Kristin Janz

My story “The Observation Deck” came out not too long ago in On Spec, “the Canadian magazine of the fantastic”, and I recently finished reading the issue that has my story in it (Fall 2011, though I didn’t receive it until 2012).  My favorite story in the magazine was Megan Fennell’s “Hexenhaus”, which picks up the story of Hansel and Gretel after they’ve defeated the witch.  I also liked a story by Scott H. Andrews (the editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies), “The Halberdier, by Moonlight”.

The cover is very pretty, a sort of Asian-inspired steampunk illustration by featured artist James Ng.  There’s more of Ng’s art inside, also very cool, especially “Imperial Sheriff”.  Though I wondered if the originals of the interior pictures, reproduced in the magazine in black and white, are actually color paintings (like the cover), as they seemed quite dark, and often lacking in contrast.

On Spec tends to publish a pretty diverse selection of fiction:  this issue had more fantasy, but 3 of the 9 stories (including mine) could be considered science fiction (two futuristic, one steampunk).  The fantasy stories ranged from magic realism to high fantasy to historical fantasy.

The only negative note:  although they did get it right inside the magazine, my name is spelled wrong on the cover.

My hard sf flash fiction story “The Observation Deck” is out in the latest issue of On Spec.  On Spec is probably the best known Canadian science fiction magazine, so it’s pretty easy to find if you live in Canada. If you live elsewhere and are interested in reading the story, you can purchase a one-year subscription to the magazine in either print or electronic format, or buy an e-book version of just the one issue.

I wrote this one at Clarion West, initially as a writing exercise.  But, with a bit of tinkering, I figured it worked okay as an actual story, too.  Thanks to everyone who read the initial draft and offered suggestions for improvement!