Lovely Girl   +  writing on spec

A few months ago, I got a request to write an article on spec . I debated, but ultimately decided to go for it. And today my decision paid off. It had been so long with no answer that last night I considered submitting it elsewhere. As if on cue, I got an email today saying (more or less), "we're excited to publish your article, where do we send the check?" (And by the way, the pay is about twice as much as I'd expected.) Score!I admit that I wouldn't write solely on spec, but it does have its perks, like getting an acceptance and already having the darn thing written. Here's my line of thinking: it's a little iffy to write a whole article without any prior communication with the editor (except for personal essays, those are in a class by themselves). What if she'd just accepted a similar article from someone else? Or if she had no interest whatsoever in my idea? I sparked this editor's interest with my query, so at least I knew she was mildly interested in the topic. That was my justification. Anyone else have a speculative experience to share?