Exhibit 16.1

Octopus 11 is now live right here. Read it instead of whatever else it was you were going to do this morning.

I like this by Rebecca Guyon:

• 
  COLD
  
  I like my shadow when I’m in this coat.
  
  I look like a Russian soldier or I’m wearing a dress.
  
  I need to be more friendly. I need to treat Estonians better.
  

*****
I've also been reading the new Southeast Review. This is normally when I'd mention that I have something in it but my piece is awful and you should pick up the journal despite it. Not this time.

My piece is awesome.

Okay, that's not true. My piece is maybe okay, but if you'll allow me a moment, I'd like to do some avenging.

My piece, "Hope's Dancing Fancy," is a short short that takes its title and vampires from a longer story I wrote in graduate school. A story, I should say, that got a very odd reaction from the workshop. Honestly, it would have been better if I'd written a choose-your-own-adventure novel for class or just passed out handfuls of leaves and called it my story. Even months later I'd meet people and they'd say, "Oh, you're the guy who writes about vampires."

And I'd say, "Um, well, they weren't even real vampires. They just sort of wanted to be. That's why they had their teeth filed."

This would not make things better.

But I persevered and you'll be happy to know the first line of the short short is, "If we hadn’t decided to become vampires, this man wouldn’t be filing our teeth."

I will now cease avenging.

Also in that workshop were friends and non-vampire-focused writers Dave, Chris, Mark, and Naca. That's a good group. You should definitely watch that Naca video.