On Spec: Saying Goodbye

After thirty-five years as a beloved Canadian institution, one of the best and longest running speculative fiction magazines in the world recently published its final issue.

Veteran managing editor (and friend) Diane Walton announced her retirement earlier in 2025. With no one with the necessary skills and experience available and willing to step into the work intensive role, the difficult decision was made to end the magazine's run of three and a half decades. 

I loved On Spec. As a writer, they were a wonderful group to work with. As a reader, their taste in speculative fiction was both stellar and eclectic. When asked over the years how I'd differentiate Canadian speculative fiction from what's written south of the border or in other parts of the world, I'd just point to On Spec.

My stories appeared in On Spec five times, first in 2001 and most recently in 2023. Those five appearances resulted in an Aurora Award win ("The Walker of the Shifting Borderland"), an Aurora Finalist selection ("The Red Bird"), and an Alberta Magazine Award Finalist selection ("Gypsy Biker's Coming Home").

Although the magazine is gone, its last issued published this past December, its name will live on for at least one more publication. Regina-based small press, Shadowpaw Press, run by Canadian writer and publisher, Ed Willett, will be crowd-funding an On Spec anthology of all new stories, expected to be released this fall.

I am honoured to be one of the "anchor authors" invited to contribute to that anthology. If it does well, it might become an annual publication, keeping the On Spec name alive. 

If you'd like to read more about this great magazine, check out this CBC article.