TikTok: @derekleif (click here to go there) Instagram: derekleif (click here to go there)***
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 11 (October 30, 2026) Tallulah discovers something about herself. Opus gets in touch with his inner poet. The dogs and I dance to a tune that’s impossible to get out of your head once you listen to it.
To print it up as a zine:
1-Download the PDF 2-Open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader 3-Select “Booklet” when printing 3a-Print on both sides if your printer supports it. Otherwise, print the front sides first, then reload the paper as directed by your printer and print the back sides. 4-Fold the pages in half, and you’ve got The Letter.
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 10 (October 23, 2026) Tallulah gets dramatic when her Halloween costume choice isn’t in the cards. She cheers up when we hit on an alternative. Opus likes the alternative costume choice, and plays the role his costume dictates*.*
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 9 (October 16, 2026) My basset Tallulah becomes a devoted fan of The Lifetime Network. Opus takes up a field of study. Tallulah rhapsodizes about our mail carrier. These dogs live a full life*.*
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 8 (October 9, 2026) This is an issue in which I got obsessive, as I am wont to do in my spectral way (I prefer that term to “neurospicy”). I take a phrase—in the case of this issue, it’s “make no mistake”—and I just riff on it and see what happens. In this case, it helped create a surreal story about a mentally unstable politician and the basset hound who talks him down. It’s worth your time. Promise.
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 7 (September 25, 2026) An issue devoted to dogs, dogs, and nothing but dogs. In particular, this issue takes a close look at “The Dogverse,” going from “The Common World (zero to two feet off the ground)” all the way up to “The Up There (anything above four feet off the ground). You’ll know your dog better after reading this issue, and your dog will thank you for it.
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 6 (September 18, 2026) This issue marks a genuine leap in the history of this zine. Instead of the whole nonsense with some of it being on Substack, the whole thing is just a PDF (two columns, easy to read on a phone). And what content! A story about the friendship between a basset hound and a flying squirrel, a story about a faith built in 1980s situation comedies…my goodness, the variety is overwhelming.
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 5 (September 11, 2026) I chose not to publish this issue due to the gravity of the date. I’m actually still working on it. As I started to write about my recollections, I became emotional. I may never finish this issue.
The Letter, Volume 1, Issue 4 (September 4, 2026) Zine (PDF) Online Supplement (includes text of zine)