Issue Zero: Situation Normal
Letters from Level 31 is the newsletter of speculative fiction writer D.A. Straith. This issue's all about what's to come with the newsletter and TOTALLY NOT about the crushing dread of dredging up benthic secrets on a deep ocean platform!!
Welcome to Letters from Level 31, the place where I put all the latest Straith updates! Thanks for “diving in” and joining me here in the deep! Wow! 🌊
What’s the newsletter name mean?
Real simple answer: I live on the thirty-first floor of my building and thought it sounded neat.
More fun answer: In the context of the oceany branding I guess I’ve got going on, I like to imagine this—the newsletter—occupies the thirty-first level down of some kind of oceanic platform, where we’re on some kind of cool research mission together, collecting samples and vibing and looking out for each other and not experiencing ANY dread at all about the crushing forces of the water beyond the bulkheads, haha, no worries everybody, this is gonna be AWESOME!!
…wait who are you again?
I’m D.A. Straith (they/them), an early-career fiction writer based in the greater Toronto area. I work in fantasy, science fiction and horror and my writing has appeared in Augur, Translunar Travelers Lounge and Inner Worlds. Here’s one of my favourite stories that I’ve had published—it just so happens to be about an ocean dude. Very germane to the whole we’re-on-an-ocean-platform theme!
This is weird. I don’t know if I like this ocean platform deal. Can we move on?
Haha! Just ignore our surroundings then! Put your mind at ease by focusing on something else! My hope is that soon we’ll be exchanging pneumatic tube notes like old friends and can put all this weirdness behind us!
But sure, here’s what’s coming up:
November—I’ll be starting a series on my experience applying for writing workshops in the SFFH space, because I’d like to document that somewhere.
December—Flash Fiction Online will publish my flash piece entitled “A Year in the Life of the Drowned Wastewater Plant East of Bellmarsh Village” on Friday, December 27. It’s about a sentient ecosystem and its yearning for even deeper interconnectivity!
And you can always expect me to include encouragement to visit Operation Olive Branch’s spreadsheet and find a fundraiser to support with shares or $$ (if the sheet is overwhelming, try the “OOB Starters” or “OOB Finishers” tab).
Isn’t that just the plot of Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under the Sea?
First of all, love that book, made me cry tiny baby tears, please read it. Second of all, haha, NO, because in THIS newsletter everything is normal and fine and we are not trapped at all, and I plan to approach any benthic dread with élan, aplomb, finesse, other French-derived words, etc.
In summary:
Pls subscribe to make me smile
Pls have a great day
Pls do NOT look behind you out that window HAHA HAA!!
Image credit: Jellyfish icons created by Freepik - Flaticon; photo by Sarah Lee on Unsplash