he could seek for himself. But when a pirate ship attacks and he is taken, he learns he must seek much farther than he ever thought possible to stop a dark power from enslaving all of humanity. Part I of II!
We also have an interview with veteran author and Electric Spec contributor D.A. D'Amico, who has four collections of short stories in print.
Finally, we thank our cover artist for this issue: Anselmo J. Alliegro with "Denial."
We hope you enjoy these stories from our hard-working, imaginative, and always inspiring contributors!
Thanks for reading,
Lesley, Nikki, Grayson, and the Electric Spec Team
