It’s always interesting when we see how different reviewers respond to the stories we publish. Here is R. Graeme Cameron’s take on issue #127. 

You can see the latest review of On Spec by Tangent Online here.

We still have copies of issues from 2023 available. If you are interested (not a subscriber yet?) please send an email through the Contact Us page, and we can let you know the costs of copy and postage. See covers below for the fabulous writers and artists we featured last year.

#126

#125

#124

#123

Lorina Stephens reviews a recent  book from Calgary’s Tyche Books, Shadow Matters, by author S.W. Mayse.

We at On Spec, appreciate the interest and support we get from many people, both here in Canada, and beyond our borders. It’s been years since we’ve had to reach out for more financial support, but times are getting tough, even with our provincial government arts funding to give us a basic operating amount.

Please take a look at our How You Can Support On Spec tab on the website. 

And while you are at it, remember to say something nice about On Spec on your own social media, or tell two friends at a party (do people still go to parties?), or do one small thing to ensure that another reader learns about On Spec. We depend on word of mouth to find new readers, and if you are reading this, then you are the person to make it happen.

If you are already a subscriber, we hope you enjoy the new issue coming your way.

We are happy to bring you a new issue for your Spring reading.

In this issue, we are pleased to bring back one of our favourite artists, Winnipeg’s Robert Pasternak. We reconnected at last summer’s PemmiCon in Winnipeg and had a look through his portfolio. Robert is a brilliant and imaginative creator, as you will see from Cat McDonald’s interview.

Our poetry selections feature several poets we’ve published before: Swati Chavda, Colleen Anderson, Shilpa Kamat, and Kim Whysall-Hammond.

Fiction selections will appeal to lovers of multiple sub-genres of SFF. Winnipeg’s Cale Platt, this issue’s featured writer, bring us “The Other Half”, a horror story that reaches its long fingers from the forgotten basement of a burnt-out church to the woods beyond the lights of town, running in torn socks. One of our most intriguing titles is Jon Lasser’s “John Barleycorn Must Die, And Your Little Dog, Toto, Too”. A couple seeks hope on a generation ship run dangerously off-course. Calgary writer Jeb Gaudet was previously published in On Spec in 1990! We look forward to more stories like his “Cleaning House”. After you read it, you’ll never complain about housework again! Making your bed and fighting your demons are sometimes the same thing.

A tiny, porcelain, coffin doll and a nineteenth-century ballad have an otherworldly connection in B.C.’s K.T. Wagner’s “Frozen Charlotte”. With a title like “Ogres in the Mist”, there had better be ogres, and Brian Milton doesn’t disappoint. In his tale we learn a lesson. You could do what your leader says and die in the attempt. Or maybe just stop and admire the beauty of the world instead. Fans of ‘hard’ SF will enjoy Heather Fraser’s “Routine Resupply”.  Like your predecessors, you were expected to die on this assignment. But you’re still here. Ottawa’s Karl El-Koura, author of “Salvation of the Innocents” tells us that he’s been submitting work to us for more than twenty-five years. His touching story really reached our editorial hearts. In a future where humans are plagued by infertility, time travel provides a solution to maintaining the human population…but comes with its own unique dangers and catastrophic risks.

We love to see stories by non-Canadians, to provide a different flavour, and Malaysia’s Shih-Li Kow brings us “In Exchange”, a story about the horrors of war. Andrew Rucker Jones’ story “Better Luck Next Time” follows a young soul as he attempts to halt his slide down the reincarnation ladder before he falls off.

Copies and Subscriptions are available from us as well as our  distributors.

In the coming days and weeks, there will be many tributes to the life and times of Lyle Weis. This morning, his wife and best friend, Dar, posted the sad news that Lyle had lost his fight with cancer.

Lyle was well-known in Alberta’s writing community, and already a good friend to the members of the founding editorial team of On Spec when we began this venture. If memory serves, he was probably one of the folks who pushed us into this audacious  project in the first place.  His name appears on the masthead of our inaugural issue in 1989, and for several years, Lyle graciously served as a member of our volunteer Editorial Advisory Board, helping us with final decisions on which stories to buy. He published both fiction and guest editorials in issues of On Spec, and always gave us his encouragement and support.

I think the last time I saw Lyle and Dar was when my family and I met them for a last-minute dinner at Edmonton’s Northern Chicken, when they were visiting from their home in Medicine Hat. Hard to believe that was over six years ago.  We are all blessed to have called him “friend”.

Vale, Lyle.

Diane L. Walton
Managing Editor

Our Reviewer, Lorina Stephens, has a mea culpa with a twist. She’s reviewing books in a series out of order, but praising them both highly.  Noah Chinn’s series is definitely something that science fiction fans should read. Check out her latest review.

We encourage you to check out the latest review of a Canadian SFF author’s work, by our reviewer, Lorina Stephenson. This time it is a new book by the amazing Premee Mohamed, a writer who continues to deliver top notch fiction.

This is an initiative funded by Alberta Municipal Affairs that’s been going on for a couple of years, so here’s a reminder. If you are an Alberta resident with a library card, you can read several years’ worth of On Spec issues for FREE. Many other fine Alberta magazines are also available for your perusal.

Check this out!